Transcript Highlights:

• add additional funding to the federal programs we have now, which are a small business initiative research
• Research also shows disparities among racial groups.

Committee: House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce

Summary: The committee met with roll call attendance and took up two bills. First was Senate Bill 315 with Senate Amendment 1, which would allow the Division of Small Business to add state funding to existing federal small business programs, including the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. There was brief public support from one in-person commenter, no virtual comment, and the committee voted to release the bill, though it did not yet have enough signatures for immediate release and was left open for absent members to sign. The second item was Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 319, a women’s health insurance mandate requiring coverage for medically necessary menopause and perimenopause diagnostic and treatment services, including FDA-approved hormone replacement therapy, pelvic floor therapy, and related care. Representative Smith presented the bill as a response to gaps in menopause care and insurance coverage, and Department of Insurance witness Kennedy Cook explained the religious exemption as applying to certain religious employers and blanket health policies. Committee members asked about the scope of that exemption, and some expressed concern about religious carveouts, while others praised the bill as important women’s health legislation. During public comment, one speaker supported the bill but warned that expanding mandatory health benefits can raise insurance costs. The Department of Insurance then testified in support, saying the bill would align Delaware with other states, many insurers already comply, and the department did not expect a meaningful premium impact. The committee voted to release Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 319 from committee.

Transcript Highlights:

• bill are Norman Rogers, second vice president at United Steelworkers Local 675, and Sarah McGinn, Research
• My name is Sarah McGinn, and I'm a research program coordinator for SEIU Local 1000, California's largest

Committee: House Public Employment and Retirement

Transcript Highlights:

• Our research institutions are phenomenal on the R&D side.
• some visual venture capital And university collaboration going on, as well as the industry embedded research

Bills: SB1477 , SB1480 , SB1593 , SB1633 , SB1670 , SB1725 , SB1726 , SB1735 , SB1632

Committee: House Postsecondary Education

Transcript Highlights:

• Blaine; and Western Washington University faculty, fellows, and representatives of the Border Policy Research
• Blaine; and Western Washington University faculty, fellows, and representatives of the Border Policy Research

Summary: The Senate convened on February 24 with no roll call, approved the prior day’s Journal, and referred committee reports and listed measures as designated. One exception was Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2548, concerning health care market standards, which was sent to the Committee on Rules. The chamber then moved to the eighth order for resolutions. Senate Resolution 8696, recognizing Washington’s interconnected relationship with Canada, was read and adopted. Supportive remarks emphasized cross-border economic ties, family and community connections, shared environmental and scientific work, trade, border communities such as Point Roberts and Blaine, and cooperation with Canadian and Quebec officials. The Senate also formally recognized visiting Canadian and Washington guests in the gallery, including the Canadian Consul General, a Quebec delegate, the mayor of Blaine, and Western Washington University representatives. After a brief at-ease, the Senate returned to business and received supplemental standing committee reports, including Senate Bill 5998, the supplemental operating budget, and House Bill 2664, both referred to the Committee on Rules. The Senate then agreed to adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 26, 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• And I would note, I actually did a little research on this, that John James Audubon's most iconic painting
• And in researching that some more, I learned that John James Audubon first cited the flamingo.

Summary: The Natural Resources and Disaster Subcommittee met with a quorum and considered two bills. HB 705, by Representative Weinberger, would preserve the public records exemption protecting the address and telephone number of people using public emergency shelters during storms or catastrophic events. Representative Anderson spoke in strong support, citing the vulnerability of shelter residents after recent hurricanes and the need to prevent criminals from targeting them. The bill drew no public testimony and passed the committee by a 15-0 vote. The committee then heard HB 11, by Representatives Mooney and LaMarca, which would designate the flamingo as Florida’s state bird and the scrub jay as the state songbird. Sponsors argued the flamingo is an iconic symbol of Florida and tied the bill to Everglades and Indian River Lagoon restoration, while also noting the scrub jay’s status as Florida’s only endemic songbird. Members raised questions about the birds’ native range, regional representation, and possible future amendments, including suggestions for a pelican designation and preserving the mockingbird’s historical role. One support card was filed by Jose Romano of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. During debate, several members voiced support while noting they might seek amendments later. Representative Miller supported the flamingo but objected to elevating the scrub jay because of property-rights concerns. Representative Andrade said he would vote yes to allow a future pelican amendment, and Representative Tant said he would support the bill while seeking recognition of the mockingbird as a songbird. The bill passed 15-1, with Representative Miller voting no. After the vote, the committee adjourned without further business.

Transcript Highlights:

• The substitute modifies the makeup and duties of the Research Security Council and clarifies the definition
• There's just individual language where there's one research security officer for Texas Southern, one

Committees: Senate Education , Senate Education K-16

Summary: The Senate Committee on Education K-16 met with a quorum and considered a long agenda of education-related bills, mostly from the House and several taken up in lieu of Senate measures. Early action included House Bill 27 on personal financial literacy for high school students, which was reported favorably and sent to the local and uncontested calendar. The committee also advanced House Bill 4 on public school accountability and assessment, House Bill 4687 on liability and immunity for certain charter school campuses or programs, House Bill 2598 on school psychologists, House Bill 3629 barring registered sex offenders from serving on ISD boards, House Bill 824 adding civics instruction to high school government curriculum, and House Bill 4236 creating a task force to review the comptroller’s school district property value study. Most of these bills were reported out unanimously or near-unanimously and several were certified for the local and uncontested calendar. The committee also heard and advanced higher education and school governance measures, including House Bill 127 on protecting public higher education from foreign adversaries and trade secret theft; members adopted a committee substitute after explanation that it revised the Research Security Council, clarified definitions, adjusted gift restrictions, and removed redundant procurement language. House Bill 4361 on timely emergency notifications at public institutions of higher education, House Bill 1868 on studying dual credit funding and workforce capacity, House Bill 718 on restricting certain private partnerships for student housing, House Bill 4848 on competency-based/work-based/degree programs at public institutions, House Bill 2853 on student union building fees at UTEP, House Bill 100 on instructional materials adoption, and House Bill 2243 creating the Texas Commission on Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention were also reported favorably, with House Bill 2853 drawing one no vote. One bill was held pending further clarification: House Bill 1105, concerning tuition and lab fee exemptions for certain paramedics, after a member raised questions about whether the exemption already exists and whether the bill merely clarifies coverage for EMS first responders. The committee also discussed House Bill 100 as a companion to Senate Bill 451 and noted that House Bill 27 and House Bill 127 were being used in lieu of Senate bills. Overall, the committee reported most measures favorably, often by unanimous vote, and several were placed on the local and uncontested calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• Meaning research has shown that these are effective at diverting people from further involvement.
• But we do find benefits of the program, or the state continuing to fund practices that research has shown

Transcript Highlights:

• ideas to the committee, some of the feedback I received from Liz from Legislative Council on her research
• What it starts out as is a finding by the agency that says, based on our research and our investigation

Committee: House Judiciary

Summary: The subcommittee met on Senate Bill 2224 and reviewed the latest Legislative Council draft, version 1006, which incorporated prior changes including the Christensen amendment, the executive session language, and a 30-day deadline for the Attorney General to issue an order. The Attorney General’s office then explained its proposed amendment, which would clarify that hearings could be held under existing administrative hearing procedures, apply the same process to all violations, and preserve the current appeal structure. The office also raised concerns about the bill’s requirement that hearings be video recorded and broadcast live, noting possible technology and budget limitations. Representative Koppelman responded that the purpose of the bill was to ensure a timely, transparent process and avoid long delays before a sanctioned party could get to court, arguing that the Legislative Council draft better addressed due process concerns. Representative Henderson agreed and said the draft version improved transparency and established a clearer timeline. During discussion, a cross-reference in the appeal section was identified as incorrect and was corrected to refer to Section 28-32-49 rather than Chapter 28-27, with clarification that the appeal path should remain tied to the Attorney General’s administrative determination. The committee then amended the motion to include the corrected cross-reference and approved the Legislative Council version 1006 as amended. The vote was unanimous, and the bill was prepared to be taken back to committee the next morning for further action. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• Research shows that every dollar invested in local food systems returns an additional $2.16.
• AB 1042 seeks to support our under-resourced beekeeping industry through grants and research to help

Committee: House Agriculture

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> group of scientists, researchers group of scientists, researchers um<01:12:04.800><c> and</c><01
• Decades of research has proven children.
• Actually, when I was doing some research on this bill last night, I did see several research articles
• But I can share some of the research that I found on that too. >> Thank you.
• We would enjoy that research. >> Thank you. >> Any further, Representative Pearson?

Committee: House Children and Family Law

Transcript Highlights:

• My research was only on opioids and the opioid crisis, but working with Rep.
• </c> the scope of this bill no my research the scope of this bill no my research was<05:27:42.000><c>
• The research that's being done today is piggybacked on that work.
• The research that's being done today is piggybacked on that work.
• Representative Muse: The research that's being done today is piggybacked on that work.

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• , the tremendous amounts of research, of thousands of pieces of research that go into preparing for an
• I would need to research that, though, Senator Polsky, and get an answer for you.
• So here's my question that I'm happy for you to research.
• House Bill 327, a bill to be entitled an act relating to the uterine fibroid research database.
• House Bill 327, a bill to be entitled an act relating to the uterine fibroid research database.

Transcript Highlights:

• So masters and doctorate degrees and also research and employment and full-time employment.
• So masters and doctorate degrees and also research and employment and full-time employment.
• So masters and doctorate degrees and also research and employment and full-time employment.
• </c><02:40:29.040><c> It's</c> research not undergraduate school.
• It's research not undergraduate school.

Committee: House Education Funding

Transcript Highlights:

• And so what we have done in the past is really utilize our committee researcher and make sure that we
• </c><04:36:49.840><c> I</c> &gt;&gt; can we please um ask for a researcher?
• I &gt;&gt; can we please um ask for a researcher?
• But yeah, I've never found a reason to decline research requests." "Great.
• I will now close the hearing on House Bill 1376." researcher to do that. researcher to do that.

Committee: House Children and Family Law

Transcript Highlights:

• Eugene Tien, Administrator of the Research and Economic Analysis Division.
• administrator office uh Dr Eugene Tien administrator of<00:02:35.760><c> the</c><00:02:35.879><c> research
• </c><00:02:36.280><c> and</c><00:02:36.879><c> economic</c><00:02:37.319><c> analysis</c> of the research
• and economic analysis of the research and economic analysis division<00:02:40.720><c> Gwen</c><00:02
• economic analysis division to research economic analysis division to understand<00:05:45.199><c> that

Transcript Highlights:

• them a framework of what the problems are, kind of a scope of content of areas that need to be researched
• Last year, the FTC researched 184 connected products, only to discover that only 21 of them disclosed
• Yes, this is Megan Smith with Public Interest Research Group as my second lead witness. Thank you.
• I'm an organizing director with PIRG, national partner of CalPIRG, or California Public Interest Research
• that they would have struggled to tell otherwise, make connections, link to evidence and academic research

Summary: The committee began as a subcommittee due to the lack of a quorum and heard several privacy- and technology-related measures. The first item was H.R. 117, a resolution urging Congress to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The author and supporters argued the law is outdated and shields platforms from accountability for harms such as harassment, exploitation, scams, and other online abuse. Witnesses, including a survivor parent and a gender justice advocate, described harms to children, women, and LGBTQ people and urged a two-year sunset to force federal reform. Some members supported the resolution as a call for federal action, while one member said he could not support it because the resolution was too general and lacked specificity about the reforms being sought. No vote was taken because the committee lacked a quorum. The committee then heard SB 898, which would require manufacturers of connected consumer products to disclose how long they will support the software and to notify consumers when products approach end of life. The author said consumers deserve transparency about security updates and continued functionality, and supporters from Consumer Reports and PIRG emphasized cybersecurity risks, consumer confusion, and electronic waste from unsupported devices. Opponents, including business and industry groups, raised concerns about enforcement through the unfair competition law, notice burdens, labeling issues, and compliance challenges, especially for products with long support windows or third-party dependencies. One member expressed support, noting the cybersecurity risks of end-of-life devices, but again no vote was taken because there was no quorum. The committee also heard SB 435, which would narrow the CCPA definition of publicly available information to limit how businesses classify data as public. The author and supporters said the bill would close a loophole that allows data brokers and others to monetize personal information without meaningful consent and could help prevent surveillance and misuse of data, including by government agencies. Opponents argued the bill would upset the balance between privacy and the free flow of information, create compliance uncertainty, and retroactively reclassify information that businesses reasonably believed was public. Some members said they supported the goal of stronger privacy protections, while others said the bill was too broad. The committee again could not vote due to the lack of a quorum. Later, the committee heard SB 923, which would expand Californians’ right to delete personal information to cover data obtained from third parties and require online businesses to offer a web form or similar method for deletion requests. Supporters, including the California Privacy Protection Agency and consumer advocates, said the bill would make deletion rights meaningful and better address data broker practices. Opponents sought an opt-out-of-processing alternative and raised operational and legal concerns, but supporters said deletion is not the same as retention or processing limits. Members largely spoke in favor of the bill’s privacy goals, but no action was taken. The committee also heard SB 947, the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would require human review for certain automated employment decisions and limit predictive analysis in workplace discipline and termination. Labor groups supported the bill as a safeguard against biased or erroneous AI-driven decisions, while business, public employer, and local government groups opposed it as overbroad and burdensome. Members voiced support for human oversight in employment decisions, but the item was not voted on because the committee still lacked a quorum. Finally, the committee began hearing SB 1114, the SOGI Data Privacy Act, which would restrict disclosure of sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex data to federal agencies absent a court order or legal requirement; the author and witness framed it as a response to federal efforts to obtain sensitive LGBTQ-related data.

Transcript Highlights:

• them a framework of what the problems are, kind of a scope of content of areas that need to be researched
• Last year, the FTC researched 184 connected products, only to discover that only 21 of them disclosed
• Yes, this is Megan Smith with Public Interest Research Group as my second lead witness. Thank you.
• I'm an organizing director with PIRG, national partner of CalPIRG, or California Public Interest Research
• California relies on demographic data to identify disparities, conduct research, tailor services, and

Committee: House Privacy and Consumer Protection

Transcript Highlights:

• Through HOPE's economic status of Latinas research, the organization has documented both the tremendous
• In fact, research from the Pew Research Center found, ...that a majority of American Jews identify ancestry
• Research shows that conversion therapy... And harms patients.
• Research shows that conversion therapy does not change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity
• Jamie said, that's different from talking about someone's gender identity, which Kenan McKinnon, a researcher

Summary: The committee heard several bills focused on domestic violence protections, pay equity enforcement, Jewish demographic data collection, court transparency, auto glass insurance practices, pet policy disclosure for renters, and civil rights accountability for federal officers. SB 99 would require courts and law enforcement to better recognize military protective orders in domestic violence cases; supporters from the Department of Defense and military organizations said it would close jurisdictional gaps for military families, and the bill passed to Public Safety. SB 1237 would increase penalties for repeat noncompliance with California pay data reporting laws; supporters said stronger enforcement is needed to address persistent wage gaps, and the bill passed to Appropriations. SB 1387 would allow Jewish identity to be reported as an ethnic category in state demographic data; supporters said better data would improve policy and anti-discrimination efforts, while opponents argued the bill was unnecessary or divisive, and it passed to Privacy. SB 932 would require assignees filing civil actions to identify the original party in the case caption; supporters framed it as a transparency measure, and it passed to Judiciary/Appropriations on call. The committee also took up SB 98, which would regulate auto glass insurance claims by restricting assignment of benefits, requiring clearer estimates and invoices, and limiting inducements to consumers. The sponsor and NICB said the bill would curb fraud and unsafe repairs, while independent glass shops and industry groups argued it could reduce consumer choice and favor insurer-aligned networks; the bill passed to Appropriations. SB 1296 would require landlords to disclose pet policies before collecting application fees and provide refunds if nondisclosure materially affected an applicant’s decision; supporters said it would save renters time and money, while rental housing representatives objected to a provision limiting eviction based solely on failure to sign a pet addendum. The bill passed to Appropriations. Finally, SB 747, the No Kings Act, would create a California cause of action allowing people to sue federal officers for constitutional violations using standards similar to Section 1983. Senator Wiener and a witness who said he was unlawfully detained by Border Patrol argued the bill is needed because federal officers currently lack comparable accountability after the Supreme Court narrowed Bivens remedies. Law enforcement groups opposed the bill, warning that the qualified immunity language is unclear, could create a separate California standard, and might expose officers and governments to retroactive litigation; members discussed possible amendments on qualified immunity and retroactivity, and the bill was moved forward with an urgency amendment while negotiations continued.

Transcript Highlights:

• Through HOPE's economic status of Latinas research, the organization has documented both the tremendous
• In fact, research from the Pew Research Center found that a majority of American Jews identify ancestry
• Research shows that conversion therapy does not change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity
• Jamie said, that's different from talking about someone's gender identity, which Kinan McKinnon, a researcher
• And then a researcher in this area and a trans man himself says could be as high as 30%.

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• We were also provided with scientific research backing the use of such alternative methods of communication
• 32:26.720><c> the</c><00:32:26.880><c> use</c><00:32:27.039><c> of</c><00:32:27.200><c> such</c> research
• backing the use of such research backing the use of such alternative<00:32:28.159><c> methods</c><00
• the support of two regional communication specialists, offers guidance, policy recommendations, research
• the support of two regional communication specialists, offers guidance, policy recommendations, research