Video & Transcript : 'child welfare' :

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HI

Hawaii 2026 Regular Session

WLA Public Hearing 02-04-2026

Water, Land, Culture and the Arts

Summary: The committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 2603, which would designate the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the state orchestra of Hawaii. Testimony was uniformly supportive from the Attorney General’s office, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Hawaii Youth Symphony, the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association, and others. Supporters emphasized the bill’s value to arts education, cultural vitality, and the visitor economy. The chair noted there were also many written testimonies submitted, and the bill was left without questions or action in the excerpt. The committee then took up Senate Bill 2083, which would create a state-owned historic properties preservation plan working group within DNR. The State Historic Preservation Division supported the bill and said it would help create a statewide database and better planning for state-owned historic properties, while noting its current review work is reactive and project-by-project. The committee asked about duplication and existing consultation processes; SHPD said it already reviews state projects under existing law and has in-house architectural staff. The measure was then set aside after brief discussion, with no vote shown in the excerpt. Next was Senate Bill 2341, which would authorize phased review of certain private-property projects and change SHPD’s review deadlines. SHPD and the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development supported the bill, saying it could encourage more proactive, programmatic review and that the current average review time for simple projects is about 56 days. Several opponents, including Sierra Club of Hawaii, Bianca Isaki, Malama Kane Lua, and Tara Roas, argued phased review would delay projects, create conflict, and weaken historic preservation protections, especially for iwi kūpuna and burial sites. Committee members raised concerns about whether the bill conflicted with prior court decisions and asked SHPD for its view; SHPD said it was not a legal question for them and suggested a programmatic alternative. The bill was not voted on in the excerpt. Finally, the committee began hearing Senate Bill 2306 on administrative fees for the Bureau of Conveyances. HGEA opposed the measure, focusing on a provision allowing the special fund to be used for qualified contractors, while the Bureau of Conveyances supported the bill as a fee correction that would equalize recording fees between systems. The bureau said specialized technical work sometimes requires outside contracting and that it could consider a contract period; the chair and members discussed the HGEA concern and asked whether the issue could be addressed. No final action was shown in the excerpt.
WA
WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Health Care & Wellness Jan 14th, 2026 at 01:30 pm

Health Care & Wellness

Transcript Highlights:
  • On behalf of the Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County, one of the highest-intake animal welfare
  • background, the Washington State Veterinary Board of Governors is tasked with protecting the health and welfare
  • Not because they don't care, but because they have to catch a bus, go to work, pick up a child, or manage
Bills: HB1904 , HB2106 , HB2211 , HB2247 , HB2329 , HB2339
TX
Transcript Highlights:
  • Some bills around us, and the chair has passed some bills where if you work at a certain school, your child
  • If no child resides in the transfer territory and the taxable value of the territory does not exceed
  • made that move, A minor boundary adjustment, some of that land, even though it was minor and had no child
Committee: Senate Education
TX

Texas 89th Regular

89th Legislative Session May 26th, 2025

Texas House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • As many of you know, under current law, failure to report child abuse is.
  • School library catalogs and access by the parent's child to library materials.
  • A book about puberty helps a child whose parents won't talk to them.
  • No child has ever died from a book. But many, like me, have been saved by one.
  • This child is maybe 10 or 14 years old, like my son is back there.
Bills: SB6 , SB30 , SB13 , SB2878 , SB2501 , SB66 , SB268 , SB331 , SB618 , SB414 , SB1394 , SB2425 , SB898 , SB993 , SB442 , SB735 , SB784 , SB2538 , SB1919 , SB1013 , SB2215 , SB2322 , SB626 , SB570 , SB747 , SB2183 , SB673 , SB1015 , SB1447 , SB1370 , SB1784 , SB1897 , SB2873 , SB2891 , SB2933 , SB2540 , SB2681 , SB2695 , SB1965 , SB2203 , SB872 , SB875 , SB1030 , SB1277 , SB1730 , SB1681 , SB1152 , SB2969 , SB2747 , SB2705 , SB2541 , SB1708 , SB2080 , SB2721 , SB1986 , SB2392 , SB2539 , SB2857 , SB2799 , SB2785 , SB2782 , SB1531 , SB1927 , SB1263 , SB1098 , SB835 , SB3070 , SB22 , SJR27 , SB25 , SB7 , SB552 , SB1612 , SJR87 , SJR1 , SB6 , SB30 , SB13 , SB2878 , SB57 , SB127 , SB293 , SB441 , SB3059 , SB512 , SB241 , SB1718 , SB140 , SB2055 , SB2075 , SB2018 , SB1534 , SB1567 , SB785 , SB1233 , SB1580 , SB1663 , SB413 , SB447 , SB519 , SB467 , SB1579 , SB1191 , SB1021 , SB1838 , SB2807 , SB2835 , SB546 , SB2121 , SB2167 , SB2035 , SB2024 , SB1032 , SB1049 , SB1266 , SB1400 , SB1302 , SB401 , SB1596 , SB1281 , SB1242 , SB1343 , SB310 , SB1346 , SB2753 , SB2703 , SB2221 , SB1719 , SB2177 , SB800 , SB790 , SB748 , SB571 , SB1957 , SB1923 , SB1896 , SB1760 , SB1335 , SB2368 , SB2477 , SB2587 , SB2972 , SB2986 , SB2965 , SB1563 , SB1467 , SB1164 , SB1137 , SB614 , SB705 , SB961 , SB918 , SB955 , SB869 , SB850 , SB863 , SB1610 , SB1055 , SB2206 , SB457 , SB2337 , SB1362 , SB926 , SB1494 , SB251 , SB456 , SB500 , SB1307 , SB2615 , SB2995 , SB2321 , SB973 , SB974 , SB865 , SB506 , SB781 , SB1522 , SB1558 , SB510 , SB667 , SB763 , SB2073 , SB1858 , SB1660 , SB505 , SB2900 , SB1433 , SB1540 , SB1964 , SB1300 , SB1644 , SB2217 , SB2373 , SB2431 , SB1758 , SB2480 , SB3039 , SB3047 , SB3073 , SB2920 , SB2781 , SB826 , SB766 , SB2460 , SB527 , SB1946 , SB2885 , SB1243 , SB2610 , SB2595 , SB857 , SB2501 , SB66 , SB268 , SB331 , SB618 , SB414 , SB1394 , SB2425 , SB898 , SB993 , SB442 , SB735 , SB784 , SB2538 , SB1919 , SB1013 , SB2215 , SB2322 , SB626 , SB570 , SB747 , SB2183 , SB673 , SB1015 , SB1447 , SB1370 , SB1784 , SB1897 , SB2873 , SB2891 , SB2933 , SB2540 , SB2681 , SB2695 , SB1965 , SB2203 , SB872 , SB875 , SB1030 , SB1277 , SB1730 , SB1681 , SB1152 , SB2969 , SB2747 , SB2705 , SB2541 , SB1708 , SB2080 , SB2721 , SB1986 , SB2392 , SB2539 , SB2857 , SB2799 , SB2785 , SB2782 , SB1531 , SB1927 , SB1263 , SB1098 , SCR9 , HB5560 , HB762 , HB 107 , HB 114 , HB138 , HB4386 , HB2495 , HB581 , HB3348 , HB5323 , HB1584 , HB4341 , HB6 , HB171 , HB143 , HB449 , HB3486 , HB4263 , HB5246 , HB2 , HB2011 , SB17 , SB21
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee 4/15/26

Human Services Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • </c> each individual child. each individual child.
  • Is ITP programming and development a direct service with a child, or can it be billed without the child
  • </c> effective for the child. effective for the child.
  • </c> the child. the child.
  • </c> child get 40 hours a week of treatment. child get 40 hours a week of treatment.
Bills: HF4207 , HF4338
LA

Louisiana 2026 Regular Session

Commerce Apr 7th, 2026

Commerce

Transcript Highlights:
  • Yeah, I don't think it's going to be per child.
  • Let's say it was your child, and your child has been inundated for 45 days or 44 days.
  • So if my child or your child in this instance has been affected by that for 45 days and it's done that
  • from linking themselves to a child...
  • So they have to know when a child is 13 or under, when a child is 14 or 15, when a kid is 16 or over.
Bills: HB461 , HB467 , HB522 , HB565 , HB673 , HB799 , HB917 , HB937 , HB956 , HB977
Committee: House Commerce
AZ

Arizona 2026 Regular Session

03/25/2026 - Senate Education

Education

Transcript Highlights:
  • Every child has a chance. Isn't that what we want?
  • I take my child to an actual psychologist.
  • so that the entire school is safe and also that child.
  • Then the parent needs to work with their child, take responsibility for their child, to go get seen so
  • so that the entire school is safe and also that child and then the parent needs to work with their child
Committee: Senate Education
AZ

Arizona 2026 Regular Session

03/18/2026 - House Judiciary

Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • I also wonder about... ...kind of cases where parents commit a type of medical child abuse.
  • This could be regular police going after a murderer, a rapist, a child molester.
  • Child never goes away.
  • We had a child in the nursery that has sexually transmitted disease at four.
  • My father didn't tell us he was sexually abused as a child by his uncle until he was 71.
Committee: House Judiciary
OK

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

Technology and Telecommunications REVISED Feb 19th, 2026 at 10:00 am

Technology and Telecommunications

Transcript Highlights:
  • also talked with the gentleman whose nonprofit seeks to use the internet to protect children from child
  • predators, and he's done great work in trying to eliminate child predators from the online games Roblox
  • So if our minor child gets a hold of it and causes himself some type of harm, then obviously we're liable
  • racism, sexism, references to commit violence on someone else, references to self-harm, or enticing the child
Bills: SB1670 , SB1716 , SB1521
OK

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

Technology and Telecommunications REVISED Feb 19th, 2026

Technology and Telecommunications

Transcript Highlights:
  • also talked with the gentleman whose nonprofit seeks to use the internet to protect children from child
  • predators, and he's done great work. ...seeks to use the internet to protect children from child predators
  • , and he's done great work in trying to eliminate child predators from the online games Roblox and Minecraft
  • So if our minor child gets a hold of it and causes himself some type of harm, then obviously we're liable
  • racism, sexism, references to commit violence on someone else, references to self-harm, or enticing the child
Bills: SB1670 , SB1716 , SB1521
Summary: The Senate Technology and Telecommunications Committee considered three Senate bills. SB 1670, by Senator Reinhart, would require the State Regents to update Oklahoma university technology transfer guidance, create a tiered ownership framework, and revisit the guidance every seven years. Members questioned the seven-year review period, the scope of terms like aerospace and autonomous technologies, and how broadly the new tiered system would apply. The bill was presented as a way to modernize an outdated 1989 framework and help turn university research into companies, jobs, and economic impact. It passed 8-0. SB 1716, by Senator Howard, amended the Security Breach Notification Act to replace references to a “cybersecurity event” with “breach of the security of a system” and to clarify that there is no private right of action for ordinary negligence when a business reports breaches to the Attorney General. Howard explained that the Attorney General would retain exclusive enforcement authority for reasonable-standards violations, while private lawsuits would remain available only for more egregious conduct such as willful, wanton conduct or gross negligence. Members asked about the negligence standard, HIPAA-related breaches, and staffing needs for the Attorney General’s office. The amendment was adopted, and the bill passed 8-0. SB 1521, by Senator Hamilton, would prohibit minors from accessing artificial intelligence companions and set age-verification and re-verification requirements, including use of government-issued identification and periodic re-verification. Hamilton said the bill was aimed at protecting children from harmful interactions with AI companions and was narrowly drafted to avoid sweeping in other AI tools like customer-service bots. Members raised concerns about the reasonableness and consistency of age verification, account creation requirements, and how the bill would interact with existing statutes on sexually explicit conduct. The chair spoke in support of the measure, and the bill passed 8-0. The committee then adjourned.
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

House - Judiciary Feb 14th, 2026 at 09:36 am

House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • Any child who sees a black and white package will know exactly what it is.
  • Where a child took cannabis to school and was giving that out.
  • So some of these, you can look at them and you say, is this appealing to a child?
  • Are these, the one the first one, the s'mores, is it appealing to a child?
  • I am a child of a single mother who has taken on the responsibility of raising us.
Bills: HB294 , SB40 , SB43 , SB35
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

House - Judiciary Feb 6th, 2026

House Judiciary

Bills: HB99 , HB49 , HB164 , SB30 , SB43 , SB50 , SB136
Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 99, which would make changes to the Medical Malpractice Act, especially around punitive damages. The chair and sponsor said the bill would not be voted on that day and that public comment would wait until Monday, when a fuller presentation and any recommended substitute would be considered. Dr. Brooke Baker, a physician-lawyer, gave a long presentation on physician wellness, malpractice stress, and the effect of litigation on staffing and burnout, while also discussing hospital ownership structures, private equity, and rural hospital vulnerability. She argued that punitive damages are often pled too broadly in New Mexico, that the amendment language was unclear about which entities would be capped, and that better oversight and internal quality systems—not punitive damages—are the better tools for addressing bad actors and unsafe care. Committee members from both sides asked extensive questions about the patient compensation fund, indemnification, corporate structures, the effect of caps on insurance and recruitment, and whether the bill would protect physicians’ personal assets. No vote was taken on HB 99, and the committee recessed before moving to the next bill. The committee then returned to House Bill 49, a public safety measure increasing penalties for felons who possess firearms. The sponsors and law enforcement witnesses said the bill is aimed narrowly at serious violent felons who are already prohibited from having guns, and that it would align state sentencing with federal law and give police and prosecutors a stronger tool against repeat violent offenders. An amendment was offered to narrow the bill further, add destructive devices, and make the offense a second-degree felony rather than escalating to first degree on repeat offenses. The amendment was adopted without opposition. Public testimony on HB 49 was largely opposed. The Law Office of the Public Defender argued the bill criminalizes possession without a new act of violence, that current law already punishes felon-in-possession conduct, and that New Mexico has repeatedly increased penalties without evidence of reduced gun crime. The ACLU of New Mexico also opposed the bill, saying increased penalties are not a proven deterrent. The transcript cuts off as additional online opposition testimony was beginning.
NM

New Mexico 2026 Regular Session

Senate - Judiciary Feb 6th, 2026

House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:
  • at the years where these things were put in place: domestic abuse in 2002, the one I did ensuring child
  • safety upon arrest in 2007, child abuse incident training in 2011, you know, the missing person...
  • issues that I'm seeing now, which it seems like you're eliminating these short refresher courses on child
  • and domestic abuse. ...short refresher courses on child and domestic abuse, missing persons, trauma
Bills: HB99 , HB49 , HB164 , SB30 , SB43 , SB50 , SB136
Summary: Senate Judiciary began by announcing that Senate Bill 136 would be rolled over because the sponsor was unavailable. The chair then addressed criticism from the floor over how a prior bill had been handled, defending the committee’s practice of using committee substitutes and amendments without waiting for a new version from council, and emphasizing his authority to set hard stops and limit debate when he believes discussion is repetitive or dilatory. Several members responded, with some supporting the chair’s approach and others arguing that contentious bills deserve more time and fuller committee vetting. The committee then heard Senate Bill 30, which would repeal New Mexico’s requirement that induced abortions be reported to the state registrar. The sponsors argued the reporting law is outdated, unnecessary for public health, and potentially dangerous because provider information can be disclosed under broader vital statistics statutes; supporters from the ACLU, League of Women Voters, Bold Futures, and NOW echoed privacy and safety concerns. Opponents argued the reporting requirement provides transparency and public health data. After debate, the committee approved SB 30 on a roll call vote. Next, the committee heard Senate Bill 43, a bipartisan measure to modernize the Adult Parole Board statute after a prior veto. The bill would update parole factors for life-sentenced inmates, authorize per diem and closed hearings, and prevent parole hearings from being scheduled on victims’ birth or death dates. It received support from corrections officials and victims’ advocates, and the committee passed it without objection. The final major item was Senate Bill 50, which would remove several statutory in-service training mandates for law enforcement and give the Standards and Training Council more flexibility to set curriculum. Supporters said the current requirements are outdated and too rigid; opponents warned the bill could weaken recurring training in domestic violence, sexual assault, crisis intervention, and other high-risk areas. A motion to table failed, and the committee ultimately passed SB 50 on a roll call vote, despite divided member views.
FL

Florida 2026 Regular Session

Ethics and Elections Jan 13th, 2026

Ethics and Elections

Transcript Highlights:
  • A foster child is part of the family.
  • A foster mom or dad loves that child as much as their own child, and that is a relative.
  • Thank you for allowing me to present Senate Bill 414, use of campaign funds for campaign-related child
  • We forget the single parent who wants to run but cannot afford child care.
  • They know child care is a part of their reality, and they are giving to them because they want them to
Bills: S0564 , S0572 , S0414 , S0620 , S0500 , S0092
Summary: The committee met with a quorum and considered several election- and ethics-related bills. Senate Bill 572 by Senator Harrell, which would update ethics statutes so the definition of “relative” includes foster parents and foster children, received supportive testimony from the Commission on Ethics and passed unanimously. Senate Bill 414 by Senator Bracy Davis, allowing campaign funds to be used for campaign-related child care expenses, was presented as a way to reduce barriers to public service but was temporarily postponed after the sponsor said it lacked the votes to advance. Senate Bill 500 by Senator Avila would require FDLE protective security details for major-party nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, and cabinet offices from nomination through assumption of office; members questioned the scope, definitions of major and minor parties, and whether taxpayers should bear the cost, and the bill was reported favorably on a divided vote. Senate Bill 620 by Senator Mayfield would require candidates for federal, state, county, district, judicial, and school board offices to disclose any non-U.S. citizenship or dual citizenship; testimony opposed the bill as stigmatizing dual citizens, but it was reported favorably. The committee also approved CS for SB 92 by Chair Gaetz, which creates whistleblower-style protections for public employees who file ethics complaints based on firsthand knowledge and face retaliation, with support from the Commission on Ethics. In addition, the committee unanimously approved a block of gubernatorial appointments and then passed Senate Bill 564 by Senator Yarborough, allowing registered or pre-registered high school students to volunteer at polling places for community service hours; members discussed whether the bill would create new volunteer opportunities and whether the term “community service hours” needed clarification. The meeting ended with adjournment.