Video & Transcript Research : 'disabled'

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TX

Texas 89th Regular

Finance May 14th, 2025

Finance

Transcript Highlights:
  • To honor their sacrifice, the 81st Legislature granted a residence homestead exemption to 100% disabled
  • program administered by the Comptroller for certain qualified local governments affected by the disabled
  • And for a long time, it was not considered a service-connected disability.
  • And for a long time, it was not considered a service-connected disability.
  • And could it be 100% disability in those instances?
Bills: HB42
Summary: The committee heard Senator Flores lay out the committee substitute for HB 2894, which would expand state reimbursement eligibility for local governments disproportionately affected by the disabled veterans homestead exemption. Flores said the bill would add certain municipalities in Bell, Coryell, and Lampasas counties if lost ad valorem tax revenue equals or exceeds 10% of general revenue, while existing recipients would remain under the current 2% threshold. Lampasas and Bell County officials and the City of Killeen testified in support, describing significant revenue losses and urging adequate funding. One witness, Howard Avery, argued any reimbursement should be counted as property tax revenue for voter-approval rate purposes to avoid a windfall. The committee later adopted the substitute and reported the bill favorably, with one nay. The committee also heard SB 782, which would create a temporary severance tax exemption for restimulated inactive oil and gas wells, intended to encourage investment in mature wells. The Comptroller explained the revised fiscal note as effectively zero because the wells are currently marginal and not generating meaningful tax revenue, while industry witnesses said the bill could extend well life, support local economies, and reduce orphan-well liabilities. Public testimony was supportive, and the bill was left pending. Members then heard HB 3033, a DPS-related grant program funded by voluntary $3 donations on driver’s license and ID applications to support nonprofits aiding injured or fallen DPS officers and their families, including memorial highway signs. The DPS Officers Association supported the bill, citing existing foundation assistance and the need for a steady funding stream. The committee later reported the bill favorably. The committee also considered SB 524, which would permanently extend the franchise tax and fee exemption for qualifying veteran-owned businesses for their first five years; testimony from a veteran business owner and veterans advocates supported the measure, and the committee adopted the substitute and reported it favorably. Additional measures were laid out and left pending or voted out: HB 3594, a local San Antonio retiree health care fund bill with agreed changes for contributions, spouse benefits, and remarriage rules, was supported by stakeholders and reported favorably; HB 4738 would repeal small administrative fees tied to certain loans and was reported favorably; HB 42 on HEAF funding and HB 5246 on the Texas Space Commission were heard and left pending. The committee also reported HB 3474, a cleanup bill for the Pension Review Board’s investment performance review schedule, and HB 2802, the Austin firefighter retirement fund bill, both favorably. Finally, the committee took up HB 1056, which would allow gold and silver held in the Texas Bullion Depository to function as legal tender through debit-card transactions. Supporters framed it as a way to use hard assets and expand financial options, while bankers and some senators raised major operational, consumer-protection, tax, and constitutional questions; the bill remained under discussion as testimony began.
HI

Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

HHS Public Hearing 02-19-2025

Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:
  • For those on Zoom, your audio will be muted, video disabled, until shortly before your turn to testify
  • for<00:26:56.039> the cultural differences for the cultural differences for the disabilities
  • Community for the homeless disabilities Community for the homeless marginalized<00:26:59.039> and
  • program for blind vendors disabilities program for blind vendors um<00:27:08.679> to<00:27:08.840
  • <00:31:40.240> and disabilities and disabilities and seniors<00:31:42.039> I<00:31:42.120
Keywords: 912, senate, all
Summary: The Health and Human Services committee heard several gubernatorial nominations and appointments, beginning with Sunshine Cho and Barbara Tom for the Language Access Advisory Council. Both nominees said they stood on their written testimony and expressed interest in continuing to serve, and multiple organizations testified in strong support. No opposition or questions were raised on either nomination, and the committee moved on after hearing the testimony. The bulk of the meeting focused on GM 642, the nomination of Ryan Yamane to be Director of the Department of Human Services. Yamane gave an extensive opening statement describing his social work background, long public service career, and philosophy of compassionate, balanced leadership. He emphasized DHS’s role in helping people from keiki to kūpuna with dignity and support, and shared personal stories from disaster response and family-service work to illustrate his approach. Support testimony came from a wide range of state officials, agency directors, community organizations, health systems, advocacy groups, and former colleagues, who praised his leadership, problem-solving, communication skills, and empathy. One witness, Moani Kiala Katherine Tu Alun, testified in opposition, raising concerns about retaliation and safety issues affecting foster youth and alleging harmful treatment within Child Welfare Services. Another witness, Angela Melody Young, supported the nomination and said Yamane could help overcome barriers for vulnerable communities and improve DHS programs such as financial assistance, SNAP, and disability services. The committee also heard from DHS staff and related officials about the uncertainty surrounding possible federal funding and staffing cuts; Yamane said the department is gathering information, coordinating with Budget and Finance and federal partners, and preparing to prioritize services and adjust if federal changes affect programs. No votes were taken in the portion of the meeting provided.
CO

Colorado 2026 Regular Session

Colorado House 2026 Legislative Day 030 Feb 13th, 2026

Colorado House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • There will also be an opportunity for those people who have been part of disability bills or run disability
  • And if we put it to the<01:48:00.800> disabled, the disabled, the disabled, it<01:48:03.280>
  • <02:24:11.920> community within the the disability community within the the disability community
  • and our individuals with disabilities and our individuals with disabilities to<02:24:26.479>
  • disability commi community in Medicaid. disability commi community in Medicaid.
Keywords: 981, all
Summary: The House convened, established a quorum, approved the journal, and then moved out of order to consider Senate Joint Resolution 10, a resolution celebrating Lunar New Year 2026. The resolution highlighted Colorado’s observed Lunar New Year holiday, the cultural significance of the holiday to Asian-American communities, and the contributions of Asian-Americans in Colorado. Several members spoke in support, including remarks about the Far East Center, Asian-American heritage, and the importance of recognizing the holiday statewide. The chamber also welcomed a number of guests and groups for the Lunar New Year observance, including state and international dignitaries, community leaders, and lion dancers. Representative Soer and others introduced guests and offered brief remarks; the House then recessed briefly for the celebration. After returning, the House adopted Senate Joint Resolution 10 by a vote of 60 ayes, with five excused and no no votes. Following the resolution, members made announcements about committee meetings and visiting student groups, including District 6 Day, Disability Rights Advocacy Day, and several school groups at the Capitol. The House then took up third reading of supplemental appropriations bills. House Bill 1150, a supplemental appropriation to the Department of Agriculture, passed on third reading. House Bill 1151, a supplemental appropriation to the Department of Corrections, prompted extended debate over prison funding, inmate care, staffing, and parole-related concerns; members argued both for humane treatment and for fiscal restraint, and discussion was still ongoing in the portion provided.
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Seclusion Working Group 12/10/25

Minnesota House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • >> They will look at certain disability >> They will look at certain disability rates
  • disegregation by race and disability. disegregation by race and disability.
  • part of somebody's disability. part of somebody's disability. broaden<00:59:01.119> the<00
  • As parents and adults with disabilities, we have learned that adults with disabilities are often our
  • As parents and adults with disabilities, we have learned that adults with disabilities are often our
Keywords: 919, house, all
Summary: The Seclusion Working Group approved the minutes from its previous meeting by motion and vote. Members then began discussing a set of proposed recommendations submitted by Woodward, Havman, and Hull aimed at addressing concerns about the use of seclusion in special education settings. The recommendations focused on several areas: requiring a mental health professional on the IEP team before seclusion is added to a student’s plan; replacing passive parental consent with explicit written consent in the parent’s native language; limiting seclusion to students receiving setting 3 or setting 4 services; requiring annual review of seclusion frequency and duration data by the IEP team; and creating stronger monitoring and accountability through a reporting system modeled on Minnesota’s existing disproportionality process. The group also proposed mandatory annual staff training, more preventive crisis-intervention supports such as CPI and Ukeru, direct funding and technical assistance for districts, and incorporating restraint/seclusion data into disproportionality calculations. Members discussed how the proposed accountability system might work in practice, including whether a third party or parent reporting mechanism should be added. Woodward explained Minnesota’s current disproportionality framework, including year 1, year 2, and year 3 notifications and the possibility of required coordinated early intervening services if problems persist. Participants also raised concerns about whether schools should track law-enforcement involvement as an alternative or related response to student behavior; some noted that such data is already collected in certain district reporting systems and could be useful to monitor alongside seclusion data. The discussion remained ongoing, with no final action taken on the recommendations during this portion of the meeting.
NH

New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session

Senate Education (04/29/2025)

Education

Transcript Highlights:
  • What types of disabilities would be categorized under that disability categories?
  • Some further detail on what types of disabilities would be categorized under multiple disabilities or
  • What types of disabilities would be categorized under that disability categories?
  • What types of disabilities would be categorized under that disability categories?
  • 00:27:41.320> disabilities<00:27:42.320> or um multiple disabilities or um multiple disabilities
Keywords: 1191, senate, all
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Committee on Environment, Climate and Legacy - 01/23/25

Environment, Climate, and Legacy

Transcript Highlights:
  • its archiving work of developmental disabilities and Minnesota.
  • disabilities in Minnesota.
  • archival of information about disability archival of information about disability in<00:53:33.520
  • The term developmental disabilities refers to people in our state who have the most significant disabilities
  • People with developmental disabilities were the first to be killed.
Keywords: 1187, senate, all
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Elections Committee Mar 25th, 2026

Transcript Highlights:
  • They are designed to help the processing of the ballots and those with disabilities.
  • They are designed to help the processing of the ballots and those with disabilities.
  • Evan Fern with Disability Rights California, in opposition. Thank you.
  • What is the issue with disabled voters that they need a hole in the ballot? Can you explain that?
  • I work a lot with the disability community myself, and I've never heard anything.
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.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Floor Session Jun 13th, 2025

California House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • And this is where you are so callous: the disabled. Among us. And this is where you are so callous.
  • The disabled, the elderly, poor children will have their health coverage curtailed and cut back.
  • For the funding for developmentally disabled, and you heard that call, and you've done that.
  • you defund our critical health care system for everybody in this state, for the developmentally disabled
  • , for those with disabilities, the people that need the help the most were the first to lose coverage
Summary: The Assembly convened after a quorum call and proceeded to floor business, with the main item being SB 101, the state budget bill. Before debate on the bill, Assembly Member Sanchez offered amendments to redirect funding toward Proposition 36 implementation, wildfire prevention, Medi-Cal provider reimbursement, developmental services, and other priorities; the majority moved to lay those amendments on the table, and the motion passed 43-18. The chamber then took up SB 101 as the budget bill for immediate effect. Debate on the budget was extensive and sharply divided. Supporters, including Assembly Member Gabriel and several committee chairs, described the budget as a difficult but responsible compromise that protects Medi-Cal, IHSS, child care, housing, wildfire prevention, and other safety-net programs while responding to a projected deficit and federal uncertainty. Opponents criticized the budget as fiscally unsound and argued it relied on accounting gimmicks, did not adequately fund Proposition 36 or wildfire prevention, and continued spending on high-speed rail and Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants. Several members also raised concerns about gas taxes, provider reimbursement, probation funding, and the impact on vulnerable Californians. After debate, the Assembly voted on SB 101 and passed it 57-19. The measure was sent immediately to the Senate. The body then announced upcoming session schedules, with no floor or check-in sessions on June 14 and 15, and a floor session set for June 16 at 1 p.m., before adjourning.
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Housing Committee Meeting - 2025-04-01

Housing Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • Those challenges range and can be broad and specific, related to issues that our disability communities
  • My name is Judy Moe, and I'm the Director of the Richfield Disability Advocacy Partnership.
  • Currently, less than 5% of housing in the U.S. is accessible to people with disabilities.
  • This is a crisis for the 26% of Americans who have a disability. Americans who have a disability.
  • Minnesota desperately needs a task force to look into the experiences of people with disabilities and
US

US Federal 2025-2026 Regular Session

US House Floor Proceedings (Monday, April 7, 2025)

US Federal House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • This is disabilities who we serve.
  • unable to drive due to their disability unable to drive due to their disability can<05:19:41.920
  • would make it easier for disabled would make it easier for disabled veterans<05:21:54.400> to
  • I yield back. veterans with disabilities to lead veterans with disabilities to lead independent<05:24
  • children with with disabilities. children with with disabilities.
MA

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Committee on Health Care Financing Jun 21st, 2026 at 11:00 am

Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Transcript Highlights:
  • Other panelists will speak to the impacts of these costs on consumers and people with disabilities.
  • Other panelists will speak to the impacts of these costs on consumers and people with disabilities.
  • ' largest statewide disability advocacy organization.
  • It is essential that people with disabilities have access to affordable prescription medication.
  • Nearly a quarter, 24.5%, of disabled people in Massachusetts live in poverty.
Keywords: 995, all
Summary: The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing held a public hearing on a broad set of health care bills focused on cost, market oversight, pharmaceutical access, transparency, hospital closures, and pharmacy access. Chairs John Lawn and Cindy Friedman opened by emphasizing recent health care reforms and the need for further action on the drug supply chain, PBMs, private equity, and affordability. The committee heard testimony on several measures, including a Betsy Lehman Center bill to make technical changes and create a permanent trust account for federal and private funding, and bills on hospital profits and fairness, hospital closures and health planning, pharmacy deserts, and health care market oversight and pharmaceutical access. No votes were taken during the hearing. On the hospital profits bill, physicians and labor advocates strongly supported capping hospital CEO compensation at 50 times the lowest-paid worker, requiring greater financial transparency, and directing penalties from high-margin public hospitals into a Medicaid reimbursement fund. Testifiers argued that executive pay is excessive while frontline staff and safety-net services are under strain. Committee members raised concerns about unintended consequences, including whether hospitals might shift workers to contract status or lose executive talent, and whether the bill would actually direct money to the safety net. Supporters responded that the measure is one piece of a larger effort and that the bill’s Medicaid reimbursement provisions would help underserved hospitals. Testimony on market oversight and pharmaceutical access centered on rising health care and drug costs, PBM practices, and the proposal to give the Health Policy Commission authority to set upper payment limits for certain drugs. Consumer advocates, disability advocates, an independent pharmacist, the Attorney General’s office, and others supported stronger oversight, citing premium increases, affordability problems, and the impact of high drug prices on patients and community pharmacies. Pharma and some industry witnesses opposed parts of the bill, warning that upper payment limits could disrupt access, create legal issues, and fail to address the broader supply chain. The committee also heard support for stronger hospital closure notice and public hearing requirements, and for a pharmacy deserts bill aimed at identifying and addressing closures like the one in Roxbury that affected thousands of patients.
WA
Transcript Highlights:
  • or acquired disabilities so that they also have a trajectory of success too?
  • or other disabilities, are you taking that into account?
  • I mean, if young people with developmental disabilities have committed a crime and their sentence is
  • And just a quick follow-up: similar question I had earlier around developmental disabilities and kids
  • Special education supports and the other community supports around their developmental disabilities.
Summary: The committee began with a work session on juvenile rehabilitation institution capacity, services, and staffing. DCYF Assistant Secretary Jennifer Redmond described overcrowding at Green Hill School and Echo Glen, driven by longer adult-style sentences extending past age 25, limited community placements, and small facility sizes. She said Green Hill remains above safe operating capacity, but staffing, injuries, large-scale aggression, and use-of-force incidents have improved over the past year. She also discussed Harbor Heights, a new 46-bed flex facility that had opened with 22 youth and would expand once a medical trailer arrives, as well as community transition services, vocational programming, behavior management reforms, and a request for more resources for mental health-focused facilities and staffing. Members asked about success metrics, developmental disability screening and supports, college access at Echo Glen, Mission Creek planning, and gender-responsive programming; Redmond said JR uses assessments, family involvement, and specialized living units, and that some requested funding had already been secured for returning a girls’ program at Echo Glen. The committee then heard from Team Child and the Youth Action Coalition. Greta Schultz said youth perspectives should guide system reforms and identified key concerns: overuse of sentence extensions, underuse of community transition services, continued criminal referrals from Green Hill to Lewis County, limited family contact, inadequate mental health access, and unequal education opportunities, especially for young women at Echo Glen. Justella Gonzalez, a former system-involved youth, said her time in county and state facilities was harmful, with staff mistreatment, poor education, limited therapy access, and humiliating restraint practices; she also said girls at Echo Glen lacked the same college opportunities as boys at Green Hill. Committee members asked for follow-up on county versus state experiences and on telehealth mental health services. The next presentation covered county-level services for youth involved or at risk of involvement with the justice system, led by juvenile court administrators Christine Simon-Smeyer and Judge Rachel Anderson. They outlined the juvenile court continuum from prevention and truancy work through diversion, detention alternatives, community supervision, and disposition alternatives, emphasizing evidence-based, trauma-informed, and restorative practices. Clark County was used as an example of a court that partners closely with schools and community providers, uses risk assessments and wraparound behavioral health probation, and offers detention alternatives without electronic home monitoring. They said most courts do not use detention for status offenses, but instead use court involvement to connect youth to services. They also described funding, noting that courts rely on a mix of state block grant and local dollars, and that recent cuts to early intervention funding reduced programming and staff hours. Members asked about detention for truancy, developmental disability identification, restorative justice practices, and the juvenile block grant. Finally, DCYF Assistant Secretary Nicole Rose and Katie Warren of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECAP discussed child care and early learning impacts from recent policy and budget changes. Rose said Fair Start for Kids investments had increased child care access, provider participation, and kindergarten readiness, with more than 60,000 children in Working Connections care and rising ECAP enrollment and provider capacity. She said recent reductions will raise most family copays in 2026, delay eligibility expansions, eliminate some expanded eligibility categories, reduce ECAP slots by about 3,000, delay entitlement timelines, and cut provider supports such as rate increases for centers, complex-needs grants, trauma-informed and dual-language incentives, and infant/early childhood mental health consultation. Warren emphasized ECAP’s role in family stability, workforce participation, and reducing poverty, and noted its two-generation approach to supporting both children and parents.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Insurance Committee Jul 16th, 2025

Transcript Highlights:
  • However, after two years, no further income support is provided if the disability persists.
  • After two years, no further income support is provided if the disability persist.
  • In addition to normal permanent disability benefits, they can work while receiving those benefits, and
  • And then after that, permanent disability, industrial disability retirement, those things would come
  • They would be eligible for industrial disability retirement, which starts at 50% of your last wage and
Summary: The committee heard several insurance-related bills. SB 371 by Senator Cabaldon would lower uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage requirements for rideshare companies from the current $1 million level to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, with added transparency and data-reporting provisions. Uber, Lyft, and several business groups supported the bill as a way to reduce fares and improve affordability, while consumer attorneys, labor groups, and others opposed it as a major cut in protection for injured passengers and drivers. Committee members raised concerns about whether savings would actually reach riders and drivers, but the bill was approved on a do-pass vote to the next committee, with one member not voting. SB 487 by Senator Grayson would change how settlement or judgment proceeds are distributed when peace officers or firefighters are injured by a third party, ensuring they receive at least two-thirds of the at-fault party’s liability insurance limits in certain cases. Supporters, including public safety unions and an injured deputy sheriff, said current law can leave injured first responders with little or no recovery after employer reimbursement, while opponents representing cities, counties, and public agencies argued the bill would reduce recovery of taxpayer-funded workers’ compensation costs and lacked sufficient data. The committee members who spoke largely supported the bill, and it passed on a do-pass vote to Appropriations, with one member not voting. SB 616 by Senator Rubio would create an independent community hardening commission within the Department of Insurance to develop statewide wildfire mitigation recommendations and a post-catastrophe reporting process. The Department of Insurance, local governments, consumer groups, and fire-related organizations supported the measure as a way to improve wildfire resilience and insurance availability, while water agencies opposed provisions touching water infrastructure and warned of litigation and ratepayer impacts. The bill advanced on a do-pass vote to Appropriations, with some members not voting and one member voting no. The committee also heard SB 547 by Senator Perez, coauthored by Senator Rubio, which would extend wildfire-related insurance cancellation/nonrenewal moratoriums to commercial properties; insurers removed their opposition after amendments, and the bill passed to Appropriations on a do-pass vote.
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee 7/8/25

Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • seniors, or people with disabilities. seniors, or people with disabilities.
  • Assets are counted including disabled.
  • disabilities that we are able to afford. disabilities that we are able to afford.
  • , people who really need it, the disabled, people who really need it, the disabled, the<01:35:46.960
  • They are reason, a disability.
Keywords: 1183, house
AL

Alabama 2025 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee Apr 23rd, 2025

Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • or disabilities as a whole. disabilities or disabilities as a whole. disabilities or disabilities as
  • That's not the only disability. That's a That's not the only disability.
  • That's a That's not the only disability. That's a physical disability that you can see.
  • Uh physical disability that you can see. Uh physical disability that you can see.
  • as you did and those silent disabilities as you did and those silent disabilities as you referred to
Bills: HB265, HB146, SB254, HB202, HB3, HB42, SB18
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee 4/2/25

Human Services Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • establish a presumptive disability establish a presumptive disability determination<00:52:05.680
  • decided through the disability determination if they qualify for ongoing disability services.
  • disability services.
  • , for adults with disabilities, for older adults.
  • for for adults with disabilities for for adults with disabilities<01:04:26.960> for<01:04:27.160
Keywords: 1183, house
CA
Transcript Highlights:
  • Evan Fern with Disability Rights California.
  • And then, secondly, whether that disability is substantially disabling.
  • Adults and people with disabilities.
  • I'm Evan Fern with Disability Rights California.
  • I'm Evan Fern with Disability Rights, California.
Keywords: 987, senate, all
Summary: The hearing opened with Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst’s Office remarks on the May Revision, which both described efforts to reduce large out-year operating deficits through a mix of revenue increases, spending reductions, and reserve use. Finance said the May Revision more than halves projected deficits in later years, while LAO stressed that revenues are at unprecedented levels yet the state still faces a significant structural deficit and is drawing down reserves; LAO urged maintaining at least the administration’s level of budget solutions and adding to reserves rather than new ongoing commitments. The chair echoed concern about cuts to vulnerable populations and noted the tension between service reductions and requests for additional administrative positions. The committee then heard a series of California Health and Human Services and HCAI proposals, including additional legal support for CalHHS to respond to federal HR1 changes; a net-zero transfer of positions for a centralized eligibility/data-sharing platform; 988 crisis line implementation funding and continued work with the Trevor Project to train crisis centers to better serve LGBTQ youth; EMS data system maintenance funding; HCAI implementation of AB 1312 hospital charity care screening; SB 660 data exchange framework funding; CalRx biosimilar insulin reappropriation; and a diaper access initiative that would provide free diapers to newborns in participating hospitals and support a future direct-to-consumer purchasing option. Members questioned the diaper program’s universal design, the use of a Public Contract Code exemption, and the selection of Baby2Baby, with the chair expressing concern about optics and the lack of an income threshold. The committee also discussed distressed hospital funding, with HCAI requesting up to $50 million for another round of grants to hospitals in immediate financial distress. HCAI said it receives annual and quarterly financial reports but the data lag limits real-time monitoring, and the LAO recommended stronger program parameters and turnaround plans. Members argued the repeated need for distressed hospital aid reflects a structural problem, not a short-term gap, and raised broader concerns about hospital reimbursement and patient flow. Other items included reverting $19.6 million in unused opioid settlement funds from HCAI to DHCS for General Fund offset, and a Rural Health Transformation Program request to increase HCAI spending authority to cover the full federal award. Later, DMHC presented funding requests to implement PBM licensing and financial review requirements under AB 116, modernize the managed care complaint system, and build an electronic claims settlement data system under AB 3275. The final major discussion focused on the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, which opposed the May Revision’s proposed reduction of its Innovation Partnership Fund from $20 million to $10 million and a $6.7 million cut to community advocacy grants. The Commission argued these programs are core to Proposition 1’s goals of statewide innovation and community accountability, while Finance said the proposal is consistent with Proposition 1’s maximum funding levels and reflects a broader effort to prioritize direct services and use unspent prior-year funds; members pressed for more information and questioned whether the cuts would undermine the new behavioral health framework.
CA

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee Apr 22nd, 2025

Aging and Long-Term Care

Transcript Highlights:
  • recommendations regarding the evacuation and sheltering needs of older adults and people with disabilities
  • Laura Trejo, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Aging and Disabilities, to speak and share
  • For nearly 40 years, I have served older adults. adults, older persons living with disabilities, and
  • became a very large scale. our partnership with independent living centers through our aging and disability
  • we won't miss another opportunity to support Californians who are older adults and people with disabilities
Keywords: 988, house, all
US

US Federal 2025-2026 Regular Session

US House Floor Proceedings (Monday, June 23, 2025)

US Federal House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • ,<03:29:00.720> such National Council on Disability, such National Council on Disability,
  • because they have a disability. because they have a disability.
  • <03:30:46.319> Existing their disability status. Existing their disability status.
  • <03:30:59.279> However, based solely on disability. However, based solely on disability.
  • solely on their disability status. solely on their disability status.
MN

Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session

Human services panel hears HF729 2/26/25

Minnesota House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • advocate that Medicaid should be protected for those most vulnerable individuals, individuals with disabilities
  • MHC's members provide hands-on care to more than 30,000 older Minnesotans and individuals with disabilities
  • in their homes at mhca we disabilities in their homes at mhca we are<00:03:55.439> acutely<00
  • These services include homemaker services under the disability and elderly waivers, home health agency
  • These services include homemaker services under the disability and elderly waivers, home health agency
Keywords: 1183, house