Transcript Highlights:

• I'm going to come back with this one last visual part of the JFF.
• Again, we could not prove whether those spraying had any role to play in that, but the visual that the
• </c><00:31:48.279><c> that</c> role to play in that but the visual that role to play in that but the
• visual that the<00:31:48.559><c> teachers</c><00:31:48.960><c> brought</c><00:31:49.240><c> us</c><00
• was that they were big boom visual was that they were big boom trucks<00:31:54.240><c> they</c><00:31

Summary: The joint informational briefing focused on restricted use pesticides in Hawaiʻi, with Senate and House members opening the meeting and explaining that the session was intended to hear expert presentations and community concerns. Fern Holland outlined the background for the briefing, describing how restricted use pesticides differ from general-use products, why state-level regulation matters, and how community advocates have sought disclosure and protections for years. She summarized 2019 reporting data, saying a small number of users accounted for most reported use, with especially heavy application in North Central Oʻahu and on the west side of Kauaʻi. She highlighted concerns about applications near schools, homes, and coastlines, and identified 1,3-dichloropropene and metam sodium as among the heaviest-used fumigants. She also noted concerns about highly hazardous pesticides, some banned in other countries, and the lack of research on long-term combined exposure to multiple pesticides. Greg Takashima of the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture described the department’s pesticide program and regulatory authority under FIFRA and state law. He explained the distinction between general-use and restricted use pesticides, the certification requirements for applicators, and the department’s role in tracking RUPs from sale through use. He reviewed the branch’s functions in enforcement, education and certification, registration and technical review, and laboratory analysis, including inspections, complaint response, market surveillance, product registration, groundwater review, and outreach on drift reduction and integrated pest management. He also noted staffing and funding limitations, saying the branch lacks a toxicologist and long-term monitoring capacity, and compared Hawaiʻi’s resources to California’s much larger pesticide regulatory program. Takashima thanked the legislature for passing Act 231 the prior year and said the department supports the measure as it moves forward this session. Dr. Lee, speaking for the Hawaiʻi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and as a former member of the Kauaʻi Joint Fact-Finding Task Force, said pediatric guidance has shifted from focusing on acute poisoning to recognizing chronic low-level pesticide exposure as a concern. He cited AAP publications linking pesticide exposure to cancer, brain tumors, leukemia, birth outcomes, neurobehavioral effects, and asthma, and said pediatricians are now encouraged to advise families on reducing exposure and to support right-to-know measures and buffer zones around schools and public gathering places. He also described the Kauaʻi task force’s work, saying it found the west side of the island to be an unhealthy community but could not prove causation because of missing drift, geospatial, and biomarker data. No votes were taken; the meeting was informational, questions were held until after presentations, and the department expressed support for Act 231.

Transcript Highlights:

• This<01:11:39.520><c> map</c><01:11:39.760><c> is</c><01:11:39.920><c> a</c><01:11:40.080><c> visual<
• /c><01:11:40.480><c> representation</c><01:11:41.040><c> of</c> This map is a visual representation of
• This map is a visual representation of our<01:11:41.520><c> impact</c><01:11:42.000><c> last</c><01:
• In that image at the bottom, we have our math teacher and our visual arts teacher.
• </c> we have our math teacher and our visual we have our math teacher and our visual arts<01:21:12.560

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• And oftentimes that's a real visual thing for people.
• And oftentimes that's a real visual thing for people.

Committee: House State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• during a hearing to be conducted virtually by way of telephone, video conferencing, or another audio-visual
• during a hearing to be conducted virtually by way of telephone, video conferencing, or another audio visual

Summary: The meeting was a caucus-style review of two packets of bills, with staff reading summaries and members briefly explaining several measures. Topics included appropriations for pregnancy resource centers, home- and community-based services for the elderly and people with disabilities, veteran specialty courts, child care grants and infrastructure, language acquisition services for deaf or hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers, ambulance service regulation, short-term rental rules, tourism improvement areas, manufactured home installer licensure, CPR/AED training in schools, veterans’ park fee exemptions, and multiple child welfare and family-court bills. Several Senate bills were also reviewed, including optometry standards, behavior analyst licensure transfer, virtual mental health hearings, and assisted-living residency rules. Members speaking for bills emphasized themes such as supporting aging in place, improving rural ambulance access and reporting, protecting children in DCS cases, preventing poverty alone from being treated as neglect, and expanding access to health screenings and services. Other sponsors described measures to help veterans, strengthen school safety, and create local funding or improvement mechanisms for tourism and child care. Some bills were described as technical or administrative changes, such as post-nuptial agreement rules, tax lien procedures, and local government contract posting requirements. No formal votes were taken in the transcript excerpt, but many bills were noted as being on the consent calendar or third-read consent calendar, while a few had been removed from consent or were not yet on a calendar. The meeting concluded after the final bill on the second packet, HB 4025, was summarized as creating a study committee on gasoline and petroleum refinery feasibility.

Transcript Highlights:

• during a hearing to be conducted virtually by way of telephone, video conferencing, or another audio-visual
• during a hearing to be conducted virtually by way of telephone, video conferencing, or another audio visual

Summary: The meeting reviewed two caucus packets covering a wide range of bills, with most items described by staff and then passed over without questions. Topics included appropriations for pregnancy resource centers, home- and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, veteran specialty courts, child care grants and infrastructure, emergency shelter grants, language acquisition services for deaf or hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers, and uranium contamination monitoring. Other measures addressed utility plant replacement, local government investment pools, task-order contract posting, ambulance reporting and certificate-of-necessity changes, short-term rental regulation, tuition waivers for dependents of disabled veterans, memorial authorization, manufactured home installer licensing, CPR/AED training in schools, national park fee exemptions for military members and veterans, and a tourism improvement area funded by lodging businesses. Several bills focused on child welfare and family law, including expanded kinship placement notification, a neglect definition change tied to poverty, evidence rules in custody and dependency matters, DCS investigations when a protective parent is involved, and parenting-time supervision requirements. Health-related bills included midwife practice changes, controlled substance monitoring program updates, interstate EMS licensure, prostate cancer screening coverage, sleep apnea coverage, and resident electronic monitoring in care facilities. Judiciary and property-related bills included enhanced trespass penalties, post-nuptial agreement rules, tax lien excess proceeds procedures, and unlawful entry into residences occupied by vulnerable adults. A few members briefly explained or defended selected bills, including the child protection measures, the CPR training requirement, the ambulance reporting bill, the tourism improvement area bill, and the bill moving inter-facility transports away from police. The sponsor of HB 2950 emphasized it was a voluntary, opt-in lodging assessment with local approval and statutory guardrails. No roll-call votes were described in the transcript, and most bills were noted as being on consent or third-read consent calendars, with several removed from consent or not yet on a calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• Well, the technology has been around for a while for those who are visually impaired and those who are
• government and its political subdivisions have to start implementing technology that will allow the visually

Bills: SB2401 , SB2402 , SB2403 , SB2404

Summary: The Senate convened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum present. It adopted the procedural employment committee report naming Senate staff for the special session. The chamber then took up several health-care and appropriations measures, first adopting amendments to Senate Bills 2401, 2402, and 2403 before moving them to final passage. Senate Bill 2401 passed 44-2 and requires physicians to complete at least one hour of continuing education in nutrition and metabolic health, part of a broader rural health care package. Senate Bill 2402 passed 46-0 after major amendments negotiated between the medical and pharmacy boards; as amended, it expands pharmacists’ prescriptive authority and therapeutic substitution in limited areas while excluding categories such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, chemotherapy agents, Schedule II drugs, biological products, and narrow therapeutic index drugs. Supporters said it would improve rural access and help secure rural health transformation funding, while questions focused on how pharmacist competence would be measured and enforced. Senate Bill 2403, also passed 46-0, creates a short-term medical facility emergency operating loan program through the Bank of North Dakota, reduced by amendment from $10 million to $5 million, to help a financially distressed rural hospital. Senators discussed the hospital’s mismanagement, the need for a bridge loan, and safeguards including a limited application window and expiration in 2027. Senate Bill 2404 passed 46-0 and provides supplemental appropriations to the Information Technology Department for ADA-related website accessibility compliance and to the Public Service Commission for additional legal costs in federal energy-rate litigation. The Senate then made announcements about a Highway Patrol safety presentation and filing deadlines, excused an absent member, and adjourned until the next morning.

Transcript Highlights:

• Again, this is another visual of our two main functions of our office.
• Again, this is another visual of our two main functions of our office.
• Here's another way to visualize it.
• ><02:25:23.319><c> another</c><02:25:23.600><c> way</c><02:25:23.760><c> to</c><02:25:24.080><c> visualize
• Next slide: this is really just a depiction of our flat budget request. teacher sabatical costs you'll

Transcript Highlights:

• The city, however, does require a visual relief on long facades of multifamily buildings.
• Visual relief can be as simple as a change in building materials to break up that facade.
• The city, however, does require visual relief on long facades of multifamily buildings.
• The city, however, does require visual relief on long facades of multifamily buildings.
• The city, however, does require visual relief on long facades of multifamily buildings.

Committee: House Housing Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• He said the map simply visualizes the ratings data.
• 00:13:48.240><c> this</c><00:13:48.440><c> map</c><00:13:48.680><c> simply</c><00:13:49.040><c> visualizes
• </c><00:13:49.680><c> the</c> report this map simply visualizes the report this map simply visualizes
• do that by helping us think through us do that by helping us think through and<00:29:03.240><c> visualize
• what could things look and visualize what could things look like<00:29:05.519><c> in</c><00:29:05.640

Bills: HF201 , HF217 , HF314 , HF315 , HF406 , HF408 , HF425 , HF426 , HF730 , HF731 , HF652 , HF761 , HF1079 , HF928 , HF1017 , HF1056 , HF1081

Committee: Senate Capital Investment

Keywords: HF201, Minnesota income tax, tax subtraction, tax deduction, volunteer firefighter, volunteer fire and rescue, emergency responder, ambulance service personnel, EMR, EMS, search and rescue, canine search and rescue, underwater search and rescue, paid-on-call, part-time volunteer, tax relief, state tax law, section 290.0132, drivers license, identification card

Transcript Highlights:

• This map depicts historic Chinook salmon... ...spring-run Chinook salmon to the Upper Basin.
• This map depicts historic Chinook salmon distribution in black stars and current distribution in white

Committee: House Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture

Summary: The Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture held its annual Zeke Grader Fisheries Forum, focusing on the state of California fisheries and the environment. Secretary Wade Crowfoot and CDFW Marine Region Manager Dr. Craig Schumann described the sector as economically important but under pressure from drought, climate change, wildfire, warm oceans, and federal uncertainty. They highlighted progress under the state salmon strategy, including barrier removal, habitat restoration, flow protections, hatchery modernization, and technology improvements, while noting that salmon closures in recent years reflected the state’s driest period on record. Schumann reported 2025 commercial landings of about 217 million pounds worth $212 million, led by market squid, Dungeness crab, groundfish, and spiny lobster, and said the state’s marine protected area network had received international recognition. He also discussed salmon season openings, in-season management, hatchery release strategies, parentage-based tagging, kelp restoration planning, domoic acid closures, and expected future opportunities for rebuilt groundfish stocks such as yelloweye rockfish and cow cod. A major portion of the hearing was devoted to the Klamath River dam removal and salmon recovery. CDFW’s Crystal Robinson reviewed the project timeline, from the 2002 fish kill through dam decommissioning and full barrier removal in October 2024, and said fish returned to historic habitat within days. Yurok Chairman Joseph James, Karuk Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery, and Dr. Craig Tucker described the dam removal as a historic tribal and state partnership and emphasized that salmon are central to tribal culture, food, and sovereignty. They said the river is already showing recovery, including the return of spring-run Chinook above Upper Klamath Lake for the first time in over a century, but stressed that continued restoration, funding, and protection of cold-water tributaries like the Scott and Shasta Rivers are still needed. Speakers also raised concerns about federal efforts to reinterpret the Endangered Species Act and rewrite the Klamath irrigation biological opinion, and urged the state to remain actively involved. The committee discussed AB 263 and AB 2218, which relate to minimum stream flows and Indigenous water rights, respectively. Members also questioned the agencies about Sacramento River salmon management, Shasta Reservoir cold-water releases, enforcement capacity, and federal disaster funding delays. Crowfoot and Schumann said the Sacramento remains the state’s most important salmon river and that the Bay-Delta Plan update and hatchery and flow actions are critical to recovery. They said marine enforcement remains limited, with about 50 officers covering the 1,100-mile coastline, and relies on technology, federal partnerships, and public tips. The committee indicated it would follow up on the federal biological opinion rewrite and on salmon-related policy issues. The final panel addressed the 2026–27 Dungeness crab season outlook. CDFW’s Joanna Grable said the season will be shaped by the “four horsemen” of whales, domoic acid, meat quality, and fleet dynamics, and warned that warm ocean conditions and a possible strong El Niño could increase domoic acid risk and whale entanglement concerns. She said the department will likely take a conservative approach, including possible season delays or gear reductions, while using new tools such as crab evisceration authority. PCFFA Executive Director Lisa Damrosch argued that the fishery has been built too much on fear and litigation, but acknowledged that RAMP now provides a framework to avoid a repeat of the 2016 crisis while still protecting whales and supporting fishing communities.

Transcript Highlights:

• This map depicts historic Chinook salmon...
• This map depicts historic Chinook salmon distribution in black stars and current distribution in white

Committee: House Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture

Transcript Highlights:

• Cake bill, and for those of you who have access to YouTube might want to check out the satirical depiction
• Cake bill, and for those of you who have access to YouTube might want to check out the satirical depiction

Summary: The Assembly convened, established a quorum, and opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before moving through the daily file. Several measures were taken up and passed, including bills on county jail accountability (AB 2257), claims against public agencies (AB 2529), affordable housing management metrics (AB 2689), digital wellness instruction in schools (AB 2071), pedestrian and bicycle safety project streamlining (AB 1976), manufactured home transport permits (AB 2012), a Surplus Land Act amendment tied to an Inland Empire soccer project (AB 2139), a Monterey Bay stewardship authority (AB 1548), online electrician licensing (AB 1707), a Caltrans study of navigation apps’ traffic impacts (AB 2105), coastal resiliency permitting reforms (AB 2051), downtown housing streamlining and financing (AB 2074), Cal Fire compensation (AB 2129), emergency care authority for Del Puerto Health Care District (AB 2282), charter school facilities hardship relief (AB 2316), theft by a peace officer under color of authority as serious misconduct (AB 2337), an Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander-serving institution designation (AB 2374), energy and cannabis support bills (AB 2464, AB 2537), and a suicide prevention plan requirement for treatment facilities (AB 2562). Most of these measures passed with broad bipartisan margins, and several were described as support bills with no opposition. The floor also debated a major criminal justice measure, AB 2727, which would raise the threshold for elderly parole eligibility for people serving sentences for violent sex offenses and add screening safeguards. Supporters from both parties emphasized child protection, survivor trauma, and specific local cases involving offenders who had become eligible for release; the bill passed 66-0. Another significant debate centered on AB 1958, which would clarify procedures under the California Racial Justice Act by refining how disparity claims are established and rebutted; the author said he would take Senate amendments to address concerns from district attorneys. The Assembly also considered AB 2313, a gas-to-electric transition bill allowing customers with planned service line replacements to opt out of gas service and use funds to electrify their homes. Members raised concerns about cost shifts and equity, and the author responded that the bill includes no-cost-shift language, larger credits for disadvantaged communities, and would not proceed if the math does not work; it passed 41-21. The final major item was AB 1709, a high-profile social media safety bill creating a minimum age of 16 for accounts on platforms using addictive features and establishing an e-safety commission. The author and many supporters from both parties framed the bill as a response to youth mental health harms, addictive design, and the need for age-based safeguards, while some members raised concerns about impacts on LGBTQ youth and other isolated young people who rely on online spaces. Supporters said the bill targets addictive design rather than speech and is intended to preserve safe online connection while limiting harmful features. The measure drew extensive bipartisan support and was still under debate at the end of the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Cake bill, and for those of you who have access to YouTube, might want to check out the satirical depiction
• Cake bill, and for those of you who have access to YouTube might want to check out the satirical depiction

Transcript Highlights:

• Subsection B prohibits a person from knowingly threatening to disclose a visual image of an identifiable
• So going down to B1, no person shall knowingly disclose a visual image.
• :59.119><c> a</c> uh no person shall knowingly disclose a uh no person shall knowingly disclose a visual
• 01.040><c> And</c><00:36:01.440><c> you</c><00:36:01.599><c> know,</c><00:36:01.760><c> there's</c> visual
• And you know, there's visual image.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our Mel program is a visual arts and culture program.
• </c><01:08:06.680><c> Impaired</c> the Blind and Visually Impaired the Blind and Visually Impaired community
• We offer classes and education in micro-farming, the visual arts, as well as performance arts.
• We offer classes and education in micro-farming, the visual arts, as well as performance arts.
• </c> program will help our Blind and Visually program will help our Blind and Visually Impaired<05:41

Transcript Highlights:

• But the way that the current law works is sort of visualized on this slide 21, these cute little graphics
• So on slide 25, you have a visualization, there's a.
• Kind of this visual on the left-hand side and that blue box on the right-hand side.
• I'm going to talk about the blue box a second, the visualization.
• There's a little visual on how recapture works for you in this year's annual report. because what happens

Committee: House Public Education

Transcript Highlights:

• is not intended in any way ever to show anything within, but to provide that access to voters with visual
• signature guides, pardon me, are at the ends of that line that actually allow a blind voter or voter with visual
• accessibility, is that we allow voters with an accessibility issue, whether it be manual dexterity or visual

Summary: The Assembly Elections Committee met on March 25, 2026, with nine measures on the agenda and three bills taken on consent. The committee approved the consent calendar for AB 1736, AB 1853, and AB 2153. The committee also heard several election-related bills, including AB 1993 on ballot-envelope privacy, AB 1788 on nonprofit disclosure of travel payments for elected officials, AB 1560 on barring people convicted of public corruption from lobbying, AB 1539 on presidential and vice-presidential ballot eligibility certifications, AB 1919 on Santa Cruz Metro local tax initiative procedures, and AB 1562 on county selection of poll workers. The chair also noted membership changes and welcomed new and returning members and staff. AB 1993 drew the most debate. The author argued it was a common-sense safeguard to prevent voters’ choices from being visible through ballot-envelope holes, citing a Sacramento County incident and public concern about ballot privacy. County election officials, the Secretary of State’s office, and Disability Rights California opposed the bill, saying the holes also serve accessibility and processing functions, that existing voter instructions already address privacy, and that the measure would create implementation problems and an unfunded mandate. After extended discussion, the committee voted the bill out on a 2-6 roll call and it failed. AB 1788 was supported by the FPPC and the League of Women Voters and passed as amended to Appropriations, with members emphasizing transparency while seeking to avoid unintended coverage of organizations like NCSL and CSG. AB 1560 passed 6-0 despite the Secretary of State’s implementation concerns about how the office would learn of relevant convictions. AB 1539, which would require party representatives to certify presidential and vice-presidential nominees’ constitutional eligibility, passed 7-0 as amended. AB 1919, which would clarify procedures for a Santa Cruz Metro voter initiative to place a transit tax on the ballot, passed 6-2, and AB 1562, which would allow counties to randomly select poll workers, passed 7-1 after discussion about civic engagement, guardrails, and election administration. The committee then completed roll-call adjustments for absent members and adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• is not intended in any way ever to show anything within, but to provide that access to voters with visual
• signature guides, pardon me, at the ends of that line that actually allow a blind voter or voter with visual
• accessibility, is that we allow voters with an accessibility issue, whether it be manual dexterity or visual

Committee: House Elections

Transcript Highlights:

• It's not, but I'm using that because it's easier to visualize.
• It's not, but I'm using that because it's easier to visualize.
• I was just trying to visualize the type, types of uses.

Bills: HB2304 , HB2664

Committee: Senate Housing

Keywords: condominium, housing, warranty, property rights, construction, HB 2664, unlawful detainer, eviction notice, landlord-tenant, tenant rights, service of process, certified mail, notice by mail, notice posting, possession action, vacate notice, Washington RCW 59.12, housing law, rental housing, forcible entry and detainer

Transcript Highlights:

• I think I showed you last time this is a paragraph, and this is from the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Agency, and they had a statute... ...the Blind and Visually Impaired Agency, and they had a statute that
• Sorry, Madam Chair and Senator Bjerke, so what you're saying is the Division of the Blind and Visually

Committee: Senate Health and Welfare