Transcript Highlights:

• The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee will come to order.
• No referee or umpire should fear for their safety at a youth game.
• </c> Sports officials ensure fairness safety Sports officials ensure fairness safety and<00:14:57.519
• </c> continue to disregard for Public Safety continue to disregard for Public Safety and<01:04:12.240
• </c> when the commissioner of Public Safety when the commissioner of Public Safety actually<01:11:38.760

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Convening Committee on Public Safety informational briefing.
• have worked diligently, I know over the weekend, to really put together what I consider a Public Safety
• 101 for the members of the Public Safety Committee.
• the Public Safety Committee members of the Public Safety Committee uh<00:09:35.399><c> this</c><00:09
• </c><01:31:42.920><c> thanks</c> Aloha, members of the Committee on Public Safety.

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> considered high risk to public safety considered high risk to public safety and<00:35:56.880><c>
• </c> investment request will improve safety investment request will improve safety of<00:37:36.079><c
• These structures pose active safety and security risks.
• Obviously, MDOT has more safety and traffic flow concerns.
• </c> safety and traffic flow uh concerns. safety and traffic flow uh concerns.

Committee: House Capital Investment

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee will come to order.
• Judicial branch safety and security is our top priority.
• The first has to do with a safety those.
• </c><00:04:23.360><c> and</c> supplemental funding for safety and supplemental funding for safety and
• </c><00:19:15.919><c> and</c> the judicial branch's safety and the judicial branch's safety and security

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is an act to improve parking and pedestrian safety.
• Also, it would establish a pedestrian safety design advisory group to investigate best practices.
• The pedestrian safety design advisory group would investigate best practices.
• That would allow us to have greater public safety. Our staff is completely in favor of it.
• I'm responsible for protecting the public health and safety and welfare of our town.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government held a hybrid hearing on bills related to land use, zoning, permitting, municipal governance, and homelessness. Early testimony focused on a home rule petition for Ipswich to remove a residency requirement for a town manager, with supporters saying it would broaden the applicant pool and help fill a vacant permanent manager position. Another panel backed legislation to change the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission’s governance so ratepayers in surrounding communities would have representation, arguing the current board structure leaves many users without a voice in rate-setting and capital decisions. Several housing and zoning bills drew testimony. Senator Keenan and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association supported a bill to toll the one-year period for acting on a variance while an appeal is pending, saying appeals should not consume the time needed to implement approved projects. Representative Murray and the Real Estate Bar Association also testified on broader zoning reforms, including changes to undersized lots, merger rules, hearing deadlines, appeals, and variance standards; they argued the proposals would reduce delay and uncertainty and help housing production. Committee members questioned whether shifting zoning appeals from de novo to closed-record review would limit new evidence, and the witnesses said the change would speed cases while preserving limited opportunities to supplement the record. The committee also heard testimony on bills to end the criminalization of homelessness. Representatives, advocates, and shelter organizations said local camping bans and fines are counterproductive, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision, and urged a statewide response centered on housing and public health rather than punishment. Other municipal bills included remote participation in open town meetings for Wayland and a statewide local option, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett charter changes, and Cambridge’s request to use automated parking enforcement and mail parking tickets. The hearing also included testimony supporting fairground zoning flexibility, a Shrewsbury solar siting bill, and an Inspector General bill clarifying county land disposition procedures by requiring written notice to DCAM and a defined response period. No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• We really appreciate the investments that will help counties protect the safety net.
• And also ask for the increase in the safety net.
• And also ask for the increase in the safety net of what it says.
• And also ask for the increasing and the safety net of what it says.
• This budget protects patients and keeps the safety net intact. We urge support. Thank you.

Summary: The Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee heard AB 109, the Budget Act of 2026, as the main item. Committee leaders described the legislative budget agreement as a balanced two-year plan with about $355.9 billion in total spending, $253 billion from the General Fund, and $36.5 billion in reserves. The Legislative Analyst and Department of Finance said the package assumes about $5.5 billion in higher revenues than the May Revision and uses those resources for a mix of spending changes, including higher Proposition 98 support, additional child care slots, housing and homelessness funding, delayed Medi-Cal reductions, and added support for counties, public hospitals, and distressed hospitals. The administration said the plan resembles the May Revision’s overall structure but includes new spending and revenue assumptions, and members noted that separate revenue trailer bills would be heard later in the week. Much of the committee discussion focused on Medi-Cal, H.R. 1, and the impact on immigrants, low-income workers, counties, and hospitals. Several senators criticized the budget for locking in savings from delayed or reduced Medi-Cal coverage and for not including a mechanism to restore eligibility, while administration and LAO staff said the package delays some reductions but does not automatically reinstate coverage. Finance staff said roughly 1.5 million to 2 million people with unsatisfactory immigration status would move from managed care to fee-for-service, with coverage largely unchanged except for certain services not federally allowed. Members also discussed county administrative funding, indigent care, public hospital support, and the expected rise in uncompensated care. Other topics included In-Home Supportive Services, child care, homelessness funding, Prop. 36, courthouse construction and new judgeships, transit and cap-and-invest/GGRF funding, local journalism, and workforce or reentry programs. Committee members split along party lines in their comments. Democratic members generally supported the agreement as a difficult but responsible compromise that protects core services, preserves reserves, and makes targeted investments in education, housing, health care, and justice system capacity. Republican members argued the budget relies on unrealistic revenue assumptions, does not sufficiently reduce spending, and includes costly policy choices and tax increases. Public testimony largely came from advocates and stakeholders who supported IHSS, Medi-Cal, child care, domestic violence services, hospitals, transit, and other programs, while some business and health plan representatives raised concerns about tax proposals and the shift from managed care to fee-for-service. The chair then moved the committee to public comment and indicated that the revenue bills would return later in the week; no final vote on AB 109 is reflected in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• What that means is, unfortunately, public safety power shutoffs.
• PG&E calls it enhanced power line safety settings.
• zone, not Zone Zero, because that sounds like it's negative, but the safety zone around it.
• But the great news about fire safety is that it can be done at a relatively cost-effective measure.
• But the great news about fire safety is that it can be done at a relatively cost.

Summary: The Senate Committee on Insurance held an information hearing on the impacts of climate change and catastrophic wildfire on California’s insurance market, with opening remarks focused on the state’s affordability, availability, and stability problems. Chair and members discussed the role of SB 254’s report, the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, the growth of the FAIR Plan, and the need to better align insurance regulation, mitigation, and land-use decisions. The Vice Chair noted the importance of hearing from industry as well as consumer and academic experts, and Senator Becker said the report would inform further committee work. Amy Bach of United Policyholders described how climate-driven wildfire and flood risk, combined with inflation, insurtech, and risk modeling, have reduced competition and pushed more homeowners into the FAIR Plan and non-admitted surplus lines coverage. She said availability is improving somewhat, but affordability will depend on mitigation, insurer competition, and fair rate regulation. In response to questions, she emphasized underinsurance as a long-running problem, supported stronger insurer responsibility for replacement-cost estimates, and suggested a public reinsurance backstop and more mitigation funding rather than removing wildfire coverage from basic policies. Nancy Watkins of Milliman and Michael Wara of Stanford argued that the market problem is fundamentally that expected claims and expenses now exceed premiums because too many homes are burning. They said California needs both risk reduction and actuarially sound pricing, along with a state mitigation framework that targets the highest-risk communities and prioritizes home hardening, defensible space, and community-scale mitigation over broad acreage-based spending. They also discussed the role of non-admitted carriers as a gap-filler, the need for better data on reconstruction costs and mitigation effectiveness, and the importance of sustained funding rather than one-time grants. A later panel with Frank Freebalt of Cal Poly and Michael Golnar of UC Berkeley focused on modeling and mitigation science. They said wildfire policy should treat the issue as a structure-ignition and urban conflagration problem, not just a wildland fire problem, and stressed integrated land-use, utility, and community mitigation. Members asked about zoning, building codes, utility hardening, and who should pay for mitigation; witnesses said older, denser neighborhoods are the highest priority, that utilities must improve operational safety measures, and that targeted mitigation in the highest-risk areas offers the best return. No votes or formal actions were taken at the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Or were the positions performing important public safety functions?
• A small percentage of those are deemed a public safety threat.
• So I will turn it over to Chief to talk some about public safety and And the wolves.
• So, but with public safety, like the director said, it is a, So, but with public safety, like the director
• Is it going to impact public health or safety?

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Pedestrians face serious safety risk in state-maintained rights-of-way that are not designed for foot
• It also allows local governments to authorize limited safety-based exceptions by ordinance, provided
• </c> when safety conditions allow. when safety conditions allow.
• </c> authorize limited safety-based authorize limited safety-based exceptions<00:31:23.560><c> by</c>
• </c> design and safety standards. design and safety standards.

Keywords: 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I also thought it might be good—the Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hansen is here, and he's got
• I also thought it might be good—the Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hansen is here, and he's got
• I also thought it might be good—the Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hansen is here, and he's got
• I also thought it might be good—the Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hansen is here, and he's got
• It's really important to safety and uh I just appreciate this.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• credible safety threats.
• Page 74 is their safety and operations, State Road.
• Mark James, I'm the director in the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
• Mark James, I'm the director in Missouri Department of Public Safety.
• Page 169, this is safety and security. This is safety and security.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, I'm going to go back to school security or school safety. So, Mr.
• You Also have on line 84 about 200 for the school safety summit.
• There's a school safety summit, and that was for $200,000.
• So, in addition to the Safety Summit and the Panic Button Set schools on Line 56.
• There's an additional line item for $1.5 million for school safety.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The reason for this amendment is we have made great strides this session in regard to public safety.
• Establishing a multitask agency chaired for the Department of Safety. I'm making an ITL motion.
• Establishing a multitask agency chaired for the Department of Safety. I'm making an ITL motion.
• I'm making an ITL Department of Safety. I'm making an ITL motion.<01:03:02.880><c> Second.
• </c><01:12:41.440><c> of</c> important thing is family safety of important thing is family safety of

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm the Undersecretary of Public Safety for Criminal Justice.
• Sheriff's offices are very good at what we do in safety.
• And if I looked up, I think I saw Sheriff Ogden walk in from Dukes County, ...do in safety.
• We had health and safety commissions, but we could go on and on.
• For the safety of those women, if we believe in reentry, if we believe in fixing societal right?

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The commission met to continue its review of the county sheriffs’ role in corrections, reentry, and public safety. After approving the prior meeting minutes, the sheriffs completed a lengthy presentation describing how their offices provide regional jail services, women’s programming, mental health and substance use treatment, reentry support, community partnerships, and auxiliary public safety functions such as BCI work, TRIAD, Meals on Wheels, and event support. They emphasized that services are tailored to local needs, that women’s facilities are designed to keep mothers close to family and support reunification, and that programming, housing, and job placement are central to reducing recidivism. They also discussed challenges including K2/synthetic drugs in facilities, gang classification and separation, and the difficulty justice-involved people face obtaining IDs and birth certificates, especially for people from Puerto Rico. Commission members generally praised the sheriffs’ work and asked for more detail on how regional women’s facilities operate, how community-provider cuts might affect reentry services, how no-cost phone/tablet communication is balanced against programming time, and what the most essential programs are if funding is reduced. The sheriffs said programming must come first, identified mental health, substance use treatment, domestic violence programming, and housing/job placement as critical, and explained that community organizations and the Registry of Motor Vehicles are key partners in reentry. They also described their approach to gang management through classification, separation, and information sharing, and noted that the Registry has become more flexible but Real ID requirements have made documentation barriers more significant. The commission chair stressed that the purpose of the study is collaboration and improving system performance, not an adversarial effort against the sheriffs or a decarceration debate. Members noted that future meetings would hear from probation in June and the Department of Correction in July, and that the commission would continue gathering information before deciding on next steps. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn, which passed unanimously.

Transcript Highlights:

• But then the next row right after that, the next largest piece of our portfolio is public safety, which
• That's significant in this context because the spike in public safety occurs, not surprisingly, during
• Unless it's an extreme emergency and then it has to be a public safety issue.
• It's not specific to public safety.
• The second from the back is the public safety...

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Special Commission on Correctional Consolidation and Collaboration met on October 17 with members attending in person and virtually. The commission approved the September 15 minutes and then heard a detailed presentation from DCAM Commissioner Adam Bakey on the correctional facilities portfolio, including the age and condition of DOC and sheriff facilities, deferred maintenance, ADA compliance, decarbonization mandates, and how capital funding is allocated. Bakey said the correctional portfolio includes 36 facilities, with average ages over 50 years, and described how older, rapidly built facilities from the tough-on-crime era now face significant maintenance and replacement needs. He also explained the distinction between catch-up deferred maintenance and ongoing keep-up needs, and noted that construction costs and code thresholds have made projects more expensive. Commissioners and sheriffs asked about ADA requirements, aging and overcrowded facilities, hazardous materials, parts availability for obsolete systems, plumbing and health risks, and whether a newer, more modern correctional facility should be considered. Bakey said many projects trigger broader code upgrades, that some dormant facilities remain in the portfolio, and that health-care and correctional construction are among the most expensive building types. He outlined current funding, including annual deferred maintenance allocations for DOC and formula-based five-year commitments for sheriffs, plus a new competitive capital program for larger sheriff projects. He also explained the Designer Selection Board and “house doctor” process used to procure architects and engineers. The commission then shifted to planning its next steps, focusing on public input. Members agreed the next meeting should likely be a public hearing or include public testimony, with possible input from people with lived experience and consideration of facility tours, especially of women’s facilities such as Framingham. Members emphasized the need to define the commission’s scope clearly so testimony stays focused on structural and consolidation issues rather than all correctional policy topics. The meeting ended with plans for the co-chairs to coordinate the public process and a motion to adjourn, which passed without opposition.

Transcript Highlights:

• . bill builds on the foundation established by SB 20 by Senator Menjivar, which introduced strict safety
• Here with us to testify, I have Glenn Farrell and Kirk Kimmelchew from the Silica Safety Coalition.
• I have Glenn Farrell and Kirk Kimmelchew from the Silica Safety Coalition.
• around this bill, and the follow-up to the bill last year from Senator Benjavar, surrounds worker safety
• These are conditions that would violate workplace safety laws in virtually any other setting.

Summary: The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee heard and advanced a series of bills, mostly on worker safety, wages, workforce training, and retirement savings. AB 2137 (Chen) would strengthen safety rules and certification for artificial stone fabrication shops to reduce silica exposure; AB 2499 (Gibson) would require Cal/OSHA to develop heat-illness protections for incarcerated workers and staff in correctional facilities; AB 2300 (Arambula) would streamline the disbursement of state and federal workforce funds; AB 2646 (Krell) would establish a minimum wage floor for certain agricultural workers; AB 2227 (Connolly) would tighten licensing and bond requirements for farm labor contractors and add default-judgment procedures for wage claims; AB 1869 (Haney) would create a reporting process for alleged REIT interference in hotel operations; AB 2650 (Pellerin) would expand CalSavers with emergency savings accounts and other updates; AB 2634 (Zbur) would prioritize labor-management partnerships in High Road Training Partnership grants; and AB 1888 would require skilled-and-trained workforce and prevailing wage standards for work under the Safe Home Grant Program. AB 1534 (Irwin) would create California’s approval process for short-term Pell-eligible workforce programs. The committee also took up several consent items, including AB 1904, AB 1980, AB 2550, AB 2078, and AB 2682. Most bills were described as aligning state programs with federal law or improving worker protections and program quality, while opponents generally raised concerns about costs, administrative burden, regulatory uncertainty, or reduced oversight. Testimony was largely split along labor and industry lines. Supporters included labor unions, legal aid groups, workforce boards, and affected workers or family members, who emphasized heat illness, wage theft, silica exposure, poor prison conditions, and the need for higher-quality training and retirement access. Opponents on several bills, especially those affecting agriculture, REITs, and workforce administration, argued the measures would increase costs, create uncertainty, or duplicate existing law. On AB 2227, committee members engaged in extended discussion about Labor Commissioner delays and whether the bill’s default-judgment and bond provisions would meaningfully help workers. On AB 1869, members and witnesses debated whether the bill created new standards or simply improved enforcement of existing REIT rules. The committee voted to pass all of the measures heard, generally with motions to do pass and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. Several bills were held open for absent members during the meeting, and later add-on roll calls recorded additional ayes, moving the bills out of committee. The meeting concluded after the consent calendar was approved and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• , it's a safety issue.
• But we're concerned with the safety of these students.
• for safety.
• And safety is definitely an issue on college campuses, particularly for women.
• I don't understand how that promotes safety at all.

Committee: House House and Governmental Affairs

Summary: The House and Governmental Affairs Committee met on April 14 with a quorum and heard several recommitted public-records and government-transparency bills, along with one local audit bill and one campaign-solicitation bill. HB 55 by Rep. Villio would prohibit intentional public disclosure of juror identifying information and create a public records exception; after adopting technical amendments, the committee reported it favorably as amended. HB 608 by Rep. Chassion would make documents tied to intercollegiate athletics revenue-sharing programs confidential; supporters said it protects student-athletes and institutional competitiveness, while the Louisiana Press Association argued it would shield public money and reduce transparency. The bill was reported favorably after a roll call vote of 9-3. HB 1045 by Rep. LaCombe would raise the audit threshold for certain local auditees in a limited parish-specific application, with an amendment tying annual audits to entities in Pointe Coupee Parish above a revised revenue level and indexing the threshold to CPI. Committee members and local-government groups said the change would reduce unnecessary audit costs for small water and special districts while preserving oversight; it was reported favorably as amended. HB 1035 by Rep. Beham would add penalties for exploitative campaign fundraising aimed at elderly people; supporters described scam-like tactics and recurring withdrawals, while some members questioned how it would be enforced and whether existing fraud laws already covered the conduct. The committee ultimately reported the bill favorably by a 7-5 vote. HB 1049 by Rep. Owen would tighten open-meetings requirements by improving notice posting, minutes, and training expectations for those presiding over public bodies. Supporters said it would help volunteers and small boards comply with the law, while the Police Jury Association raised cost and staffing concerns for thousands of local entities; the bill was reported favorably. HB 1177 by Rep. Zerang would create a public-records exemption for personal information related to hunting and fishing lottery licenses, prompted by concerns that lottery winners could be harassed by animal-rights activists; it was reported favorably. At the end of the meeting, two other bills were deferred at the sponsors’ request, and the committee adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Broadband is an essential service necessary for work, receiving health care, education, public safety
• Broadband is an essential service necessary for work, receiving health care, education, public safety
• We all know that communication services are key to public safety, and Californians need to action.
• It's making sure that we're performing our carrier oversight to support public safety, the resilience
• It's making sure that we're performing our carrier oversight to support public safety, the resilience

Summary: The Communications and Conveyance Committee held an oversight hearing on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), focused on telecommunications, broadband deployment, resiliency, and the California Teleconnect Fund. Chair Tasha Boerner said the hearing was intended to examine structural issues at the CPUC, including whether telecommunications oversight should remain within the commission, while also reviewing major programs such as Last Mile, BEAD, carrier of last resort, and emergency preparedness. CPUC President John Reynolds and Deputy Executive Director Anna Maria Johnson described the commission’s work on public safety, universal service, broadband grants, Lifeline modernization, and network resiliency, including the 72-hour backup power requirement and merger review. Members questioned CPUC officials about the pace and metrics for Last Mile and BEAD projects, the relationship between middle-mile and last-mile buildout, and how the commission balances carrier obligations with the risk of driving providers out of high-cost areas. They also pressed the CPUC on the California Lifeline home broadband pilot, asking when enrollment would be available, which providers were participating, how much of the state would be covered, and what the surcharge impact would be. CPUC said 15 providers had been approved, one was already serving customers, and the rest were still onboarding, and it committed to provide follow-up information on timelines, coverage, and costs. A major portion of the hearing centered on the California Teleconnect Fund and proposed changes to how schools would access the program. Superintendent Tony Thurmond argued strongly against shifting administration from county offices of education and districts to individual schools, saying it would add burden, worsen inequities, and risk underuse of a valuable broadband subsidy. Committee members echoed concerns that smaller schools and districts may lack the staff to manage direct applications and reporting. In public comment, the Los Angeles County Office of Education supported the CDE’s position and urged changes that would align the program more closely with E-Rate and reduce administrative burdens. No formal vote was taken, and Chair Boerner closed by saying she remained committed to pursuing reforms to the CPUC and referenced her bills AB 2289 and ACA 9.

Transcript Highlights:

• Blood donor and patient safety are top priorities.
• Their presentation included the following recommendation: proactive and modernized safety surveillance
• Of course, we don't hesitate to transport when safety requires it, but many transports... ...could be
• These safety measures were not things required of my midwives by the state, and...
• I just urge for safety amendments being made to this bill. Thank you. Thank you, committee.

Committee: House Health and Welfare

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• would have opportunity to go to the firing range and they would also have meetings to talk about safety
• 20 years in law enforcement and I served as a police chief, and currently I serve as the Chief of Safety
• We know that survivors often, once they report whether it is by a civilian or by an officer, face safety
• That is why advocates are trained in safety planning.
• Members, as someone who served nearly 23 years in public safety, I know what it means to do the right