Transcript Highlights:

• Under current law, the allowable limit for lead in covered cookware... with the lead content standard
• While lead-based paint and lead dust are still thought to be the main sources of lead exposure to children
• , it’s important to remove all sources of lead, as there’s no known safe level of lead regardless of
• to focus on lead leaching.
• Lead Safe Mama LLC tests and reports on toxic levels in products including lead, cadmium, mercury, and

Summary: The committee held public hearings on several bills, beginning with SB 5965 on retail bags. Staff explained that the bill would prohibit single-use plastic and reusable film plastic carryout bags, raise the paper bag pass-through charge from 8 cents to 20 cents, exempt certain assistance-program customers from bag charges, and add manufacturer/distributor penalties. The sponsor and supporters, including environmental groups, Seattle Public Utilities, Tacoma, county solid waste representatives, and health advocates, argued the current law has led to thicker plastic bags and more plastic pollution, microplastics, and recycling contamination. Opponents from hospitality, grocery, retail, paper, and plastic bag industries said the bill would raise costs, create checkout confusion, burden food delivery and takeout operations, and amount to a de facto ban on paper bags as well; several urged waiting for more data on the current 12-cent fee. The hearing ended with a reported 1,240 non-testifiers on SB 5965, with 541 pro, 695 con, and 4 other. The committee then heard SB 6030 on plastic bags. Staff said the bill would allow film plastic and paper carryout bags if they meet recycled-content standards, keep the paper bag fee at 8 cents, reduce the plastic bag fee from 12 cents to 8 cents, and remove the minimum thickness standards for reusable film plastic bags while retaining recycled-content requirements and the SNAP exemption. No public testimony was taken on the bill, and the chair noted 208 non-testifiers, with 192 pro, 11 con, and 5 other. Finally, the committee heard SB 5975 on lead in cookware. Staff described it as a third-round update to the state’s cookware lead law, narrowing covered cookware, delaying the 10 ppm lead standard to 2030, and allowing compliance through FDA or European testing methods. Supporters, including some industry representatives, said the current law is unclear and difficult to enforce, that a workable test is still being developed, and that the bill would provide certainty and avoid unintended coverage of safe products. Opponents from Ecology, Health, environmental groups, and consumer advocates argued the bill would weaken Washington’s existing protections, create broad exemptions, and allow high-lead cookware to remain on the market; they also criticized shifting from total-content testing to leach testing. The hearing closed with 609 non-testifiers on SB 5975, with 54 pro and 552 con.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> and we are committed to removing lead and we are committed to removing lead service<00:03:06.160
• The good news is that the lead replacement program works.
• Um and I lead is a powerful neurotoxin.
• </c> exposure to lead, first of all, Mr. exposure to lead, first of all, Mr. Chair. Chair. Chair.
• There's no amount of exposure to lead that is safe, but yet lead service lines are the number one way

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Bill 5975 addresses limits on lead in cookware.
• While lead-based paint and lead dust are still thought to be the largest exposure sources for children
• , it's important to reduce all lead that we can, as there's no safe level of lead regardless of age.
• Lead does not belong in our homes.
• Lead does not belong in our homes.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on two main bills. ESSB 5975 dealt with lead limits in cookware and a proposed striker that would shift more of the standard-setting and testing process to the Department of Ecology under Safer Products for Washington. Supporters, including industry groups, Ecology, the Department of Health, and environmental advocates, said the striker would provide clearer, science-based, and more workable standards while still reducing lead exposure. Some witnesses, including environmental groups, argued the bill should remain stronger, while others said the striker was an acceptable compromise. No vote was taken on the bill during the hearing. The committee also heard extensive testimony on ESSB 5360, which would create tiered criminal penalties for violations of the Water Pollution Control Act, Clean Air Act, and Hazardous Waste Management Act, including felony penalties for knowing or negligent conduct in certain circumstances. The prime sponsor and Attorney General’s Office said the bill targets egregious polluters, adds whistleblower and worker protections, and responds to serious environmental harm cases. Tribal, environmental, and advocacy witnesses supported the bill as a way to hold repeat polluters accountable. Labor, business, industry, county, utility, and forestry representatives opposed it, warning that the language could expose workers and permit holders to criminal liability for mistakes or routine operations and that the bill needed more stakeholder work. At the end of the meeting, the committee took executive action on Substitute Senate Bill 6269, which updates the Motor Fuel Quality Act by modernizing the definition of motor fuel and folding alternative fuels into that definition. The bill passed the committee on a 19-0 vote, with two members excused, and was reported out with a do-pass recommendation.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Bill 5975 addresses limits on lead in cookware.
• While lead-based paint and lead dust are still thought to be the largest exposure sources for children
• , it's important to reduce all lead that we can, as there's no safe level of lead regardless of age.
• The lead does not belong in our homes.
• The lead does not belong in our homes.

Committee: House Environment & Energy

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> process lead process lead fiser<00:54:21.280><c> uh</c><00:54:21.680><c> thank</c><00:54:21.839>
• lead is considered no amount of lead lead is considered safe<00:59:56.960><c> in</c><00:59:57.119><c
• </c> specifically where the issue of lead specifically where the issue of lead shows<01:04:38.440><c>
• </c><01:04:39.680><c> lead</c><01:04:39.920><c> solder</c> shows up is lead is in lead solder shows up
• is lead is in lead solder that's<01:04:40.640><c> used</c><01:04:40.880><c> for</c><01:04:41.000><c>

Committee: House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• There's just a presumption that if it's lead, it's bad, and any level of lead is unacceptable.
• There's just a presumption that if it's lead, it's bad, and any level of lead is unacceptable.
• There's just a presumption that if it's lead, it's bad, and any level of lead is unacceptable.
• There's just a presumption that if it's lead, it's bad, and any level of lead is unacceptable.
• of</c><01:29:16.800><c> lead</c><01:29:17.080><c> is</c> and any level of lead is and any level of lead

Committee: Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, just for um lead service lines.
• Um, with the advent of the Lead and Copper Rule improvements, all lead service lines will have to be
• </c> out for lead service line replacements. out for lead service line replacements.
• The lead service line presentation.
• </c> We strongly support funding the lead We strongly support funding the lead service<01:36:44.960><

Committee: House Capital Investment

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> safe level of lead in drinking water. safe level of lead in drinking water.
• </c> federal funding for lead. federal funding for lead.
• </c> be future lead service line funding. be future lead service line funding.
• It is a great idea because lead pipes cause lead in water and that's a bad thing.
• cause lead in idea because lead pipes cause lead in water<01:26:45.240><c> and</c><01:26:45.360><c> that's

Committee: Senate Capital Investment

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> importantly the question of banning lead importantly the question of banning lead and<00:24:07.440
• </c> smell melted brass which contains lead smell melted brass which contains lead levels<00:26:30.520
• </c><00:26:40.159><c> and</c> ability to be machine cut the lead and ability to be machine cut the lead
• </c><00:30:18.480><c> detection</c> relative difference in lead detection relative difference in lead
• </c> initial compliance when we do find lead initial compliance when we do find lead we<00:42:07.400>

Committee: Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection

Transcript Highlights:

• Now, the lead apron, as you can see, there is X-ray all around us in the room, but the lead apron does
• Lead is heavy.
• The other thing about the lead aprons is there's a lot of maintenance that goes into the lead apron.
• Whenever we buy a lead apron, we have to regularly... ...that goes into the lead apron.
• We hope to lead by example.

Bills: SB1001 , SB1011 , SB1016 , SB1052 , SB1072 , SB1100 , SB1112 , SB1113 , SB1116 , SB1118 , SB1120 , SB1121 , SB1122 , SB1123 , SB1124 , SB1125

Committees: Senate Health and Human Services , Senate Senate Health and Human Services COR

Keywords: appropriation, economic security, blind individuals, older adults, state funding, medical examiners, sudden infant death, autopsy protocols, forensic pathology, public health, assisted living, health care, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, physician orders, informed consent, reimbursement rates, intellectual disabilities, community services, funding appropriations, foreign adversary

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Bill 5975 concerns lead in cookware. You heard this bill on January 14.
• content standard to 2030, and provided for certain lead testing requirements.
• First, under the lead in cookware program and beginning January 1, 2027, cookware containing lead that
• First, under lead and cookware program and beginning January 1st of 2027, cookware containing lead that
• Finally, the department may require manufacturers to provide data on lead levels in products.

Summary: The Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee took executive action on 11 bills. It advanced SB 624 on an Appliance Affordability Index study with an amendment excluding consumer electronics, and SB 6284 on artificial intelligence systems with a proposed substitute adding definitions, developer requirements, exemptions for some entities, and clarifying enforcement. The committee also moved forward SB 5609 on cultural resource protection under SEPA after rejecting an amendment to the proposed substitute, and SB 6172 on coal plant treatment under cap-and-invest after adopting an amendment related to emergency federal orders. Several energy and climate bills were also approved, including SB 6246 on emissions-intensive trade-exposed facilities, SB 5932 on alternative jet fuel production, SB 6269 on the definition of motor fuel, and SB 6223 on community-scaled weatherization projects. On SB 5975 concerning lead in cookware, the committee rejected one proposed substitute and adopted another that bans intentionally added lead in cookware beginning in 2027 and directs future regulation through the Safer Products program. The committee then considered SB 5466 on electric transmission reliability and capacity, taking up multiple amendments to a proposed second substitute. Amendments addressing wildfire risk, corridor identification, landowner consultation, eminent domain, and wildfire liability were all rejected, and the bill was advanced on a due pass recommendation. In each case, the committee’s final action was to pass the bills or substitutes subject to signatures, with several measures referred onward to Ways and Means or Rules as noted.

Transcript Highlights:

• The network will connect literacy leads intentionally.
• It’s the equity leads.
• It's the equity leads.
• These are statewide leads, is that correct? Different leads. These are statewide leads.
• Yes, and they're county office of education leads.

Summary: The committee heard a series of budget proposals focused on education finance, with repeated questions about whether the state’s investments are coordinated, targeted to the highest-need students, and likely to produce measurable results. On the first item, the administration proposed $1 million for a study of California’s curriculum framework, standards, and instructional materials process, plus $250,000 for supplemental ELA/ELD guidance. CDE and Finance said the study would examine how other states organize standards, frameworks, and adoptions, while the chair and members questioned why California has gone so long without updating some standards, what the study would actually accomplish, and whether the proposal was too vague to justify the cost. The issue was held open. The committee then took up a proposed $25 million statewide literacy network within the system of support. CCEE and CDE said the network would coordinate multiple existing literacy leads, create a clearinghouse of evidence-based resources, and improve coherence across the state’s many literacy initiatives. Members pressed on how a one-time, five-year allocation could support a long-term system, how the work would reach distressed and rural districts, and whether the proposal would translate into classroom change rather than just another layer of coordination. The issue was also held open. Next, the committee reviewed a $500 million proposal to expand literacy coaches and reading specialists and to create a math coaches program. CDE described the existing literacy coach cohorts as producing positive reports from participating LEAs, while the LAO recommended modifications, especially for the math coach portion, including limiting eligibility to elementary schools, setting minimum grant amounts, directing funds to eligible school sites, and making eligibility automatic rather than application-based. Members focused on whether coaches were actually being placed at the schools with the greatest need and whether the state has a coherent long-term strategy for literacy and math investments. The committee also heard a $40 million proposal for training and implementation of K-2 reading difficulty screeners, which the LAO said was reasonable but could be reduced because $25 million had already been provided for training; CDE said the new funds were needed for full implementation, procurement, and sustainability. Finally, the committee heard a $10 million proposal for a developmentally appropriate TK multilingual learner screener, with CDE explaining why the preschool language-identification process is different from K-12 EL assessment and the chair asking staff to explore whether a single, more consistent approach could be developed. The meeting concluded with a presentation on universal school meals and kitchen infrastructure, including a $31.5 million backfill, an $84.1 million increase for projected meal growth, a COLA adjustment, and $150 million for kitchen upgrades and training to support freshly prepared meals.

Transcript Highlights:

• and lead solder was... remove lead on all faucets used for drinking or cooking or to install filtered
• and lead solder was was Buildings, when the use of lead pipes and lead solder was used, and we're looking
• We know lead is a potent neurotoxin.
• We know lead is a potent neurotoxin.
• to remove lead.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

Summary: The hearing covered a broad set of environmental and water-related bills, with much of the testimony focused on blue economy and circular economy proposals, drought management, drinking water safety, flood resilience, and water infrastructure funding. Supporters of bills such as H. 987 and H. 988 described grant programs for blue economy workforce development, research, small businesses, and public education about a circular economy. Other speakers backed measures on coastal erosion research, recreational boating dredging, cranberry water-right transfers, sand mining oversight, and a voucher program for home water filtration in PFAS-impacted communities. Several elected officials and advocates also urged passage of bills to require private well testing, improve school drinking water safety, and address sand mining pollution and PFAS contamination. Water supply and drought issues drew extensive testimony. Senator Eldridge and others supported legislation to let the state, through DEP and the drought management task force, impose regional water-use restrictions during droughts and make the task force permanent in statute. Advocates from watershed groups, farms, and environmental organizations said the current town-by-town approach is inconsistent and ineffective, and they described drought impacts on rivers, farms, private wells, and wildfire risk. A related bill on private wells was supported as a way to help homeowners test and remediate contaminated wells, especially in rural areas without public water. The committee also heard testimony on a bill to allow the Lynnfield Water District to join the MWRA, with local officials saying the move would help address PFAS and other contamination and improve supply reliability. Another major panel supported a water infrastructure funding bill, arguing that aging drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems need major new investment, including support for PFAS treatment, sewer rate relief, biosolids research, and regional interconnections. Members asked about costs, funding sources, and the relationship to existing revolving loan funds; witnesses said the bill would need to be paired with future bond funding and new revenue ideas. No votes were taken during the hearing, and the chairs repeatedly invited written testimony and noted the large number of speakers.

Transcript Highlights:

• to lead-free housing.
• This has boosted compliance with the lead law, driven demand for lead hazard mitigation work, and motivated
• Massachusetts' lead law, which was adopted more than 50 years ago, sought to make our housing stock lead-free
• The original Massachusetts lead law was meant to protect children by requiring landlords to de-lead before
• landlords to de-lead before a child under six moved into a home.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Public Health

Summary: The Joint Committee on Public Health held a lengthy hearing to take testimony on a wide range of bills related to environmental health, PFAS, medical device chemicals, food access, lead poisoning, air quality, oral health, and school food additives. Chair Driscoll and Chair Decker emphasized that the hearing was for testimony only, no decisions would be made that day, and that written testimony could still be submitted. They also noted the high volume of speakers and asked witnesses to keep remarks brief. A major portion of the hearing focused on PFAS-related legislation, including bills to restrict PFAS in products and food packaging and to create a PFAS remediation trust fund. Municipal officials and advocates described the high costs of PFAS cleanup, especially for drinking water systems, citing Easton’s multimillion-dollar treatment investments and rate increases. Testimony from legislators and advocates argued that Massachusetts should act despite federal uncertainty, and that the state should stop PFAS at the source rather than leaving municipalities and residents to pay for remediation. The committee also heard strong support for a bill banning DEHP in medical devices, with physicians, nurses, and a bill sponsor saying the chemical can leach from IV bags and tubing and that safer alternatives already exist. The committee also heard testimony on bills to establish statewide food truck permitting, with food truck owners and a senator describing the current system as costly, duplicative, and inconsistent across municipalities. Another set of witnesses supported the “Bean New Deal,” which would expand plant-based food options in public institutions, senior nutrition programs, and WIC, citing health, equity, and cost savings. On lead poisoning, housing advocates and a representative backed bills to expand lead-safe housing requirements to all rental units, arguing the current law contributes to discrimination against families with children and leaves too much pre-1978 housing uncertified. The committee also heard support for an outdoor air pollution bill that would create an advisory committee, identify pollution hotspots, expand monitoring, and set reduction targets, with testimony from environmental justice groups, pediatricians, and legislators describing disproportionate asthma and other health harms in overburdened communities. Later testimony addressed oral health bills to create dental therapists and allow dental hygienists to administer nitrous oxide, with supporters saying the measures would expand access, reduce costs, and help underserved patients. The committee also heard testimony on a bill to prohibit harmful food dyes in competitive school foods, with parents describing behavioral and health concerns tied to synthetic dyes. No votes or formal actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• service lines replaced by 2037. know with lead service lines is some of know with lead service lines
• </c> consideration when we developed lead consideration when we developed lead service<00:13:48.000><
• lead service lines.
• </c> for for lead service line replacement. for for lead service line replacement.
• When it comes to lead service lines, we know that there’s no safe amount of lead for humans to consume

Committee: Senate Capital Investment

Transcript Highlights:

• Two lead support and two lead opposition witnesses will be allowed two minutes each.
• Any lead witnesses? No lead witnesses. Any add-ons in support?
• Your lead witnesses? Okay. All right.
• Lead opposition witnesses. Thank you. Lead opposition witnesses?
• Seeing no other lead support witnesses, can we move on to lead opposition?

Committee: Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development

Summary: The Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development met as a subcommittee due to the lack of a quorum, then later established quorum and took up a series of bills, mostly sunset extensions for licensing boards. SB 1302, SB 1303, SB 1304, SB 1363, and SB 1368 all dealt with extending board operations to January 1, 2031 and making related technical or policy changes. SB 1303 for the Board of Naturopathic Medicine added a fictitious name permit program and other administrative changes, while SB 1304 for the Respiratory Care Board drew significant testimony over whether licensed vocational nurses should be allowed to perform basic respiratory tasks in skilled nursing facilities and hospitals. SB 1363 updated barbering and cosmetology apprenticeship and licensing rules, and SB 1368 added a retired license category and strengthened continuing education oversight for speech-language pathology, audiology, and hearing aid dispensers. The committee also heard SB 865, which would create a California Music Festival Preservation Grant Program to support large independent multi-day music festivals. Supporters, including Visit Sacramento and festival promoters, said the bill would protect jobs, tourism, hotel nights, and local tax revenue; opponents raised concerns about using state funds during a deficit year and questioned whether profitable events should receive subsidies. The committee also heard SB 1297, which would create regional public-private partnerships and financing tools for wildfire mitigation projects; the author and supporters said it would help address the state’s large wildfire prevention funding gap by leveraging local and private investment, while members asked how the bonds would be repaid and whether the state would bear costs. SB 993, presented on behalf of Senator Ochoa-Bogue, would restore privacy protections for mental health professionals working in correctional and state hospital settings by limiting routine disclosure of identifying information while preserving a complaint process. Supporters described safety threats, stalking, and staffing concerns, and the bill passed unanimously. SB 1304 also passed after committee discussion, with members and the author noting ongoing negotiations over LVN scope and training in higher-acuity settings. SB 865 passed on a 9-1 vote, SB 1297 passed 10-0, and the sunset bills SB 1302, SB 1303, SB 1363, and SB 1368 all advanced unanimously to the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 1333 was not heard, and SB 1445 was on the consent calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• Two lead support and two lead opposition witnesses are going to be allowed two minutes.
• Two lead support and two lead opposition witnesses are going to be allowed two minutes each.
• Any lead witnesses? No lead witnesses. Any add-ons for support?
• Lead opposition witnesses? Thank you. Lead opposition witnesses?
• Seeing no other lead support witnesses, can we move on to lead opposition?

Committee: Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development

Transcript Highlights:

• However, we have no single entity coordinating all of these different literacy leads.
• There is no single entity coordinating all of these different literacy leads.
• The basic idea is that we have these one-time funds for different leads.
• These are statewide leads, is that correct? Yes, and they are county office of education leads.
• We have a couple of concerns that lead us to recommending approving...

Transcript Highlights:

• Do I have any other lead support witnesses? Seeing none. Lead opposition? Seeing none.
• Do we have any other lead witnesses? Seeing none, do we have lead opposition? Okay.
• Do we have lead opposition? Seeing none, lead opposition? Thank you. Seeing none. Lead opposition?
• Any other lead opposition?
• At the same time, lead time, lead time. spiked by between 45 and 95%.

Committee: Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development

Transcript Highlights:

• Do we have any other lead witnesses? Seeing none, do we have lead opposition? Okay.
• Do we have lead opposition? Seeing none, lead opposition? Thank you. Seeing none, lead opposition?
• Sorry, lead opposition.
• Any other lead opposition?
• At the same time, lead time, lead time. spiked by between 45 and 95%.

Summary: The committee heard several bills, beginning with AB 1921 on video game shutdowns. The author and Consumer Reports supported requiring game operators to give 60 days’ notice before ending server support and to offer a menu of remedies, including refunds or playable/offline alternatives, while the Entertainment Software Association opposed the bill as an unwarranted new standard for digital products and raised safety and legal concerns about community servers. Members questioned the scope of refunds, copyright, and community-server issues, and the author said he was open to further amendments. The bill was moved on a due-pass motion to Senate Appropriations and placed on call. AB 1965, dealing with cannabis testing, was presented as a measure to strengthen the Department of Cannabis Control’s authority over testing labs and improve product safety and transparency. The California Cannabis Operators Association supported the bill, saying it would help ensure consistent standards and protect consumers in a market with a large illicit component. There was no opposition, and the bill was moved on a due-pass motion to Senate Appropriations and placed on call. The committee also heard AB 2141, which would allow the Board of Pharmacy to resolve certain disciplinary matters through a voluntary pre-accusation settlement process. The author and a supporting pharmacist said it would speed resolution of smaller, technical cases and reduce costs, while a member raised concerns about transparency and whether the public would have less information about licensee misconduct. The bill passed the committee on a due-pass motion to Senate Appropriations, with Senator Menjivar voting no, and was placed on call. AB 2163, creating strategic clean energy and critical mineral development zones, was supported by the author and Imperial County as a way to prioritize geothermal and lithium development in areas like the Salton Sea region; it passed on a due-pass motion to Senate Appropriations and was placed on call. Later, AB 1990 on compounded weight-loss drug advertising drew significant debate. Supporters argued it would curb misleading ads and require disclosures about risks and non-FDA approval, while opponents from the compounding pharmacy community said it would create burdens, duplicate existing false-advertising law, and could harm patient access. Members questioned whether the bill actually addressed targeting minors and whether it would force use of FDA-approved labeling; the author said the bill was meant to add specificity and guardrails. The bill was moved on a due-pass motion to Senate Judiciary, with some no votes, and placed on call. The committee also heard AB 2783 on court reporters, which would add a national certification pathway and extend a remote reporting pilot; it drew support from court reporting stakeholders and passed unanimously on a due-pass motion to Senate Appropriations, placed on call. Finally, AB 2771, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education sunset bill, and AB 2772, the interior design certification sunset bill, were presented and heard with mixed testimony: AB 2771 received support from student and borrower advocates and was moved to Senate Education, while AB 2772 drew both support and strong opposition over CCIDC governance and accountability, with the committee hearing extensive public comment before the transcript ended.