Transcript Highlights:

• I know, like Rockland Trust has a program. South Shore Bank has an apprenticeship program.
• They have a neurodiversity program.
• associate's degree programs.
• and an associate's degree programs.
• kind of programs because they work.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The subcommittee opened with roll call and approved the January minutes. Members then heard from Undersecretary of Labor and Workforce Development Josh Cutler, who gave an update on the Healey-Driscoll administration’s apprenticeship efforts and emphasized apprenticeship as an earn-while-you-learn model that can help address workforce shortages while including people with disabilities. He described growth in apprenticeships across sectors such as banking, bio, early education, health care, and human services, and noted recent milestones including the state’s 10,000th registered apprenticeship, expanded tax credits, reduced program fees, added apprenticeship liaisons, and Grow grants to support program development. Committee members focused on how apprenticeship could be adapted for human services and disability-related jobs, including early education, direct care, PCA work, sterile processing, and related health occupations. They asked about funding structures, employer participation, community college involvement, and how to make programs accessible to people with disabilities. Cutler explained that apprenticeship programs are employer-designed but must meet core requirements such as paid employment, at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning, related technical instruction, mentorship, and progressive wages. He said the state can support programs through the registered apprenticeship tax credit, which he said is $4,800 per apprentice and can be stacked with the disability employment tax credit, and through Grow grants, which were most recently awarded at about $2.1 million statewide. Members and Cutler discussed using intermediaries such as trade associations, nonprofits, and disability organizations to help employers set up programs and navigate incentives. He said the commission could be useful as a convener and suggested a targeted panel or information session with apprenticeship liaisons, employers, and existing sponsors to identify a few specific occupations and build a proof of concept. The meeting ended with agreement to follow up offline on potential partner employers, including Eastern Bank, and on possible next steps for a focused panel or pilot opportunities.

Transcript Highlights:

• I know, like Rockland Trust has a program. South Shore Bank has an apprenticeship program.
• They have a neurodiversity program.
• associate's degree programs.
• I'm going to register this program, and then... ...registering the program unlocks some supports.
• kind of programs because they work.

Keywords: 1212, all

Summary: The subcommittee met to approve the January minutes and then heard an update from Undersecretary of Labor and Workforce Development Josh Cutler on apprenticeship expansion in Massachusetts. Cutler described the Healey-Driscoll administration’s efforts to grow apprenticeships beyond the building trades into sectors such as banking, bio, early education, health care, and human services, emphasizing that apprenticeship is an earn-while-you-learn model with strong retention and career advancement. He noted recent milestones and supports, including the 10,000th registered apprenticeship, expanded tax credits, reduced program fees, added apprenticeship liaisons, and Grow grants to help employers launch programs. He also said the administration is open to using grants, incentives, and convening power to encourage more human services and disability-focused apprenticeships. Members focused on how these models could work for disability and human services providers, especially in lower-wage fields like early education and direct care. They raised examples such as sterile processing, PCA services, mental health, brain injury, independent living centers, and programs involving community colleges, Bridgewater State, and vocational schools. Cutler explained that apprentices are W-2 employees, programs must include at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning, 150 hours of related instruction, a mentor relationship, and progressive wages, but employers largely design the program themselves. He said intermediaries such as the Massachusetts Bankers Association or disability organizations can help employers navigate the process and that the state can support these efforts through grants and tax credits. The discussion also covered employer outreach, the role of community colleges, and how to make careers in disability services more visible and valued. Cutler said the registered apprenticeship tax credit is $4,800 per apprentice, can be claimed twice for longer apprenticeships, and is stackable with the disability employment tax credit. Members suggested hosting a targeted virtual panel with apprenticeship liaisons, employers, and intermediaries to identify a few priority occupations and develop concrete next steps. The meeting ended with agreement to follow up offline on specific opportunities and potential partners, including Eastern Bank and existing apprenticeship programs in health care and related fields.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> incentive programs. incentive programs.
• program.
• program.
• program.
• program.

Bills: HF858 , HF2577 , HF2576

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Keywords: bioincentive payments, agriculture, job creation, environmental compliance, financial reporting, waste handling, sewage sludge, PFAS regulation, environment, record retention, fertilizer disposal, pesticide disposal, environmental impact, safety regulations, burning prohibition, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• , which is a really interesting program.
• That program began as a pilot four years ago and became a full-fledged program two years ago.
• The program helps us provide milk protein to over one hundred thousand hunger relief programs across
• This language was added to the end of the program and was meant to be applied to all of the program.
• A couple of comments on the farm down payment assistant grant program. It's a good program.

Bills: HF2446

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Keywords: agriculture finance, broadband development, Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health, Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, Office of Broadband Development, food safety, food handler license, cottage food, home processed food, livestock dealer, meat packing company, milk marketer, milk marketing license, grain buyer, grain storage, beginning farmer, emerging farmer, farm down payment assistance, livestock investment grant

Transcript Highlights:

• Program design.
• We can do school A that has two programs, school B that has three programs, and school C that has one
• program.
• three programs.
• The McKinney-Vento program, the homeless student program, had a robust pilot program done.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> country than any of those programs country than any of those programs combined<00:20:48.960><c>
• Talk about the food shelf program, um, for that state grant program.
• than 650 children on the program.
• The prepared meals program also works nicely with the senior nutrition program.
• So it's a really good program.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• are</c> programs are um programs that are programs are um programs that are provided<00:11:01.680><c
• A certified program is actually a program that meets a license exemption.
• programs there.
• programs there.
• > and</c> assistance program that CCAP program and assistance program that CCAP program and created<00

Committee: House Children and Families Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The framework for public education initiatives is used as a three-year pilot program to fund programs
• One of the exclusions for that MOE is if the program is a pilot program.
• create a quality program?
• programs are usually gone through, because they're usually competitive programs...
• Federal programs are usually gone through because they're usually competitive programs.

Bills: SB204 , SB241 , HB34

Committee: Senate Senate Education

Keywords: higher education, research funding, federal funding, New Mexico, appropriation, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, child care, child care assistance, child care subsidy, early childhood education, early childhood care, daycare, preschool, pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, Children's Code, early childhood education and care department

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:09:27.800><c> with</c> have some two plus two programs with have some two plus two programs with
• </c> students graduating from this program students graduating from this program can<00:45:17.960><c>
• ><c> because</c><00:57:35.280><c> we're</c> we take away programs because we're we take away programs
• scholarship programs and the direct<01:04:24.880><c> admissions</c><01:04:25.359><c> program</c><01:
• </c> education the Northstar promise program education the Northstar promise program has<01:22:54.000

Committee: Senate Higher Education

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> grant program grant program this<00:03:51.360><c> is</c><00:03:51.440><c> a</c><00:03:51.599><c>
• the gate<00:31:32.320><c> program</c> gate program gate program and<00:31:33.760><c> he</c><00:31:33.919
• Own Teacher program.
• Own Teacher program.
• my licensure program.

Committee: House Education Finance

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The Education Finance Committee met remotely on February 16, 2022, with a quorum present and approved the minutes from the previous day by voice vote. Chair Dabney said the committee was spending the week on public school staffing shortages, especially efforts to increase and retain BIPOC teachers, and introduced testimony on the Collaborative Urban and Greater Minnesota Educators of Color Grant Program (CUGMEC) and the broader Increasing Teachers of Color Act. Testifiers from St. Thomas, Augsburg, and Hopkins described the history and impact of the legacy educator-of-color programs. Kathleen Campbell said the original Q program was created to address underrepresentation, remove financial barriers, and provide mentorship and culturally relevant support; she argued that when the grant became competitive in 2017 without additional funding, support was spread too thin and student capacity dropped. Audrey Lensmeyer described Augsburg’s East African Student-to-Teacher Program, rooted in community advocacy in Cedar-Riverside, and said it has produced strong completion and licensure outcomes. Keenan Jones shared his path from paraprofessional to teacher and district leader, emphasizing the importance of scholarships, mentorship, and outreach to high school students, including a statewide co-enrollment Intro to Teaching course. Representative Hassan then presented House File 3079, saying the bill aims to attract, prepare, complete, and retain more teachers of color and American Indian teachers through several grant and program changes, including Closing the Educational Opportunity Gap grants, Cook Mac funding, teacher mentorship and retention updates, and revisions to CUGMEC. He said the bill responds to a severe shortage of BIPOC teachers and that the requested investment is small relative to the state surplus. Student and educator testimony followed, including a third-grade student from Crookston and Ava Roots, both of whom described the importance of having teachers who reflect students’ cultures and experiences. Natalia Benjamin, the 2021 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, also testified about retention challenges for educators of color and racialized workplace treatment. The committee indicated it intended to lay over HF 3079 for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill, and Representative Richardson moved the bill to be laid over for further consideration.

Transcript Highlights:

• The treatment programs are the same.
• Care court's a voluntary program that those with antisagnosia, program that those with anisagnosia, are
• But these are expensive programs.
• or a TK program, or where there is a preschool program on campus, we are supporting those programs as
• And these are not just programs. They are not social media programs.

Summary: The hearing focused first on behavioral health, especially serious mental illness and anosognosia, a condition described by witnesses as a neurological symptom that prevents people from recognizing they are ill. The chair framed the issue around families cycling through emergency rooms, jails, conservatorships, and short-term stabilization without lasting treatment, and warned that federal changes under H.R. 1 could reduce Medi-Cal funding and worsen access. Dawn Marie Anderson gave a personal account of her son’s long history of psychosis, homelessness, arrests, repeated jail and state hospital stays, and eventual stability when he received sustained medication and coordinated support. She argued that the system often treats the problem as criminal rather than medical and that voluntary programs and short-term services are not enough for people who lack insight into their illness. Other panelists, including representatives from the California Behavioral Health Association, Santa Barbara County Behavioral Health, and the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, agreed that anosognosia is not denial or noncompliance and said the system needs long-term, coordinated care, including assertive community treatment, mobile crisis, supportive housing, medication support, and stronger handoffs between county and managed care systems. They said CalAIM and other reforms have improved some coordination, but significant gaps remain, especially for people with serious mental illness, for those in jail or locked settings, and for people with private insurance, which witnesses said often offers little meaningful coverage for early psychosis or intensive behavioral health services. Several witnesses urged the Legislature to protect Medi-Cal, shore up county safety-net services, and invest in training and family engagement. The committee then turned to the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, with a focus on the virtual services platforms BrightLife Kids and Soluna and the CYBHI fee schedule. DHCS reported strong growth in app registrations, coaching sessions, referrals, and positive user outcomes, saying the platforms provide free, culturally responsive, early-intervention support statewide and help connect users to higher levels of care when needed. On the fee schedule, DHCS said more than 500 LEAs, colleges, universities, and school-linked providers are participating, 181 LEAs have submitted claims, and $9.6 million has been reimbursed to date, with 41,556 students represented in claims. The chair and several members criticized the pace of implementation and the amount of money spent relative to reimbursement levels, saying the Legislature had requested data earlier and that the return on investment still appeared low. DHCS responded that many claims are still being submitted, that 70% of denials are correctable, that $400 million in capacity grants has been distributed locally, and that reimbursement is increasing rapidly as more districts come online. Public comment included a rural county behavioral health director who said private insurance denials leave counties with significant uncompensated work, especially for unlicensed staff providing case management and mobile crisis services.

Transcript Highlights:

• So on the left, the 2026 total by program shows the four current budgeted... ...total by program shows
• . ...$601,781,000 to the hospital assessment budget program for the budget and for a budget-neutral program
• Beginning with FY 2027 JFAC program maintenance budget.
• The Medicaid Integrity Program.
• It was organized into four budgeted programs.

Summary: The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee met with a quorum and first took up the Department of Health and Welfare’s Division of Medicaid. Members approved a 2026 supplemental for the Medicaid forecast adjustment, increasing general fund and dedicated fund spending while reducing federal funds, and also approved a separate budget-neutral 2026 supplemental to move hospital assessment funding into a dedicated fund and create a new hospital assessment budgeted program, as required by House Bill 345. Both motions passed with do-pass recommendations after roll-call votes. The committee then considered the 2027 Medicaid budget. Testimony covered MMIS procurement, estate recovery staffing, program integrity contract support, Medicaid purchasing staff tied to the Department of Administration, hospital assessment fund alignment, population forecast adjustments, and an additional governor’s initiative reduction. Three competing motions were offered: one from Representative Bruce, one from Senator Cook, and one from Senator Wintrow. After debate over provider-rate cuts, RESHAB funding, forecast assumptions, and whether to reduce the governor’s requested $22 million adjustment, the Bruce motion failed and the Cook substitute failed, while the Wintrow motion passed and received a do-pass recommendation. The committee next approved Idaho State Police budgets. It passed a Brand Inspection Division request for $288,100 in dedicated funds for replacement vehicles and equipment, a Division of Idaho State Police motion adding funds for the commercial vehicle safety grant, a mobile live scan pilot, and replacement items, and a POST Academy motion for $324,100 in dedicated funds for replacement items. The Department of Juvenile Corrections budget was also approved, including a clinician services transfer from Health and Welfare, replacement items, IT hardware, and restoration of direct care and mentoring funding with six FTPs. Finally, the committee considered the Department of Administration and Military Division budgets; after debate over Medicaid procurement staffing and a training position transfer, the committee approved a Department of Administration motion with reduced general fund and increased dedicated funding, then approved the Military Division’s request for emergency management overhead recovery and state education assistance funding. The meeting ended with announcements of the next Monday agenda and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're speaking about the California Hemp Program, industrial hemp program support and transition.
• And that's why we propose shifting the program to the USDA Federal Hemp Program.
• programs.
• This program has been approved...
• I'm here to speak on behalf of the CNIP program, the California Nutrition Incentive Program.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The LIHTC program, Joe Cerna farmworker housing grant, and CalHome program are the leading resources
• program, with CERNA and the other programs, things tend to revolve toward the MHP competition, which
• It is critical to adequately fund the CalHome and CERNA programs to keep these programs vibrant.
• It is critical to adequately fund the CalHome and CERNA programs to keep these programs vibrant.
• It is critical to adequately fund the CalHome and CERNA programs to keep these programs vibrant.

Summary: The committee held an outcomes review hearing on AB 457 and related farmworker and rural housing policy, with members and witnesses discussing whether recent streamlining laws are actually increasing production. Chair Haney, Assembly Members Soria and Pellerin, and others described the purpose of AB 457 and its predecessor bills AB 1783 and AB 3035: to make farmworker housing easier to build through ministerial approval and other reforms. Witnesses emphasized that farmworkers face severe overcrowding, high rents, long commutes, and limited access to housing in both rural and coastal agricultural regions. The first panel focused on practical barriers and local models. Napa County described its county-owned farmworker centers, which provide nightly lodging, meals, and services, funded by lodger fees, a grower assessment, and state support. Testimony stressed that these centers function as navigation hubs rather than permanent housing, and that stable, inflation-adjusted operating funding, language access, transportation, and local set-asides are critical. United Farm Workers urged that local farmworkers be prioritized over H-2A workers and warned against displacing long-term resident workers. Several witnesses said the biggest barriers remain infrastructure, land costs, local opposition, and insufficient subsidy rather than approval streamlining alone. The second and third panels addressed AB 457’s implementation and broader state funding issues. Santa Clara County said the bill could help on a county-owned Gilroy site, but financing remains the main obstacle. Self-Help Enterprises said AB 457’s expanded geography and project-size rules may help future sites, but rural projects still struggle with water, sewer, and environmental review costs, and with the state’s Super NOFA process, which tends to favor deeper-income projects that do not match farmworker household incomes. HCD reported that CERNA and other programs have increased farmworker housing production in recent years, but witnesses argued that rural regions still receive too little funding, that infrastructure dollars are too fragmented, and that more rural-specific set-asides, local funding incentives, and predictable allocations are needed. No votes or formal actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• These are not the only programs.
• Schedule program.
• or a TK program, or where there is a preschool program on campus, we are supporting those programs as
• And these are not just programs. They are not social media programs.
• to fund this program.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Remarkable program.
• or move from program to program.
• We can spend that program income on our Vocational Rehabilitation Program, on our Older Blind Program
• or on our Part B Program.
• The normal rule is that you have to spend program income on the program that generated the program income

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• program.
• , our licensing and certification program, and of course our Women, Infants, and Children program.
• And then finally, for the WIC program, it's a $1.25 billion program for 2025-26. years.
• The program has far outpaced what we do in that program compared to what a lot of states do in the genetic
• licensure program.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• so far, the in-state program.
• so far, the in-state program.
• I think that your program...
• investment program.
• Programs that are out there.

Summary: The committee met to approve prior minutes and receive updates on the Legacy Fund transparency website and fund performance. Staff reported the website procurement was in contract negotiations, with a planned go-live around November 1, and that the site would provide downloadable, more transparent information on fund holdings, allocations, history, and legislative appropriations while protecting confidential data. The investment office then reviewed performance through January 2026, describing strong returns relative to benchmarks, noting real estate and fixed income as weaker areas, and explaining that the fund’s diversification and internal management had helped offset market volatility, including recent geopolitical impacts. Members also discussed the in-state investment program, especially the Bank of North Dakota’s CD-match allocation. Several members questioned whether the program had been static for years and whether the uncommitted balance should remain parked there if it was not being used. The committee voted to pause further transfers into the program until the Bank provides a report and the committee can consider possible statutory changes; the motion also requested a cost-benefit analysis from RVK, and it passed by roll call vote. In the afternoon, RVK presented its review of the investment policy statement as it relates to the in-state investment program. The consultant said it found no major policy impediments, and that implementers and stakeholders generally felt the program was proceeding as intended. RVK emphasized best practices such as third-party due diligence, competitive risk-adjusted returns, diversification, pacing, and exit strategies, while cautioning that required lower-return investments or spending commitments can create pressure on the fund’s long-term real value. The consultant also raised ancillary concerns about state-level concentration risk, the need to distinguish between public and commercial infrastructure, and the lack of a central repository for all state funding commitments to the same projects.

Transcript Highlights:

• The 340B program is a very important safety net program for our rural hospitals and FQHCs, as well as
• But the 340B program is not supposed to be a program that generates large amounts of revenue to balance
• Speaker, the 340B program is a federal program. All policies are done at the federal level.
• , their 340B program.
• And 340B is a federal program.

Bills: HB2720 , HB2073 , HB2487 , SB5816 , SB5919 , SB5831 , SB6137 , SB6244 , SB6044 , SB6132 , SB5109 , SB5877 , SB6258 , HB2720 , HB2073 , HB2487 , SB5816 , SB5919 , SB5831 , SB6137 , SB6244 , SB5420 , SB5868 , SB6044 , SB6132 , SJM8002

Keywords: behavioral health, emergency services, health insurance, provider access, mental health funding, premium assistance, funding, healthcare, subsidies, insurance tax, state regulation, insurers, taxation, budget impact, juice grapes, agriculture, commerce, market access, fire safety, insurance incentives

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> buyer downpayers assistance program buyer downpayers assistance program through through through
• Section 8 codifies the program in Chapter 462A as an ongoing program to be administered by a community
• ><c> to</c> in chapter 462A as an ongoing program to in chapter 462A as an ongoing program to be<00:18
• If we ever hope to have uh program.
• </c> says we need to continue this program. says we need to continue this program.

Committee: Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention

Keywords: 1187, senate, all