Transcript Highlights:

• It was a famous laboratory called the Laboratory of Information and Decision Sciences, and then he died
• but in the university we have research that involves human subjects, animals, FERPA, HIPAA, and clinical
• ><00:55:25.480><c> trials</c><00:55:26.319><c> so</c><00:55:26.839><c> all</c> involves Hippa so clinical
• trials so all involves Hippa so clinical trials so all of<00:55:27.480><c> that</c><00:55:28.440><c>
• A few of the members were with me when we did a tour of the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory, so that group

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, they're cutting $50 million just today on public clinics, so I don't think they're going to be
• strengthening readiness and resilience across communities; and delivering reliable public health laboratory
• strengthening readiness and resilience across communities, and delivering reliable public health laboratory
• Covered California and our agency and UCSF, to develop a cross-sector network of public health and clinical
• nonprofit agency here in Sacramento that serves those living with HIV, as well as through our Sunburst Clinic

Summary: The committee heard a series of budget and oversight presentations from CalHHS-related departments and agencies. CalHHS opened with a broad overview of its 2026-27 budget and priorities, including behavioral health, housing and human services integration, children and youth services, and aging/disability supports. OICR then presented its budget and its SB 823 realignment report on youth formerly committed to DJJ, saying county implementation varies widely but that the state has not seen evidence of net widening in the available data. OICR recommended climate surveys, youth advisory councils, stronger behavioral health and education programming in secure youth treatment facilities, better transitional planning, and improved longitudinal data systems. The agency also described a Title II federal grant transition problem, saying it cannot yet pay some subrecipients for prior work and is awaiting federal action on retroactive spending authority and an administrative funding adjustment. The Ombudsperson division requested two additional positions to address a growing complaint workload and access issues with counties over youth meetings, records, and grievance files; LAO raised no policy objection but noted the ongoing General Fund cost. The State Council on Developmental Disabilities requested $730,000 General Fund ongoing to cover the gap between federal limits on administrative overhead and the actual cost of an interagency agreement with the Department of Social Services. EMSA presented its department overview and several proposals, including a delayed AB 716 ambulance rate report, a $2.6 million request to replace aging disaster-response vehicles, a $250,000 security architecture assessment, and four positions plus ongoing General Fund for HR, enforcement, and legal workload. Members questioned the delay in the AB 716 report, the optics and timing of the vehicle replacement request, and whether EMSA was doing enough to prevent future staffing and enforcement problems. LAO repeatedly noted the ongoing General Fund implications of EMSA’s requests. The Department of Community Services and Development sought reappropriation of unspent Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund money for the Low-Income Weatherization Program and described a Proposition 4-funded continuation of the farmworker housing component, which would require a new statewide administrator and program design process. The Department of Rehabilitation requested authority to draw an additional $60 million in federal funds annually and add 54 positions to meet sharply increased Vocational Rehabilitation caseloads; LAO had no concerns. Child Support Services proposed restoring a prior reduction to local child support agency funding and reported higher federal performance incentives, while also presenting a supplemental report on full pass-through of child support collections to CalWORKs families, estimating about $150 million annually for full pass-through or about $80 million for a state/county-only approach, plus automation costs. Members questioned why funding should rise when caseloads are declining, and whether the policy could be made cost-neutral. CDPH closed the hearing with an overview of its $5.1 billion budget and its state of public health report, highlighting record-low mortality and higher life expectancy, but also rising overdose deaths among ages 25-44, persistent maternal and infant mortality disparities, and the need for stable public health and emergency-response capacity; no votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I sit on a community clinic called the Care Clinic, where we offer medical, mental, and dental health
• lunch, I'm going to have Megan kind of run through the details of the trip to the Idaho National Laboratory
• chairman of the Legislative Management to hold a meeting of this committee at the Idaho National Laboratory
• Next fall, that cask is going to go on a rail car and be shipped to Idaho National Laboratory, where
• industry FOA award by the Department of Energy to further mature our technology at Idaho National Laboratory

Summary: The Advanced Nuclear Energy Committee met to hear a series of presentations on the economics, financing, workforce, and community impacts of advanced nuclear deployment in North Dakota. William Bridge of Nucleon Energy presented the committee’s economic impacts and private-sector financing report, estimating construction and operating job impacts, local spending, and state/local tax effects for hypothetical SMR projects. He said the report assumes first-of-a-kind costs are still high, used a $6 million per megawatt nth-of-a-kind proxy, and estimated peak construction workforces of about 500 for a 200-MW plant and 1,000 for a larger facility, with roughly 100 operating jobs for a 200-MW plant. Committee members questioned security costs, capital cost assumptions, water and transmission siting constraints, and whether the model included fuel and waste; Bridge said the report included initial fuel in capital cost and that waste disposal is funded through existing federal mechanisms. Lori Brady of the Nuclear Energy Institute then outlined national nuclear workforce needs and NEI’s strategic workforce planning efforts. She described declining labor-force participation, retirements, and the need for a much larger future workforce, and said NEI has organized recommendations around career awareness, pipelines, training and qualification, policy support, retention, and nontraditional recruitment. She highlighted tools such as the Nuclear Works career website, the Nuclear Energy Academic Roadmap, the new federal Energy and Natural Resources career cluster, and the Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program for community colleges. Members asked about AI, timing for training relative to plant development, and whether advanced manufacturing would reduce staffing needs; Brady said AI is not expected to replace workers and that training timelines depend on the specific project and staffing plan. The committee also heard from Gary Yaco, mayor of Red Wing, Minnesota, who described Prairie Island’s role in his community. He said the plant provides a large share of local property tax revenue, supports well-paid jobs, contributes to emergency preparedness funding and training, and is broadly supported by the city despite periodic protests and public concerns. He emphasized the plant’s security, regular drills with local and federal responders, and the absence of problems with dry cask storage. Later, Benton Arnett of NEI discussed the current financing landscape for advanced nuclear, explaining how tax credits, federal loan support, off-take agreements, and new business models are helping projects move forward. He said early projects face high upfront costs and long lead-time procurement, but that investor confidence is improving as federal policy and regulatory streamlining continue. The committee asked about waste funding, comparisons with natural gas, the effect of political shifts on investor confidence, and whether the market will narrow to a few winning technologies; Arnett said the industry is still sorting that out, but expects clearer winners in the late 2020s and early 2030s. The meeting concluded with an introductory presentation from Julie Kazeraki of DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, who said the office is focused on accelerating nuclear deployment through financing support.

Transcript Highlights:

• There are safety edits and clinical edits.
• My clinic did not close in 2020.
• That put my clinic in a very big bind.
• We exempted clinical trials, obviously, for people that have subjected themselves to clinical trials.
• I've been reading the Cleveland Clinic study that just recently came out.

Bills: SB227 , SB269 , SB407 , SB463 , SB527 , SB547 , SB1283 , SB1380 , SB1383 , SB1511 , SB1640 , SB1784 , SB2069

Committee: Senate Health & Human Services

Keywords: school funding, education reform, state budget, property taxes, equity in education, healthcare policy, vaccines, exemptions, religious beliefs, public health, workplace violence, healthcare facilities, definition expansion, safety regulations, health and safety code, health insurance, anesthesia, pediatric dental services, coverage, medical necessity

Transcript Highlights:

• This funding will modernize an existing, fully operating clinic so we can meet growing demand.
• This will be a learning laboratory for our students.
• project adds needed simulation-based space for students in the health sciences to train at a time when clinical

Bills: HB2295

Committee: House Capital Budget

Keywords: Washington capital budget, supplemental capital budget, capital appropriations, state building construction account, taxable building construction account, climate commitment account, natural climate solutions, housing trust fund, affordable housing, supportive housing, homelessness, manufactured home communities, mobile home parks, school construction, school modernization, school seismic safety, healthy schools, school electrification, SCAP, behavioral health facilities

Transcript Highlights:

• This funding will modernize an existing, fully operating clinic so we can meet growing demand.
• This will be a learning laboratory for our students.
• project adds needed simulation-based space for students in the health sciences to train at a time when clinical

Summary: The Capital Budget Committee held a hearing on Proposed Substitute House Bill 2295, the supplemental capital budget. Staff said the proposal totals nearly $911 million, including about $400 million in bonds and $511 million from other state and federal sources, with much of the increase over the governor’s proposal coming from Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funding. Major spending areas include housing and homelessness, K-12 construction, human services facilities, and CCA-funded clean energy, decarbonization, and habitat restoration projects. The chair said the committee would not take amendments at the hearing and planned to vote out the budget on Thursday, with a technical fix striker expected. Testimony was largely supportive of the House proposal, with many witnesses asking the committee to preserve or increase specific items in final negotiations. Housing advocates urged support for the Housing Trust Fund, manufactured housing preservation, and projects such as Alliance Place, Cloverdale Cottages, Cherry Street Village, Somos, and the Thrive Center. Education and public facility witnesses backed investments in school seismic safety, small district modernization, Healthy Kids Healthy Schools, community college and university maintenance, and projects at Cascadia College, WSU, CWU, and UW. Health and human services testimony supported behavioral health, Tubman Center, HealthPoint, pregnant parenting treatment, and the Yakima Behavioral Health Hub. Natural resources, climate, and infrastructure witnesses praised funding for Flood Plains by Design, community forests, trust land transfer, salmon recovery, the Skokomish land purchase, and the Lower Columbia River dredging project. Several local governments and organizations requested additional support or Senate-level funding for specific projects, while Climate Solutions cautioned against using CCA dollars to backfill existing obligations. The committee heard no votes during the hearing, and the chair closed by saying the budget would be executed on Thursday.

Transcript Highlights:

• The LA Korean Festival, now in its 53rd year; the care clinic that has provided culturally sensitive
• The LA Korean Festival, now in his 53rd year, the care clinic that has provided culturally sensitive
• Mark Sturderenberg, a brilliant engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, approved the journal, and took up Senate Concurrent Resolution 106 by Senator Choi, which designates January 13, 2026 as Korean American Day in California. Senator Choi and many members spoke in support, highlighting the history of Korean immigration, the contributions of Korean Americans in business, public service, culture, education, health care, and civic life, and the significance of Korean American communities across the state. Several members also shared personal and district-specific examples, including Koreatown, the Korean Friendship Bell, Pachappa Camp in Riverside, and Korean American organizations and businesses affected by the recent wildfires. The resolution was adopted on a 38-0 roll call vote. After the vote, Senator Choi introduced Korean American guests visiting the chamber, including the Consul General of Korea in San Francisco and other community leaders. The Senate then returned to motions and committee announcements, including notices that the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and the Human Services Committee would meet after adjournment. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas also requested that SB 626 be removed from the inactive file and returned to the Assembly for amendments. The remainder of the session was devoted largely to adjournment memorials. Senator Umberg honored Monica Lynn Martinez-Hays, a longtime legislative staffer and artist. Senators Pérez and Allen jointly memorialized the 19 people who died in the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, describing the devastation, the community’s recovery, and the names and lives of many victims. Senator Menjivar also asked for adjournment in memory of Marine Corps Sergeant Adrian Carrillo, who died in a December traffic collision. The Senate announced its next floor session for Friday, January 16 at 9 a.m. and then recessed.

Transcript Highlights:

• Section 20 is the Laboratory Building Steering Committee. That was established before.
• And the plan is for four of the regions to become certified behavioral health clinics: Minot, Dickinson
• A provider inflationary increase is the increase we provide to clinics, professional services, medical

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 1012, the Department of Health and Human Services budget. Senator Dever walked through the amended budget, highlighting a roughly $5.85 billion all-funds total, major one-time items for IT, child care, housing, behavioral health, juvenile justice, rural EMS, and supportive housing, along with funding for Medicaid expansion, CCBHCs, opioid settlement uses, and several studies and reporting requirements. Members discussed the provider inflation increase, with Senator Mathern urging a 2%/2% rate instead of 2%/1.5%, but the committee adopted the subcommittee amendment and then passed the amended bill 15-0 with a do-pass recommendation. Senator Dever was named as carrier. The committee then considered House Bill 1540, a school choice/education savings account-style bill. Senator Shibley explained the subcommittee amendments, including clarifying the Bank of North Dakota as administrator, adding a means test at 400% of the federal poverty guideline, and adjusting the fiscal note to about $21.7 million for the second year. In debate, members raised concerns about the bank being assigned duties outside its normal role, the lack of DPI involvement, and whether the means test should be tiered rather than a hard cutoff. The committee rejected a do-not-pass motion 5-10-1, then approved a do-pass motion on the amended bill 9-6-1, with Senator Wobama noted as the likely carrier. The meeting ended with the chair announcing the committee would adjourn and reconvene the next morning.

Transcript Highlights:

• Patrick Foy with the California Clinical Laboratory, also in support of AB 481. Thank you.

Summary: The Assembly Appropriations Committee met on April 23, 2025, with a large regular-order agenda and first approved a consent calendar covering many bills. Several measures were then heard individually, with most receiving support from sponsors and stakeholder groups and no formal opposition in the room, though some bills drew respectful opposition or no votes. The committee also read and deemed approved a lengthy suspense calendar before taking up additional bills and public comment. Among the bills discussed, AB 263 would extend temporary flow regulations on the Smith and Shasta Rivers for five years or until permanent rules are completed; AB 309 would remove the sunset on pharmacists’ ability to provide sterile syringes without a prescription to support HIV and hepatitis prevention; AB 631 would require animal shelters to post intake and outcome data online; AB 792 would allow consolidation of bargaining for court interpreters; AB 867 would ban cat declawing except when medically necessary; AB 1206 would require pre-approved housing plans for small residential projects; AB 787 would require health plans to better help patients find in-network providers; AB 596 would protect workers’ right to wear face coverings unless unsafe; AB 282 would allow housing providers to prefer voucher holders without violating source-of-income discrimination law; AB 738 would create a limited rebuilding exemption for disaster survivors from newer solar requirements; AB 566 would require browsers and mobile operating systems to make global privacy opt-outs easier; and AB 622 would clarify CDCR’s authority to award credits to people serving indeterminate sentences who complete rehabilitation programming. Most of these bills were reported out on roll calls, often with bipartisan or limited dissent. AB 309, AB 631, AB 792, AB 867, AB 1206, AB 787, AB 596, AB 282, AB 738, AB 566, and AB 622 all advanced, while AB 263 also moved forward despite opposition from the Siskiyou Board of Supervisors and the California Farm Bureau. AB 622 generated the most extensive debate, with supporters emphasizing rehabilitation, parole-board review, and cost savings, and opponents warning about public safety and the impact on serious violent offenders. The meeting ended after brief public comment on several other bills on the suspense file and then adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Finally, I wanted to note that public health also includes our Public Health Laboratories, whose mission
• whose mission is to protect Laboratories whose mission is to protect the<00:29:20.840><c> Public's</
• quality clinical research and environmental<00:29:25.360><c> testing</c><00:29:26.360><c> uh</c><00:
• </c><01:31:42.080><c> ready</c><01:31:42.280><c> to</c> as soon as they're clinically ready to as soon
• as they're clinically ready to go<01:31:45.400><c> other</c> go other go other questions<01:31:48.440

Committee: House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So clinical signs associated with New World screw worms, obviously, uh, like I mentioned before, the
• Uh, they did say that they had, uh, sufficient laboratory, uh, capacity and that they were informing
• , how to treat these wounds, and how to submit those wounds to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory
• We can't do it in a laboratory.
• So one of the things that exacerbated the Florida outbreak was that pets showed up at veterinary clinics

Committee: House Agriculture & Livestock

Transcript Highlights:

• The 330 clinical trials that make novel treatments available to the sickest patients now.
• Once again inoperable, no systemic treatments, no clinical trials, no treatment options at all.
• So we're in the clinic with a small molecule drug that seems to boost an immune response for advanced
• James Gray: Have participated in a CPRIT clinical trial or a CPRIT study.
• I am a retiree just retired last year from the Texas Department of Health State Services Laboratory.

Committee: House Appropriations - S/C on Articles I, IV, & V

Transcript Highlights:

• It is underspaced in terms of providing, you know, the adequate classroom and laboratories that are necessary

Bills: SB6 , SB62 , SB74 , SB90 , SB104 , SB119 , SB132 , SB133 , SB135 , SB182 , SB185 , SB193 , SB207 , SB217 , SB229 , SB233 , SB260 , SB262 , SB280 , SB281 , SB300 , SB306 , SB378 , SB382 , SB393 , SB403 , SB422 , SB427 , SB431 , SB434 , SB442 , SB452 , SB456 , SB468 , SB472 , SB487 , SB503 , SB6

Committee: Assembly Ways and Means

Keywords: cloud seeding, Nevada, water conservation, agriculture, Desert Research Institute, victim compensation, hate crimes, property remediation, criminal justice, vulnerable persons, elections, voter registration, mail ballots, candidate eligibility, cybersecurity, education funding, teacher grants, classroom supplies, instructional support, specialized personnel

Transcript Highlights:

• :04:24.000><c> 70</c> Laboratory studies demonstrate that 70 Laboratory studies demonstrate that 70 is
• So at the the time of clinical that.
• </c> people um with dementia or clinical people um with dementia or clinical reasons.<04:31:34.880><c
• This isn't for people with a clinical reason for their behavior.
• </c><04:34:01.359><c> for</c><04:34:01.600><c> their</c> with a clinical reason for their with a clinical

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• For clinical adjacent tasks, there should be perhaps more vigilance.
• For clinical adjacent tasks, there should be perhaps more vigilance.
• I think, one, today there's no categorization of what's clinical, what's non-clinical.
• I think many of these processes are clinically adjacent.
• We’re also dealing with primary care, clinics, CBOs.”

Summary: The joint informational hearing of the Assembly Health and Privacy Committees focused on generative AI in health care, with opening remarks emphasizing both its potential to improve care and its risks around privacy, bias, liability, workforce impacts, and unequal access. Chair Bauer-Kahan and Chair Bonta framed the discussion around how California can encourage beneficial innovation while protecting patients, especially given the sensitivity of health data and the possibility that AI could worsen existing disparities if not carefully governed. The first panel featured representatives from Cedars-Sinai, Kaiser Permanente, Penguin AI, and Google, who described current uses of AI such as ambient clinical scribes, nursing documentation tools, imaging triage, maternal-fetal risk prediction, and administrative automation. Speakers said these tools can reduce clinician burden, improve patient experience, speed treatment, and in some cases improve outcomes, including a reported mortality benefit from a Kaiser predictive model and faster thrombectomy times at Cedars-Sinai. Members raised concerns about accuracy with accents and multilingual visits, whether predictive tools could reinforce bias or lead to more interventions such as C-sections, and how to ensure a human remains in the loop for important decisions. The second panel, including representatives from the California Health Care Foundation, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, focused on policy and governance challenges. Testimony highlighted examples of AI supporting homelessness outreach and community health work, but also warned that biased algorithms can encode inequities, especially when trained on data that reflect under-treatment of Black, rural, or low-income patients. Witnesses urged clearer standards for trustworthy AI, stronger monitoring and governance structures, better data access for accountability, and attention to the safety net’s limited resources. Several speakers argued that states should require health systems to have AI governance processes, clarify liability between developers and deployers, and regulate downstream uses of AI while preserving access to data for lifesaving research and oversight.

Transcript Highlights:

• Professional therapists, increased salaries for graduate medical students and fellows, increased clinical
• to New Mexico to lead the frontier, lead in frontier industries by leveraging existing national laboratories

Bills: HB97 , HB280 , HB183 , HB151 , HB202

Committee: Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: Shaken Baby Syndrome, abusive head trauma, child safety, training and education, healthcare funding, youth internships, workforce development, education, grant funding, employment, drinking water, water quality, environment, public health, water filtration, private well testing, federal funding, childhood sexual abuse, time limitations, civil actions

Summary: The committee took up House Bill 2, the General Appropriations Act, and reviewed the Senate Finance Committee substitute and amendments. Staff described the budget as balanced, with recurring growth of about 2.65% and reserves maintained at roughly 28% if the related disaster reform bill passes. Members discussed the bill’s major spending areas, including health care, child care, public safety, economic development, natural resources, and education, along with technical corrections, cleanup items, and where the public could find the revised bill online. There was also discussion of contingent appropriations that depend on other bills passing, and staff said a hot list of those items would be circulated. Several members asked about specific allocations, including university athletics and facilities funding for UNM and NMSU, tourism, the State Racing Commission, the Spaceport Authority, and school-related items. The committee also discussed reserve levels, oil and corporate income tax revenue assumptions, disaster and fire recovery funding, and concerns about fraud, waste, and abuse in emergency spending. Members raised questions about a Gallup DA funding issue, online school funding, and a personal care/health care item in the Health Care Authority budget. Staff clarified several line items and explained that some appropriations were tied to future legislation or temporary provisions. After debate, the committee adopted the Senate Finance Committee amendments and then voted on the committee report for House Bill 2. The motion to do pass House Bill 2 as amended passed 8-3. The chair noted that the committee would need to return later because of caucuses and the floor schedule, and staff thanked members for the process and preparation.

Transcript Highlights:

• At the top of page 19, item number 2A, regional clinic cost increases in space planning.
• Finally, at the top of page 20, item C maintain laboratory staff.

Bills: SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition to my clinical work, I also have a background in healthcare policy, healthcare economics,
• So they have about 500 to 1,000 hours of clinical experience versus our 12,000 to 16,000 hours of clinical
• They're not going to be able to get their laboratory studies, their x-rays, their medications because
• They're in the ER, they're the hospitalists, they're in the clinics—they're everywhere.
• To be able to fly to the Mayo Clinic or to be able to fly to, you know, Texas, or you know, to go further

Committee: Joint Revenue Stabilization & Tax Policy Committee

Keywords: 996, all

Bills: HB253 , HB153 , HB255 , HB287 , HB371 , SB151 , HB8 , SB177

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: distance learning, virtual instruction, public education, student enrollment, school funding, education standards, pandemic education response, low-carbon construction, construction materials, rebate, environmental product declaration, EPD, embodied carbon, carbon intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonization, industrial incentives, clean manufacturing, cement, concrete

Bills: HB253 , HB153 , HB255 , HB287 , HB371 , SB151 , HB8 , SB177

Committee: Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: distance learning, virtual instruction, public education, student enrollment, school funding, education standards, pandemic education response, low-carbon construction, construction materials, rebate, environmental product declaration, EPD, embodied carbon, carbon intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonization, industrial incentives, clean manufacturing, cement, concrete

Summary: The committee first corrected its action on Senate Bill 151, noting that the earlier motion had been made incorrectly after the committee substitute was amended. Members then moved to do not pass the Senate Finance Committee substitute and do pass the same committee substitute so it could be sent to the floor. The only change identified in the substitute was an adjustment to the sunset date. A roll call vote followed, with several members voting yes and a few voting no or being excused, and the motion to report the committee substitute out with a due pass recommendation carried. After the SB 151 vote, the chair said the committee was essentially finished and expected to meet on the floor the next day, likely around noon, with a plan to come in earlier and handle a few more bills. The discussion then shifted to House Bill 2 and the broader issue of state employee compensation. One member argued that over the past several years the state had already provided substantial pay raises and benefits, citing roughly $1.3 billion in raises, about $184 million annually for health care costs, and $116 million annually for employer pension costs, for a total of about $1.6 billion over four years. That member said the state had done enough on employee compensation and that a proposed 1% increase did not make sense given competing priorities such as child care and other needs. The committee then adjourned, and there was a brief question about when the university fund bill would be heard, but no firm timing was given.