Video & Transcript Research : 'archive preservation'

Page 29 of 447
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

House Finance Division I (03/24/2025)

Transcript Highlights:
  • And the archives, the get anywhere else.
  • And the archives, the state<02:37:34.359><c> archives</c><02:37:35.359><c> is</c><02:37:35.680><c> not
  • </c><02:38:01.760><c> And</c><02:38:02.160><c> I</c> served uh have to be preserved.
  • And I served uh have to be preserved.
  • . preserved. preserved.
Keywords: 928, house, all
Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 733, a third-party litigation financing reporting bill. Representative Cole explained that the bill shifts reporting from the Secretary of State to the courts, which he said removes the fiscal note and helps insurers obtain information for underwriting and premium-setting. The committee accepted the explanation and voted ought to pass; the roll call was 8-0 in favor, with one member taking a pause. The committee then heard House Bill 219, dealing with the renewable portfolio standard and the renewable energy fund. Representative Bose argued the bill would reduce electricity costs by lowering the REC purchase obligation from 220,000 to 170,000, which he said would reduce payments into the renewable energy fund by roughly $1 million to $2 million and save consumers only pennies a month. After questions about timing and whether to wait for a DOE report, the committee voted to retain the bill for further discussion rather than advance it; the motion to retain passed 5-4. House Bill 365 was then discussed as an election-related bill intended to help verify citizenship for voter registration and create a voucher process for people who cannot afford a birth certificate. The sponsor said the Secretary of State may be able to use federal and state databases to verify citizenship, and if not, indigent applicants could receive a voucher reimbursed by the state, with a $25,000 appropriation included. Members raised concerns about the Secretary of State’s access to databases and the bill’s timing and cost, and the committee decided to hold the bill until Secretary Scanlan could come testify. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 552, which updates retiree health coverage rules so dependent children can remain on the plan until age 26, consistent with the Affordable Care Act. DAS officials said retirees pay the full cost for dependents, about $1,000 per month, while the state covers only the retiree and spouse. The committee voted ought to pass unanimously, 9-0. The committee then began discussion of House Bill 572, a housing bill aimed at missing-middle housing, describing a voluntary program to identify developable public land, support construction, and streamline review, but the transcript cuts off before any action on that bill.
MD

Maryland 2026 Regular Session

Senate Floor Session, 3/9/2026 #1

Maryland Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • We will have the State Archives, the President of the Senate, a number of other important guests.
  • We will have the State Archives, the President of the Senate, a number of other important guests.
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services (01/21/2025)

Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

Transcript Highlights:
  • I've been over to the archives, and much of that I think is really underutilized.
  • com in here uh I I've been over to bill com in here uh I I've been over to the<00:42:34.680><c> archives
  • the archives yeah really underutilized the archives yeah but<00:42:40.160><c> if</c><00:42:40.240><c
  • now a lot of it has been on the archives now a lot of it has been digitized<00:42:51.559><c> and</c>
  • and in fact uh you can look at archived and in fact uh you can look at last<00:43:31.319><c> year's<
Keywords: 1189, house, all
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

Senate Chamber Feb 11th, 2026 at 11:30 am

New Mexico Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • And whereas the museum is housed in a historic Santa Fe Armory and now preserves and interprets New Mexico's
  • Hurley family be recognized and the New Mexico Military Museum be honored for its commitment to preserving
  • Act, a little-known secret, and five years of my career was spent over at the State Records and Archives
  • The state records and archives doing rules. That's where rules are housed.
Keywords: 996, all
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

Senate Chamber Feb 11th, 2026

New Mexico Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • And whereas the museum is housed in a historic Santa Fe Armory and now preserves and interprets New Mexico's
  • Hurley family be recognized and the New Mexico Military Museum be honored for its commitment to preserving
  • And five years of my career was spent over at the State Records and Archives doing rules.
  • The State Records and Archives doing rules. That's where rules are housed.
Summary: The Senate opened with roll call, an invocation, pledges, and a series of announcements and guest introductions tied to several recognition days, including Disability Rights Awareness Day, Elevate the Spectrum Day, Geothermal Rising Legislative Day, DWI Awareness Day, and Adult Education and Literacy Day. Senators also welcomed guests for New Mexico Down Syndrome Day and other constituent visits, and the chamber read certificates recognizing the Hurley family and the New Mexico Military Museum, as well as adult education and literacy programs across the state. Testimony and remarks highlighted the service of the Hurley family, the importance of adult education for workforce and civic participation, and the contributions of people with disabilities and their families. The Senate adopted multiple committee reports and received House messages on several bills and resolutions. On third reading, the Senate passed Senate Bill 96, as amended, which streamlines child care licensing and reduces administrative barriers to opening or expanding child care homes and centers; an HOA-related floor amendment was adopted after discussion about local restrictions and neighborhood traffic concerns. The chamber then passed Senate Bill 14, as amended, which expands the state’s health professional loan repayment program with $25 million in funding split between physicians and allied health professionals/nurses, with questions focused on eligibility, prioritization, and whether the funding would be sufficient to address shortages. Senators also debated the bill’s support for part-time service and its role in helping New Mexico compete for medical workers. The Senate next passed Senate Bill 104 unanimously, establishing a process for removing a wildlife commissioner that requires gubernatorial initiation, notice and a hearing, and direct review by the state Supreme Court; debate centered on due process, the removal standard of incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance, and how the new process compares with prior law. Finally, the chamber took up Senate Bill 50, which would give the Law Enforcement Training Standards Council more flexibility to set training curricula for officers, especially in rural departments; sponsors said the bill preserves minimum training while allowing updates for current issues, but several senators raised concerns that the measure could weaken explicit statutory requirements for domestic violence and sexual assault training and asked how those topics would remain protected in the future curriculum.
MA

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on the Judiciary Jun 21st, 2026 at 01:00 pm

Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • This hearing is broadcast and will be recorded for everyone's education as well, and archived on ma-legislature.gov
  • We'll make sure the identity is preserved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Keywords: 995, all
Summary: The Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a late-file hearing on several bills, with Chairs Michael Day and Lydia Edwards outlining hearing rules, testimony limits, and written-testimony procedures. The first bill discussed was H. 4876, a proposal to strengthen supports for survivors of abuse. Representative Carol Faiola testified on behalf of a constituent who described how a lifetime restraining order was effectively undermined after a family member’s death, arguing the bill should limit abusers’ legal standing after death, improve survivor notification and privacy protections, expand coercive-control definitions, and create education and resource programs. The committee then heard testimony on H. 5111, which would strengthen the Massachusetts Antitrust Act. Representative Dave Rogers and Attorney General’s Office antitrust chief Anthony Mariano said the bill would give the state more tools to pursue anti-competitive conduct, including conduct with multi-state effects, while allowing enforcement even when federal authorities are also involved. They said it would increase penalties, clarify that invitations to conspire are violations, protect labor markets, remove limits affecting some housing transactions, and extend the statute of limitations. The committee also heard support for a related “universal 1983” bill, S. 2976/H. 2976, creating a state cause of action for constitutional violations by federal, state, or local officers acting under color of law; supporters said it would fill gaps in remedies against federal officers while preserving qualified immunity. Testimony also supported H. 4783, a bill affirming the rights of people experiencing homelessness. The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless said the measure would push back against growing criminalization of homelessness, especially after the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision and local encampment bans, and would protect the use of public spaces without discrimination based on housing status. On H. 4826, condo owners and advocates said Chapter 183A is outdated and leaves owners with too little say and too few remedies against mismanagement, citing problems such as unsafe water, major assessments, and lack of meaningful dispute resolution. The committee also heard strong support for H. 5116, renaming the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court the Judge Leslie E. Harris Courthouse, with testimony from family members, legislators, attorneys, and community leaders describing Judge Harris’s mentorship, community service, and commitment to second chances. Later testimony covered S. 2975, a bill to deter ICE courthouse arrests and protect access to justice; CPCS, law students, and defense advocates said courthouse arrests chill participation by defendants, witnesses, and victims and disrupt pending cases. The committee also heard support for H. 5244, repealing an archaic law criminalizing concealment of a child’s death, with advocates arguing it has been used to punish pregnancy loss and should be removed. The hearing concluded with additional testimony in favor of S. 2976 and more support for the Judge Harris courthouse renaming, after which the chairs closed the hearing and reminded the public how to submit written testimony.
MA

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on the Judiciary Apr 7th, 2026

Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • This hearing is broadcast and will be recorded for everyone's education as well, and archived on ma-legislature.gov
  • We'll make sure the identity is preserved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Summary: The Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a late-file hearing on several bills, with testimony limited to three minutes per individual or set time limits for panels. Chairs Michael Day and Lydia Edwards outlined hearing rules, written testimony procedures, and confidentiality protections before moving through the agenda. The committee heard testimony on bills including H.4876, H.5111, H.4783, H.4826, H.5116, H.5244, S.2975, and S.2976. On H.4876, supporters described it as the “Overcomers Law,” aimed at strengthening supports for survivors of abuse by limiting abusers’ legal standing after death, requiring survivor notification of an abuser’s death, expanding coercive control definitions, improving privacy protections, and creating education and resource programs. On H.5111, the Attorney General’s Office and legislative sponsors backed changes to strengthen Massachusetts antitrust enforcement, including broader jurisdiction over multi-state conduct, higher penalties, clearer treatment of invitations to conspire, labor-market protections, housing-related changes, and a longer statute of limitations. The committee also heard support for H.4783, which would reaffirm the rights of people experiencing homelessness and push back against criminalization of homelessness, and for H.4826, which would update condominium law to give owners more rights and nonjudicial dispute-resolution options. A large portion of the hearing focused on H.5116, which would rename the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court the Judge Leslie E. Harris Courthouse. Representative Worrell, the Harris family, senators, prosecutors, lawyers, educators, and community advocates testified in strong support, describing Judge Harris’s legacy of fairness, mentorship, community service, and support for young people and Black legal professionals. The committee also heard testimony on S.2975, which would prohibit civil immigration arrests in courthouses to protect access to justice, and S.2976, which would create a state cause of action for constitutional violations by federal officers. Finally, H.5244 was supported as a repeal of an archaic criminal statute that advocates said has been used to punish pregnancy loss and should be removed from the books. No votes were taken; the hearing concluded after all registered testimony was heard.
TX

Texas 89th 2nd C.S.

Land & Resource Management Apr 24th, 2025

Land & Resource Management

Transcript Highlights:
  • Members, this bill requires the General Land Office to sell the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
  • for commercial, retail, multi-family, and light industrial uses and also houses over 400 acres of preserved
TX

Texas 89th Regular

S/C on Defense & Veterans' Affairs Mar 3rd, 2025

S/C on Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Transcript Highlights:
  • that would like to participate in that, we invite you. to let me know and we'll have an interviewer preserve
  • their stories in our archives.
Keywords: 1184, house, all
TX

Texas 89th Regular

Delivery of Government Efficiency Mar 26th, 2025

Delivery of Government Efficiency

Transcript Highlights:
  • While many state agencies, such as HHSC and TxDOT, broadcast and archive their open meetings, there are
  • For qualifying state agencies to broadcast and archive their open meetings, HB 1442 applies to state
  • the initial criteria would be required to broadcast live video and audio of each open meeting and archive
  • oftentimes, but also if they want to go back and review what happened, it's important to have them archived
  • your bill, but regarding transcripts of the meetings, did you have that discussion, or in terms of archiving
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Senate Public Safety Committee Jun 30th, 2026

Transcript Highlights:
  • And just to preserve your time, I know you have a long day.
  • And just to preserve your time, I know you have a long day.
  • The bill preserves the term 'other problem' as a qualifying standard for civil commitment.
  • Group, Action Fund, and... ...Repair Preservation Group, Repair Preservation Group Action Fund, OC Create
  • The bill preserves judicial discretion.
Summary: The Senate Public Safety Committee met without a quorum and operated as a subcommittee while hearing a long agenda of bills. Early items included AB 2605, which would require statewide reporting on public defense services; supporters said California lacks basic data on how indigent defense is delivered and that the bill would help identify under-resourced counties, while no opposition appeared. AB 1650 would require rental vehicles used in law enforcement operations to display agency identification; supporters framed it as a transparency and community-trust measure in response to immigration enforcement tactics, while sheriffs and police groups opposed it unless amended, arguing it could compromise undercover and task-force operations and raise legal and indemnification concerns. AB 1930 would require notice to the Attorney General before business entities respond to subpoenas involving legally protected abortion or gender-affirming care information; supporters said it protects patient privacy and provider safety, while opponents raised constitutional, law-enforcement, and business-burden concerns. The committee also heard AB 458, directing state procurement guidelines for firearms and accessories so agencies buy from responsible vendors, with support from police chiefs, gun-violence prevention groups, and local officials, and no opposition testimony offered. The committee then heard AB 1588 on sideshows and street takeovers, which would update the definition of sideshows, include motorcycles and dirt bikes, and align penalties with street racing. Supporters, including police, city, transportation, and road-safety advocates, said the bill responds to dangerous events, property damage, and injuries; opponents from civil liberties and public defender groups argued higher fines and criminal penalties are ineffective and disproportionately harm low-income people, favoring roadway design and community-based prevention instead. AB 910, the Survivors Act, would expand affirmative defenses and vacature relief for survivors of trafficking, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence; supporters, including a survivor who described decades of abuse and wrongful conviction, said the bill gives survivors a chance to tell their stories and seek relief, while district attorneys opposed expanding relief to violent offenses and warned it could erase restitution and undermine victims’ rights. AB 2624 would expand Safe at Home confidentiality protections to immigrant service providers, employees, and volunteers; supporters described threats, doxxing, and harassment against immigrant-serving organizations, while opponents claimed the bill was prompted by investigative reporting on fraud and would chill journalism and transparency. The committee also heard AB 31, making the tribal police pilot program permanent and creating a missing and murdered Indigenous persons task force, which drew strong support from tribal representatives and no opposition. Later, AB 1959 sought to close a resentencing loophole tied to a 2001 Santana High School shooting case by restoring judicial discretion in resentencing for certain juvenile offenders; supporters said the current process can lead to automatic release even after parole denial, while opposition testimony began with concerns that the bill was responding to one case and lacked broader evidence. Throughout the hearing, members repeatedly noted they supported several bills but could not formally vote because the committee lacked a quorum, so motions were held for later action.
WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

Legislative Ethics Board Sep 8th, 2025

Transcript Highlights:
  • I met with the guy at the Secretary of State's office in archives who did it.
Summary: The Legislative Ethics Board met in public session with a quorum present and approved the prior meeting minutes after hearing that board counsel had reviewed the remaining advisory opinions and would bring recommendations on whether to retain or retire them to a future meeting. The board also noted there were no employer disclosure forms to review. Members received an update on digitizing the board’s files: the archives work was completed, a secure thumb drive had been provided, and staff were working with LedgeTech on how to securely access and store the materials. They also discussed billing for the digitization project, noting one invoice of about $3,900 had been paid and that the total cost might end up well below the original estimate. A member of the public, a Washington State University doctoral student, attended to observe but did not testify. With no further business, the board moved to adjourn the public session, and the motion passed unanimously.
ND

North Dakota 2026 1st Special Session

Information Technology Committee Jul 8th, 2026 at 10:00 am

Information Technology Committee

Transcript Highlights:
  • human services to put resources toward it, the data and making sure that it's either unnecessary to archive
  • ...to archive or to move to the new system or to integrate, you know, or is it more of a hardware issue
  • I would say those... to archive or to move to the new system or to integrate, you know, or is it more
  • Because that's getting put into a backup or an archive, or are you going to migrate that data back into
Keywords: 908, all
ND

North Dakota 2026 1st Special Session

Information Technology Committee Jul 8th, 2026

Information Technology Committee

Transcript Highlights:
  • Services to put resources toward it, to get the data and make sure that it's either unnecessary to archive
  • put resources towards it to okay the data and making sure that it's that it's either unnecessary to archive
  • or or to move to the new system or to to archive or to move to the new system or to integrate, you know
  • Because that's getting put into a backup or an archive, or are you going to migrate that data back into
Summary: The Information Technology Committee approved the March 26 minutes and received a series of reports from NDIT on major IT projects, the annual report, mainframe modernization, and cybersecurity services. The project portfolio was reported at 116 major projects with a baseline cost of $546 million, overall under budget but modestly behind schedule. Several projects that had been in variance status last quarter were said to have closed, including HHS bed management, vital records modernization, and DOT roadway capital planning. New startup reports were mostly HHS efforts tied to refugee data management, technical debt cleanup, and legacy application decommissioning, while closeouts included HHS, OMB, DPI, and DOT projects with mixed budget and schedule results. In the annual report discussion, NDIT described its service-fund financials, peer-state rate comparisons, records management reporting, and customer satisfaction efforts. Members asked about how revenues and grants flow through the service fund, how NDIT charges agencies for services, and whether customer satisfaction or CSAT scores are tracked and could be reported more regularly. NDIT said it does track service-team CSAT and survey data, and committee members encouraged more regular reporting of those metrics. The committee also discussed application portfolio management, statewide IT planning, and whether agencies should slow new system replacements while the state pursues an ERP system. The mainframe update focused on the state’s ongoing effort to retire legacy systems by about 2030. NDIT and HHS said the work is being managed as a tech-debt program, but progress is slowed by data cleanup, integration complexity, staff retirements, vendor capacity, and federal requirements. Members asked whether there is a coordinated commitment and whether additional vendor support or consultants are needed; NDIT said it is working jointly with HHS and is seeking an RFP to help accelerate modernization. The cybersecurity presentation then shifted to statewide maturity assessments and services. NDIT said it provides endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning, security awareness training, threat briefings, and penetration testing, and that assessments are based on CIS controls. Members raised concerns about low participation in the self-assessment process, the lack of mandatory reporting or audit authority, and whether insurance incentives through Enderf or possible State Auditor involvement could improve compliance. No formal votes were taken beyond approval of the minutes.
WY

Wyoming 2026 Regular Session

Senate Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee, February 13, 2026

Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions

Transcript Highlights:
  • I mean, we don't have the large archive of case files kept in the office anymore.
  • we don't we don't have uh the the the we don't we don't have uh the the the large<00:40:46.960><c> archive
  • 48.320><c> files</c><00:40:48.800><c> kept</c><00:40:49.119><c> in</c><00:40:49.280><c> the</c> large archive
  • of case files kept in the large archive of case files kept in the office<00:40:49.839><c> anymore.
Bills: SF0082
KY
Transcript Highlights:
  • So, what's happening in relation to our KDLA, Kentucky Department of Library and Archives, we have two
  • One is for archiving the original main building, and those are records that are eligible to be archived
  • The local court no longer needs the records, but they're not eligible to be archived or destroyed yet
Summary: The subcommittee heard a budget overview from the Kentucky Court of Justice focused on mandated services and several growth items in the judicial branch budget. Court officials said the requests were driven by legal and contractual obligations, including higher contractor rates for court interpreters and IT support, annual software-as-a-service costs, and upgrades to the court’s audiovisual record system (JAVS). They also discussed local facilities needs tied to Jefferson County lease space and the Boyle County Courthouse, though the bulk of the presentation centered on the court’s technology and service-delivery costs. Members asked detailed questions about interpreter services, including whether services are provided in person, by phone, or by Zoom, and whether Kentucky could train and certify more local interpreters instead of relying on contractors from around the country. Court officials said the certification process is rigorous, that the branch is working with the National Center for State Courts on an apprenticeship program, and that they believe Kentucky may have flexibility to develop state-level certification if it meets court needs. They also said they are exploring technology and AI tools for translation, but have not found a solution that reliably handles complex courtroom context. Representative Sharp asked whether cases had been delayed for lack of interpreters; officials said they could provide aggregated data later. The court also described its major IT modernization effort, including a statewide case management system, e-filing, and maintenance of many legacy applications. Officials said contractor rates need to be raised to compete for skilled labor during the implementation phase, but that those costs should decline once the new systems are fully built and only maintained. They explained that part of the request covers three SaaS initiatives: ongoing subscription costs for existing systems, annual fees for the CaseWorks system used in pretrial and specialty courts after federal grant funding ends, and adoption of DocuSign to streamline invoicing, procurement, and contract execution. In response to questions from Representative KC Carney, they said cybersecurity is taken seriously, that they recently conducted a tabletop exercise, and that some risk shifts to cloud vendors under contract, though no separate cybersecurity line item was included. A substantial portion of the discussion focused on the JAVS audiovisual court-record system. Court officials said not all courtrooms are on the same version, and they want funding to bring all locations up to the current version and prepare for version 9, which they said would standardize the system statewide and support the official court record. When asked about costs, they said each upgrade can cost about $70,000 to $80,000 per system, that they aim to upgrade about 50 per year, and that the request reflects the need to keep pace with a four-year refresh cycle. No votes or formal actions were taken during the meeting.
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

House Finance Division I (10/02/2025)

Transcript Highlights:
  • the discussion a little bit more and my understanding is that there's somebody here from the state archives
  • 57:11.520><c> state</c> there's somebody here from the state there's somebody here from the state archives
  • 12.799><c> who</c><00:57:13.040><c> could</c><00:57:13.280><c> share</c><00:57:13.520><c> some</c> archives
  • who could share some archives who could share some information<00:57:14.400><c> about</c><00:57:14.720
Keywords: 928, house, all
Summary: The committee opened a work session on 17 retained bills and moved through several measures, often with motions to ought to pass or inexpedient to legislate. House Bill 54, allowing alternative treatment centers to operate for profit, was supported as a way to improve efficiency and potentially lower costs for medical cannabis users, and it was recommended OTP by a 9-0 vote. House Bill 97, an appropriation for wastewater infrastructure, drew mixed views: supporters said the Senate’s reduced funding still met the bill’s intent, while opponents argued the funding was inadequate for critical infrastructure needs; the committee voted 5-4 to ITL. House Bill 111, extending the Right to Know Ombudsman and exempting certain assistance from unauthorized practice of law, was recommended ITL 9-0. House Bill 197, concerning state payment of a portion of local retirement contributions, was discussed as a recurring issue; members noted an amendment could fund it starting in fiscal 2027, but the committee ultimately voted 5-4 to recommend the bill itself rather than ITL. House Bill 215, requiring landfill permit applicants to submit a harms-and-benefits report, was amended to narrow its scope to future privately owned landfills only; the amendment and the bill as amended both passed 9-0. House Bill 216, on workers’ compensation credit toward retirement service, was ITL’d 9-0 after the sponsor said the proposal was too open-ended and could affect unknown numbers of people.
NH

New Hampshire 2026 Regular Session

Senate Commerce (02/17/2026)

Commerce

Transcript Highlights:
  • These records are often archived off-site, stored in legacy digital systems, or filed away in a dusty
  • These records are often archived off-site, stored in legacy digital systems, or filed away in a dusty
  • For these reasons, we respectfully urge that this committee preserve the housing champions program and
  • </c><01:36:17.360><c> the</c><01:36:17.600><c> housing</c> committee to preserve the housing committee
  • to preserve the housing champions<01:36:18.480><c> program</c><01:36:18.880><c> and</c><01:36:19.120
Keywords: 1191, senate, all
MA

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs Jun 21st, 2026 at 01:00 pm

Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs

Transcript Highlights:
  • This hearing is being publicly live streamed and archived on the official website of the General Court
  • government officials are answerable to we, the people, not to entrenched interests or their own self-preservation
  • development into a world federation open to all nations, with the defined and limited powers adequate to preserve
Keywords: 995, all
Summary: The hearing of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs was opened by Chair Joe McGonagle and Vice Chair Senator Mike Rush, who noted that Chair John Velis was deployed with the Massachusetts National Guard. The chairs explained the hybrid format, three-minute testimony limit, live streaming, and filing deadlines, and said the committee would hear 11 House bills and eight Senate bills dealing with federal and overseas issues. Much of the hearing centered on competing resolutions about Article 5 constitutional conventions, along with related resolutions on D.C. statehood, child labor, Citizens United, and Cambodia. Supporters of H. 4692 and S. 284, a joint resolution to rescind all prior Massachusetts Article 5 convention applications, argued that old resolutions from the 1930s and 1970s could be used to count Massachusetts toward the 34-state threshold for calling a federal constitutional convention. Testifiers from Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU, Reproductive Equity Now, labor groups, and others warned that a convention would have no clear rules, could not be reliably limited to specific topics, and could put civil rights, reproductive rights, labor protections, and other constitutional protections at risk. Several speakers also cited a recent federal lawsuit and said the safest course was to remove outdated applications from the books. A large opposing panel testified in support of H. 3888, a resolution calling for a Convention of States to propose amendments limiting federal power, imposing fiscal restraints, and establishing term limits. Supporters argued that Article 5 provides a lawful way to address federal overreach, debt, and congressional stagnation, and said the process would be limited by state applications and ratification by 38 states. Some committee members and witnesses raised concerns about a runaway convention, broad language in the resolution, and whether Congress could or should set rules for such a convention. Representative Gentile also testified in support of several related resolutions on overturning Citizens United, D.C. statehood, and the child labor amendment, while Representative Howard and Representative Tongue supported a Cambodia resolution condemning political oppression and urging free and fair elections. No votes or final actions were taken during the hearing.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on the Arts May 14th, 2026

Joint Committee on the Arts

Transcript Highlights:
  • It's a bilingual oral history project preserving the stories of 50 Spanish-speaking immigrant elders
  • It's a bilingual oral history project preserving the stories of 50 Spanish-speaking immigrant elders
  • that 40% of California's population is Hispanic, yet these voices remain absent from historical archives
Keywords: 987, senate, all