Transcript Highlights:

• Homeless spending—we have spent over $24 billion, and this, I have done the math.
• We have approximately 187,000 homeless individuals in California.
• That is how much money we have spent in California to help homeless individuals.
• So we're spending more dollars on fewer students and anything the...
• We have a more homeless population.

Summary: The committee heard Senate Bill 1277, which would create a California Cost of Living Tax Credit modeled on the 2022 middle-class tax refund to provide refundable relief to low- and middle-income Californians facing high housing, fuel, energy, and general living costs. Senator Grove and supporters, including the California Policy Center and some local government representatives, argued the bill would put direct relief into the hands of working families. Opposition came from the California Tax Reform Association and the California Teachers Association, which said California already has progressive tax credits and that the proposal would be costly to the General Fund and reduce money for schools and other services. After extended debate, the bill was not advanced; a roll call vote on a motion to pass it to Appropriations failed 1-4, and the bill was held/fails on the floor with a request for reconsideration noted. The committee then heard SB 1287, which would create a capped tax credit to encourage private investment in short-line railroad infrastructure. The author and rail industry witnesses said the measure would improve safety, reliability, emissions, and freight movement, especially for rural communities and agriculture, and that it was a public-private partnership rather than a handout. Opposition from CTA and the California Tax Reform Association argued a direct grant program would be preferable to a tax credit. The bill was accepted with committee amendments and placed on call without a final vote in the transcript. Members also considered SB 1407, which would fully exempt military retirement pay and surviving spouse benefits from state income tax, increasing the prior partial exemption. The author, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and veterans’ groups said the change would help retain veterans in California, support local economies, and align California with most other states. CTA and CTRA opposed on General Fund grounds. The committee approved the bill on a due-pass-as-amended motion to the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, with the roll call showing support and the bill placed on call. Later, the committee heard SB 1349, directing the Legislative Analyst’s Office to review major tax expenditures and evaluate their goals, beneficiaries, and effects on revenues and Proposition 98 funding. CTA, CTRA, and several local government and labor supporters backed the bill as a way to improve accountability for roughly $94 billion in annual tax expenditures. The bill was accepted with committee amendments and placed on call. The committee also heard SB 1078, authorizing Santa Cruz County to ask voters for a temporary half-cent sales tax to help fund health care and safety-net services amid federal cuts; it was placed on call. SB 1120, extending the California Competes Tax Credit through 2035 and making it refundable for certain strategic industries, received strong support from business and manufacturing groups and was passed on a due-pass-as-amended motion to Appropriations. Finally, SB 1275, which would replace the state sales tax on vehicle purchases with a vehicle license fee structure intended to increase federal deductibility for Californians, was passed 4-0 as amended to the Committee on Transportation.

Transcript Highlights:

• Homeless spending—we have spent over $24 billion, and this, I have done the math.
• We have approximately 187,000 homeless individuals in California.
• That is how much money we have spent in California to help homeless individuals.
• So we're spending more dollars on fewer students and anything the...
• We have a more homeless population.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• For services for homeless veterans and their families, $200,000 has seen no movement of funding.
• Serving homeless populations and 5 million specifically for doctors.
• But I didn't understand. the same to be true of like $500 a month for homeless.
• students throughout the state as they need it.
• What we've been looking for is to make sure that these wellness rooms are staffed with students who are

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• ACA 18, Colosa, UC Regents student members, do pass out on an A roll call.
• AB 2436, Fong, Team USA student athletes, do pass out on an A roll call.
• AB 1924, Gabriel, homelessness prevention strategy, do pass out on an A roll call.
• AB 1845, Krell, student safety, do pass out on an A roll call.
• AB 2229, Pellerin, non-continuous students, held in committee.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Or the tens of thousands of homeless children facing hunger.
• Protecting myself and friends and students soon to be drivers like myself.
• He was murdered on a stage in front of students for speaking.
• Representative: I talked to many students and this means a lot.
• , a college student.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> impact on students academic achievement. impact on students academic achievement.
• </c> mark on their students and communities. mark on their students and communities.
• </c> empowering every student to succeed. empowering every student to succeed.
• </c> same love of learning in his students. same love of learning in his students.
• </c> educating the students of her community. educating the students of her community.

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, May 8, 2025, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program provided incentive payments to managed care plans to
• population through Kelvin Pulse surveys that assess the well-being of the student population at each
• We know that short-term rental assistance is one of those things that obviously prevents homelessness
• We are also focused on people experiencing homelessness and justice-involved individuals.
• Employment, homelessness, and involvement with the carceral system are also key factors.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In my job, I provide housing stabilization for long-term homeless individuals, primarily living in the
• My fellow 509 members at Elliott struggle with the cost of child care and student loans.
• All of this... ...struggle with the cost of child care and student loans.
• A lot of them are homeless.
• There's a lot of homelessness in Worcester.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hybrid hearing on legislation concerning unemployment insurance, non-compete agreements, prevailing wage, and minimum wage issues. Committee leaders outlined the hearing process, asked witnesses to keep oral testimony to three minutes, and invited written testimony through November 20. No votes were taken during the hearing; it ended with a motion to adjourn and notice of the next hearing on November 20. Much of the testimony focused on bills to expand unemployment insurance for striking workers, including H. 2168 and S. 1319. Labor leaders, union members, and legal advocates argued that workers who are out on strike for more than 30 days should be able to receive UI benefits, saying the policy would help workers and families meet basic expenses, reduce employers’ ability to “wait out” strikes, and encourage good-faith bargaining. Speakers cited recent strikes, including the Republic Services strike, and said the proposal would not meaningfully increase strike activity or strain the UI trust fund. Another major topic was minimum wage legislation, especially H. 2107/S. 1349 to raise the minimum wage to $20 by 2029 and index it to inflation, and H. 2191 to create a $25 enhanced care worker minimum wage. Supporters said current wages are not keeping pace with housing, food, and childcare costs, and that care workers, direct support staff, and human service employees face chronic vacancies, burnout, and turnover. Testimony also supported H. 2126 on prevailing wage by adding apprenticeship and training contributions to the wage calculation, and H. 2159 and S. 1363 on prevailing wage-related issues. One witness, Russell Beck, testified against S. 1336, which would ban non-competes, and against H. 2118, arguing Massachusetts’ current non-compete law is a balanced compromise that should not be disrupted.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's not only the K-12 system failing students, colleges and universities are not preparing students
• That if a school has a club for Vietnamese American students or black students, where they meet after
• Shameful attacks on Jewish students, Jewish American students, Jewish students from overseas.
• For students who are here on a student visa, who have threatened their fellow students, threatened Jewish
• world, 5 million English language learners, 7 million disabled students, and 1 million homeless can

Keywords: educational reform, federal grants, bureaucracy, wealth disparity, public testimony

Summary: The committee meeting engaged in discussions focused primarily on educational reform, the influence of federal grants on local education systems, and the growing disparities in wealth and access to quality education. Members expressed concerns about the bureaucracy surrounding federal funding that hampers schools' ability to obtain necessary resources for improvement. Several members highlighted personal anecdotes from constituents, emphasizing the urgent need for reform to help students succeed in both K-12 and higher education environments. The meeting included public testimonies that provided insights into various community perspectives on these pressing issues.

Transcript Highlights:

• Overall, homelessness can have a lasting impact on students' educational outcomes and well-being.
• student housing.
• But even as one in five California community college students are homeless, we are still not taking full
• homelessness crisis.
• AB 2480 provides a way to integrate BMR students with students paying market rate by allowing rental

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These were more homeless or formerly homeless individuals, and that... ...homeless or formerly homeless
• You have high degrees of repeatability, whether that's hospitality or hotel, student housing.
• Endless applications, affordable student housing, workforce—my colleagues here have already mentioned
• Three years ago, he was living under a bridge, homeless, and high on meth. Travis.
• Three years ago, he was living under a bridge, homeless, and high on meth.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• My entire family of six is now at risk of homelessness.
• for so many students across the state.
• Our students are contributing to the economy.
• We are literally turning students away because we don't have the capacity to serve those students.
• to the student experience.

Bills: SB6003

Keywords: capital budget, funding, infrastructure, state projects, budget allocation, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I am pleased to honor an amazing student athlete in my district who is here with us today.
• Since 1982, the scholarship award has honored student athletes who excel in the classroom and athletics
• Since 1982, the scholarship award has honored student athletes who excel in the classroom and athletics
• Mona here is a four-sport varsity athlete and a model student, taking 15 AP courses.
• Mona here is a four-sport varsity athlete and a model student, taking 15 AP courses.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, offered prayer and the pledge, and then moved through a series of privileges-of-the-floor recognitions. Senators honored California Interscholastic Federation Scholar-Athletes Ryan Liu of Burlingame High School and Mona Sugawata of West Torrance High School for their academic, athletic, and community achievements, and welcomed a delegation from Jiangsu Province in China to mark the 15th anniversary of the California-Jiangsu sister-state relationship. The chamber also recognized the California Taxpayers Association on its 100th anniversary and welcomed Senator Ochoa Bogh’s district staff visiting Sacramento. On floor actions, Senator Menjivar moved to rescind the vote on AB 1457 and place it on third reading; the motion passed on a 28-9 roll call. The Senate then took up the consent calendar, approving Assembly Concurrent Resolutions 129, 164, and 166 by a 38-0 vote, with the same vote applying to the related items. No items were pulled from consent. The remainder of the session consisted of adjourn-in-memory tributes. Senators Becker, Wiener, and Rubio honored Clarence Jones, Rita Semmel, and Deputy Levi Vargas, respectively, highlighting Jones’s role with Martin Luther King Jr., Semmel’s leadership in San Francisco’s Jewish and interfaith communities, and Vargas’s service with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Senate then announced the next floor session for Monday, June 8 at 2 p.m., and recessed.

Transcript Highlights:

• So the college students that are coming, this also would have applied to me, right?
• And so when... ...announced that there's over 4,000 kids who are homeless.
• The kids in Boston Public Schools who are homeless.
• The kids in Boston Public Schools who are homeless.
• The kids in Boston Public Schools who are homeless.

Keywords: 1212, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:31:41.120><c> and</c> resource that prevent homelessness and resource that prevent homelessness
• HUD homeless state that receive HUD homeless assistance<00:41:50.359><c> grants</c><00:41:50.720><c>
• I think we don't touch the homeless assistance grants, but as you know, I've worked in the homelessness
• My question is about homelessness.
• </c><01:40:02.000><c> you</c> longest histories of homelessness you longest histories of homelessness

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• immigrants awaiting citizenship, or international students, many of whom are also employees who work
• I urge you, dear senators of our state, to vote in support immigrant student workers in our state.
• This includes provisions establishing a state policy on equal access for homeless children and youths
• It requires OSPI to designate a state coordinator for the education of homeless children and youths.
• homelessness is by working together and working effectively.

Summary: The committee took up executive action on the capital budget, Proposed Substitute Senate Bill 6003, and several policy bills. Staff described amendments to the capital budget that shifted funding among behavioral health, local/community projects, irrigation projects, and juvenile rehabilitation capacity, plus a technical fix to the water pollution control revolving program. The committee adopted Senator Dozier’s budget-neutral amendment and a technical amendment, then advanced the amended capital budget to the Rules Committee. It also moved House Bills 2441, 2124, 2471, 2133, 2610, and 2338 forward with due-pass recommendations, and advanced Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2251 on Climate Commitment Act accounts to the Transportation Committee after adopting two amendments and withdrawing three others. A major public hearing focused on Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2034, which would terminate and restate LEOFF Plan 1 in 2029, transfer surplus assets, and direct portions to the Climate Commitment Account and the pension funding stabilization account. Staff said the plan is currently about 160% funded and explained the bill’s IRS-review process, statute of limitations, and estimated implementation costs. Testimony was sharply divided: some retirees, firefighters, counties, and cities opposed the bill as an improper use of pension assets and urged benefit enhancements or protection of local medical obligations, while others supported using the surplus for broader public purposes. No vote was taken on the bill during the hearing. The committee also heard House Bill 2179 on PERS coverage for certain port workers, with ports and the Washington Public Ports Association supporting clarification for railroad employees covered by the federal railroad retirement system. House Bill 1069, allowing Department of Corrections employees to bargain over supplemental retirement benefits, drew support from Teamsters and corrections workers, while House Bill 2091, expanding employee-information sharing with bargaining representatives, drew union support and privacy objections from Washington Policy Center. Finally, Second Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1210 on targeted urban area tax preferences drew support from labor, local governments, and project proponents, and opposition from contractor groups and environmental advocates over project labor agreement requirements and nuclear-related concerns; Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1408 on community preservation and development authorities and Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1974 on land bank authorities for affordable housing were also heard, with both receiving supportive testimony from community and housing advocates.

Transcript Highlights:

• When we were working on the recovery center, our homelessness was brought up.
• And I do believe that addiction and homelessness go hand in hand.
• When we were working on the recovery center, our homelessness was brought up.
• And I do believe that addiction and homelessness go hand in hand.
• I wanted to, our homeless shelter that the tribe had built with ARPA funds, Our homeless shelter that

Summary: The meeting focused heavily on behavioral health and substance use treatment, especially the IMD exclusion and whether North Dakota should pursue a Section 1115 waiver to allow Medicaid reimbursement for services in institutions for mental diseases for adults ages 21 to 64. Turtle Mountain representatives described major local needs, including limited access to care, high syphilis rates, and the importance of timely public health data. They also discussed the tribe’s recovery center, which opened the prior year, now operating five levels of care with 16 beds, and the desire to expand capacity, possibly through an IMD waiver or related policy changes. Committee members also raised related issues such as rural health transformation funding, telehealth, workforce retention, and the need for better coordination between tribal and state public health systems. A central issue was Turtle Mountain Public Health’s long-running effort to secure a data use agreement with the state so it can receive surveillance data and respond directly to infectious disease cases among tribal members. Speakers said the tribe had a successful COVID-era agreement that allowed faster contact tracing and case management, but that agreement ended with the pandemic. They argued that current delays in sharing data, especially for sexually transmitted infections, leave the tribe unable to respond quickly, while the state and county epidemiology workload is too distant and stretched to be effective. Committee members expressed support and said they would look into the issue, noting that other tribes have secured similar agreements. The committee also heard a detailed presentation from the National Health Law Program on the IMD exclusion. The presenter explained that federal Medicaid law generally bars payment for care in facilities with more than 16 beds, but that states can use other tools such as state plan amendments, managed care arrangements, telehealth, and community-based services. He said IMD waivers are administratively complex, time-limited, and have shown mixed results in other states, with some gains in residential treatment access but limited evidence of improved overdose outcomes or stronger community-based care. He urged the committee to consider broader continuum-of-care solutions and cautioned that waivers alone are not a cure-all. No final vote was taken on the bill draft during the portion shown, but the committee discussed the proposal to appropriate $49,000 and one FTE to HHS to pursue an IMD waiver and report back in the next interim. Members also debated the policy rationale for the 16-bed limit, the role of the state versus tribal sovereignty, and whether the bill should move through the Health Care or Human Services committee in the future.

Transcript Highlights:

• One hundred percent of the children in that setting are students of that campus.
• Ending veteran homelessness is right within our grasp.
• out of homelessness.
• out of homelessness.
• I have friends that I've served with in combat that are actually homeless.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm wondering if there is a way that we should be looking at an earlier catch period with our students
• You mentioned the people that are homeless program in winter times.
• That are homeless program in winter times.
• And I know that there is a homeless population in that community.
• You know, one of the things I love about that are the students.

Summary: The hearing in Barnstable opened with remarks from the House and Senate co-chairs about the importance of holding Ways and Means budget hearings on the Cape, especially given the region’s seasonal economy and infrastructure needs. The committee then heard testimony from Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones on the governor’s FY27 budget proposal. She highlighted funding for workforce programs including the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund, Career Technical Initiative, registered apprenticeship, YouthWorks, reentry workforce programs, and services for young adults with disabilities. She also discussed MassHire career centers, the MassHire Innovation Project, and the Department of Unemployment Assistance modernization effort, noting improved call wait times and claims processing, but acknowledging continued challenges and federal funding uncertainty. Members asked about job-seeker barriers such as child care, housing, and transportation; domestic outmigration of young workers; youth work permits; unemployment insurance costs and the COVID assessment on employers; and the state’s unemployment rate and UI trust fund solvency. Jones and Undersecretary Josh Cutler explained the difference between workforce training funds and the unemployment trust fund, described the statewide trigger that extends unemployment benefits from 26 to 30 weeks when regional unemployment averages 5.2 percent, and said the administration is reviewing the trust fund with labor and business stakeholders. They also said the administration is trying to preserve front-line DUA staffing while shifting resources to customer service and adjudication, including a Friday adjudication pilot and seasonal hires. Senators and representatives also pressed the administration on regional equity in workforce funding, especially for Hampshire Franklin MassHire, which was described as serving a large rural area with fewer resources than other regions. Administration officials said they are reviewing MassHire funding formulas and modernizing the system with a policy committee and state workforce board input, but did not offer an immediate fix. The committee also heard that early childhood education apprenticeships are expanding quickly, with state funding leveraged to secure federal grants and support new Grow Awards. The hearing then moved to the Executive Office of Economic Development, where Secretary Eric Paley outlined House 2 proposals for economic development, including support for the Community One Stop for Growth, rural economic development, workforce partnerships, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, AI, small business assistance, tourism, and tax incentives. Undersecretary Leila D’Amilia followed with testimony on consumer affairs and business regulation, describing funding for consumer protection, banking oversight, occupational licensure, and public safety inspections.

Transcript Highlights:

• What we don't prioritize students, it's available for all students.
• But we want to make sure that no teachers left even temporarily in student contact in front of students
• We have about 5,000 homeless kids in the schools.
• Our teachers care deeply our students.
• Our teaches have much respect for military personnel, but we have a lot of homeless families, homeless

Keywords: 999, senate, all