Transcript Highlights:

• Um, on line 27.1, line 28.12, you have to purchase new policies annually.
• Um, on line 27.1, line 28.12, you have to purchase new policies annually.
• </c><01:49:20.400><c> as</c><01:49:20.639><c> a</c><01:49:21.600><c> uh</c> already have purchased as
• a uh already have purchased as a uh requirement<01:49:22.480><c> for</c><01:49:23.119><c> MA</c><01:
• um and then what if need to be purchased um and then what if the<01:52:54.320><c> investigation</c><

Keywords: 918, senate, all

Summary: The joint hearing opened with chairs explaining that the program integrity omnibus bill is a combined draft assembled from individual member bills and governor proposals, many of which had already been heard in committee. Members emphasized the compressed end-of-session timeline, said the language was not yet ready for enactment, and invited continued revisions as the bill moves next to judiciary and finance. Several speakers stressed the need for bipartisan collaboration, while also warning that the Legislature must act this session on program integrity rather than defer reforms. The fiscal staff then walked through a spreadsheet showing the bill’s overall budget effects and major provisions. The package includes DHS proposals on transforming human services, market- and receipt-based rate reform, enhanced program and payment integrity, uniform service standards, nursing facility rate changes, ICS reforms, and a repeal/redesign of housing stabilization, along with child care assistance integrity and human services redesign items in DCYF. Staff highlighted that the bill combines multiple sources, including governor proposals and member bills, and noted several items that are also in the supplemental human services budget. Committee discussion focused heavily on prepayment review, remote supports, ICS, and provider accountability. Chairs said the bill would codify prepayment review with a 60-day notice requirement after providers were caught off guard by prior rollout, and that remote supports and ICS language were placeholders or under active debate. One member argued the system needs stronger standards but cautioned against harming compliant providers, while another urged the committee to learn from good providers and warned against repeating failed implementations. Staff also reviewed thematic indexes covering billing and service delivery oversight, EVV, administrative reform, licensing and background studies, provider enrollment, sanctions, and child care provider compliance training. No formal votes were taken in the portion provided. The hearing ended with staff beginning the index walkthrough and members indicating that posted amendments would be considered as the bill advances through the remaining committees.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm a Mets fan, so all I know about Queens is CUNY Law School and Citi Field and Shea Stadium.
• I'M A MELT FAN SO ALL I KNOW ABOUT QUEENS IS CUNY LAW SCHOOL AND CITY FIELD AND SHEA STADIUM.
• their school; they just say, 'I went to school in Boston.'
• THAT HE CAME FROM, THEY DON'T EVER NAME THEIR SCHOOL, THEY JUST SAY, I WENT TO SCHOOL IN BOSTON.
• WHO ALSO WENT TO A LITTLE SCHOOL OUTSIDE OF BOSTON, SENATOR LIU.

Keywords: 993, senate, all

Summary: The Senate convened, approved the prior journal, and then processed a series of motions to discharge bills from committees and substitute identical Senate bills, which were so ordered. Several bills were also recalled from the Assembly, had reconsideration votes taken, and were restored to the third reading calendar after receiving 58 ayes. Amendments were received on a number of bills, and those measures retained their place on the calendar. The main business of the day was Privileged Resolution 2318, sponsored by Leader Stewart-Cousins, honoring Senator Michael Gianaris with the President Pro Tempore and Senate Majority Leader’s Legislative Legacy Award. The resolution and floor remarks reviewed his long career in the Assembly and Senate, his role as Deputy Majority Leader and floor leader, and his work on housing, criminal justice, voting rights, labor, environmental, consumer, transit, animal welfare, and other major legislation. Members from both parties spoke at length, praising his strategic skill, mentorship, humor, and influence, while also noting his support for younger members and his commitment to family. Several senators described personal experiences showing Gianaris’s mentorship and political guidance, and many referenced his Greek American identity, Queens roots, and interests such as Star Wars and the Mets. Senators also emphasized that he was leaving on his own terms to spend more time with his wife and daughters. The resolution was adopted with broad support, and Gianaris then spoke in response, reflecting on nearly 30 years in state government, the major laws passed during his tenure, and the relationships he built in the chamber.

Transcript Highlights:

• But once the can... ...go to feed our children in the food program that we provide for our schools.
• So we've lost millions upon millions of free and reduced lunches provided to our schools that taxpayers
• pay for in order for our kids that can't afford lunch at school that we provide.
• Her brother, who is still in high school, lives in a world where that content is one click away.
• Her brother, who is still in high school, lives in a world where that content is one click away.

Summary: The committee met without a quorum and operated as a subcommittee while hearing a long agenda of public safety bills. The chair announced recess and return times, noted several consent items, and said SB 906 was pulled from the agenda. Testimony procedures were explained, including limits on principal witnesses and public comment. Several bills were heard out of file order with authors presenting and witnesses speaking in support and opposition. SB 1446 would expand discretion in en banc parole review, make votes public, and allow CDCR referrals for sexually violent predator evaluations in certain cases. Supporters, including the author and district attorneys, said it would improve transparency and public safety; opponents from Uncommon Law, the Ella Baker Center, and public defender groups argued it would add confusion, litigation risk, and unnecessary duplication. The bill was not voted on because the committee still lacked a quorum. SB 1278 would exclude certain sex offenses and habitual or serial sexual offenses from elderly parole eligibility; the author and district attorneys cited recent releases of serious sex offenders and the need to respect victims and sentences, while opponents said the elderly parole process is already rigorous and evidence-based and that the bill would reduce rehabilitation incentives. The chair and other members strongly supported the measure, but no vote was taken. The committee also heard SB 1354, which would bar out-of-state military or law enforcement forces from entering California without the governor’s permission; the author and supporters framed it as a state sovereignty and constitutional authority measure, and the committee discussed an amendment removing a criminal penalty and leaving enforcement to the Attorney General. SB 926 would provide funding for implementation of Proposition 36; supporters said counties need resources for treatment, probation, and related services, while opponents called it fiscally reckless and said the budget process was the proper place to address funding. The chair summarized amendments removing a specific appropriation and limiting eligible recipients, and members emphasized that the voters approved Prop. 36 but it remains underfunded. SB 874 would require background checks and clearer oversight for Medi-Cal behavioral health treatment providers, especially ABA providers serving children; it drew support from health plans and behavior analysis groups and no opposition. SB 1210 would extend CalGang oversight and due process protections to all gang databases, including local ones; supporters described privacy harms and racial disparities, while police chiefs opposed applying CalGang rules to informal local investigative files. SB 1019 would create a DOJ cargo theft task force; supporters from BNSF, trucking, shipping, and port interests described organized theft, rail sabotage, and supply-chain losses, and there was no opposition. SB 1217, on non-consensual intimate image removal, was introduced with privacy and public safety amendments and framed as a survivor-driven effort to create a DOJ clearinghouse for rapid takedown requests; the author said it would help end ongoing digital harm from exploitation.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> or a school. or a school. Hope<01:31:01.840><c> that</c><01:31:02.080><c> helps.
• , onto a school district.
• kids to school onto a school<02:45:07.600><c> district.
• tournament for that school.
• </c> our schools transition to solar. our schools transition to solar.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><04:38:51.480><c> or</c><04:38:51.680><c> transferee</c><04:38:53.000><c> of</c> the purchaser or
• transferee of the purchaser or transferee of unprocessed<04:38:54.039><c> retail</c><04:38:54.400><c
• I said from the well School of Mines.
• On November 8, 2023, when I went to wake her for school, I found my precious daughter deceased.
• ,</c> when I went to wake her for school, when I went to wake her for school, I<05:31:47.680><c> found

Keywords: 981, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> schools would be permitted in any school schools would be permitted in any school district<01:31
• school? school?
• </c> rated school. rated school.
• me or the<03:33:27.760><c> school?</c> the school? the school?
• . school. school.

Keywords: MS House Floor - 15 January, 2026; 10:00 AM, 925, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Yet they allowed businesses to purchase inventory they would not be able to legally sell.
• to weaken Amara's law, you will be able to look into the faces of the many kids from Tartan High School
• who've been diagnosed with High School who've been diagnosed with cancer<00:31:08.799><c> over</c><00
• activities, maybe do supports for schools, things like that.
• My question is: if a person is purchasing this, will they be eligible for the long-term care insurance

Committee: Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Understanding that this gives our cities within the metro area the opportunity to purchase the things
• that they need to purchase and get their orders in order to be ready for the 2027 planting season.
• that they need to purchase and get their orders in order to be ready for the 2027 planting season.
• Within the metro area the opportunity to purchase the things that they need to purchase and get their
• the things that they need to purchase the things that they need to purchase<01:36:01.840><c> and</c>

Committee: House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Over 50% of serial killers heard or killed animals. 43% of school shooters abused animals.
• Two, it creates a true opportunity for residents to purchase their park if it were to go up for sale
• their park if it residents to purchase their park if it were<02:38:11.439><c> to</c><02:38:11.520><c
• Uh, the bill eliminates a fundamental property right to extend the first option to purchase, resulting
• </c><02:53:08.000><c> these</c> coming in and and purchasing these coming in and and purchasing these

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Public Safety

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A committee member asked whether voting at a school or attending a town meeting at a school would count
• is</c><01:39:54.800><c> uh</c> from Portsouth. uh middle school is uh from Portsouth. uh middle school
• </c> department is informed and the uh school department is informed and the uh school the<02:08:13.360
• </c><02:19:35.920><c> You</c> being around schools, childcare. You being around schools, childcare.
• </c> classes or law classes in high schools classes or law classes in high schools across<05:10:58.240

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The school did not remove them, and the parents had to call elected officials to get the school to remove
• a private Jewish school.
• I did not feel protected in public schools. Thank you. I did not feel protected in public schools.
• are not about textbooks that are purchased by the school.
• Many of you know I was a school board member. I decided to run for school board because...

Summary: The Assembly Education Committee held an informational hearing on AB 715, followed by discussion of SB 48. AB 715 was presented by Assembly Members Zbur and Addis as a response to rising anti-Semitism in California schools. They described incidents involving harassment, swastikas, biased classroom materials, and students feeling unsafe, and said the bill would create an Office of Civil Rights with coordinators to address anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination, provide prevention resources, and support school districts. Witnesses in support, including a rabbi and a student who described personal experiences with anti-Semitic harassment, urged immediate action to protect Jewish students. Opposition testimony came from the California Teachers Association, county superintendents, school board groups, labor organizations, civil liberties advocates, ethnic studies educators, and many community members. Their main concerns were that the bill was rushed, had not been fully vetted in the Assembly Education Committee, and could chill classroom speech or create constitutional problems, especially around language requiring instruction and materials to be “factually accurate” and not based on advocacy, bias, or partisanship. Several opponents argued that anti-Semitism should be addressed through education, training, and restorative practices rather than new statutory restrictions. Some witnesses also raised concerns about the bill’s impact on ethnic studies and free speech. Committee members then debated the bill’s process and substance at length. The authors said the bill had been narrowed through negotiations with education stakeholders and the Senate, that some disputed provisions would be revisited in cleanup language, and that the urgency of anti-Semitic incidents required action now. Several members expressed support for the bill’s goal but criticized the late release of the final language and the lack of consultation with the Assembly committee. Others emphasized the need to protect Jewish students immediately and argued the bill was a necessary response to a real crisis. The transcript does not show a final vote on AB 715 in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• . schools. schools.
• </c> schools themselves? schools themselves?
• </c> school students, middle school students. school students, middle school students.
• </c> just schools, individual schools. just schools, individual schools.
• . school. school.

Committee: House Education Policy and Administration

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These panelists were not brought here to talk about what's going on in school.
• experience high school.
• So they would have to purchase that separately.
• We believe no matter who you are, you're a student in our schools.
• It also comes from schools. It comes from activists.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um and I see you went to school at University of Washington. Correct. Go Dawgs. >> I'm a Cougar.
• </c><00:03:54.120><c> at</c> and I see you went to school at and I see you went to school at University
• </c><00:08:06.560><c> Um</c><00:08:07.280><c> his</c> director at Kamehameha Schools.
• Um his director at Kamehameha Schools.
• , with and he's doing an amazing job with institutional purchasing, Pacific Gateway.

Committee: Senate Agriculture and Environment

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee heard gubernatorial nominations for the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. For GM 615, Matthew Liam was nominated to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. The Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, CGAPS, and the Hawaii Farm Bureau testified in strong support, citing his landscape industry leadership, pesticide training background, and prior service. Members asked about his experience in Australia and his approach to restricted-use pesticides; he said he avoided using restricted-use pesticides in his landscaping business but applied related safety and recordkeeping practices. Testimony was unanimous in support, with no opposition or comments. For GM 616, N. Young was nominated to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. Support testimony from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and Hawaii Cattlemen's Council highlighted his experience with Lanai agriculture, Sensei, the Food Basket, Pacific Gateway Center, Kamehameha Schools, and institutional purchasing. In response to questions, he discussed balancing public and private funding, the need for adequate capitalization of agricultural projects, and using financial tools to help farmers and accelerate agricultural income streams. He also said the board should focus on making agricultural land productive and strengthening food security. The nomination drew strong support, with no opposition or comments. For GM 617, Jason Moniz was nominated to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. The Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and Hawaii Cattlemen's Council supported him, emphasizing his decades of veterinary and animal disease control experience, ranching background, and knowledge of biosecurity, leases, and livestock issues. Moniz said his priorities would be preserving agricultural land and water resources, improving biosecurity, supporting farmers and ranchers, and increasing food production in Hawaii. He also said he would be willing to speak up for agriculture and not let the department be sidelined. The nomination received 29 written and oral supports, with no opposition or comments.

Transcript Highlights:

• So if you've got a schools, your traditional comprehensive high school and career tech ed schools.
• These are dollars that support the modernizing of space, the purchasing of equipment for schools that
• if the school can't serve, school districts can't serve them within their own school?
• Chapter 56 approved private schools, if the school can't serve, school districts can't serve them within
• Through funding for public schools, school building projects, universal free school meals, local road

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused on House Bill 55, the governor’s FY25 supplemental budget proposal to spend about $1.3 billion in surplus Fair Share revenue. House and Senate chairs framed the bill as a one-time opportunity to invest fairly in education and transportation, while also noting the need to protect the state’s long-term fiscal balance. Administration officials said the proposal should be considered alongside the FY26 budget and related bills, since the governor’s broader Fair Share plan aims for roughly an even split between education and transportation over time. Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorzkowicz, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler outlined the administration’s priorities. Transportation funding would go mainly to the MBTA and related reserves, including money for the Federal Transit Administration reserve, MBTA stabilization reserve, low-income fares, winter resilience, RTA workforce support, MassDOT workforce and project delivery, and micro-transit grants. Education funding would support universal preschool expansion, early education and care capacity, early literacy tutoring, adult basic education and ESOL, early college and career technical education, MyCAP expansion, and special education circuit breaker funding. The administration emphasized that many of these investments are one-time or multi-year measures designed to address current needs without creating unsustainable recurring costs. Committee members raised concerns about regional equity, especially the large share of transportation money going to the MBTA versus regional transit authorities and rural areas. Several members asked for more detail on how the proposal would benefit Western Massachusetts and other non-MBTA regions, and whether micro-transit and Chapter 90-related investments would be sufficient. Education questions focused on special education reimbursement shortfalls, federal funding cuts to school districts, and how CTE and vocational investments would align students with workforce needs. The administration said it would provide additional data on MBTA versus RTA investment and explained that the special education circuit breaker and transportation reimbursement changes were intended to improve predictability and relief for districts. After the administration panel, Jessica Tang of AFT Massachusetts testified in support of using Fair Share funds to protect public education amid federal uncertainty and cuts. She argued that schools are facing a fiscal cliff, that vulnerable students would be hit hardest by funding losses, and that the Fair Share revenue should be used to preserve services and support students’ needs.

Transcript Highlights:

• Potassium is a key element in crop fertilizers and is typically supplied by purchasing potash, which
• With that award, we were able to purchase a no-till drill and immediately began experimenting with and
• Thanks to this program, our producers have been able to purchase no-till drills, no-till planters, air
• Once producers purchase equipment to implement these practices, it signals to the rest of the...
• </c> practices once producers purchase practices once producers purchase equipment<01:10:25.640><c> to

Committee: Senate Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><04:33:12.000><c> boards</c> school board from ever school boards school board from ever school boards
• </c><05:15:57.840><c> and</c> school to go to a private school and school to go to a private school and
• for</c> Public Schools our schools are for Public Schools our schools are for educating educating educating
• school?
• at school.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee opened with House Bill 184, which would create a committee to study changing school start times. Members discussed Amendment 0394, which made the study committee’s duties more investigative and adjusted reporting recipients, including the Governor. Several members raised questions about whether the committee should review evidence-based studies, local district decisions, and existing district reports; supporters said the amendment would better allow the committee to gather information and recognize local control. The amendment passed 17-0, and the bill as amended also passed 17-0. Representative Litchfield noted that no one had testified in opposition and encouraged the future study committee to review an Oyster River School District report on school start times. The committee then took up House Bill 394, concerning cooperative school district budget committees and board member representatives. Amendment 0476 was adopted 17-0 after discussion that it clarified the bill’s language and reflected work with the School Boards Association. The committee then voted OTPA on the bill, which also passed 17-0. House Bill 738, requiring background checks for employees and volunteers at certain non-public schools or education service providers receiving public funds, was moved inexpedient to legislate. Supporters said the bill would create practical and legal problems for private citizens and homeschooling families, and the motion passed 15-2 with no minority report, placing the bill on consent. The committee next considered House Bill 235, which would amend the educator code of ethics and conduct to add responsibilities to parents. Supporters argued parents should be explicitly included in the code, while opponents said parents were already covered in existing ethics language and statute. The bill passed narrowly, 9-8. The committee then returned to House Bill 532 on alternate dispute resolution and individualized education plan team meeting facilitation. Amendment 0480H clarified that different rules would apply separately to neutral conference, mediation, and IEP facilitation; it passed 17-0, and the bill as amended also passed 17-0. Finally, the committee moved to House Bill 564, concerning adoption of school administrative unit budgets, and voted to retain the bill for further review because members said there was still confusion about how it would apply to single-district and multi-district SAUs.

Transcript Highlights:

• who are dying by suicide as a result of their interaction with these platforms, sex trafficking, purchasing
• platforms, sexion,<00:08:16.800><c> sex</c><00:08:17.039><c> trafficking,</c><00:08:17.759><c> purchasing
• </c> sexion, sex trafficking, purchasing sexion, sex trafficking, purchasing illegal<00:08:18.800><c>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The proposed substitute also clarifies when the deferrals may apply to purchases made after initiation
• not include the authority to make residential mortgage loans directly to natural persons for the purchase
• The proposed sub also clarifies when the deferrals may be, may apply to purchases made after initiation
• not include the authority to make residential mortgage loans directly to natural persons for the purchase

Summary: The committee heard public testimony on several housing-related bills. On SB 6054, Senator Hunt’s bill to prohibit common-interest community rules from blocking wildfire home-hardening materials, staff explained that HOA and condominium governing documents could still impose reasonable aesthetic rules, but not ones that make fire-resistant materials infeasible or more than 10% costlier. The sponsor described the bill as a response to HOA requirements for less fire-resistant roofs. Testifiers generally supported the goal but objected to the 10% cost cap, saying it could limit community-specific design choices and create unintended conflicts with aesthetic standards. The committee also heard SB 601 on scissor stairs in the building code. The sponsor and supporters from Futurewise, architects, and housing advocates said scissor stairs could make mid-rise and high-rise housing more efficient, reduce corridor space, and improve unit layouts without sacrificing life safety. They noted the design is used in places like Vancouver, B.C. and in some Washington venues, and argued the bill would help lower costs and increase housing supply. No opposition was presented during the hearing. For SB 6015 on permit-ready residential plans, staff said L&I would create a process for publishing approved plans for factory-built housing and certain small residential types, with local governments required to approve applications using those plans on qualifying lots starting in 2027. Supporters from builders, architects, Habitat for Humanity, and Sightline said statewide standard plans could reduce duplication, speed permitting, and help scale factory-built and potentially site-built housing. Counties and L&I were supportive in concept but raised concerns about mandating local adoption of model ordinances and about whether the bill should include site-built plans as well. The committee also heard SB 5470 on detached ADUs outside urban growth areas, with supporters saying it would help rural homeowners and intergenerational living, while Futurewise opposed the bill as written and sought tighter density, lot-size, and metering limits. Finally, the committee heard SB 5729, a permit-streamlining bill that would deem completeness for applications prepared by licensed professionals and limit local governments to three review cycles. Builders and business groups supported it as a way to reduce delays and costs, while counties, cities, and Futurewise argued it could lead to more denials, less communication, and unintended liability concerns. In executive session, the committee adopted the proposed substitute for SB 5884 and moved it forward with a do-pass recommendation to Ways and Means.

Transcript Highlights:

• excellent mechanism for getting clean energy to lower-income members of our community, either by direct purchase
• 00:19:52.720><c> either</c><00:19:53.039><c> by</c><00:19:53.280><c> direct</c><00:19:53.640><c> purchase
• </c><00:19:54.240><c> or</c> community either by direct purchase or community either by direct purchase

Committee: Senate Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The joint committees heard testimony on several energy- and environment-related measures. HB 242 HD1 on electric vehicle batteries drew support from the Department of Health, the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office, SERFCO, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation; the Energy Office suggested a broader working group covering all lithium-ion batteries, and members later adopted amendments including a date change and revised timing language. HB 751 HD2 on statewide organic waste reduction and diversion received mixed testimony, with the Department of Health opposing it over concerns about compostable food packaging and incomplete testing data; the committee nonetheless moved the bill forward with amendments removing compostable food packaging from the definition of organic waste and changing the effective date to July 1, 2050. The committees also considered HB 1020 HD1 on a statewide program to characterize carbon sequestration potential and underground water resources. The Hawaiʻi State Energy Office and Ulupono supported the measure as part of a broader geothermal and energy security effort, while members raised concerns about overlapping roles between agencies and the need for a single coordinated voice. The committee ultimately amended the bill to place DBEDT in charge, with technical changes, and passed it. In a separate portion of the hearing, HB 350 HD2 on energy was heard with support from the State Energy Office, industry, and advocacy groups; opponents argued the existing solar water heater law is working and that variances already allow flexibility. The committee passed HB 350 unamended. Later, the committee heard HB 977 HD1 on energy financing, HB 1017 HD1 on the greenhouse gas sequestration task force, HB 1051 HD1 on energy efficiency portfolio standards, and HB 1406 HD1 on government procedures. HB 977 received support from the Public Utilities Commission, DCCA, and others and was advanced with technical, non-substantive amendments. HB 1017, which would repeal the greenhouse gas sequestration task force, and HB 1051, which sets energy efficiency benchmarks, were both passed unamended. HB 1406, a task force bill aimed at improving permitting and regulatory processes, was amended to add a Senate representative, include the State Energy Office, make the bill effective on approval, and note prior funding requests in the committee report; it was then adopted. Votes were recorded on each measure, with some members excused and HB 751 drawing one no vote from Senator Rhoads.