Transcript Highlights:

• As with any government program, you take your risk that it could be discontinued in the future.
• As with any government program, you take your risk that it could be discontinued in the future.
• As with any government program, you take your risk that it could be discontinued in the future.
• That's the risk one takes when it's dealing with government programs.
• That's the risk one takes when it's dealing with government programs.

Committee: House Science, Technology and Energy

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This legislation also finally program.
• </c> cut Pennsylvania's Medicaid program cut Pennsylvania's Medicaid program known<06:31:48.000><c> as
• </c> uh weapons program. uh weapons program.
• Strikes might delay a program, facility.
• </c> nuclear weapons program development nuclear weapons program development ground<07:53:30.638><c>

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And that's why like we have programs, we're dumping millions of dollars into county programs that we
• We critically need investments and support programs that make a difference in these facilities and in
• This bill simply allows a program to grow by giving the agency and its partners greater flexibility.
• The very people who built this program.
• If we have more individuals participating in these programs.

Committee: House S/C on Juvenile Justice

Transcript Highlights:

• medical society, two on behalf of physicians, two representatives from the Trial Lawyers Association, a nurse
• No disrespect, but Patient Advocates, Nurse, Trial Lawyers, Medical Society, who we've been essentially
• but we have people who do not. have evidently much experience, and I shouldn't assume that maybe the nurse
• Do we lower actuaries and get more doctors and nurses here in New Mexico.

Committee: Senate Senate Judiciary

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• No teacher, nurse, firefighter, or a young family can build a life in those spaces.
• No teacher, nurse, firefighter, or a young family can build a life in those spaces.

Committee: Senate Housing and Human Services

Summary: The Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services met with a quorum, adopted the June 16, 2026 minutes, and then unanimously adopted S-1 substitutes for House Bills 5570 and 5571. The chair said the committee would take testimony and likely not move to final passage that day, in order to allow more discussion and questions. The bills, as substituted, would allow local governments to permit certain multifamily buildings up to four stories to be built or converted with a single staircase, subject to conditions such as limits on units per floor, floor size, and existing fire safety requirements. A sunset provision was described as ending the statute once LARA adopts corresponding building code rules. Representatives Fairbairn and Wooden testified in support, saying the bills are intended to address Michigan’s housing shortage by making smaller infill and “missing middle” projects more feasible and less costly. They argued the current two-stair requirement drives up costs, makes land assembly harder, and limits development on narrow or irregular lots. Senators asked about stair width, emergency safety, the choice of four stories instead of six, and why the American Institute of Architects opposed the approach; the sponsors said the 48-inch stair width was intended to allow two-way movement, four stories was a compromise aligned with expected code changes, and the architects preferred rulemaking over statutory change. Supportive testimony came from Pew Charitable Trusts, which said research from New York City, Seattle, and other places found fire death rates in modern single-stair buildings to be indistinguishable from other multifamily buildings, and that modern safety features such as sprinklers, alarms, and fire-rated construction make these buildings safe. A developer from Ann Arbor and the Michigan Home Builders Association said the reform would improve floor-plan efficiency, reduce wasted circulation space, lower construction costs, and help smaller projects pencil out. Abundant Housing Michigan also supported the bills, estimating they could reduce apartment construction costs by nearly 13%. The clerk read in numerous written cards in support from business, housing, municipal, and advocacy groups, while the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs and the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union were listed as neutral. The committee adjourned without further business.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, the first four bills on our agenda today are governor's package bills, and then we have a nursing
• Amounts: $250,000 in FY 25-26 and then $350,000 in FY 26-27 to establish a Bachelor of Arts Science Nursing

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, and then if you look at the governor's proposed budget, is it responsible to shift, uh, nursing home
• > to</c><00:04:48.320><c> shift</c> responsible to shift responsible to shift uh<00:04:50.080><c> nursing

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I speak to school counselor associations, nurse assault examiners, and parent groups.
• I speak to assault nurse examiners, parent groups, churches, etc., and I can confidently tell you that

Bills: HB285 , HB317

Committee: House Children and Senior Advocacy

Keywords: HB285, TJ's Law, traffic infraction, traffic ticket, uniform traffic ticket and complaint, minor driver, juvenile driver, parent notification, guardian notification, emergency contact, law enforcement, citing agency, traffic citation, driver safety, youth safety, Alabama traffic law, Section 12-12-56, Children and Senior Advocacy, House Judiciary, reasonable effort

Transcript Highlights:

• the pages, the parliamentarians, the Secretary of the Senate, the lobbyists, the fire marshals, the nurse
• the pages, the parliamentarians, the Secretary of the Senate, the lobbyists, the fire marshals, the nurse

Summary: The Texas Senate convened for the opening of the 89th Legislature with an invocation, roll call, and certification of the newly elected senators by the Secretary of State. Senators-elect were then administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, formally seating the new members. Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Abbott addressed the chamber, congratulating members and emphasizing priorities such as border security, education, energy, foster care, and school choice, while Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick highlighted the Senate’s bipartisan culture and the work ahead. The chamber then held its organizational business, including the election of Senator Brandon Creighton as President Pro Tempore. Senator Parker nominated Creighton and Senator Bettencourt seconded the nomination, both praising his background, legislative record, and leadership. The Senate voted by standing vote to elect Creighton, who was then escorted to the dais and sworn in. In his remarks, Creighton reflected on his family, his time as a Senate messenger, and his priorities for the session, including Texas sovereignty, economic opportunity, education, and conservative policy goals. The only formal legislative action taken was adoption of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 7, granting permission for the Legislature to adjourn for more than three days during the specified period. The resolution passed by a roll call vote of 31 ayes and no nays. The Senate then adopted a motion to recess until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 15, after a caucus meeting earlier that morning.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our active duty service affair programs.
• </c> other VA suicide prevention programs. other VA suicide prevention programs.
• </c><00:14:52.480><c> that</c> systematically dismantling programs that systematically dismantling programs
• </c><02:14:51.360><c> will</c> hope the regime's nuclear program will hope the regime's nuclear program
• </c> elimination of trusted federal programs elimination of trusted federal programs of<02:57:10.399>

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Monday, June 23, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> participation in the program participation in the program and<00:17:29.799><c> number</c><00:17:
• </c><00:17:34.960><c> curriculum</c> requirement of the program curriculum requirement of the program
• </c> Career and Technical education program Career and Technical education program uh<00:26:12.120><c
• </c> of the two words along with nurse of the two words along with nurse anestis<00:29:55.320><c> that
• </c> okay how robust are these plr programs okay how robust are these plr programs and<02:01:27.239><

Committee: Senate Taxes

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We expanded our LifeSet program, which serves youth ages 16 into early adulthood.
• The program is an individualized, evidence-based program.
• And then I did want to highlight our workforce resilience program, which is a really incredible program
• As I said, I'm Malcolm Hightower with Casey Family Programs.
• So how do we look at Casey Family Programs?

Committee: Joint Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Child Safety

Summary: The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Child Safety met to review child welfare reforms developed after prior oversight hearings on the deaths of Emily Pike, Zariah Dodd, and Rebecca Baptiste. Committee members and the chair described a series of stakeholder meetings with tribes, DCS, law enforcement, county attorneys, schools, and other advocates that produced several bills aimed at improving communication, reporting, investigations, and court decision-making. The chair said SB 1125, creating a tribal-DCS memorandum of understanding, had already been signed, and highlighted HB 1126 on school records access, HB 1127 on mandatory reporting by people with direct knowledge, HB 1174 on hotline case history and review of prior reports, HB 1175 on photo documentation of children in care, HB 1496 on allowing attorneys to share more safety information with judges, and HB 1631 requiring advanced forensic interviews within 72 hours in sexual abuse cases, with some exceptions. DCS Director Catherine Patak presented agency data showing nearly 160,000 hotline calls in 2025, about 43,000 investigations, and a relatively steady out-of-home care population that ended the year at 7,077 children. She said about 3,000 children were reunified, 1,300 adopted, and 800 entered guardianship, while 1,100 young adults received transition services. She also reported 534 new foster homes licensed, a 50% reimbursement increase for older youth caregivers, a 40% decrease in youth missing from care since September 2024, and a 30% reduction in fatalities of children in care since 2024. Patak discussed the annual fatality review process, noting that 52 of 123 alleged fatality or near-fatality reports had prior DCS involvement, and described agency responses such as health plans for children with complex medical needs, a diabetes training app, expanded LifeSet services, fentanyl and safe-sleep prevention campaigns, staffing realignment, retention efforts, and improved coordination with law enforcement and tribes. Members asked about group home notification rules, the distinction between “missing” and “runaway,” behavioral health needs driving children back into care, training under Jacob’s Law, and whether best practices exist for placing sexually abused youth with appropriate staff. Patak said DCS is updating rules to remove “runaway” and “AWOL” in favor of “missing,” and that the agency is considering whether the statute’s immediate-or-24-hour reporting language should be clarified. She also said DCS does not currently have a specific staffing requirement tied to a child’s sex in group homes, but would look into practices in other states. The committee then heard from Malcolm Hightower of Casey Family Programs, who said Arizona is generally in the middle of the pack nationally: slightly higher than average in foster care entries and congregate care use, but near the national average on screening, substantiation, recurrence, re-entry, and maltreatment fatalities. He praised Arizona’s kin placement rate, said congregate care remains a challenge, and noted that neglect definitions and poverty-related removals remain an area of policy discussion. Finally, K.C. Melsick of Collaborative Safety described the organization’s safety-science approach to systemic critical incident reviews, arguing that child welfare systems should move away from blame and toward learning from near-misses and system failures. Members discussed applying similar methods across state agencies, and the committee adjourned after members and witnesses emphasized continued collaboration and further reforms in the interim and next session.

Transcript Highlights:

• We expanded our LifeSet program, which serves youth ages 16 into early adulthood.
• The program is an individualized, evidence-based program.
• And then I did want to highlight our workforce resilience program, which is a really incredible program
• As I said, I'm Malcolm Hightower with Casey Family Programs.
• So how do we look at Casey Family Programs?

Committee: Joint Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Child Safety

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Questioning evidence-based programs, because not all groups of people have evidence-based practices.
• “It can create like an unimaginable burden on providers to actually do evidence-based programs.
• So there’s the are there evidence-based programs?
• And then there’s the where programs are evidence-based. How do you address fidelity? Yeah.
• Maybe the emphasis can be on flexibility regarding programs, the implementation of programs.

Summary: The committee met for its final session before submitting a report to the governor and legislature, with introductions from state officials, legislators, advocates, providers, and facilitators. Staff explained that the meeting would focus on finalizing the committee’s strategic priorities and recommendations for a five-year behavioral health plan centered on prevention, early intervention, and community-based services. Members reviewed the draft overarching priorities, including the need for a statewide behavioral health vision and an executive-level role to coordinate behavioral health across agencies, and discussed how those priorities should reflect people with lived experience, families, and community voice. A substantial portion of the meeting focused on the draft recommendations and how they should be organized and worded. Members raised concerns that the document was too aspirational and not specific enough, and several suggested moving more detailed actions under the broader priorities rather than leaving them in a separate section. There was also discussion about the use of the term “evidence-based,” with tribal representatives and others asking for language that also recognizes practice-based evidence, promising practices, cultural specificity, and flexibility in funding and implementation. Members also discussed clarifying “early intervention,” adding examples such as universal screening, outpatient access, primary care integration, and home visiting, and ensuring the plan reflects accountability and community feedback. Other edits included clarifying credentialing recommendations to distinguish between licensure and payer credentialing, adding mentorship as a workforce retention strategy, and broadening Medicaid-centric language to include carriers and insurers more generally. Staff noted the report would be revised and sent back out for review by May 22, with comments due by May 27, in order to meet the June 1 submission deadline. No public comment was offered, and the meeting ended with thanks to members and facilitators for their work.

Transcript Highlights:

• TEA is into a school's safety program.
• Sentinel is an innovative program that encompasses the entire school safety program conducted by TEA.
• Like, basically, I did a five-year program, but it wasn't recognized as a five-year program.
• And it's more about programming. Do we have anything to do with programming?
• Our summer program is the ADZEPEP program, which is an additional four-year grant program that offers

Committee: House Public Education

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind and are having health changes and need to be placed in nursing
• really think that the state of Missouri needs something like this, and we need to have this type of program
• Their program is specifically related to the court system.
• Their program is specifically related to the court system and is available for rural communities.
• Now, in the state of Massachusetts, they have a manager of their program.

Committee: House General Laws

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So that makes the Puget Sound a really important area, both as a birthing area and a nursing area for
• LCYC, provides legal services statewide to over 1,000 young people annually through our four main programs
• to registering a car or a boat, voter information, or whether they're participating in important programs
• like Gambling Anonymous or bump fire stock buyback programs.
• Or bump fire stock buyback programs.

Bills: HB2447 , HB1364 , HB2632 , HB2637 , HB2520 , HB2235 , HB2401 , HB2574

Committee: House State Government & Tribal Relations

Keywords: shark conservation, marine life, state symbol, ecological importance, biodiversity, bingo, raffles, charity, nonprofit, amusement games, revenue threshold, licensing, fundraising, citizenship, immigration, terminology, rights, legal status, public records, public disclosure

Transcript Highlights:

• So that makes the Puget Sound a really important area, both as a birthing area and a nursing area for
• LCYC, we provide legal services statewide to over 1,000 young people annually through our four main programs
• to registering a car or a boat, voter information, or whether they're participating in important programs
• like Gambling Anonymous or bump-fire stock buyback programs.
• These are issues... ...or bump-fire stock buyback programs.

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several bills. HB 1364 would raise from $5,000 to $15,000 the gross revenue thresholds for charitable and nonprofit organizations to conduct bingo, raffles, and amusement games without a gambling license, and would also raise related local tax thresholds; supporters said it is an inflation adjustment that helps volunteer nonprofits, while no opposition was heard before the hearing closed. HB 2632 would replace most uses of “alien” in state law with “non-citizen,” with exceptions for federal-law requirements and non-human uses; the sponsor described it as a dignity and accuracy measure rooted in refugee experience, while supporters and opponents debated whether it is respectful and clearer or instead unnecessary and potentially confusing. HB 2447 would designate the blunt-nosed six-gill shark as Washington’s official state shark; testimony from the sponsor, children, marine advocates, and scientists emphasized education, conservation, Puget Sound ecology, and local pride, and the hearing closed without opposition testimony. HB 2637 would exempt certain personal information from Public Records Act disclosure, including age, address, birthplace, precise location data, government identifiers, and consumer utility data; supporters framed it as privacy and safety protection, while opponents argued it would reduce transparency and could interfere with federal immigration enforcement. In executive session, the committee took action on three bills. HB 2235, concerning Public Records Act exemptions for concealed pistol licenses and permit-to-purchase firearm applications, was reported out of committee with a due pass recommendation by a 7-0 vote. HB 2401, establishing the Boys and Men’s Commission, was also reported out with a due pass recommendation by a 5-2 vote, with some members supporting the concept but expressing concern about funding. HB 2574, which addresses removal of deceased candidates for nonpartisan office from ballots and related vote-count procedures, was reported out with a due pass recommendation by a 6-1 vote after members discussed the need to clarify election procedures in rare cases. The committee deferred action on HB 2520.

Transcript Highlights:

• You do have to take a training program.
• Next up is House Bill 2298, authorizing county auditors to create a voluntary title protection program
• As a brief reminder, this bill would authorize Title protection program to prevent land record fraud.
• It would also establish a grant program for the Department of Commerce to administer to provide grants
• I am a member and past chair of the Whatcom County Ferry Advisory Committee, and I am a retired nurse

Summary: The House Local Government Committee heard public testimony on HB 2588, which would let county ferry districts exercise broader authority over ferries rather than being limited to passenger-only ferries. The sponsor and county officials from Whatcom, Pierce, and Skagit described rising operating and capital costs for county-run vehicle ferries and said the bill would give local governments a needed funding tool. Opponents argued it would create another tax burden and that county councils do not directly represent voters on such decisions. The hearing on HB 2588 was later reopened for additional testimony, but no vote was taken in the hearing portion. The committee also heard HB 2094, which would require non-charter counties to appoint coroners rather than elect them, unless they use appointed medical examiners. The sponsor said the bill was intended to address accountability and staffing problems, citing Yakima County as an example and arguing that coroner positions are technical and should be filled through hiring rather than partisan elections. Supporters said appointment would reduce ballot complexity and allow for professional management, while opponents, including elected coroners and the Washington Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, argued that elected coroners provide independence, public accountability, and the ability to order inquests without political pressure. The public hearing on HB 2094 was closed without committee action during the hearing. In executive session, the committee advanced several bills. HB 2451 on local tax increment financing passed with three adopted amendments and a 7-0 vote. HB 2298 on county title protection programs also passed with one adopted amendment and a 7-0 vote. HB 2566 on local government procurement passed 7-0 without amendment. HB 2267 on urban forest management ordinances passed 4-3 after a substitute was adopted, with some members expressing concern about state guidance becoming too regulatory. HB 2530 on public facilities districts for regional aquatics and sports facilities passed 7-0 after removing the deadline for forming such districts, and HB 2388 on siting distributed energy generation on agricultural lands passed 7-0 after an amendment narrowing the bill’s scope. The committee then returned to public testimony on HB 2094 and HB 2588 before adjourning.

Transcript Highlights:

• Committee on Transportation. education and infrastructure and an early advocate for STEM education programs
• She was the first nurse and the first African-American from Dallas to be elected to Congress.

Bills: HB767 , HB1708 , HB2143 , HB2198 , HB2415 , HB2457 , HB2763 , SB876 , SB1230 , SB2515 , SB2688 , SB2790 , SB2799 , HB3012 , HB1672 , HB2523 , HB3135

Committee: Senate Transportation

Keywords: highway designation, memorial, Montgomery County, Paul P. Mendes, transportation, memorial highway, Kevin Ramirez Vasquez, Ector County, state designation, memorial designation, highway, military honors, veteran commemoration, Officer Jacob Candanoza, Transportation Code, state highway, Kaufman County, law enforcement, Travis County, Senior Police Officer