Transcript Highlights:

• strengthens existing electioneering laws and creates new statutes. statutes to forbid publicly funded education
• Belton ISD's superintendent emailed all principals urging them to make a strong push with staff and parents

Bills: SB312 , SB945 , SB946 , SB1367 , SB1861 , SB2044 , SB2337 , SB2403 , SB2819 , SJR54

Committee: Senate State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• As a child, my parents were unfortunately in a very violent marriage.
• I just looked up a stat that said, according to the Florida Department of Education, that 12,429 students

Committee: Senate Criminal Justice

Summary: The committee heard and voted on a long series of criminal justice, public safety, victim protection, and regulatory bills. Several measures were reported favorably, including SB 1374 on school district reporting requirements, SB 1378 on restitution for leaving the scene of a crash, SB 1072 creating an expedited DNA testing grant program, SB 1140 establishing a Hillsborough County criminal offender substance abuse pilot program, SB 1266 revising public records protections for crime victims and certain law enforcement identities, SB 1546 delaying and refining background screening requirements for athletic coaches, SB 1430 on post-judgment execution proceedings related to terrorism victims, SB 1444 making a broad set of criminal justice changes, SB 240 on domestic and dating violence protections, SB 606 clarifying public lodging and food service removal procedures for nonpaying guests, SB 1450 giving law enforcement discretion in arrests involving people with significant medical conditions, SB 44 increasing penalties for impersonating law enforcement with unauthorized red or blue lights, SB 1000 expanding court-ordered sealing options, SB 1400 requiring platforms to remove altered sexual depictions, and SB 1696 addressing rideshare impersonation and transit service rules. Many of these bills were amended before final passage, often with strike-all amendments or technical changes, and several had support from law enforcement, advocacy groups, or industry representatives. Testimony was generally supportive on the public safety and victim-protection bills, with speakers emphasizing faster DNA testing, better protections for domestic violence survivors, clearer rules for hotel and motel operators, and stronger tools against fraud, impersonation, and trafficking. Some bills drew notable concerns or opposition. SB 1266 prompted questions about whether a 72-hour cooling-off period for officer identities could be extended too broadly, while SB 606 drew concerns that the bill could affect families living in hotels or extended stays during the housing affordability crisis. SB 1444 generated discussion about false reporting language, off-duty carry for prosecutors and judges, and the scope of automatic sealing changes. SB 1000’s expanded sealing relief received broad support but was narrowed by amendments excluding certain offenses such as DUI and indecent exposure. The most contentious measure was SB 1804, which would create a capital offense for trafficking a child under 12 or a mentally incapacitated person for sexual exploitation. The sponsor argued it targets the most severe trafficking cases and includes safeguards such as excluding minors from capital punishment and preserving life imprisonment if the capital procedure is invalidated. Opponents, including the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, argued the death penalty is unconstitutional for non-homicide crimes, costly, and ineffective, and committee members raised concerns about whether the bill would incentivize traffickers to kill victims to avoid identification. Debate also touched on broader concerns about the death penalty’s constitutionality and whether life imprisonment is a more severe punishment. The transcript ends during that debate, without a final vote on SB 1804 included in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• <c> compliance</c><00:03:36.880><c> to</c> educator mindsets from compliance to educator mindsets from
• Would you remind us, you know, is there this phase two educators? Is that a subgroup of educators?
• We had a new education institutes.
• </c> Education bill for 2026.
• </c> of our education system in Minnesota. of our education system in Minnesota.

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• on HB 1667, which lowers the age to obtain a civil identification card without a signature from a parent
• on HB 1667, which lowers the age to obtain a civil identification card without a signature from a parent
• a signature identification card without a signature from<01:15:15.679><c> a</c><01:15:15.920><c> parent
• or guardian from 18 years from a parent or guardian from 18 years old<01:15:18.480><c> to</c><01:15:
• or guardian from 18 years from a parent or guardian from 18 years old<01:15:51.120><c> to</c><01:15:

Committee: House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs

Summary: The committee heard testimony on House Bill 1552, which would make the attorney general the interim chief election officer if that office becomes vacant until the Elections Commission appoints a replacement. The Department of the Attorney General opposed the bill, saying it could create a conflict of interest if the attorney general were both the state’s lawyer and the chief elections officer in any related litigation. The League of Women Voters supported having some interim backup for the office, but said it was not necessarily advocating that the attorney general fill the role. Several other testifiers, including the Hawaiian Islands Republican Women, opposed the bill, arguing the current law already provides for a prompt commission appointment and warning about partisan bias and concentration of power. Supporters, including Indivisible Hawaii, said an interim mechanism is needed to ensure election certification in a crisis. The chair also asked whether any statutory acting capacity already exists, and the attorney general said none was known. The committee then took up House Bill 2125, which would bar corporations operating under state law from engaging in election activity. The attorney general opposed the bill, citing Citizens United and arguing that corporations have First Amendment-protected political speech rights and that the bill would likely be unconstitutional. Indivisible Hawaii supported the measure, saying it would keep elections focused on the will of the people rather than corporate influence. Libertarian Party testimony was mixed: one witness supported the goal of reducing corruption but warned the bill could suppress organized dissent and sweep too broadly by treating many associations as corporations. The bill’s introducer asked whether the legislature could still enact it as a policy matter, but the attorney general maintained federal constitutional law would control. No vote was taken on either bill during the portion of the hearing provided. The committee also heard House Bill 2493 on wrongful imprisonment, which would set procedures and compensation for people whose convictions are reversed or vacated on grounds consistent with innocence and whose charges are dismissed. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation supported the bill’s intent but objected to language assigning it responsibility for helping released individuals secure housing, identification, health coverage, and other reentry needs, saying it no longer has jurisdiction after release and suggesting the courts or a community-based contractor handle that role. The Office of the Public Defender strongly supported the bill, emphasizing the harm of wrongful conviction and the need for compensation, case management, and medical coverage after release. No action or vote was reported on this measure in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• But when all this happens up front, a matter of education for the users, and part of 1410 does define
• for the users and matter of education for the users and part<04:26:38.080><c> of</c><04:26:38.319><c
• So a lot of this I think is education. So that's a twist on that one.
• I get it in terms of informing the parents before they give their kids one of these things.
• I get it in terms of informing the I get it in terms of informing the parents<04:28:35.680><c> before

Committee: House Transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• And we do actually have some co-location that we do with higher education as well.
• And we do actually have some co-location that we do with higher education as well.
• Aurora Educational Technology. They're a firm out of Illinois.
• So are we, is the Aurora contract bid then for the data in our special education to move that data?
• It affects a lot of educators. It's been a particular issue in the Fargo Public School system.

Committee: Joint Information Technology Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Young professionals who want something enjoyable after work, parents seeking a calm moment at the end
• But right now the key is to get people educated about how bad this is.
• key is to get people educated about how key is to get people educated about how bad<00:51:26.400><c>
• But so now we have, as Amy said, we have a really important education job to help folks understand that

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> Art Education. Art Education.
• </c> the Mississippi Senate to Art Education the Mississippi Senate to Art Education Mentor<00:21:42.400
• </c> Award for Excellence in Art Education. Award for Excellence in Art Education.
• driver's education program.
• driver's education program.

Transcript Highlights:

• ,</c> Social Security, public education, Social Security, public education, public<01:09:00.080><c> health
• the press, education, the system of<01:15:36.239><c> justice.
• Sure that we have an education system for all of the children rather than an education system that has
• </c><02:23:18.720><c> And</c> education, and community building.
• And education, and community building.

Transcript Highlights:

• My parents were World War II.
• Um my parents were doing field days.
• Um my parents were World<01:05:03.359><c> War</c><01:05:03.520><c> II.
• It seemed like a... you were an education district. >> Seems fine.
• </c> &gt;&gt; you were an education district. &gt;&gt; you were an education district.

Committee: Senate Transportation

Transcript Highlights:

• She said she would state her strong support and then go back to the Education Funding Committee, where
• </c><00:57:13.240><c> relatives</c><00:57:13.760><c> with</c> aging parents relatives with aging parents
• our our local local and and now educate our our local people<03:21:38.040><c> all</c><03:21:38.239><
• I don't see a lot of need for the town to do that to educate it.
• I don't see a lot of need for the town to do that to educate it.

Committee: House Housing

Transcript Highlights:

• The repeal of capital punishment in 2019 was the result of over 30 years of thoughtful organizing, education
• prevent harm, such as mental health care, substance use treatment, victims' support, housing, and education
• hallway by no less than four people about unintended consequences already of this bill, in fears of a parent
• hallway by no less than four people about unintended consequences already of this bill, in fears of a parent
• hallway by no less than four people about unintended consequences already of this bill, in fears of a parent

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• assistance, not<00:23:14.280><c> enough</c><00:23:14.760><c> to</c><00:23:14.880><c> be</c> These parents
• If enough students are kicked off the program because their parents lose SNAP benefits, that will impact
• 45:13.240><c> their</c> kicked off the program because their kicked off the program because their parents
• 13.840><c> SNAP</c><00:45:14.080><c> benefits,</c><00:45:14.520><c> that</c><00:45:14.680><c> will</c> parents
• lose SNAP benefits, that will parents lose SNAP benefits, that will impact<00:45:15.480><c> not</c><

Committee: Senate Families & Children

Transcript Highlights:

• 50.880><c> Campbell</c><00:16:52.000><c> to</c> Permission to go on to Fort Campbell to take their parents
• There are private attorneys there for GAL appointments, for representing parents in dependency cases,
• 51.119><c> representing</c> appointments for for uh representing appointments for for uh representing parents
• :52.800><c> cases</c><00:47:53.520><c> and</c><00:47:53.760><c> so</c><00:47:54.079><c> those</c> parents
• in dependency cases and so those parents in dependency cases and so those attorneys<00:47:54.880><c>

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• Parents and Children Together in support. Aloha, chairs, vice chair, members of the committee.
• I’m with Parents and Children Together, or PACT. We support this bill.
• I'm<00:07:31.280><c> with</c><00:07:31.480><c> Parents</c><00:07:31.880><c> and</c><00:07:31.960><c>
• Children</c><00:07:32.760><c> Together</c> I'm with Parents and Children Together I'm with Parents and

Summary: The Committee on Housing, meeting jointly with the Committee on Health and Human Services, heard testimony on Senate Bill 2787, which would expand use of the rental housing revolving fund to provide loans or grants for purchasing rental units, and Senate Bill 2957, which addresses tenant displacement and relocation protections, as well as Senate Bill 2866, which would make the state rent supplement program for kupuna permanent and appropriate funds for it. Testimony on SB 2787 included support from DHHL, HHFDC, AARP Hawaii, and others, while the Attorney General recommended clarifying language and standards for grants, and the Tax Foundation questioned whether grants fit the revolving-fund structure. On SB 2957, supporters including OHA, PACT, medical-legal advocates, and tenant representatives emphasized relocation hardships from the KPT redevelopment, language access, and the need for clearer minimum safeguards; the Attorney General suggested defining “comparable units” and correcting a drafting error. On SB 2866, HPHA, Catholic Charities, AARP, the Executive Office on Aging, and others supported making the kupuna rent supplement program permanent to prevent homelessness among low-income seniors. During discussion on SB 2957, members questioned HPHA and tenant counsel about the KPT low-rise relocation process and what “comparable housing” meant in practice. HPHA said all tenants were relocated, but counsel described disputes over comparability, disability and family-size issues, and at least one offered unit that was not livable. For SB 2787, members questioned DHHL about why it sought funding from the rental housing revolving fund rather than other sources; DHHL said it was still exploring options and had mostly used its funds for infrastructure, with only a small portion used as revolving funds. The chair expressed concern about relying on scarce housing funds and urged more efficient use of DHHL’s existing resources. In decision-making, the committees voted to pass SB 2957 with amendments and SB 2866 with amendments. For SB 2957, the amendments would replace the bill with a working group on tenant displacement and relocation, include a blank appropriation and defective date, and request $75,000 for the working group; the motion was adopted unanimously by the members present, with Senator Favela excused. For SB 2866, the amended version would include a blank appropriation, defective date, and committee report language noting requests for $110,160 for two HPHA public housing specialist positions and $2.16 million for the state rent supplement program; this motion was also adopted, with Senator Favela excused. After the joint hearing adjourned, the committee returned to the housing-only agenda and continued discussion of SB 2787 before moving on to SB 3089, which would amend the down payment loan assistance program for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers; testimony on SB 3089 was beginning when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• what I think is a difficult situation: protecting children, but also not overcriminalizing lousy parenting
• I agree as a parent of a child that had that experience.
• He asked whether the parents, or the adult involved with them, would work with them in making that decision
• Another speaker responded that, with regard to the court, the parents or the adult involved with them
• Another speaker said that, with regard to the court, the parents or the adult involved with them would

Committee: House Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• kidnapping, without this administration seeming to care that children are being left without their parents
• kidnapping, without this administration seeming to care that children are being left without their parents
• Without this administration seeming to care that children are being left without their parents, the very
• separated, to see people being beaten, and to hear the cries of children left without one of their parents

Summary: The committee heard multiple bills, with extensive discussion focused on short-term rental regulation, street vending, park/public safety financing, transit-oriented housing fees, and demographic data collection. SB 346 would require short-term rental platforms to provide local governments with listing addresses and related information to help collect transient occupancy taxes and enforce local ordinances; supporters argued cities and counties need the data to identify unlicensed operators and recover taxes, while opposition from platforms raised privacy and due process concerns and said administrative subpoenas already exist. The bill was amended and passed 7-0 to the Judiciary Committee. SB 635, the Street Vendor Business Protection Act, sought to protect street vendors’ personal information from being shared in ways that could expose them to federal immigration enforcement; supporters described raids and fear in vendor communities, and the bill passed 6-1 to Public Safety. SB 499 would clarify that certain park and recreation facilities designated in local safety or hazard mitigation plans can qualify for fee deferral exemptions when they serve emergency or public safety functions; supporters said parks can serve as fire buffers, evacuation sites, and recovery hubs, while some housing advocates sought a clearer nexus to development impacts. The bill passed as amended 6-0 to Appropriations. SB 358, which would modernize traffic impact fee rules to better reflect lower automobile trip generation for walkable, transit-oriented housing, drew support from housing and transportation advocates and passed 8-0 to Appropriations. SB 515, aimed at improving demographic data collection and reporting by local governments and state entities, passed to Appropriations on a 4-0 vote. The committee also took up SB 276, presented by Assembly Member Stefani on behalf of Senator Wiener, which would allow San Francisco to create a permit-and-enforcement system for the sale of commonly stolen goods on sidewalks. Supporters said the measure is needed to address fencing operations and protect legitimate vendors, while emphasizing it is narrowly targeted and not aimed at food vendors or permitted sellers. The transcript ends during testimony on SB 276, with supporters from the Mission street vendor community and San Francisco Public Works describing enforcement problems and the need for clearer rules and city resources.

Transcript Highlights:

• This would allow a comfort level for those parents or those individuals who have these special needs
• this would allow a comfort level for um this would allow a comfort level for those<00:05:33.080><c> parents
• or</c><00:05:33.840><c> those</c><00:05:34.039><c> individuals</c><00:05:34.639><c> who</c> those parents
• or those individuals who those parents or those individuals who have<00:05:35.000><c> these</c><00:05

Summary: The Senate State and Local Government Committee met and first considered Senate Bill 4, sponsored by Sen. Bledsoe, which would create a risk-based AI governance framework for state government and address AI-generated misinformation in campaigns and elections. The sponsor said the bill came from the AI task force and is intended to promote transparency, accountability, and responsible use of AI while distinguishing between internal and external systems. The committee took a roll call vote and reported the bill out 7-0. The committee then heard Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Sen. Webb, which would allow Kentucky Retirement System benefits to be designated to a Special Needs Trust for a beneficiary. Webb said the bill would help families of special-needs children preserve benefits for supplemental needs such as adaptive equipment, technology, and medical or dental care not covered by government programs. He said retirement systems had provided no-impact letters, and the bill passed 7-0. Members also approved Senate Bill 117, which would let cities adjust incentive payments for training by appointed and elected city officials and remove the statutory minimum from ordinance requirements, and Senate Bill 121, which would authorize county judges to contract with rescue groups to deal with wild horse herds in rural areas. SB 117 passed 10-0 and SB 121 passed 10-0. The committee then took up Senate Bill 71, as amended by a committee substitute, dealing with local library board appointments. Sen. Boswell said the bill was a compromise but that he preferred removing KDLA from the process entirely; library representatives opposed the committee substitute and said they wanted KDLA out of the selection process. Several senators expressed conditional support but said they wanted further changes, and the committee adopted the substitute and reported the bill out after a roll call vote with 10 yeas and 1 pass, with members noting they expected further floor amendments.

Transcript Highlights:

• some of those items across higher education, as well as our political subdivisions.
• And we do actually have some co-location that we do with higher education as well.
• We signed the contract on Monday: Aurora Educational Technology. They’re a firm out of Illinois.
• We signed the contract on Monday, Aurora Educational Technology. They're a firm out of Illinois.
• It affects a lot of educators. It's been a particular issue in the Fargo Public School system.

Committee: Joint Information Technology Committee

Summary: The committee received a series of informational reports from NDIT and DPI on major IT projects, cybersecurity, and the K-12 student information system transition. Justin Data reviewed the quarterly major project portfolio, noting 111 projects totaling about $542.8 million, generally under budget and slightly behind schedule overall. He highlighted three schedule-red projects: Bed Management System and Vital Records, both now complete and being closed out, and the Roadway Capital Planning Project, which is delayed due to vendor bug fixes after user testing. He also summarized new project startups, including the Attorney General’s Victim Notification System, HHS Medicaid correctional facilities data exchange, Highway Patrol’s motor carrier e-permit system, and additional RIMS work, and answered questions about project timing, funding, and whether work had begun on legislatively funded IT projects. Chris Gurgan, NDIT’s chief information security officer, reported on mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting under HB 1314. He said 77 incidents have been reported since August 2021, with 47 meeting the statutory definition of a cybersecurity incident; phishing remains the most common type, followed by email quarantine alerts, XDR detections, and malware. He emphasized that most incidents are resolved, but that timely reporting is critical for any chance of recovering funds in business email compromise or ransomware cases. He also described several notable incidents since the last report, including the PowerSchool breach, a SimpleHelp intrusion at a school district, a court intrusion, a WSUS vulnerability, a business email compromise at a K-12 district, and a recent ransomware report involving a non-state critical infrastructure entity. Members asked about smishing, MFA, conditional access, security awareness training, and recovery of lost funds; Gurgan said state systems use phishing-resistant MFA and conditional access, training is provided to state employees and offered to political subdivisions on an opt-in basis, and broader cybersecurity maturity assessments are underway. Craig Falkley gave brief reports on coordination with political subdivisions and higher education, including shared networking, cybersecurity, radio/911, PeopleSoft, and co-location services. He also explained distributed ledger technology as a tool for decentralized, secure data sharing, but said the state has limited use for it and would likely frame future reporting more broadly around emerging technologies. The committee then heard from Tony Ambrose of DPI on the statewide Infinite Campus implementation. He said district implementations are underway, but the project had to terminate its original data migration vendor for poor performance and replace it with Aurora Educational Technology, which had experience with a similar North Carolina migration. He also said DPI is moving special education data from Tynet into Infinite Campus, is still working through how to preserve e-transcripts and Choice Ready-type functionality after the PowerSchool transition, and is developing identity, authentication, and data-sharing arrangements for the summer cutover. Members raised concerns about procurement timing, summer school disruption, and whether some functions would be ready by July 1.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are discussing enrollment figures for higher education.
• education that our children get.
• impact the quality of education for our children.
• We're going to impact public education. We're going to impact public safety.
• It was quite educational on where we are.

Bills: HB26 , HB73 , SB 14 , HB46

Committee: House Intergovernmental Affairs