Transcript Highlights:

• With the Governor's master plan for career education, the Legislature has a unique opportunity to shape
• Our master plan is 65 years old. The landscape of higher education is very different.
• We bring the right people to the table to plan, collaborate, and coordinate.
• Is there a plan moving forward to how this will occur, and when can we expect to see language of the
• State Plan, and other K-14 CTE issues and programs.

Summary: The Assembly Higher Education Committee met in a special hearing and took up SB 638 by Senator Padilla, a workforce development bill aimed at creating a coordinating entity called the Middle Class Pipeline Project. The bill would streamline interagency education and workforce programs, improve career technical education and career pathways, and direct resources toward high-unemployment, low-income regions through changes to the CTE incentive grant program. Supporters, including the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, the California Edge Coalition, National University, Long Beach City College, and United Ways of California, argued that California needs a statewide coordinating body to reduce silos, improve access to high-quality jobs, and better align education with labor market needs. Committee members focused heavily on whether the proposed entity would duplicate existing bodies such as the California Workforce Development Board and other education/workforce agencies, and whether its broad duties could be carried out with the $1.5 million budget allocation. The author said the bill is intended to move an operational coordinating entity into broader tri-party negotiations with legislative leadership and the Governor, and that the final structure and staffing would depend on those talks. Some members supported the concept but raised concerns about scope, duplication, and whether the bill should be delayed or audited; one member opposed it as too broad and underfunded. The committee ultimately voted to pass SB 638 to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a courtesy vote. The roll call showed five ayes and three noes, with one member not voting, and the chair later allowed additional members to add on, including an additional aye from Assemblymember Haney. The hearing then adjourned with the chair noting that further conversations would continue on the coordinating entity and its responsibilities.

Transcript Highlights:

• The bill requires an individualized treatment plan.
• The individualized treatment plan must be re-evaluated no less than every six months.
• This improves treatment planning for both adults and children, and this was recommendation number four
• The development of a client-driven plan that identifies goals and targets the removal of barriers, Of
• Investments like the development of a plan to support individuals with developmental disabilities as

Committee: Senate Children, Families, and Elder Affairs

Summary: The Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs met to consider several bills and the confirmation of Taylor Hatch as Secretary of the Department of Children and Families. SB 1310, relating to reporting of student mental health outcomes, was temporarily postponed. The committee then took up SB 1354 on behavioral health managing entities, adopted a delete-all amendment, and heard support for the bill’s focus on transparency, accountability, audits, referral patterns, and a DCF report due by December 1. Members discussed the capacity of the current reporting system and the need for coordination with school districts. The committee voted the bill favorably. The committee next considered SB 1620 on mental health and substance abuse disorders, which implements selected recommendations from the 2025 Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. The bill, as amended, includes reforms on dignity and patient-centered care, crisis response, individualized treatment plans, use of the DLA-20 assessment tool, data analysis by the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, and creation of a research center. Amendments removed a direct medication-provision requirement in favor of a review and report on discharge procedures, medication adherence, and long-acting injectables, and clarified licensure priorities for short-term residential treatment programs. Testimony and debate emphasized the need for action, better data, and efficient use of public funds. The committee reported the bill favorably. Finally, the committee heard from Taylor Hatch, the Governor’s appointee to lead DCF. Hatch described her background in state government and her priorities for DCF, including coordination, transparency, prevention, permanency, and responsiveness to vulnerable Floridians. Several members spoke in support, citing her experience at APD and familiarity with the agency’s work. The committee voted unanimously to recommend her confirmation, and then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• How do you plan to achieve that?
• We have proposed plans that help there.
• We have proposed plans that would<00:01:49.560><c> bring</c><00:01:49.720><c> down</c><00:01:49.920><
• How<00:02:01.200><c> do</c><00:02:01.280><c> you</c><00:02:01.360><c> plan</c><00:02:01.640><c> to</c
• </c> How do you plan to achieve that? How do you plan to achieve that?

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Newborn screening for Gose-Disease requires the health department to add it to the screening plan.
• Secondly, profits from Virginia's 529 plan managing billions of dollars.
• We have one of the biggest 529 plans in America because we started that program.
• Virginia's 529 plan managing billions of dollars.
• in the country back in 1994 when Congress authorized the plan.

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: House Committee Room 1200, General Assembly Building, 976, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to, if there's no changes in their operation, that they don't have To do a new nutrient management plan
• So some of these nutrient management plans are several pages long, and you're just being redundant with
• All just about all the plans are six-year plans.
• The only plans that I know of are the Uochie Spavanna, which I think those go year to year.
• Most other plans are six-year plans. Right? Thank you. Another question. Thank you.

Bills: HB2975 , HB3405 , HB3406 , HB3728 , HB3902 , HB3977

Committee: House Agriculture

Keywords: poultry waste, nutrient management, environmental regulations, agriculture, water quality, pollution prevention, best management practices, noxious weeds, poison hemlock, kudzu, landowner responsibilities, environmental control, public nuisance, eradication, burn bans, fire danger, drought conditions, emergency declaration, scrap metal, regulation

Transcript Highlights:

• It also allows for better planning by departments, by the Department of Information Technology.
• Yet today, our planning and funding processes treat them as one.
• Senate Bill 132 fixes that by expanding the equipment replacement plan to include software replacement
• and upgrade planning.
• But when you take a look at the community colleges and their ERP, their enterprise resource planning

Bills: HB2 , SB193 , SB132 , SB35 , SB145

Committee: Senate House Appropriations & Finance

Keywords: general appropriation, budget, Medicaid, education funding, public safety, SB193, acequia, community ditch, irrigation works construction fund, water infrastructure, ditch infrastructure, irrigation, New Mexico water law, agricultural water, farmers, Rio Grande, acequia association, forest land protection revolving fund, state fund transfer, irrigation projects

Summary: The Senate Finance Committee first heard Senate Bill 193, which would increase the transfer from the irrigation works construction fund to the acequia and community ditch infrastructure fund from $2.5 million to $5 million. Senator Campos said the bill was intended to provide additional resources for acequias facing ongoing needs, including fire and flood recovery in areas such as San Miguel, Mora, and Lincoln counties. Paula Garcia of the New Mexico Acequia Association testified in support. The committee approved the bill on a 6-0 do-pass vote. The committee then considered Senate Bill 132, sponsored by Senator Padilla with Department of Information Technology Secretary Manny Baca. The bill would modernize state IT planning by adding software to the equipment replacement framework and renaming the revolving fund to include software replacement and upgrades. Members discussed the need for more centralized purchasing and coordination across agencies, with Senator Woods expressing frustration that agencies often buy different software instead of using common systems. The bill received a 7-0 do-pass recommendation. Next, the committee took up Senate Bill 35, and first adopted a committee substitute for discussion. The substitute combined two judicial district judgeship proposals for the First and Second Judicial Districts and removed an appropriation. The committee then approved the committee substitute on a 6-0 do-pass vote. Finally, Senate Bill 145 was tabled permanently after Senator Woods moved to table it, with the motion passing 6-1. The committee then adjourned and announced it would meet again Monday.

Transcript Highlights:

• understand what it's meant to address, because it talks about that it limits contracts between vision plan
• that they can't, I guess, be required to provide a service for a fee that's not set in the vision plan
• understand what it's meant to address, because it talks about that it limits contracts between vision plan
• that they can't, I guess, be required to provide a service for a fee that's not set in the vision plan
• why I'm asking, is that, well, those discounts, are we preventing those discounts now through this plan

Bills: SB1303 , SB1343 , SB1435 , SB1438 , SB1444 , SB1641 , SB1765 , SB1916 , SB2067

Committee: Senate Business and Insurance

Keywords: workers' compensation, workers comp, Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission, Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, self-insurance guaranty fund, multiple injury trust fund, physician advisory committee, advisory council on workers' compensation, workers' compensation court, insurance, employer liability, self-insured employer, fund transfer, records transfer, agency reorganization, statutory cleanup, technical corrections, Title 85A, SB1343, Vision Plan Contractual Requirements Act

Summary: The Business and Insurance committee met and first announced that several bills—1765, 1916, 1438, and 1444—would be laid over. The committee then considered Senate Bill 1303, which repeals an obsolete workers’ compensation advisory commission that members said is no longer needed after the state moved to a commission-based system; it passed 9-0. Senate Bill 1641 followed, clarifying that annual renewal notices for certain business certifications may be sent to the last known email address of record; it also passed 9-0. The committee then took up Senate Bill 1435, a property insurance measure responding to rising premiums. The author argued it would prohibit insurers from using credit scores in premium rating, citing examples of large rate differences tied to credit rather than driving or property risk. Members questioned whether banning credit scoring would shift costs to other policyholders, but the bill passed 5-3 after the title was struck. Senate Bill 1343, an optometry-related bill intended to ensure vision plan organizations and optometrists follow existing regulatory rules, drew questions about discounts and incentives but was described as not changing the current framework; it passed 8-1. Finally, Senate Bill 2067 was heard to help financial institutions more effectively report suspected financial exploitation of vulnerable adults and share information with Adult Protective Services or law enforcement more quickly. The author said the bill would remove legal barriers and improve scam prevention, especially for older adults. It passed unanimously 9-0. The chair then adjourned the meeting, noting the next meetings would be longer.

Transcript Highlights:

• Establish financial capacity by approving a reinsurance program structure and marketing plan.
• The current plan is to have all of this completed and the first policy issued in June 2025.
• This will likely be addressed in a Phase 2 expansion plan.
• <01:17:56.880><c> administrator</c><01:17:57.520><c> to</c> plan administrator to plan administrator
• </c> appropriately the board and the plan appropriately the board and the plan administrator<01:19:38.199

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This goes in plans to pay for college.
• The change Congress passed with FAFSA simplification didn't quite go as planned.
• Let's be clear, as quite go as planned.
• </c> It doesn't allow them to plan It doesn't allow them to plan financially<00:43:32.240><c> and</c>
• Chair, members, that's that's the<01:39:21.600><c> plan.</c> the plan. the plan.

Committee: Senate Higher Education

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:46:14.560><c> Also,</c> review the local agency plan. Also, review the local agency plan.
• > be</c> review those plans. those plans would be review those plans. those plans would be um<00:57:09.760
• </c> the title sheet, the layout, the plan the title sheet, the layout, the plan development<00:57:38.880
• Uh review plans that were uh designed.
• </c><01:11:57.040><c> come</c> their active transportation plans come their active transportation plans

Committee: Senate Transportation

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> as changing a cell phone plan. as changing a cell phone plan.
• </c> strategic plan. strategic plan.
• Uh that that looks no strategic plan.
• There was an<00:05:18.840><c> implementation</c><00:05:19.680><c> plan,</c> An implementation plan, but
• never a strategic plan.

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Report of KCNA Board Meeting 00:00:09 KCNA Transition to COT 00:35:55 KCNA Request for Proposals 00:42:00 Kentucky Wired Operations Company 00:42:30, 958, all

Summary: The Information Technology Oversight Committee met, approved the January 12, 2026 minutes, and then heard testimony from KCNA Chair David Couch, KCNA Director Jim Barnhart, and KCNA General Counsel Adam Adkins about the ongoing dispute involving KCNA, Excelacom, and the implementation of House Bill 314. Couch said the board and vendor had recently shown some willingness to work toward a settlement, and he emphasized the importance of KCNA’s broadband service to K-12 schools, noting that litigation had already cost about $1.4 million and could cost another $1.4 million if it continued. He also said the board had identified five immediate goals, including reconnecting 38 K-12 sites, de-escalating disputes, better understanding KCNA finances, protecting the state’s bonding rating, and examining whether duplicate networking hardware could be consolidated. A major portion of the discussion focused on whether House Bill 314 changed KCNA’s authority and how much control the Finance and Administration Cabinet and KCNA’s legal counsel have over operations and contracts. Senator Williams argued that the board now has authority to set policy, implement policy, and approve budgets, and questioned why the cabinet appeared to be exercising operational control. Adkins responded that HB 314 changed the reporting chain from the general government cabinet to the finance cabinet but did not alter the board’s authority, and said budget work on the Ice Miller contract predated HB 314. Couch and other members disputed that interpretation, saying the board had not been properly informed about a recent extension or increase in legal spending and that the board’s directives were not being followed. Representative Hodgson asked why the board could not terminate a contractor if it was not carrying out the board’s wishes, and Adkins replied that Ice Miller was not a party to the board’s contract and that the Finance and Administration Cabinet signs such agreements. The exchange ended with committee members and KCNA representatives agreeing to disagree on the meaning of the statute and the extent of board authority. No formal action was taken beyond approving the minutes and receiving testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• The SEDS is not just a planning document that sits on a shelf.
• Are there any plans to help them be able to pay for utilities?
• The grid planning process is breaking down. Costs are shifting to Texans.
• The final rule for the backup power plan is a The final rule for the backup power plan is in front of
• We plan on using every single amount of power we can get confidence in.

Committee: House State Affairs

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We know that an integrated treatment plan is absolutely critical, and that's what this bill does.
• As the title indicates, the proposal would require commercial insurance plans to cover mental health
• These bundled services are not accessible to individuals under most commercial plans.
• Therapy is a covered service in insurance plans.
• Some still require actual prior authorizations, those plans from out of state.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The committee held a hearing on a large group of behavioral health and insurance-related bills. Topics included expanding access to mental health services by allowing physician assistants to authorize Section 12 emergency holds and be recognized as licensed mental health professionals (H. 1131/S. 773); improving coverage for community behavioral health centers so commercial insurance matches MassHealth’s bundled outpatient and crisis services (H. 1276/S. 703); eliminating cost sharing for certain behavioral health services (S. 718); extending detox and clinical stabilization coverage from 14 to 30 days and adding transitional support services (H. 1319/S. 772); requiring coverage for dual-diagnosis treatment in psychiatric facilities (H. 1277/S. 771); and preserving access to treatment for serious mental illness through coverage of coordinated specialty care and assertive community treatment (H. 1135/S. 709). The committee also heard bills on preventive behavioral health services for children (H. 1228/S. 802) and post-pregnancy mental health care, including postpartum depression and pregnancy loss-related care (H. 1314/S. 823).

Transcript Highlights:

• They issued another plan of correction that we did... We surveyed us again.
• In January, they came in and we were successful in proving up that the plan of correction was, in fact
• Treatment care plans are now modified whenever there's a change in patient status; that was one...
• Treatment care plans are now modified whenever there's a change in patient status.
• That was one of the major efforts that we took on with our recent plan of correction.

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The joint Senate and House Behavioral Health committees held an informational meeting focused first on the Oregon State Hospital (OSH). OHA Director Sajal Hathi introduced the hospital’s incoming permanent superintendent, Sean Murphy, and praised interim superintendent Jim Deagle for stabilizing operations, restoring CMS compliance, and helping drive a culture change centered on safety, accountability, and transparency. Deagle and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amit Bavon described OSH’s role as the state’s highest-level forensic psychiatric hospital, the patient populations it serves, its partnerships with courts, counties, jails, hospitals, and advocates, and recent leadership changes across the hospital. They also reported improved accreditation and regulatory status, including Joint Commission accreditation and CMS compliance, and said the hospital is now using daily safety huddles, incident review meetings, stronger escalation procedures, and revised seclusion/restraint practices to reduce risk and improve oversight. Members pressed hospital leaders on past seclusion practices, asking how prolonged seclusions could have occurred under federal standards. Leaders said they could not explain past decisions but emphasized that current leadership has changed processes, training, reporting, and oversight so that seclusion and restraint are reviewed in real time and cannot be normalized. Questions also covered staffing, falls, and future planning. OSH said it is generally staffed to budget, though it still has RN and mental health technician vacancies and is working on recruitment, training, and better staffing distribution. Hathi said the hospital is building a public dashboard with key performance and safety metrics, including workforce data, and described the long-term goal as a consistently safe, disciplined, high-functioning institution that responds quickly to mistakes and remains accountable to the public. The committee then shifted to an informational overview of civil commitment. Oregon Judicial Department representative Chanah Newell explained the civil commitment process, including who can initiate it, the role of community mental health providers and courts, the five-day timeline to hearing, and the standards for danger to self, danger to others, and inability to meet basic needs. She summarized changes made in House Bill 2005, including revised statutory language and new provisions allowing a second diversion period, but cautioned that the data are too early to show clear trends. Testimony from NAMI Oregon’s Chris Bonif and psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Lopez argued that Oregon still relies too heavily on jails and state hospital commitments because the broader community system lacks enough treatment, housing, and less restrictive alternatives. They urged the legislature to focus on upstream services, supported housing, and possible outpatient commitment tools so people can receive treatment before reaching crisis. The meeting ended with acknowledgment that additional reports and follow-up discussions are expected, including on residential treatment capacity and related behavioral health system reforms.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is the commissioner of administration facilities planning and control.
• This chart represents only the Facility Planning and Control component.
• But facility planning and control only at repair house bill too.
• But facility planning and control only administers about 65% of it.
• This chart represents only the facility planning control component.

Committee: House Ways & Means

Keywords: 965, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It also requires that OSPI submit an annual report by June 30 of each year on the planned upcoming TTK
• Second, the amendment says that the board member who must have expertise in land use planning and law
• and local permitting processes must specifically have expertise in rural county land-use planning.
• both things that are not currently widely available or covered under a lot of the health insurance plans
• It adds rural to the expertise in land use planning for one of the board members.

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In 2016, shortly after UI Online goes live, the state begins planning for its first modern technology
• That project was in planning stages for three years prior to the pandemic, and it was the first attempt
• and how that plan might mitigate risk.
• Are you planning for that cyclical nature then?
• Are you planning for that cyclical nature then?

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I plan on attending Oregon State in the fall to be an animal science major and hopefully go on to vet
• I plan on being a first grade kindergarten teacher.
• I didn't plan this. This was not the farthest thing from what I ever wanted to do.
• And that's why the plan is important: to have a plan in action before we start allocating funds to all
• From that plan, there is the ability for the department to go to the Board of Examiners and request a

Committee: Senate Agricultural Affairs

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Turning briefly to land use, cities and counties engaging in comprehensive planning may regulate the
• Cities in Spokane County are updating their comprehensive plans right now.
• They now have plans that they have to meet their mandatory housing targets and have plans to do so.
• One applies to cities, one applies to counties, the different GMA planning sections.
• Our current plan envisions Thank you. move, the redevelopment of our land.

Summary: House Finance heard testimony on two affordable housing bills. House Bill 1859 would expand an existing density bonus for housing on religious organization property by lowering the affordability threshold from 100% to at least 50% affordable units, requiring local policies to implement the bonus upon request, and creating a new state and local sales and use tax exemption for qualifying projects with at least 50% affordable units maintained for 10 years. The sponsor and supporters said the bill would help projects on church-owned land pencil out amid high construction and financing costs, while a county association raised concern that the bill would create an unfunded mandate for local planning departments. Several witnesses also asked that homeownership projects be explicitly included, and staff confirmed the exemption would be administered through an exemption certificate. The committee then moved to House Bill 1717, which would authorize cities and counties to create a local sales and use tax remittance program for affordable housing developments. Staff said the remittance would cover 100% of local taxes paid after project completion, with a 50% affordable housing threshold and 40-year affordability requirement, and the sponsor and local government and housing advocates supported it as a flexible tool to reduce development costs. Testifiers generally backed both bills, with some asking for more flexibility on income targeting and clarification on county-city interactions under HB 1717. No votes were taken; both public hearings were closed and the committee adjourned after a separate work session on the Working Families Tax Credit, where advocates urged broader eligibility, higher benefit amounts, and easier access, and a California researcher described data-linking methods used to improve tax credit take-up.

Transcript Highlights:

• They've already made cuts to critical funding for family planning in an effort to further to restrict
• With me today to testify in support are Angela Pontus with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
• Angela Pontus on behalf of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, representing the seven Planned
• They are frequently promised specific speeds when purchasing internet plans.
• Consultants cannot target smart investments or plan broadband expansion.

Committee: House Business and Professions

Keywords: 988, house, all