Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:15:07.519><c> the</c> problem, but we are hopeful the problem, but we are hopeful the discussions
• </c> chair the government affairs committee chair the government affairs committee for<00:16:55.440><
• And so I'm very hopeful about that, and I hope that this task force, before endeavoring to make any changes
• And so I'm very hopeful about that, and I hope that this task force, before endeavoring to make any changes
• </c> uh chairing the legislative committee uh chairing the legislative committee for<00:39:44.960><c>

Transcript Highlights:

• The committee will come to order, and we do have a quorum.
• Chairman and committee. Thank you, Senator.
• </c><00:20:27.799><c> to</c> donors similar to what we're hoping to donors similar to what we're hoping
• </c><00:57:25.799><c> I</c> Beyond as a member of this committee I Beyond as a member of this committee
• </c><01:11:14.239><c> that</c> done uh but uh I remain hopeful that done uh but uh I remain hopeful that

Committee: Senate Higher Education

Transcript Highlights:

• Federal Funding whatever committee.
• And I know we have the committee. I know Senator Pinto might be on that committee as well.
• I'm hoping, um, I don't know when it'll come out, but I'm hoping to see, uh, a lot of good further action
• This committee to, to ensure that.
• by the executive committee.

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• committee.
• </c> hoping to get it into next year's bill. hoping to get it into next year's bill.
• I hope so. I know um Chair Port session? I hope so.
• </c> work in the capital investment committee work in the capital investment committee was<00:05:02.720
• So we are having a committee that.

Transcript Highlights:

• I hope so.
• </c> of the committee? of the committee?
• </c> the committee. the committee.
• </c> and members of the committee. and members of the committee.
• . committee. committee.

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Kristin Robbins, with a 53 majority, a Republican majority in that fraud committee.
• </c><00:05:03.240><c> um</c> I've been through a lot of committees um I've been through a lot of committees
• I'm hoping tonight we see that as we have the discussion.
• They've been working well within the committees. You've seen conversations take place.
• They've been working well within the committees. You've seen conversations take place.

Transcript Highlights:

• . committee. committee.
• . committee. committee.
• So, I would love your consideration from the committee, and would hope you'd vote yes and accept it.
• ,</c><01:05:24.480><c> and</c><01:05:24.800><c> would</c><01:05:24.920><c> hope</c> um from the committee
• , and would hope um from the committee, and would hope you'd<01:05:25.280><c> vote</c><01:05:25.520><

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• He said he is hoping to reach out to see if other members will be in attendance and is hoping to hear
• He said he is hoping to reach out to see if other members will be in attendance and is hoping to hear
• He said he is hoping to reach out to see if other members will be in attendance and is hoping to hear
• He said he is hoping to reach out to see if other members will be in attendance and is hoping to hear
• He said he is hoping to reach out to see if other members will be in attendance and is hoping to hear

Committee: House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• I’m on a couple of their committees, national committees.
• But here’s the hope: ACEs are not destiny.
• It’s based around the science of hope.
• It builds resilience and teaches kids that hope is a life skill. So we measure hope.
• or bills that have died in committee.

Summary: The Select Committee on Domestic Violence, chaired by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, held an informational hearing focused first on teen dating violence and healthy relationships, then on the impact of domestic violence on children. Rubio opened by describing domestic violence as pervasive and lifelong in its effects, and said the meeting was prompted in part by recent teen violence in her district and the need to help families, educators, and neighbors recognize warning signs and resources. Assembly Members Stefani, Gibson, Rodriguez, Alanis, and others shared personal experiences and emphasized the need for prevention, early intervention, and better support systems for victims and children. Janica Morin Pasquale and Taylor Stone Mill described how teen abuse often shows up through technology and social media control, isolation from friends, monitoring of phones and passwords, and coercive behavior that teens may mistake for love or jealousy. They stressed that many teens do not tell parents, that schools should bring in outside experts, and that prevention should start early and be reinforced through school curricula, athletics, and youth-facing social media resources. Taylor also cited teen dating violence statistics, discussed resources such as Love Is Respect and Take It Down, and said California should ensure consistent funding and implementation of the California Healthy Youth Act rather than treating the topic as a one-time lesson. The second panel, including Joyce Blue, Susie Flores, and Dr. Pamela Tate, focused on children exposed to domestic violence and the need for trauma-informed services. They described family justice centers and children’s advocacy centers as one-stop models that provide forensic interviews, therapy, safety planning, legal help, and emergency response. Speakers highlighted the prevalence and danger of strangulation, the use of risk assessment tools, the importance of safety plans, and the long-term effects of ACEs and trauma on children. Members and witnesses also discussed barriers such as school access, burnout among providers, immigration-related fear, and the need to consider memory and delayed disclosure when discussing statutes of limitations. No formal votes or actions were taken; the hearing was informational and ended with calls for stronger prevention, more collaboration, and sustained support for survivors and children.

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you, Chair Vargas, and members of the committee.
• Questions from the committee? Rep. Hong.
• Good afternoon, Chairs and members of the committee.
• We hope that those investments will continue to grow.
• So I urge the committee to report favorably on this bill and hope that it is adopted soon.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses

Summary: The Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business held its final hearing of the session on H. 5187 and S. 3022, the Enough Act, which would create a grant program to support place-based, cradle-to-career anti-poverty initiatives in high-need communities. Chairs Andy Vargas and Sen. Adam Gómez opened the hearing by thanking committee members and stakeholders, and several lawmakers, including Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and Rep. Antonio Cabral, described the bill as a bottom-up approach that would let local organizations, schools, and community partners direct resources where they are most needed. They emphasized that poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, and chronic absenteeism are interconnected and that the bill is intended to build local “backbone” infrastructure rather than fund isolated programs. A series of educators, school leaders, and nonprofit advocates testified in support, including leaders from Chelsea Public Schools, Bunker Hill Community College, Strategies for Children, AFT Massachusetts, United Way, the Boston Foundation, the New Commonwealth Fund, Give Black Alliance, Eastern Bank Foundation, and the Greater Boston Food Bank. They argued that schools alone cannot overcome the effects of concentrated poverty and pointed to research showing that children arrive at school already affected by poverty-related gaps. Several witnesses described existing local efforts in Chelsea, Boston, New Bedford, Springfield, Haverhill, and Lowell, and said the Enough Act would help coordinate services, align data and goals, and strengthen community voice. Some also noted that the bill could leverage philanthropic and private investment and cited Maryland and Harlem Children’s Zone as models. The hearing also featured testimony from Harlem Children’s Zone CEO Kwame Owusu-Kesse and founder Jeffrey Canada, who said the model has shown that sustained, coordinated supports can reduce the role of luck in children’s outcomes and should be scaled in Massachusetts. Committee members asked about sustainability, funding, and how the bill would interact with existing efforts such as community schools, the Student Opportunity Act, and McKinney-Vento homelessness supports. Witnesses responded that the bill would complement those programs by creating a broader, community-led framework and that long-term sustainability would require public, philanthropic, and private support. No vote was taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I was on this committee during the session.
• So there's a lot of hope there.
• Today, fortunately, we don't have to do that anymore, I hope. I hope.
• Good morning, members of the committee.
• This is the perfect, I've never presented to this committee before; I've presented to so many committees

Committee: House House Rural Development, Land Grants And Cultural Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• Committee to order.
• And we want to bring this oversight hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Select Committee
• The Audit Committee and Select Committee on Native American Affairs have approved and conducted a series
• And we noted that one committee member on the NAGPRA system-wide committee said that Berkeley's plans
• Greetings, members of the Select Committee on Native American Affairs, Joint Legislative Audit Committee

Summary: The joint hearing of the Select Committee on Native American Affairs and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee focused on the University of California’s compliance with NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA and the return of Native American human remains and cultural items. Senators and Assembly Members opened by emphasizing the sacredness of repatriation, the ongoing trauma caused by delayed returns, and the need for stronger systemwide accountability. The State Auditor presented the third audit of UC’s repatriation efforts, concluding that UC still lacks the urgency, oversight, and clear timelines needed to promptly return remains and belongings. The audit found thousands of remains and hundreds of thousands of cultural items still in UC custody, new undisclosed collections at several campuses, weak budgeting and underspending, and repatriation plans that often lacked concrete deadlines. The auditor recommended stronger UCOP oversight, performance metrics, proactive searches for undiscovered items, and possible legislative action to tie funding to measurable progress. UC officials responded that the system is committed to full compliance and has accelerated its work since adopting a new policy in 2022. UC Provost Catherine Newman said the system repatriated more than 2,800 ancestors and nearly 80,000 funerary belongings in the past year, and that UC now says 80.3% of Native American remains are either repatriated or available for repatriation. UC announced a new systemwide plan to complete repatriation of human remains by the end of 2028, to finish high-risk campus reviews by June 2026, to recall all loans by January 2026, and to require quarterly reporting to UCOP. UC also said it will spend an additional $8.8 million over three years, expand staffing, improve databases, support tribal consultation costs, and identify potential reburial sites on UC land. Berkeley and San Diego described increased staffing, consultations, and repatriation activity, while Santa Barbara said it had corrected earlier omissions, notified tribes about previously unreported ancestors, and was working toward completing repatriations and updated inventories. Committee members pressed UC on why progress has been so slow, why the audit’s timelines differed from UC’s public reporting, and whether the 2028 goal applies only to human remains rather than all cultural items. UC said the 2028 target is for human remains, while cultural items will take longer, and acknowledged that more work remains. Members also asked about the technical expertise needed for repatriation, the role of tribal experts, and whether repatriation should be embedded more permanently in UC governance or statute. Tribal leaders and representatives then testified that remains and belongings were taken without consent and must be returned with tribal consent and leadership. They criticized the repeated delays, stressed that tribes are the experts on their ancestors and cultural heritage, and urged UC to treat repatriation as a top priority and to return all associated items, not just human remains, so ancestors can truly rest.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, we are hoping for a more favorable vote from the newborn screening advisory committee.
• So, we are hoping for a more favorable vote from the newborn screening advisory committee.
• So, we are hoping for a more favorable vote from the newborn screening advisory committee.
• So, we are hoping for a more favorable vote from the newborn screening advisory committee.
• Um members of<00:36:11.119><c> the</c><00:36:11.280><c> committee,</c> of the committee, of the committee

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Welcome to the committee, Professor. Welcome to the committee, Professor.
• Uh, welcome to the committee.
• Welcome to the committee. Mr.
• the committee in a letter.<01:30:44.239><c> I</c><01:30:44.400><c> hope</c><01:30:44.480><c> you</c><
• So um I'm I'm hopeful great relief. So um I'm I'm hopeful going<02:17:50.319><c> forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Healy just going to Committee.
• So I hope it’s on your radar screen, and I hope that we can figure a way out of it.
• I hope it’s on your radar screen, and I hope that we can figure a way out of it.
• So I hope it's on your radar screen and I hope that we can figure a way out of it.
• And we're hoping to double that.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> appreciative you know of the committee appreciative you know of the committee that<00:10:41.240>
• </c> Vice chair and members of the committee Vice chair and members of the committee uh<00:10:49.160>
• </c><00:22:13.880><c> on</c> making and this is the committee on making and this is the committee on
• </c> with the Kahana Bay steering committee with the Kahana Bay steering committee the<00:24:53.240><
• </c> because yes I know but in the committee because yes I know but in the committee committee<00:27:

Summary: The Senate Committee on Water and Land met on March 21, 2025, and considered several resolutions related to water resources, coastal management, and energy planning. On SCR 42/SR 27, which urged DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife to prioritize restoration and protection of additional wetlands and anchialine ponds, DLNR supported the measure and suggested a technical correction changing a reference from the Division of Agriculture to the Division of Aquatic Resources. Testimony from Hā‘ena Reef and Ocean Coalition, Maui Ocean Center, and individuals was in support. The committee recommended passage with technical and non-substantive amendments. The committee also heard SCR 54/SR 36, which would create a desalination planning task force to study whether large-scale desalination for potable water is feasible. DLNR and CWRM said the proposal was a large undertaking and raised capacity concerns, noting the Board of Water Supply was already moving forward with its own desalination planning. BWS testified in support, saying its project was still in planning and design, with construction not expected until late 2027 or 2028, and that the project would produce about 1.7 million gallons per day to supplement Ewa’s water supply. Members discussed whether the task force might duplicate existing work and noted the measure focused on consumption rather than other desalination uses. The committee ultimately recommended passage with technical and non-substantive amendments. For SCR 59/SR 43, which asked DLNR, the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, and the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission to work together on maintaining the Kihei ramp, DLNR reported ongoing collaboration and listed prior improvements including paving, washdown work, dredging, and a retaining wall. The committee recommended passage with technical and non-substantive amendments. On SCR 106/SR 87, which requested a study of which energy sector could be most quickly and cost-effectively decarbonized through public investment in combustion-free alternatives, OPSD said the State Energy Office had already completed a decarbonization study under Act 238 (2022) and a follow-up alternative fuels analysis, and suggested the resolution duplicated existing work. Energy Justice Network testified in support, arguing the proposal would build on prior studies by focusing on non-combustion options such as wind, solar, and storage. Despite support from several organizations and individuals, the committee deferred the measure indefinitely. The committee also passed SR 18 as is, passed SC 51/SR 33 as is, deferred SC 47, and passed SC 76/SR 59 with amendments.

Transcript Highlights:

• and the the the budget committees and the the the budget committees and the the the budget committees
• level of review in which the committee level of review in which the committee the committee can what
• We have a um committee a committee subs. I'd like um committee a committee subs.
• I'd like um committee a committee subs.
• I hope I hope we've minimized the confusion. This hope we've minimized the confusion.

Bills: HB 29 , HB 125 , HB 145 , HB 171 , HB 255 , HB 50 , HB 796 , HB 363 , HB 116 , HB 491 , HB 589 , HB 1495 , HB 368 , HB 1285 , HB 1905 , HB 1360 , HB 2002 , HB 917 , HB 2723 , HB 2067 , HB 1238 , HB 2337 , HB 745 , HB 1188 , HB 1606 , HB 2003 , HB 2147 , HB 2391 , HB 2355 , HB 2546 , HB 2495 , HB 2818 , HB 2249 , HB 1749 , HB 3109 , HB 3228 , HB 3240 , HB 1507 , HB 658 , HB 1748 , HB 1851 , HB 1922 , HB 2001 , HB 2798 , HB 107 , HCR 29 , SB 5 , SB 262 , HB 11 , HJR 72 , HB 106 , HB 18 , HB 48 , HB 27 , HB 37 , HB 1481 , HB 581 , HB 1696 , HB 2216 , HB 1035 , HB 1633 , HB 742 , HB 754 , HB 1689 , HB 1690 , HB 2669 , HB 391 , HB 517 , HB 1024 , HB 1607 , HB 252 , HB 1716 , HB 1562 , HB 4116 , HB 1866 , HB 1741 , HB 2103 , HB 2637 , HB 2884 , HB 503 , HB 1089 , HB 2986 , HB 972 , HB 502 , HB 29 , HB 125 , HB 145 , HB 171 , HB 255 , HB 50 , HB 796 , HB 363 , HB 116 , HB 491 , HB 589 , HB 1495 , HB 368 , HB 1285 , HB 1905 , HB 1360 , HB 2002 , HB 917 , HB 2723 , HB 2067 , HB 1238 , HB 2337 , HB 745 , HB 1188 , HB 1606 , HB 2003 , HB 2147 , HB 2391 , HB 2355 , HB 2546 , HB 2495 , HB 2818 , HB 2249 , HB 1749 , HB 3109 , HB 3228 , HB 3240 , HB 1507 , HB 658 , HB 1748 , HB 1851 , HB 1922 , HB 2001 , HB 2798 , HB 107 , HCR 29

Transcript Highlights:

• hotly contested committee hearing.
• So I do hope more work can be done on this bill in conference committee, but it is a good bill now and
• I hope we can fix this bill.
• So I hope...
• I hope that you will support it.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman, members of the committee.
• And I hope that the committee will again give it a favorable report and really weigh in on it. ...given
• Any questions from the committee?
• Any questions from the committee?
• Any questions from the committee?

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Public Service

Summary: The committee heard testimony on several retirement and workforce-related bills. House Bill 2980 would place county correctional nurses and certain medical staff into Group 4 retirement. Representative Trino, Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, and nurse manager Leanne Cameron argued that correctional nurses work in dangerous, high-stress settings with frequent contact with incarcerated people, high rates of mental illness and substance use in the jail population, and significant workplace violence, and that the change would help recruitment and retention with limited statewide fiscal impact. The committee also heard Senate Bill 210, which would create a commission to study additional regular compensation and annual expenses for members of the General Court. Senator John Keenan said Massachusetts has high leadership stipends compared with other states and argued the current structure can affect independence and public trust. Representative O'Day testified on House Bill 2928 to extend Group 2 retirement to additional Department of Children and Families social workers, and SEIU 509 witnesses described frequent transport of children, crisis response, threats, assaults, and other high-risk duties that they said match Group 2 work. Additional testimony supported House Bill 2943 for DDS service coordinators and supervisors, with witnesses describing home visits in unsafe conditions, transport of vulnerable individuals, direct care during staffing crises, and exposure to violence. House Bill 2899 drew support from the Association of Social Work Boards for social work field placement grants, incentives for supervisors, and expanded retirement benefits for DCF social workers. The committee also heard Senate Bill 2613, a local retirement bill for Salem police officer Kathleen Roachville, who described a severe line-of-duty injury during an arrest involving a combative person in a mental health crisis. Finally, Susan Smith Campbell testified for reclassifying certain DYS administrative officers into Group 2 because of their direct involvement in restraints, assaults, and crisis management. After testimony concluded, the committee adjourned without taking any votes.

Transcript Highlights:

• Chairman and committee members. Joe Morissette. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and committee members.
• Well, we hope so. I hope so, too. Yeah. We hope so. I hope so, too. Yeah. All right.
• So our hope is that, yes...
• Backing up to that committee room floor, there would be enough committee rooms for each committee, including
• The committee.

Committee: Joint Government Finance Committee