Transcript Highlights:

• Um, all right, so we're going to start off with House File 4156. ...with House File 4156 for the city
• </c> Representative Warwas, House File 3835. Representative Warwas, House File 3835.
• </c> to present House file 4486. to present House file 4486.
• 44.320><c> ensure</c><00:57:44.600><c> safe</c> House File 3995 will ensure safe House File 3995 will
• </c> outlined in this House Bill 4339. outlined in this House Bill 4339.

Bills: HF4156 , HF3835 , HF3995 , HF4383 , HF4091 , HF4084 , HF4311 , HF198 , HF4486 , HF4302 , HF4309 , HF4032 , HF3855 , HF3673 , HF4265 , HF4012 , HF4339 , HF4298 , HF3852

Committee: House Capital Investment

Transcript Highlights:

• We will hear six bills: House Bill 1029, House Bill 1418, House Bill 1429, Senate Bill 20, Senate Bill
• Senate Bill 134, House Bill 1043, House Bill 1100, House Bill 1309, House Bill 1425, Senate Bill 163,
• If you want to help business, you start with your own house, and our house is this house.
• If you want to help business, you start with your own house, and our house is this house.
• If you want to help business, you start with your own house, and our house is this house.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> that's contained in House Bill 1596. that's contained in House Bill 1596.
• </c> our local housing supply. our local housing supply.
• </c><01:57:22.960><c> Um,</c> a housing crisis. Um, a housing crisis.
• house?
• </c> available to um to workforce housing. available to um to workforce housing.

Committee: House Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• The House will come to order. It's crowded. Madam Speaker, Madam Speaker.
• We can get people on their feet. dollars in housing, a historic dollars in housing, a historic investment
• I move that the house do now Niska.
• All those in the house do now adjourn.
• </c> The motion prevails, and the house The motion prevails, and the house stands<01:11:21.160><c> adjourned

Transcript Highlights:

• She went home to her mother's house.
• House... ...against a minor under 15 years old or a class 3 felony in all other cases.
• House Speaker Pro Tem, attorney, no less. Neal Carter. Bless you.
• There was some confusion in the House initially. This may be a similar thing.
• I move House Bill 2133 as amended with a due pass recommendation.

Summary: The Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee heard and advanced several House bills dealing with criminal law, victims’ rights, and court fees. HB 2131 would remove the financial-gain requirement from weapons and explosives trafficking and make trafficking three or more weapons or explosives in one offense ineligible for probation, pardon, commutation, or early release until the sentence is served; it passed 6-1. HB 2132 lowered the fentanyl trafficking threshold from 200 grams to 100 grams and adjusted related sentencing language; supporters said it would help law enforcement and prosecutors, while opponents argued it would sweep in heavy users and lacked data on current enforcement; it passed 4-3. HB 2223 requires sex offenders seeking a name change to notify prosecutors and victims, and to register under the new name if granted; it passed 6-1. The committee also passed HB 2411, which creates the crime of coerced abortion for secretly or forcibly administering an abortion-inducing drug with intent to cause an abortion, as a class 2 felony. Supporters described cases of covert or forced abortion drug use and said existing laws do not clearly cover situations where the drug is given but no death occurs; opponents argued current assault, manslaughter, homicide, and food-contamination statutes already address the conduct and that the bill is unnecessary. HB 2043, which adds unborn children to the felony-murder statute, also passed 4-3 after testimony from prosecutors and advocates on both sides; supporters called it a cleanup measure, while opponents warned it advances fetal personhood and could have broader reproductive-health consequences. HB 2046, requiring victims to be notified of pre-hearings in probation review proceedings for certain sex offenders, passed unanimously after emotional testimony from a victim’s family and county prosecutors. The committee then approved HB 2666, which increases penalties for sexual extortion involving 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds when the offender is an adult and knew or should have known the victim’s age. Finally, HB 2265, which eliminates court-imposed fees and assessments on criminal defendants for public defense, jury trials, and appeals, passed 7-0 despite county opposition over lost revenue and shifting costs to taxpayers. The last bill, HB 2133, would require commercial websites hosting sexual material to verify the age and consent of depicted persons, retain records, and treat synthetic depictions like AI-generated images similarly to existing revenge-porn laws; it drew support from adult-industry representatives on some implementation issues but also significant constitutional and privacy concerns, and the committee adopted an amendment before passing the bill as amended.

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you so much for being here today to hear House Bill 2292.
• Now we will take witness testimony in opposition to House Bill 2292. to House Bill 2292.
• We will now go to testimony in favor of House Bill 2292.
• We will now hear testimony in favor of House Bill 2292.
• I've housed dogs in my home. Okay. Okay. I've housed dogs in my home. Okay. Multiple dogs.

Committee: House Special Committee on Urban Issues

Transcript Highlights:

• session ended last year because no action on the House floor was taken.
• session ended last year because no action on the House floor was taken.
• We will continue our public hearing on House Bill 1544.
• As the chair indicated, House Bill 2253 Mr.
• And with that, we will close the hearing on House Bill 2253.

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 1544, which would require DCYF to study and improve the risk assessment tool used in child abuse and neglect investigations, including better identifying family strengths and needs, substance use-related risk, and service needs, and to certify the tool every three years. Staff explained the bill and noted it had passed the committee unanimously in substitute form last year. The prime sponsor, Representative Rule, said the tool would help reduce bias and support better decisions about child safety. Members raised questions about whether the bill would require new data systems or create a fiscal impact, and DCYF testified that the recertification process would focus on evidence-based literature and fidelity to the tool, though the agency acknowledged limitations in its data system. Support testimony from Partners for Our Children and DCYF emphasized that the current tool is not evidence-based and that the department is piloting the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale. The hearing on HB 1544 was then closed. The committee then received a lengthy work session from DCYF on juvenile rehabilitation. Juvenile Rehabilitation Assistant Secretary Jennifer Redman and security classification administrator Jeff Endermark described a growing JR population that is older, serving more adult-sentence youth, and projected to rise to about 481 by 2031. They said Green Hill School remains crowded, Harbor Heights is being brought online as a short-term option, and Echo Glen is near safe operational capacity. They explained JR’s classification system, behavior management process, and the role of multidisciplinary teams in placement decisions, as well as the expansion of community transition services (CTS), which uses electronic home monitoring for eligible youth. Staff described CTS eligibility, supervision expectations, and examples of successful placements, but also said the program needs more after-hours staffing and community supports. Members questioned the validity and equity of the risk tools, the availability of community resources, the impact of behavior policies and escapes, the use of single bunking, and broader concerns about lawsuits and sexual abuse in the system. JR reported an escape rate increase from 1.78 per 100 youth in 2001 to 3.92 in 2025 and said additional capacity and staffing are still needed. The committee then heard House Bill 2219, which would allow child care centers more flexibility in mixed-age grouping during parts of the day and waive repeated DCYF pre-service orientation for people who have already completed it. The prime sponsor, Representative Ortiz-Self, said the bill is meant to ease burdens on small providers. Testifiers from SEIU 925, a family child care provider, the Washington Child Care Centers Association, a child care center director, and the Children’s Campaign Fund supported the bill as a practical way to improve staffing flexibility and reduce duplicative licensing requirements, though one association asked that the bill’s daily time caps on mixed-age grouping be revised or removed. The committee then heard House Bill 2253, an agency-request technical corrections bill for DCYF licensing. Staff said it would allow child-specific licenses for certain relatives under interstate placements, exempt kinship caregivers from blood-borne pathogen training, remove licensing exemptions for physicians and lawyers, allow termination of inactive licenses, revise crisis residential center staffing ratios, and eliminate state monitoring requirements for the Washington School for the Deaf residential program. Members asked about how inactivity would be defined and whether the School for the Deaf inspections had historically produced savings. DCYF said the bill would help right-size licensing workloads after budget cuts and would let the agency work with stakeholders to define inactivity in rule. Testimony from DCYF, Community Youth Services, and Partners for Our Children supported the bill, especially the staffing ratio fix for crisis residential centers and the child-specific licensing changes for relatives.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are opposed to House Bill 259.
• The houses of worship of our...
• Please help keep our houses of worship and other vulnerable locations safe and vote no on House Bill
• As you know, House Bill 259.
• I am opposed to House Bill 259.

Bills: HB259 , HB 1128 , HB1337 , HB1506 , HB1794 , HB2215 , HB2470 , HB2771 , HB2882 , HB2993 , HB3053 , HB3428 , HB3669 , HB3789 , HB3924 , HB4201 , HB4675 , HB259

Committee: House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Keywords: healthcare, insurance, patient rights, medical expenses, access to care, affordability, legislation, firearms, penal code, regulation, short-barrel firearms, ammunition, gun control, public safety, Texas law, short-barrel, law enforcement, election judges, concealed handgun, polling places

Transcript Highlights:

• The Chair has been informed that House Bill 5289 has been released by the Committee on Bills in Third
• House No. 5289.
• House No. 5289. The question comes on passing the bill to be engrossed.
• House No. 5342. The question comes on passing the bill to be engrossed.
• House No. 5288. The question comes on passing the bill to be engrossed, pending which Mr.

Transcript Highlights:

• The House also concurs on bumping the two conforming bills.
• I believe you have an offer for the House. We do.
• I am pleased to present the House an offer on proviso and the implementing bill.
• Also, the House accepts the Senate's proviso offers on line 603A, 618.
• For everyone here on the House side and all the members who made their voices heard.

Summary: The Conference Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget and Agriculture, Environment, and General Government met to resolve differences on the budget spreadsheet, projects, back of the bill, proviso, and the implementing bill. The House presented offers on the budget spreadsheet, projects, and back of the bill, including acceptance of certain shaded rows and proposals to bump specified unshaded lines, and also proposed to bump two conforming bills related to fuel taxes and petroleum cleanup programs (SB 250 and HB 5701E). The Senate accepted the House’s offers on the budget spreadsheet, projects, back of the bill, and the conforming bills, while the House then accepted the Senate’s offer on the implementing bill with several lines bumped and accepted Senate proviso offers on selected lines, with the remaining proviso lines bumped. Both chambers ultimately concurred on the remaining bump lists for the proviso and implementing bill, indicating agreement on the conference package. A motion was adopted without objection to allow staff to make technical and conforming adjustments related to the bump process. There was no public comment, no further business, and the meeting adjourned without objection.

Transcript Highlights:

• I have a House Committee sub to offer, ending in .03C.
• Can you just go over the changes in the House Committee sub? Sure.
• You have adopted the House Committee substitute.
• I now move that the House Committee substitute for House Bill 3428 be due pass.
• House Bill 3428 due pass.

Committee: House Government Efficiency

Transcript Highlights:

• The House will be in order.
• With the consent of the House, House Rule 14C will be suspended to continue working past 10 p.m.
• Madam Speaker, I move that the House grant the Senate request for a conference on engrossed House Bill
• House Bill 1217.
• With consent of the House, the House will now adjourn until 11 a.m.

Summary: The House suspended Rule 14C to continue working past 10 p.m. and then received several Senate messages announcing action on multiple bills, including the Governor’s signing of Substitute Senate Bill 5408, Gross Substitute House Bill 1296, and Gross Second Substitute Senate Bill 5083. The Senate also adopted the conference committee report on Gross Substitute Senate Bill 5041 and concurred in House amendments to Gross Second Substitute Senate Bill 5263 and Substitute Senate Bill 54, passing those bills as amended. The main floor action involved a motion to grant the Senate’s request for a conference on engrossed House Bill 1217. Representative Fitzgibbon urged approval so the bill could move toward resolution, while Representative Lowe opposed the motion, saying the prior conference process had not adequately included his voice and that a bipartisan approach was needed. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed. After adopting the motion, the Speaker appointed Representatives Fitzgibbon, Peterson, and Lowe as conferees on House Bill 1217. The House then adjourned until 11 a.m. Saturday, April 26.

Transcript Highlights:

• Papers from the House. The House petition of Carol A.
• Papers from the House. The House petition of Carol A.
• You know what we're going to be The assembly of order paper from the House.
• It's House Number 5501.
• House Number 5501 comes from the House.

Summary: The Senate took up several local and special bills on third reading and final passage. It amended and passed to be engrossed Senate 1831, a Rutland bill providing killed-in-the-line-of-duty benefits for Joanne Saundi as the surviving spouse of Detective John DeSongy, and also passed to be engrossed two Haverhill bills exempting Nick Santos and Anthony Morales from the maximum age requirement for police officer appointments. The chamber then enacted bills concerning police age requirements in Newton and Stonem, sending them to the Governor. It also adopted two congratulatory resolutions, including one for the Florence Community Band’s 25th anniversary and another recognizing the Italian Consulate in Boston and Italian National Day. The Senate suspended Joint Rule 12 to refer a House petition from Rep. Carol Fiola to the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, proposing a temporary pilot to let municipalities extend liquor-license hours and allow public consumption in designated districts during summer 2026. The chamber also addressed House 5501, the fiscal year 2027 state budget, after the House nonconcurred in a Senate amendment; the Senate insisted on its amendment and appointed a conference committee, naming Senators Rodrigues, Comerford, and O’Connor. A major floor debate centered on Senate 3104, a resolution responding to the Supreme Judicial Court’s May 7, 2026 order regarding the State Auditor’s request for Senate financial records. Supporters said the resolution would provide documents in four clarified categories—budgets, audits, balance-forward transactions, and monetary settlement agreements—while preserving constitutional separation-of-powers objections to broader requests. Opponents argued the Senate should have sought the court’s guidance earlier and that the documents should be produced without further delay. The resolution was adopted on a roll call vote, 33-6. The Senate then adjourned in memory of William F. Howard of Beverly and set its next meeting for Monday at 11:00 a.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• Representative Long moves that the rules of the House be so far suspended so that House File 5149 be
• </c> for the reason gas is expensive, housing for the reason gas is expensive, housing is<00:06:35.880
• </c> their house without their passport. their house without their passport.
• I move that the House do now adjourn. Representative Niska moves that the House do now adjourn.
• The House stands adjourned. [Music and applause]

Transcript Highlights:

• Roberts, let's begin with House Bill 406 by Representative Mike Johnson.
• and Senate Education Committees, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on
• I had the privilege of speaking at the House Education Committee when they heard... ...at the House Education
• The second one that the author could not be here is House Bill 380. Let me do it quickly. Ms.
• I'm going to offer that bill for Representative Travis Johnson, which is House Bill 380.

Bills: HCR26 , HB28 , HB195 , HB283 , HB316 , HB319 , HB363 , HB380 , HB386 , HB392 , HB406 , HB636 , HB738 , HB807 , HB905 , HB992 , HB1146

Committee: Senate Education

Summary: The committee met with a large docket and adopted the April 29 minutes. Several bills were heard and advanced, mostly on education, workforce, literacy, early childhood, charter schools, and student mental health. Testimony was generally supportive, with many witnesses waiving in favor; a few bills drew questions about implementation, student awareness, and whether proposals were sufficiently broad or specific. House Bill 406, requiring the Department of Education to study the direction and regulation of interscholastic high school athletics and report back by March 1, 2027, was reported favorably after testimony from a retired principal who urged an open-minded study and discussion from the bill author about compliance and the bill’s purpose. House Bill 380, creating a pilot program between community and technical colleges and local school systems to expand awareness of CDL, entry-level driver training, and related programs, was also reported favorably. House Bill 807, creating a workforce and structure capacity investment program and fund to help industry partner with colleges to train instructors, was reported favorably after support from higher education and industry witnesses; senators raised interest in adding a stronger health care component and in reaching students earlier, but the author said he would work on amendments. The committee also advanced House Bill 316 on adolescent literacy and high-dose tutoring, with amendments clarifying teacher training timing, existing statutory bans on outdated literacy practices, and charter school participation; House Bill 1146, consolidating early childhood governance into a commission; House Bill 28, creating an appeal path for denied teacher certification applicants through BESE; and House Bill 992, assigning early childhood education identification numbers to support data collection on outcomes. House Concurrent Resolution 26, urging BESE to add the science of human growth and development to science and health standards and provide approved instructional resources, was amended and reported favorably. House Bill 386, allowing local districts to let locally authorized charter schools operate as their own LEA under district rules, was amended and reported favorably. House Bill 392, expanding suicide prevention information requirements on school websites, ID cards, handbooks, and signage, was reported favorably as well.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chair: The next bill up for consideration is House Bill 4011, St.
• And that is the bill or the House Joint Resolution.
• My taxes are set based on what I paid for that house.
• We have houses sold for $140,000 and houses that are sold for $2.5 million.
• That's what we all do in our house. This is not a cut.

Transcript Highlights:

• In the interest of time, because we do have the House convening at 11:30, we want to make sure that we
• We've got to build houses, guys. You know that, right? And we've got to streamline it.
• I'm sorry, I jumped right to House Bill 2346.
• with the middle housing as defined in the GMA.
• And that is specifically for chassis-based housing, so it's an interesting history.

Committee: House Local Government

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, you know, comparing the residents in manufactured housing to patrons or customers at a Waffle House
• It didn't really go anywhere in the House.
• It didn't really go anywhere in the<00:07:30.800><c> House.
• Um, is that something that the House.
• </c> House in 2026. House in 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• The fees were also capped at $100,000 for most housing projects.
• This bill would help us meet our infill housing goals.
• Andrew Dawson, the California Housing Partnership, in support. Mr. Chair and members.
• Lauren Rubbervich with Housing California, and here on behalf of the California Housing Consortium, in
• To try to figure out how to reduce the fees to make housing more affordable.

Committee: House Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials

Transcript Highlights:

• [Unintelligible transcription: "e"] [Unintelligible transcription: "e"] e e e e e e e e e Will the House
• Clerk, will the House come to order? Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Roll call continues: Mr.
• </c><00:26:48.880><c> of</c> colleagues on behalf of the House of colleagues on behalf of the House of
• resolutions and House concurrent resolutions, as may be amended, be adopted.
• The House stands adjourned until 12:00 noon tomorrow.