Transcript Highlights:

• This language also directs the CEC and the PUC to work together toward transitioning existing electrical
• and fairly well-subscribed, and could be better subscribed if we had more funding and went that direction
• We need to be moving in the direction of removing those costs so that we can lower rates.
• As a result of having that, that seems like a suggestion that merits our careful consideration by the
• As a result of having that, that seems like a suggestion that merits our careful consideration by the

Summary: The committee first heard Issue 1 on trailer bill language to redirect funding for emergency demand-response programs. The Department of Finance proposed using about $26.9 million in General Fund originally set aside for the Distributed Energy Backup Assets program to bolster the Demand-Side Grid Support Program for summer 2026, and using about $70 million in CalCHAP interest to support ratepayer-funded demand response in summers 2027 and 2028. The CEC and CPUC said they are working on a transition from DSGS to ELRP or a successor program, while the LAO noted the General Fund money would otherwise revert to savings. Members pressed the administration on whether demand response remains important, whether DSGS has been successful, and whether the state should keep funding it through the CEC rather than shifting to a ratepayer-funded CPUC program. The CEC and CPUC said the programs are not directly comparable, emphasized different cost structures and enrollment metrics, and said a CPUC rulemaking is underway with a proposed decision expected in Q3 2026. No vote was taken in the transcript. The committee then took up Issue 2, a budget proposal tied to SB 254 and the new transmission accelerator. GoBiz and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank described a five-year, roughly $26 million request to staff and administer the accelerator and manage Proposition 4 and AB 1207 funds for transmission financing. Members asked about state liability, ownership of financed lines, FERC revenue requirements, and whether the program would help underserved regions and offshore wind development. Staff explained that the accelerator would only consider projects already identified through CAISO’s competitive transmission planning process, and that state financing would be a small portion of large projects intended to lower overall costs to ratepayers. The LAO said it had no specific concerns but urged the Legislature to ensure the final language matches its intent. The committee also heard Issue 3 on petroleum market oversight. The CEC and its Division of Petroleum Market Oversight requested additional positions and funding to implement ABX2-1 and continue work on supply stabilization, refinery monitoring, and transportation fuels analysis. Members questioned why the work was funded through the Energy Resources Programs Account, whether existing staff from the paused price-gouging work could be reassigned, and whether the program had produced evidence of price gouging or improved supply conditions. CEC and Finance said the new positions are needed because the workload has expanded, while some existing staff remain on related analysis and reporting duties. The discussion ended without a vote in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our LCAP and compliance coaches do not direct or oversee that work.
• Not that they don't care about education, but sometimes in education we have acronyms.
• Parents care about what's happening at their school site.
• What do we care about most in this system?
• The Office for Civil Rights, they don't care if you're a 700-district or a 700,000-district.

Summary: The joint hearing focused on coherence in California’s education planning and reporting systems, especially the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and related grant plans. Committee chairs and members described widespread frustration with duplicative, lengthy, and sometimes conflicting reporting requirements, while emphasizing that the goal was not to reduce accountability but to make planning more useful, stable, and student-centered. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond also previewed the Governor’s education budget priorities, including expanded learning, community schools, universal transitional kindergarten, literacy supports, and concerns about the proposed Prop. 98 deferral. Panelists from the State Board of Education, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office said the LCAP was intended to balance local flexibility with statewide transparency, but has become overloaded by repeated revisions and additional requirements. They argued for fewer core reporting elements, more stability over time, better alignment of planning cycles, and integrated systems that reduce duplication. Fresno County staff described a multi-year calendar and support tools that help districts manage timelines, but said these tools only ease the burden rather than solve the underlying problem. The LAO noted that some newer plans, such as expanded learning and transportation plans, are narrative-heavy and often less informative than separate reporting requirements. Local district leaders and county officials described the practical effects of the current system: staff time diverted from instruction, multiple portals and forms, audit risk aversion, and planning documents that can exceed 100 pages. Several superintendents said coherent systems work best when districts have clear priorities, stable governance, and aligned budgets, and when state requirements are predictable and tied to outcomes like literacy, attendance, and student achievement. The California Federation of Teachers added that coherence also depends on meaningful collaboration with educators, classified staff, parents, and communities. Committee members repeatedly asked whether the state should streamline reporting, create a uniform portal, or develop a more unified grant-reporting structure, and Thurmond said the department was piloting a simplified common form and was willing to work with the Legislature and districts on broader solutions.

Transcript Highlights:

• providers develop nutrition care plans for the medically tailored meals.
• , then we have to treat food like it is health care.
• My mother had a health care worker who prepared the meals from her SNAP benefits.
• And when you think you've gotten one thing taken care of, you know...
• Ryan White, so federal funding through HHS, and work with other health care partners as well.

Bills: SB5966

Committee: Senate Human Services

Keywords: healthcare, nutrition, medically tailored meals, dietary support, food security, chronic illness, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and gender-affirming care, putting money into care for seniors and dental care, and Covered California
• is going to get health care.
• Care is going to get health care.
• I represent the more than 250,000 child care providers and home care workers.
• I represent the more than 250,000 child care providers and home care workers.

Committee: House Budget

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:56:53.839><c> Yes,</c> to take care of that right now? Yes, to take care of that right now?
• This has no general fund direct impact.
• </c> combating those things and taking care combating those things and taking care of<01:33:55.920><c
• </c><01:47:10.000><c> care,</c><01:47:10.400><c> and</c> husbandry, veterary care, and husbandry, veterary
• Hecker Parkinson Zoo standards of care.

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

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Government does not restrict access to care.
• I think that's a step in the... right direction.
• Thankfully, his brother was with him to take care of him.
• We have the regulations in place. place to take care of this problem.
• This product helps someone that I deeply love and care for.

Bills: SB3 , SB810 , SB965 , SB1073 , SB1119 , SB1505 , SB 3

Committee: Senate State Affairs

Keywords: Texas Education Code, public schools, school district, open-enrollment charter school, teacher speech, employee speech, biological sex, pronouns, gender identity, retaliation, discipline, workplace protections, school personnel, education policy, LGBTQ, transgender, charter schools, SB 965, religious speech, prayer

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> administration um the law also directed administration um the law also directed the<00:14:18.040
• </c> focused on specifically long-term care focused on specifically long-term care facilities<00:29:57.320
• </c> call the human the healthc care call the human the healthc care administration<00:30:45.559><c>
• </c> people were properly and safely cared people were properly and safely cared for<00:57:36.039><c>
• </c> uh the appeal of Trinity of home care uh the appeal of Trinity of home care services<01:47:13.760

Committee: Senate Human Services

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• past president and current member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care
• is the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals, the Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care
• learn that that's over 18,000 men and women employed in the marine trades, generating $5 billion in direct
• They care, they see, they do.
• It directs municipal and state public agencies that control property to establish mooring and boating

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources opened its first hearing with introductory remarks, instructions on three-minute testimony limits, and notice that written testimony would be accepted. The committee then heard testimony on several local bills, beginning with H. 984, which would change water management for Silver Lake, Furnace Pond, Monponset Pond, and the Jones River system. Supporters said the 1964 water arrangement has harmed water levels, water quality, and habitat, and argued the bill would add needed environmental oversight without cutting Brockton off from water. Testimony emphasized impacts on alewife, freshwater mussels, drought conditions, and the need for more balanced management; no vote was taken during the hearing. The committee also heard H. 1069, a proposal to raise the parking surcharge at Douglas State Forest from $1 to $5 to help Douglas cover emergency response costs at the DCR park. Supporters said the town bears the burden for rescues, brush fires, and other incidents and has used the current surcharge for equipment like drones and ATVs. Another bill, H. 994, would let Orleans regulate fertilizer use locally; the town argued that nutrient pollution has worsened water quality in Cape Cod ponds and coastal waters, while opponents from the lawn care and landscape industries said Massachusetts already has a strong statewide nutrient-management system and warned against a patchwork of local rules. The committee also took testimony on H. 1073 concerning wastewater treatment and disposal options at Joint Base Cape Cod for the town of Sandwich. Supporters said the base could help meet Sandwich’s immediate and long-term wastewater needs and that the region has already invested in planning. In addition, Senator Driscoll testified in support of S. 575, to add transparency to the Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund, and S. 574, to establish memorial markers honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. He also supported related park-naming legislation, including a bill to rename Farragut Park and dedicate athletic fields there. Finally, a marine trades representative supported a bill to expand pleasure boat access to Boston Harbor, arguing that boating supports the local economy and that boaters are strong environmental stewards. The hearing concluded after all registered testimony was heard, with no committee action reported.

Transcript Highlights:

• It closes dangerous gaps in our system and protects those kids that are in our care and custody and our
• help prevent abuse and ensure that only qualified, compassionate individuals are entrusted with the care
• But like I said, we've got to do something to change the direction these kids are going.
• But if we continue to let these kids not come to school or whatever, I don't care if we took the fines
• I don't care if the fines are, they can be $1. The fines the deal.

Committee: House S/C on Juvenile Justice

Transcript Highlights:

• of some things, but then it take care of some things, but then it would<00:12:47.360><c> give</c><00
• And so having discussions of moving in that direction is something that the board will be doing.
• And so having discussions of moving in that direction is something that the board will be doing.
• And so having discussions of moving in that direction is something that the board will be doing.
• Cosmetology, nails, and esthetician within the current trend direction that we're going.

Committee: Joint Appropriations

Keywords: Appropriations - Room 216, 5 February, 2026; 8:30 AM, 925, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Senator Devers, do you care to vote? Senator... Senator Bergstrom.
• Senator Devers, you care to vote. Senator Brooks, Bullard, Weaver.
• Senator Rosino, you care to vote. Senator Hines, you care to vote.
• Senator Rosino, you care to vote. Senator Hines, you care to vote.
• Senator Jett, you care to vote.

Bills: HB4248 , HB4429 , HB2588 , HB3472 , HB4317 , HB3462 , HB2035 , HB3501 , HB3127 , HB3143 , HB3144 , HB3260 , HB4321 , HB3011 , HB3522 , HB3530 , HB3940 , HB3078 , HB3043 , HB3005 , HB3007 , HB3403 , HB1907 , HB3175 , HB3986 , HB3466 , HB3411 , HB4246 , SJR49 , HB3281 , HB4319 , HJR1086 , HJR1024 , HJR1087

Keywords: HB4248, hemp beverage, hemp drinks, THC beverage, cannabis beverage, intoxicating hemp, age restriction, under 21, minor possession, youth access, public health and safety, Title 63, Oklahoma Statutes, retail sales, alcohol-style regulation, controlled substances, beverage regulation, proxy advisory services, shareholder rights, financial transparency

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, prayer, and several introductions recognizing the Doctor and Nurse of the Day, visiting school groups, and other guests in the galleries. Members also heard a personal privilege statement from Senator Peterson marking the 100th anniversary of his father’s immigration to the United States, followed by a reception announcement in the lounge. The chamber then took up H.J.R. 1024, a proposed constitutional amendment revising the Judicial Nominating Commission by removing political affiliation restrictions, changing term rules, and allowing consecutive service. An amendment was adopted to move the special election date to August 25, 2026, but the special-election provision later failed on a 27-17 vote. After extended debate over judicial independence, transparency, and political influence, the resolution itself passed 35-8. The Senate next considered H.J.R. 1087, which would place before voters a constitutional amendment on the five-year ad valorem tax exemption for qualified manufacturing facilities and allow the Legislature to set reimbursement levels for local entities. Supporters said it would give the state more control over costly reimbursements; the measure passed 38-7, and the special-election provision also passed 38-7. The Senate then laid over two agenda items, made committee and event announcements, and adjourned until Monday, April 13 at 1:30 p.m.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:10:02.240><c> needs</c> process where um the health care needs process where um the health care
• </c> future of, uh, healthc care future of, uh, healthc care infrastructure<00:24:14.880><c> wherever
• </c> linked back to the lack of primary care linked back to the lack of primary care physicians<00:27
• </c> looking at how to keep the care local. looking at how to keep the care local.
• </c> our cost of care more affordable. our cost of care more affordable.

Keywords: Meeting Start 00:00:00 Attendance Roll Call 00:00:20 CRISP Shared Services 00:01:39 Rural Health Transformation Plan 00:30:55, 958, all

Summary: The Budget Review Subcommittee on Health and Family Services opened its first meeting of the 2026 interim session, took roll, and moved directly into presentations. The main presentation was from Ryan Bramble of Crisp Shared Services, who described the organization’s health information exchange and health data utility model in Kentucky and other states. He emphasized that Crisp is a nonprofit, that data ownership remains with providers, and that governance is local. He also outlined the technical infrastructure, including a master patient index, cloud-based data lake, support for modern standards like FHIR and USCDI as well as older formats, and data quality tools used to normalize and standardize information. Bramble said the model is intended to reduce duplication, lower costs, and support rural providers and future use cases such as reporting, analytics, and AI-enabled decision support. Members asked how the state can ensure the data is actually used and who should drive priorities for health care improvement. Bramble said Crisp can provide tools, expertise, and examples from other states, but local teams such as KHI and state stakeholders must tailor and lead utilization efforts. In response to questions about ownership and coordination, he stressed that successful HIE governance requires a multistakeholder body that includes hospitals, health plans, government, and other interests, with a unified approach rather than multiple competing directives. He also said the Commonwealth has an opportunity to convene those stakeholders and set clear priorities. A senator raised concerns that responsibility for Medicaid and broader health policy has become fragmented and suggested a stronger central role for the state, possibly through the Department of Public Health, to coordinate health priorities. Bramble agreed that a single convening authority and multistakeholder governance are important, and noted that local governance should determine what data is shared and how it is used. No votes or formal actions were taken during this portion of the meeting. After Bramble’s presentation and questions, the committee was told that Secretary Stack from the cabinet would testify next on the rural health transformation plan.

Transcript Highlights:

• We're slowly moving in that direction.
• We'll still offer the baton direction.
• </c> were responsible for uh taken care of. were responsible for uh taken care of.
• It was really kind of working in the opposite direction.
• I appreciate very opposite direction.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee opened by approving the September 5, 2025 minutes, with one member asking that future minutes use honorifics such as Mr. or Ms. The agenda was then adjusted so Police Standards and Training could present first. Director John Skipa reported on the 2019 performance audit, saying 12 of 16 findings were fully resolved and the remaining items were substantially or partially resolved. He highlighted work on a job task analysis to update curriculum and develop a more realistic physical aptitude test, including possible replacement of the long-used Cooper test and a shift away from mandatory baton training toward electronic weapons training. He said stakeholder work groups would meet in October and November, with a goal of completing the work by the first quarter of 2026. On the strategic planning and performance measurement finding, Skipa said the agency had relied on the 2019 audit and the LEAC report as guides while also implementing a digital records system. He acknowledged that a formal forward-looking strategic plan with the council had not yet been completed, but said he and the council chair wanted to do so, possibly through a retreat-style planning session. Members asked how many LEAC recommendations had been fully implemented; Skipa said he did not know the exact number but believed nearly all of the 22 items assigned to his agency were complete. On the administrative rules finding, he said a part-time former director had been brought back to help revise outdated rules, the council subcommittee had finished its work, and proposed changes would be sent to the full council, then to stakeholders and the public, with a public hearing expected and implementation targeted for 2026. For the Corrections Advisory Committee finding, Skipa said the committee had been reconvened in 2020 and 2021 but had limited usefulness because the statutorily named members were mostly high-level administrators rather than line supervisors or newer corrections staff. He said some positions later went unfilled because of budget and staffing issues, and the committee had not been called back, but he was open to either informal adjustments or possible legislative changes to make the committee more useful. Committee members suggested that the statute may need to be amended to allow more appropriate designees or supervisors to participate. After Police Standards and Training concluded, the committee moved on to the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, where the executive director said he would focus on the partially resolved items in the dental examiner audit and the National Path audit, noting that many changes were tied to recent statutory revisions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Mental health care should be individualized, confidential, and evidence-based, Mental health care should
• Please continue and please be careful.
• bill is a direct affront to that.
• So just trying to do the right thing here for health care and access to health care.
• I don't care if he doesn't listen to us. I don't care.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• of the properties and take extra care of the properties and take extra<00:52:56.079><c> care</c><00:
• To be honest, most of them don't care. I'm not saying people don't.
• To be honest, most of them don't care. I'm not saying people don't.
• This isn't just offensive; it's a direct admission of their profit strategy.
• This isn't just offensive; it's a direct admission of their profit strategy.

Committee: Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Is that something that will take care of it? Uh, Mr.
• </c><00:28:07.440><c> distribution</c> like how large the direct distribution like how large the direct
• </c> about 10% of our revenue from direct about 10% of our revenue from direct distribution.<00:28:37.240
• </c> under discussion as well as a direct under discussion as well as a direct distribution<00:32:26.280
• And the direct over the last few years.

Bills: SF0052

Committee: Senate Appropriations

Keywords: wildlife management, environmental restoration, funding, invasive species, aquatic ecosystems, native fish, habitat conservation, 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 4577 directs the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to enter into reciprocal agreements with the
• And so I guess my question would be: it sounds like you think that's going to be taken care of based
• .happened in care situations where somebody's caring for their grandmother.
• And I hope that that brings some measure of comfort and relief, that this legislature cares.
• or medical forensic care related to a sexual offense.

Keywords: 994, senate, all

Summary: The Senate considered and passed a series of House bills on third reading, with several title amendments and a few effective-date motions adopted. Early in the session, members passed HB 4452 removing acreage limits on land owned by church or religious trustees, HB 4577 creating reciprocal driver’s license recognition agreements with Ireland and Japan, HB 4588 authorizing West Virginia participation in a federal tax credit scholarship program, and HB 4592 requiring higher education institutions to create coordinated campus safety maps. HB 4602 was amended to align with a prior Senate child welfare pilot program, and members discussed its projected cost and implementation timeline before passing it. HB 4603 created a pre-adjudicatory alternative disposition process in abuse and neglect cases, and HB 4606 narrowed bail rules by requiring consideration of residency and community ties while prohibiting personal recognizance bonds for violent felony offenses after an adopted amendment. The Senate also passed HB 4710 changing the party-registration deadline for candidates from 60 to 180 days before an election, with debate over its impact on independents, and made it effective January 1, 2027. HB 4712, known as Bailey’s Law, increased penalties for DUI causing death and related conduct, with emotional testimony from members about the victim and similar tragedies. HB 4765 established a pay raise for teachers, school personnel, and state police and added a market-pay enhancement system based on county cost-of-living differences; an amendment to the amendment capped county differentials and guaranteed at least a 1% increase in every county. HB 4865 created an optional program for high school and homeschool students to serve as election official trainees, and HB 4869 established narrow guaranteed-issue rights for Medicare supplement policies. Later bills included HB 4995, which strengthened video/audio recording rules in special education classrooms and was passed, then reconsidered and passed again; HB 4996 creating a new crime for making threats of violence against schools or children; HB 5048 guaranteeing virtual instruction for foster children in temporary placement; HB 5065 adding recordkeeping and geolocation requirements for hotel marketplace facilitators to ensure proper hotel tax remittance; and HB 5074 reallocating medical cannabis fund revenues to child protection, homeless services, research, law enforcement, and other purposes. The Senate also passed HB 5101, the Joanna Phillips Domestic Violence Prevention Act, which increased penalties for domestic violence offenses and adjusted bail provisions, after amending it to conform with the earlier bail bill. Additional measures passed included HB 5166 requiring notice before political committees are fined for filing violations and allowing limited extensions, HB 5168 directing $12 million in lottery funds to EMS first responders and county EMS support, HB 5182 authorizing certain state treasurer security personnel to carry concealed firearms, HB 5212 streamlining higher-education financial aid rules, HB 5214 allowing court-ordered drug testing of parents before reunification in abuse and neglect cases, HB 5353 regulating virtual currency kiosks with licensing, disclosures, and transaction limits, and HB 5366 exempting J-LAP records from FOIA to protect confidentiality for lawyers and judges seeking assistance. Most bills passed with strong bipartisan support, though HB 5074 and HB 5353 drew some dissenting votes.

Transcript Highlights:

• I know how much you care about your constituents. I just have five questions.
• I believe that that's a direct result of how this district has been gerrymandered.
• I'm here because I care deeply about the future of my community.
• And that's a direct quote. And that is not democracy; that is plain corruption.
• Please focus on taking care of Texans. not on new ways to disenfranchise them.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In foster care and then out of foster care, limited systems, and they needed the vouchers.
• They can't sign up for foster care. They can't sign up for extended foster care.
• Although unspent child care dollars and delay in moving funds are challenges Although unspent child care
• Our role is simple: helping families access care so parents can work because quality child care impacts
• AB 2230 delivers that by giving child care programs, from small family child care homes to large centers

Summary: The committee heard testimony on AB 262, which would direct the new California Housing and Homelessness Agency to study the needs of pregnant people experiencing homelessness and evaluate a voluntary “Pink Alert” notification system. Supporters, including the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and a mutual-aid volunteer, said the bill would help identify gaps in housing and prenatal services for a highly vulnerable population. Members generally supported the study concept, though one senator cautioned that the “Pink Alert” name could imply a missing-person alert. The bill was moved to Appropriations on a 3-0 vote and placed on call. Members then heard AB 673, creating the Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program for 16- and 17-year-old homeless students not in a parent or guardian’s custody. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and advocates said the bill would help connect youth to housing, basic needs, tutoring, employment readiness, and mental health services, while opponents raised concerns about duplication with existing school and county services and staffing shortages. The author and supporters argued the program would fill gaps for youth who often fall through existing systems. The bill passed to Appropriations on a 3-0 vote and was held on call. The committee also approved AB 1575, which updates the Lanterman Act to replace the term “consumer” with person-first language for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and AB 2510, which would expand CalWORKs family reunification aid so families do not lose support when only some children are removed from the home. AB 1688, requiring broader notice when abuse or neglect is alleged in foster placements so attorneys for other children in the placement can check on their safety, also passed to Appropriations. AB 2304, “Gabriel’s Law,” requiring a child in immediate medical need to be seen by a medical professional and clarifying penalties for falsifying child welfare records, passed to Public Safety after testimony from the author, Gabriel Fernandez’s aunt, prosecutors, and a dependency lawyer who opposed parts of the penalty language. The committee then heard AB 1746 on faster county processing of CalWORKs child care requests, with support from the author, advocates, and county welfare directors who said they were still working on amendments; it was moved to Appropriations and held on call.

Transcript Highlights:

• Senate Joint Resolution 54 should pass, a joint resolution directing the Department for Libraries and
• </c> going in the direction of your vision. going in the direction of your vision.
• </c> life-saving cardiovascular care. life-saving cardiovascular care.
• mark on health care in Western Kentucky.
• </c> but a lifetime spent caring for others. but a lifetime spent caring for others.

Keywords: 958, all