Transcript Highlights:

• Relevant to this committee, I am a former foster parent here in the state of Washington, somebody who
• I would just say, you know, having lived in the world of early care and education on my come up, tell
• It's kind of a left-field question, but having lots of conversations around parents.
• And what I've found is that we don't collect information necessarily on who a parent is.
• And Corrections doesn't necessarily do that, and how they define a parent may be different.

Summary: The Senate Human Services Committee met on the first day of the 2026 session and heard a briefing and public testimony on Senate Bill 5966 concerning medically tailored meals. Committee staff explained that the bill would define medically tailored meals and set statewide standards for meals provided through state programs, emphasizing medical guidance, dietary and cultural accommodations, and prioritizing Washington-based nonprofit providers when possible. Senator T’wina Nobles, the sponsor, said the bill is intended to create a clear baseline for quality and accountability without expanding benefits or creating a new program, but rather to streamline and standardize existing efforts. Testifiers in support described existing medically tailored meal and food box programs already operating in Washington. Representatives from Meals on Wheels, Chicken Soup Brigade, Cascadia Produce, Emergency Food Network, and Meals on Wheels Spokane said these programs improve health outcomes for people with chronic conditions, support recovery, and help keep people stable in their communities. They also emphasized that local providers, volunteers, farmers, and food businesses benefit when state dollars stay in Washington. Several members asked whether the bill would create a new system; supporters said it would instead coordinate and standardize current waiver-based and contract-based services. Questions also touched on funding sources, delivery costs, and the role of Medicaid and other programs. The committee temporarily set aside the bill to hear from newly appointed DSHS Secretary Angela Ramirez, who outlined the department’s reorganization into new administrations and said the goal is to reduce silos, improve customer experience, and make services easier to navigate. She also briefed members on federal HR1-related changes affecting SNAP and Medicaid, including work requirements, immigrant eligibility changes, and tribal consultation, and said DSHS is developing a verification hub to reduce administrative burden. Members raised concerns about implementation, data collection, and how to avoid benefit loss due to paperwork issues. After the secretary’s presentation, the committee resumed testimony on SB 5966 and then adjourned without taking a vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• that has been removed from a birth parent.
• First, there's an exemption for foster parents who have been licensed for at least three years if they
• So it's an agency request to make things a little simpler for our foster parents.
• So it's an agency request to make things a little simpler for our foster parents.
• I was going to ask about alternatives just for the sake of education.

Summary: The committee held public hearings on several health-related bills. House Bill 2384 would require continuing care retirement communities that offer life care contracts to submit actuarial analyses every other registration cycle for review by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, with the Department of Social and Health Services using the review in registration decisions. The bill sponsor and residents’ advocates said it would improve transparency and protect seniors’ prepaid care promises, while the CCRC industry supported the goal but raised concerns about scope, cost, and implementation details. House Bill 2505 would exempt certain foster family homes and child-specific foster care homes from adult family home licensure when former foster youth remain in the home as adults and certain safety conditions are met; DSHS supported the narrow exemption as a way to avoid displacing vulnerable young adults. House Bill 2402 would phase out DEHP and other orthophthalates in IV solution containers and later IV tubing, with exemptions for certain blood and cell therapy products; supporters cited health and environmental risks and the availability of safer alternatives, while manufacturers and hospitals supported the goal but asked for longer timelines, supply-chain protections, and implementation assistance. In executive session, the committee took action on a series of bills. It adopted an amendment and passed House Bill 1904, which prohibits cat declawing, on a 13-3 vote. It passed a proposed substitute for House Bill 2145 on the 340B drug program on an 11-5 vote after debate over reporting requirements and the state’s authority. It rejected several amendments to House Bill 2182 on abortion medications held by the Department of Corrections, adopted an Indian health care provider priority amendment, and passed the bill on a 10-6 vote. House Bill 2211 on medically tailored meals passed 15-1. The committee also passed Substitute House Bill 2247 on veterinarian-client-patient relationships, Substitute House Bill 2329 on midwives and lactation consultants, and Substitute House Bill 2339 on nurse licensing, each with technical amendments and broad support.

Transcript Highlights:

• support for parents' well-beings.
• Deborah Bon Upson, of Parents for Public Schools, in support.
• H for Excellence of Education, in support. H Early Learning Consortium, in support.
• </c><00:26:09.520><c> and</c> oi um H for excellence of education and oi um H for excellence of education
• </c><00:27:23.600><c> back</c> averages so any help to get parents back averages so any help to get parents

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several health-related bills. HB 72 on pharmacy drew only support, with testimony from the University of Hawaiʻi system, the Board of Pharmacy, pharmacists, and others; no questions were raised. HB 237 on peer support programs also received broad support from the Department of Health, DHS, early learning officials, families, and advocates, with testimony emphasizing the value of peer-to-peer mentoring and support for parents, youth, and people with disabilities; no opposition or questions were noted. HB 250, the prior authorization bill, generated the most discussion. SHPDA supported a revised version focused on reporting prior authorization practices and creating a nonbinding working group to develop automation standards, while PCMA, HMSA, Kaiser Permanente, and others raised concerns about duplicative pharmacy requirements, unintended consequences, and alignment with federal timelines and reporting. Several medical groups and individual patients supported the measure, describing delays and burdens caused by prior authorization. A committee member asked whether the bill’s working group differed from a similar group in Senate Bill 1449, and the witness said it was intended to be the same. HB 303 on health care preceptors was supported by the Department of Health, University of Hawaiʻi, nursing and health care organizations, and the Hawaii Pharmacists Association, which asked that pharmacists’ residency programs be specifically tied to national accreditation standards. HB 341, relating to issuance of SPURS to assist the Hawaii Island Community Health Association, drew support from the health center and related groups. HB 692 on Preschool Open Doors received extensive support from early learning, education, family, labor, and community organizations; testimony stressed the shortage of child care and preschool slots, especially on Kauai, and the need to expand access for families. Committee members asked about adding family child care providers and about licensing/certification barriers, and DHS said the bill was focused on current licensed child care facilities and that certification issues were a separate, broader problem. HB 700 on cognitive assessments also drew strong support, with the Department of Health, the Executive Office on Aging, disability advocates, the Alzheimer’s Association, caregivers, and others urging use of a validated cognitive assessment tool during annual wellness visits and asking that the age 65 threshold be removed; some witnesses supported keeping the data-collection portion as a pilot and emphasized early detection and reporting.

Transcript Highlights:

• The family unit and the parents. So it's a wonderful, wonderful initiative.
• shortages and health science education programs in addition to nursing education programs.
• shortages and health science education programs in addition to nursing education programs.
• , Career and Technical Education, and Health Science Curriculum Framework.
• program, institutional health science education degree, or certificate program.

Committee: Senate Fiscal Policy

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 634, by the Education Committee, an act relating to education, amending Chapter 10, Title
• House Bill 634, by the Education Committee, an act relating to education, amending Chapter 10, Title
• House Bill 635, by the Education Committee, and House Bill 636, by the Education Committee, an act relating
• Houseball number 636 by Education Committee.
• They're an educational group.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This did not compare both parents.
• noncustodial parent child support.
• just 1 parent in those situations, so.
• could say the noncustodial parent or.
• My name is Roberta Lewis, and my interest is that I am a parent and an advocate for parents in my county

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Quality improvements provider education Quality improvements provider education and<00:05:29.000
• </c> family a final benefit is to the parents family a final benefit is to the parents who<00:19:44.840
• In particular, on how education requirements are set, or are not set, for education; how patient care
• ><c> and</c> know education U education awareness and know education U education awareness and Tackle
• </c> current requirements for EMS education current requirements for EMS education we<00:50:24.440><c

Committee: Senate Executive Departments and Administration

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• households, as distinct from a dual-parent household with two female-identifying people or two people
• Sorry, yes, single-parent households. I would be interested to learn that information.
• households, low education, low income, and race and ethnicity.
• Yeah, I can't resist putting my educator hat on here, and Vice Chair, is it Rausch?
• Yeah, I can't resist a, put my educator hat on here, and vice chair, is it Roush?

Committee: Senate Senate Committee on the Census

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Senate Committee on the Census met on December 8 at 9:32 a.m. to examine the dynamics that drive census undercounts and overcounts, with testimony first from Joseph Salvo and then from Susan Strait of the UMass Donahue Institute. Salvo explained the Census Bureau’s two main evaluation tools: demographic analysis, which uses vital records, migration estimates, and Medicare data to produce a national benchmark, and the post-enumeration survey (PES), which compares a separate sample-based count to the census. He said the 2020 census showed a small national net undercount, but larger age- and race-based disparities, including the highest undercount among children ages 0 to 4, higher undercounts for men, substantial undercounts for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, and overcounts among some older and college-age groups. He also described how self-response, non-response follow-up, administrative records, proxy responses, and imputation affected data quality, arguing that proxies and imputation were especially weak and that outreach remains critical for 2030. Committee members asked Salvo to clarify the methods and error bands, the role of international migration estimates, and how the PES differs from the census address list and LUCA. He explained that PES is based on a separate sample of blocks and can add units within sampled blocks, but it does not measure units missed entirely from the original address list; LUCA matters because it improves that list before enumeration. He also discussed age heaping, duplicate responses among older adults, and why group quarters and COVID-related disruptions complicated the 2020 count. Senator Driscoll briefly interrupted to describe Randolph’s successful appeal of its 2020 count after an undercount in disability care homes, and Salvo noted that the post-census group quarters review helped correct some missed facilities. Susan Strait then focused on Massachusetts-specific results. She said Massachusetts’ 2020 count was strong overall, with population growth above the national average and a PES-based finding that the state was overcounted by 2.24 percent, though she emphasized that this did not mean all areas were accurately counted. Using demographic analysis, she said Massachusetts had an estimated 4.15 percent undercount of children ages 0 to 4, with the largest county-level undercounts in Hampden, Suffolk, and Essex, and she linked higher child undercounts to lower educational attainment and female-headed households. Strait also reviewed operational metrics showing that Massachusetts had relatively strong internet self-response, but that non-response follow-up relied heavily on household interviews, administrative records, proxies, and imputation in different counties. She highlighted higher proxy use in college-heavy counties such as Hampshire and Suffolk, and said counties with more minority residents were more likely to have population-count-only cases and other indicators of harder-to-count populations. The hearing ended with discussion of how these findings could inform outreach and census planning for 2030.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> combination of experience and education. combination of experience and education.
• </c><01:54:15.160><c> Section</c> regulation and education. Section regulation and education.
• </c> parent or a guardian. parent or a guardian.
• Two, without the consent of a parent or Two, without the consent of a parent or guardian,<02:21:21.560
• Consent of a parent or guardian.

Keywords: 927, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• She said it is hard to capture, but from stories from parents in the letters, unlicensed respite with
• Sarah Grafstrom continued, giving an example of a retired special education teacher who has a strong
• special education teacher who has<00:26:03.080><c> a</c><00:26:03.399><c> strong</c><00:26:03.640><c
• </c><00:35:18.720><c> or</c> one of them answer but I was a parent or one of them answer but I was a
• parent or I<00:35:18.960><c> was</c><00:35:19.079><c> in</c><00:35:19.160><c> the</c><00:35:19.280><c

Bills: HF729 , HF728

Committee: House Human Services Finance and Policy

Keywords: human services, provider enrollment, medical assistance, healthcare, housing stabilization, substance use disorder, vulnerable adults, fraud prevention, respite care, children, licensed settings, home and community-based services, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• opportunities for higher education.
• Organizations that serve the underserved and create educational opportunities for higher education, lifting
• They are consumers, parents, employers, and voters. here in California. consumers, parents, employers
• A 39-year educator with a doctorate in educational leadership, she supports 24 school districts, eight
• She holds a Doctor of Education and is active in national higher education organizations.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and suspended several rules and journal requirements to facilitate the floor session and a budget subcommittee hearing notice. The chamber then took up Senate Concurrent Resolution 114, designating March 15–21 as National Surveyors’ Week. Senator Grove spoke in support, emphasizing the historical importance of surveyors and their role in infrastructure, property rights, and California’s economy. The resolution passed by unanimous roll call vote, 40-0, and Grove introduced Christy Ashay, president of the California Land Surveyors Association, as a guest. The main item of the day was Senate Resolution 76 recognizing Women’s History Month and honoring 42 women from across California. Senator Menjivar presented the resolution, highlighting women’s leadership and the need to continue advancing equity, pay protections, and opportunity. Senators Richardson, Pérez, Hurtado, Rubio, Wahab, and others spoke in support on behalf of the Black, LGBTQ, Latino, Jewish, AAPI, and other caucuses, each underscoring the contributions of women in public service, civil rights, labor, science, education, and community leadership. The resolution passed unanimously, 40-0. After the vote, the Senate proceeded with an extended recognition ceremony for the 42 Women of the Year honorees from Senate districts statewide, with brief biographies read into the record. The session also included an adjournment in memory of James Bernard Peth, offered by Senator Ashby, who described his work as a teacher, coach, and community volunteer. The Senate announced it would recess and reconvene on March 19, 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• A plant, arts education funding.
• That included principals, APs, arts teachers, general education teachers, special education teachers.
• And our educators, particularly our arts educators across the state, they're sharing these experiences
• They answer to the Department of Education.
• I call myself a traveling educator.

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism and the Assembly Education Committee held a joint informational hearing on implementation of Proposition 28, the 2022 voter-approved arts education funding measure. Chairs emphasized the goal of understanding how the roughly $900 million to nearly $1.1 billion annual funding stream is being used, whether it is supplementing rather than supplanting existing arts programs, and what reporting or guidance improvements may be needed. The Legislative Analyst’s Office reviewed the basic structure of Prop 28: funds are distributed 70% by enrollment and 30% by low-income student counts, 80% must generally be spent on staffing, districts may use up to 1% for administration, and annual local reports and audits are required. Members pressed the LAO on waivers, spending timelines, and whether smaller or rural districts face different challenges; the LAO said some waivers have been issued and that districts have three years to spend each allocation, but statewide data remain limited. WestEd, Create California, and the California County Superintendents described early implementation findings and concerns. Their testimony said schools are using funds for arts materials, staffing, expanded instruction, and field trips, and that many respondents saw positive effects on student access and engagement. At the same time, they reported confusion about allowable uses, supplement-versus-supplant rules, and the 80/20 staffing requirement, along with shortages of credentialed arts teachers and uneven access across districts. Create California argued that Prop 28 has generated optimism but also uncertainty, especially for community arts organizations that have seen reduced contracts as districts bring services in-house. County superintendents and researchers called for clearer statutory guidance, stronger technical assistance, better statewide data, and more support for teacher credentialing pathways. District and county officials then described local implementation. Long Beach Unified said it moved quickly to full implementation, using Prop 28 to expand elementary and secondary arts offerings, hire 56 certificated staff and more than 120 classified coaches, and develop a five-year arts strategic plan tied to equity goals. Butte County and other rural representatives said Prop 28 has enabled restored or expanded programs, including arts teachers, theater, and music offerings, but rural districts still struggle to recruit credentialed staff and to make small allocations workable across large distances. The California Music Educators Association echoed those themes, saying members report both new positions and supplies as well as confusion, fear of audit findings, and inconsistent district guidance. Committee members asked about arts definitions, credentialing, rural pooling of funds, and out-of-state teacher credentials; witnesses said media arts are included, multiple credential pathways exist, and recent legislation has eased some out-of-state credential barriers. The hearing ended with public comment beginning after the panel discussions.

Transcript Highlights:

• And perhaps with parental notifications.
• Absolutely. their parents should know. And that's one way of dealing it also. One last thing.
• And so when federal enforcement ...education equity.
• Parents fear they may not come home to their children. Workers are afraid to go to work.
• educational system.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Committee, regarding education; and Senate Bill 1339, by the State Affairs Committee, regarding education
• But this is just set in parity that high school education is high school education that puts a strong
• Some of those changes have been fixed at the State Board of Education.
• It matters when we say that we want to provide parents with choice when it comes to how they educate
• Parents are already paying for that.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I was on the board for seven years, and I am also the proud parent of a neurodiverse 22-year-old who
• So it is holistic from health care to transportation to housing, education, employment.
• So it is holistic from health care to transportation to housing, education, employment.
• For many people, for parents and families, it's hard to afford hearing aids.
• And for many people, for parents and families, it's hard to afford hearing aids.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities held its quarterly meeting on September 10, with roll call, approval of the June minutes as amended, and welcoming remarks for newly appointed commissioner Rachel Caprilyan and reappointed commissioners. Chair Denise Garlick outlined plans for a statewide community hearing series, beginning with a November 4 hybrid hearing at Needham Town Hall focused on the Boston/Metro West region, and described the creation of a nonvoting advisory council to broaden the commission’s expertise across health care, transportation, housing, education, employment, business, and local disability commissions. Commissioners discussed the nomination process, the need for geographic diversity, and the goal of having the council in place by the December quarterly meeting. The main presentation addressed proposed federal Medicaid and SNAP changes in H.R. 1, with Jennifer Bertrand of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council warning that the law could cut federal Medicaid spending by $1 trillion over 10 years, impose work requirements, require redeterminations every six months, restrict provider taxes, and reduce SNAP benefits. She said these changes could increase uninsurance, create administrative barriers, and threaten home- and community-based services, with a Massachusetts analysis projecting 141,000 to 203,000 MassHealth members could lose coverage over six months. Commissioners and attendees responded that the changes could harm people with disabilities, caregivers, and provider organizations, increase institutionalization risk, and intensify competition for limited state resources; several emphasized the need for disability groups and broader health care stakeholders to coordinate advocacy. Subcommittee reports highlighted recent and upcoming work. The Disability Employment Subcommittee reported on a June “Strength and Support” event, an August presentation by Run the Gamut, and an upcoming MAPC/Employment First workshop in Worcester, while the Long-Term Services and Supports and Health Equity Subcommittee discussed a presentation from the Lurie Institute for Policy Research on community living dashboards and disparities in Medicaid and LTSS. Commissioners also shared announcements about upcoming events, including the Paul Spooner Generational Leisure Summit, the Disability Policy Consortium’s John Winsky Memorial Award ceremony, the Massachusetts Health Council’s annual celebration, and a September 17 hearing on insurance coverage for hearing aids. The meeting ended with congratulations to commissioner Carl Richardson for an accessibility award and a motion to adjourn, which passed.

Transcript Highlights:

• And actually, As legislators, educate ourselves as to what we can do.
• And actually As legislators to educate ourselves as to what we can do.
• And so we will often do lots of education.
• No, so actually, and unfortunately, the parents don't have access.
• We don't always know what's happening with our parent or loved one.

Committee: House Health and Mental Health

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Relevant to this committee, I am a former foster parent here in the state of Washington, somebody who
• I would just say, you know, having lived in the world of early care and education on my come up, tell
• It's kind of a left field, but having lots of conversations around parents.
• And what I've found is that we don't collect information necessarily on who a parent is.
• And Corrections doesn't necessarily do that, and how they define a parent may be different.

Bills: SB5966

Committee: Senate Human Services

Keywords: healthcare, nutrition, medically tailored meals, dietary support, food security, chronic illness, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Before- and after-school programs allow parents to remain employed while their children are safe and
• There have been a number of benefits found in student outcome engagement, educator workload retention
• You've worked with the Department of Education, or they are supportive of this bill?
• The Department of Education and the education agencies are on board as well.
• The Department of Education and the education agencies are on board as well. Thank you.

Bills: SB219 , SB9

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: military pension, military retirement pay, veterans, retiree tax relief, income tax exemption, pension exclusion, Delaware income tax, retirement income, state tax subtraction, armed forces retirement, National Guard, Space Force, Coast Guard, NOAA, Public Health Service, taxable income, Title 30, Section 1106, wetlands protection, nontidal wetlands

Summary: The House Appropriations Committee met to hear several bills, with members repeatedly reminded to focus on fiscal impacts rather than policy merits. The committee first considered SB 9 on freshwater wetlands, which would combine tidal and non-tidal wetlands programs into one permitting framework; supporters said the bill resulted from a two-year consensus process and that the governor’s office and DENREC would absorb a significant share of the cost. Public testimony was largely supportive, emphasizing flood control and ecosystem services, though one speaker opposed the spending. The committee voted to release SB 9. The committee then heard SB 278 on child care assistance, which would preauthorize summer camp for eligible school-age children and create a separate lower co-payment for half-day care. The sponsor and the YMCA of Delaware said the change would better align family co-pays with provider reimbursement and make before- and after-school care more affordable for working families. The committee also released SB 278, SB 168 on alcohol delivery for package stores, SB 120 on health insurance coverage for certain testing and treatment, and HB 4, a pilot program for artificial intelligence and extended reality in schools; HB 4 was described as having a near-$3 million fiscal note and a one-year implementation delay because it was not funded in the budget. Later, the committee approved SB 219, which gradually increases the military pension income tax exclusion from $12,500 to $25,000 over three years and includes related joint-filing and residency changes. Supporters argued it would help attract and retain military retirees and bring federal dollars into the state. The committee also released SB 1, a major primary care reform bill that would increase primary care spending and implement hospital payment reforms, with projected long-term savings to the state employee health plan, and SB 325, which expands background checks and wrap-back monitoring for fire service personnel and adds an investigator position for the Fire Prevention Commission. In each case, public commenters and committee members generally supported the bills, and all were released from committee by recorded vote.

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you know how much those parents can do with that?
• Basically, we talk a little bit about political education.
• Like you are a parent to your 16-year-old sister. That's real.
• Johnson, I want to add one more thing for educational purposes.
• I want to add one more thing for educational purposes.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So those included the delegation of parental rights, 15-5-128, testimony appointment, guardians, minors
• And we also provide education about legislation that is affecting the rights of people with disabilities
• This often results in a recommendation to parents to pursue legal guardianship.
• This often results in a recommendation to parents to pursue legal guardianship.
• of their parents' right to make decisions for the minor.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Rules

Keywords: 989, all