Transcript Highlights:

• Criminal defense lawyer, you acknowledge to me that you feel loyalty to the president.
• And it was during his defense work over his career he saw the danger of prosecutorial excess.
• Evidence to defense councils, so did the government produce emails and records between Tebow and his
• team of agents to defense council including the ones that I recently made public?
• They work to prevent corruption and to make sure that an agency is spending money as it should be by

Committee: Senate Senate Judiciary

Keywords: nominations, Deputy Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, Todd Blanch, Gail Slater, confirmation hearing

Summary: The meeting focused on the nominations of Todd Blanch and Gail Slater for the positions of Deputy Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, respectively. The committee considered the qualifications of both nominees, with opening statements provided by the nominees themselves. There was an evident emphasis on the rigorous vetting process that nominees undergo before their selection, highlighting the importance of the roles within the Department of Justice. Members of the committee engaged in a structured question-and-answer session to further evaluate the nominees' capabilities and fit for the positions they were nominated for, with each member allotted seven minutes to pose questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• Madam Chair, Cliff Costa, today on behalf of the California Defense Council, and given authority to also
• These bills have increased visibility into outside spending groups and have led to a more transparent
• OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign expenditures, found that nationwide outside spending grew from $574
• In fact, they've announced that they will be spending $100 million in California campaign elections,
• Also proxy support for other co-sponsors, including Asian Law Caucus, Legal Defense Fund, and the UCLA

Summary: The Assembly Elections Committee met on July 1, 2026, heard a full agenda of election-related measures, and took final votes on several bills and one resolution. The committee also adopted two consent items, SB 1429 and SB 1430, without opposition. Members and the chair repeatedly noted committee membership changes and the final meeting of the session, and the chair emphasized the committee’s focus on protecting democracy and election integrity. Among the bills heard, SB 1369 would shorten the signature-gathering period for judicial recalls in larger counties and require paid gatherers to disclose they are compensated; supporters argued it would protect judicial independence, while the chair and some members noted the need to balance recall rights with county differences. SB 900 would reformat campaign disclosure language on large print ads and billboards to improve readability while preserving transparency, with broad support from outdoor advertising, clean money, and good-government groups. SJR 18, which condemns Citizens United and urges action against corporate spending in elections, drew support from reform advocates but also concerns about the resolution’s focus and scope; it was advanced on a party-line split with some members voting no. The committee also advanced SB 1164, a major voting-rights measure expanding California protections against vote dilution and voter suppression, adding preclearance-style review for some jurisdictions, and directing courts to interpret election laws in favor of voting access. Local government representatives opposed it unless amended, citing uncertainty, loss of safe-harbor protections, and implementation concerns, while civil-rights and labor groups strongly supported it. SB 1360, which expands language-access requirements for voters with limited English proficiency and lowers coverage thresholds, was supported by voting-rights and immigrant-advocacy groups but opposed by elections officials unless amended; the committee acknowledged the need for further work on county-level implementation and data standards. The committee also approved SB 1418, which extends protections against seizure of election records and voting systems beyond voted ballots, and SB 884, which creates a buffer zone around polling places and vote-by-mail drop locations to prevent interference with voting and ballot custody, though sheriffs and police groups opposed the arrest restrictions. SB 46, which would give the Secretary of State clearer authority to remove constitutionally ineligible presidential and vice-presidential candidates from the ballot, and SB 715, which moves candidate ballot-designation challenge deadlines earlier, also advanced. Most measures were sent to Appropriations or otherwise held on call for absent members, and the meeting ended with final roll calls and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• I also hope you will urge Croatia to meet its 2% defense commitment to NATO, which will certainly be
• With Croatia increasing its defense budget, modernizing infrastructure, and developing new capabilities
• from cybersecurity to amnesty. ammunition manufacturing, this is a timely opportunity for the U.S. defense
• having the courage to take seriously the dollars that taxpayers invest in our country and that we spend
• Fully support the President and the Secretary in making sure that the dollars we spend, the money that

Committee: Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Keywords: legislative process, public involvement, community engagement, transparency, introductions

Summary: The meeting was characterized by a series of introductions and personal anecdotes shared by the committee members, with a focus on the importance of community engagement and transparency in legislative processes. Members expressed their commitment to open hearings and the necessity for public involvement in discussions impacting constituents. Several members remarked on how personal experiences shape their legislative priorities, thus reinforcing the human element of governance. However, there was a noticeable absence of discussion regarding specific bills, indicating that the session may have been more exploratory or introductory in nature.

Transcript Highlights:

• civilian member of the CJTC, a member of the CJTC, a member of the public who is not a prosecutor, defense
• It's very defensible, and it allows all the interested parties involved in a case to really fully dig
• investment a medical doctor makes in their license—essentially the years they put in, the money they spend
• In fact, this is the flyer from the Defense of Driving School in Marysville.
• In the meanwhile, we'll hear from, on the teleconference, the criminal defense bar, Carly Valdez.

Bills: HB2220 , HB2362

Committee: House Community Safety

Keywords: criminal justice training commission, CJTC, law enforcement training, peace officer certification, decertification, corrections officer certification, tribal police certification, police accountability, police oversight, public safety, academy training, in-service training, continuing education, use of force, misconduct investigations, disciplinary hearings, administrative law judge, hearing panel, law enforcement standards, background investigations

Transcript Highlights:

• And we're finding that we have to spend years building... In California, yes.
• So we're spending more dollars on fewer students and anything the...
• They're spending a lot of money. They are starting startups.
• This is not new spending.
• This is not new spending.

Committee: Senate Revenue and Taxation

Transcript Highlights:

• We could easily spend hours.
• hours uh that we probably don't spend hours uh that we probably don't have<00:46:56.000><c> this</c>
• So the defense at trial was self-defense. missed. Uh I'm is missed.
• </c><00:47:58.319><c> was</c> So the defense of trial was So the defense of trial was self-defense. self-defense
• . self-defense.

Bills: HB0066 , HJ0005 , HB0010

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• the local level improves disclosure requirements for ballot measures that mandate new government spending
• You could spend up to a year in jail.
• The criminal defense folks are opposed to the expansion of ARS 13...
• The criminal defense folks are opposed to the expansion of ARS 13.
• What is my defense?

Summary: The committee heard and acted on several bills dealing with elections, juvenile representation, paternity, and campaign finance. SB 1489 would require paid petition circulators to disclose their name, residence, and paid status, wear a badge, register in some local petition efforts, and subject local initiatives to stricter compliance and fiscal disclosure rules. Supporters said it would standardize rules and improve transparency; opponents, including the ACLU, argued it would chill core political speech and compel identification. The bill received a do-pass recommendation by a 4-3 vote. SB 1609, an emergency measure restricting political party names from using terms like “independent” or “unaffiliated,” drew support from county election officials who said it would reduce voter confusion, and opposition from the Arizona Independent Party, which called it retroactive and anti-competitive. The committee adopted an amendment and then passed the bill 7-0. SCR 1040, which would raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75 subject to voter approval, was supported as reflecting longer life expectancy and retaining experienced judges, but opposed by some who favored age limits; it passed 5-2. The committee then took up SB 1234, which would change juvenile court representation by requiring a guardian ad litem in dependency and termination cases and allowing, rather than requiring, separate child counsel in some circumstances. Sponsor Senator Werner said the bill was part of a broader child-safety package and was informed by cases involving children who died after alleged system failures. Child welfare attorneys and advocates opposed the bill, warning it would weaken attorney-client privilege and take away children’s independent voice, while DCS said the bill was intended to clarify the GAL role and could work alongside child counsel. The committee adopted an amendment and passed the bill 5-2. SB 1661, allowing child support obligations to be terminated when genetic testing shows a presumed father is not the biological father, received broad support from the sponsor, a fathers’ advocacy group, and a family representative, and passed 6-0. Later, the committee considered election-administration and campaign-finance measures. SB 1392 would give governing bodies canvassing elections access to election-material locations to observe procedures and review records, while protecting privacy and security; county officials supported access but raised concerns about the term “agent,” and the bill passed 4-3. SB 1634 would require ADOT to provide county recorders with applicants’ handwritten signatures collected during voter registration; county officials said it would improve signature verification, and the bill passed 5-2 after some members noted amendment concerns. SB 1743 would redact donors’ employer street addresses and residence addresses from campaign finance reports; supporters framed it as a privacy measure, while opponents said employer information is important for transparency and identifying influence. It passed 5-2. SB 1099, a strike-everything amendment defining defamation standards for public and private figures, was presented as narrowing and clarifying defamation law and passed 4-3. After a recess, the committee heard SB 1535, which would make paying for sexual conduct a prostitution offense and add a $200 assessment to fund anti-human-trafficking services. Survivors, law enforcement, and neighborhood advocates supported stronger penalties aimed at buyers and demand reduction, while criminal-defense and victim-advocacy groups said the bill needed a rebuttable-presumption amendment to better protect trafficking victims. The transcript cuts off before the committee’s final action on SB 1535.

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm the past president of Washington Defense Trial Lawyers.
• I have a history of insurance defense litigation and insurance bad faith litigation.
• I am a defense attorney in Spokane, in Washington, like Mr. Rhodes.
• I am also a member of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers. I'm the current treasurer. And as Mr.
• My practice is doing insurance defense.

Summary: The House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on HB 2095, which would create training requirements for law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges on negligent driving involving vulnerable users of public ways, and would establish a rebuttable presumption of negligence in certain civil claims when a vulnerable user is injured or killed in a protected area such as a sidewalk, crosswalk, bike lane, or similar designated space. Staff explained that the bill also allows recovery of actual damages, statutory damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and, in limited circumstances, punitive damages if the defendant has previously injured or killed three or more vulnerable road users. Members questioned the unusual nature of punitive damages, the burden-shifting presumption, the three-incident threshold, and whether the education component was tied to the bill’s purpose. The prime sponsor said the training is meant to improve reporting and understanding of existing vulnerable-road-user laws, and said the bill was intended to narrow liability to protected areas and could be amended further, including on the punitive-damages threshold. Supporters, including a widow whose husband was killed while bicycling, Washington Bikes, trial attorneys, a bicycle commuter advocate, and a physician, argued the bill would better protect pedestrians and cyclists, improve police reporting, and reduce the burden on injured people and families who currently must prove negligence after serious crashes. They said the presumption would encourage safer driving and align Washington with similar frameworks used elsewhere. Opponents, including defense lawyers, the Association of Washington Cities, the Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington Trucking Associations, and the Washington Liability Reform Coalition, said the bill would expand litigation, create uninsurable risks through fee shifting and punitive damages, and could draw cities, businesses, and taxpayers into lawsuits. Some opponents also urged narrowing the bill to individuals and clarifying the protected areas and training requirements. No vote was taken; the chair closed the hearing and encouraged follow-up and amendment requests before executive session.

Transcript Highlights:

• of America; Healthy Children Project; the American Sustainable Business Network; Natural Resources Defense
• You and the American people know that there's no defense for sterilizing children, but you set aside
• Without having yet resolved this problem, the authority has signaled that it wants to spend up to, and
• even lift, the $500 million cap on spending outside of the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment imposed by
• I spend a million dollars with the economists and costs, and I win.

Committee: House Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• My name's Larry Jefferson, and I'm the Director of Public Defense for the State of Washington.
• when the legislature... ...is that existing statutes direct the Office of Public Defense to provide
• And you are telling me that my only comfort of him spending his life behind bars has to wait for him
• And you were telling me that my only comfort of him spending his life behind bars has to wait for him
• I'm testifying today on behalf of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Bills: SB5873 , SB5895 , SB5945

Committee: Senate Human Services

Keywords: incarcerated individuals, escorted leaves, criminal justice, rehabilitation, state law, healthcare, incarcerated, extraordinary medical placement, criminal justice reform, medical care, persistent offender, three strikes, resentencing, juvenile conviction, youth offender, juvenile sentencing, life without parole, LWOP, most serious offense, sentencing reform

Transcript Highlights:

• More importantly, State government has a spending problem.
• More importantly, we have a recurring spending problem.
• We cannot spend our way out of a spending problem.
• We must remove the temptation to spend, and I will be asking We must remove the temptation to spend,
• And no one under the age of 21 needs a gun for self-defense.

Summary: The House convened for opening-day business, with prayer, a moment of silence for Captain Bill Guston, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum established. The Speaker outlined a budget message emphasizing reduced spending and a proposed permanent 0.75% sales tax cut, and the chamber then received the Governor’s veto message on portions of HB 5001. Members moved to reinstate several vetoed appropriations, including the Florida Senior Veterans and Crisis Fund, Rockledge Advanced Water Treatment Phase 1, the Department of Corrections automated staffing/time management system, and Baldwin sewer and water main work; each reinstatement passed unanimously. The House also adopted a special order calendar and special amendment procedures for the General Appropriations Act and related bills. On the special order calendar, several bills passed unanimously or near-unanimously, including Lucy’s Law on boating safety (CS/CS/CS/HB 289), HB 735 on water access facilities, HB 11 on municipal water and sewer utility rates, CS/CS/HB 85 on hazardous walking conditions, and CS/HB 157 on service of process. These measures focused on boating safety, water infrastructure, utility-rate fairness, school walking safety, and procedural civil-law updates. A major floor debate centered on HB 6017, which would repeal Florida’s “Free Kill Law” limiting wrongful-death damages in medical negligence cases. Supporters described the bill as a long-awaited justice measure for families who lost adult children or unmarried relatives to medical malpractice, while opponents were not recorded in the final vote tally; the bill passed 104-6 after extensive emotional testimony from sponsors and affected families. The chamber also heard a lengthy, highly divided debate on HB 759, which would lower the firearm purchase age from 21 to 18. Supporters argued the current law is inconsistent with adult rights and responsibilities and cited constitutional precedent, while opponents emphasized Parkland, youth gun violence, and public-safety concerns; the transcript ends during continued debate on that bill, with no final vote shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> and spending and spending on<01:02:47.599><c> political</c><01:02:48.559><c> activities.
• So why should we have to provide transparency on how I spend my money?
• </c><01:18:02.159><c> I</c> transparency on how I spend my money?
• I transparency on how I spend my money?
• Presently, public entities do not have to report how they're spending the money. Thank you.

Bills: SF0035 , SF0090 , SF0072

Committee: House Education

Transcript Highlights:

• They just keep spending money. The more we demand, the more they spend. And we go along with it.
• They just keep spending money. The more we demand, the more they spend. And we go along with it.
• We've got to quit spending. ...spend too much. Right here in Idaho, every state, we spend too much.
• We've got to quit spending money. We've got to quit spending money, and it's got to start here.
• Instead, they continue to spend.

Transcript Highlights:

• They may spend years in therapy long before they can even name what has happened.
• They may spend years in therapy long before they can even name what has happened.
• Bringing homes into compliance with defensible space statute is a really challenging endeavor for our
• The bill addresses that critical gap in wildfire safety by strengthening defensible space compliance.
• Under the current law, properties may remain, as we stated before, not meeting those defensible space

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Summary: The committee heard SB 934 by Senator Wiener, which would extend the statute of limitations for malpractice claims arising from conversion therapy and clarify how expert testimony and scientific evidence may be used in those cases. Supporters, including a survivor, a licensed therapist, and LGBTQ advocacy groups, described conversion therapy as harmful and argued survivors often cannot come forward within current filing deadlines. Opponents, including civil justice and conservative legal groups, argued the bill was a workaround to recent Supreme Court rulings and raised concerns about free speech, evidentiary standards, and whether the bill could chill legitimate therapy. Committee members largely focused on whether the bill was limited to conversion therapy malpractice claims and not broader gender-affirming care; the bill was moved on a 7-2-1 vote to Senate Appropriations and placed on call. The consent calendar was also adopted on a 6-0 vote and placed on call. The committee then heard SB 1092 by Senator Allen, a housing bill aimed at manufactured home parks. The bill would give residents or their designated representatives a right to make a competitive bid when a park owner intends to sell, lease, or transfer a park, with notice and response periods intended to give residents time to organize financing. Supporters said the measure would preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, especially for older and lower-income residents, and help resident-owned cooperatives or nonprofits buy parks before investor buyers do. Opponents from park owner and realtor groups argued the bill would burden private property rights, devalue parks, and create unconstitutional takings and litigation risk. Committee questions centered on the bill’s timelines, whether residents would have 120 days to express interest and another 120 days to close, and whether the purchase agreement would be binding if accepted. The author and supporters said the second period was needed for due diligence and financing, while opponents said the structure could still delay sales and reduce market value. Several members expressed support for the bill’s goal but asked for further clarification or possible tightening of the timing and good-faith provisions; no final vote on SB 1092 was taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• The defense will file a motion to dismiss, and we'll go have a hearing.
• So defense is going to say, no, you can't entertain this, Judge.
• The defense will file a motion for summary judgment in the middle of the case and say, The defense will
• And the judge will usually then hear the defense part of the case.
• And the defense lawyer is going to say, yeah, that's unconstitutional.

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 61, which would raise aggravated battery on a peace officer from a third-degree to a second-degree felony in cases involving great bodily harm or a deadly weapon. The sponsor and supporters said the bill fixes an inconsistency in current law, where aggravated assault on an officer can be punished more severely than aggravated battery causing serious injury. Law enforcement representatives, the Chiefs Association, CBRC, and chamber representatives testified in support, and the New Mexico Sentencing Commission was noted as having endorsed the bill by a 6-3-4 vote. After questions about proportionality and plea bargaining, the committee voted due pass on HB 61 without objection. The committee then returned to House Bill 99, a medical malpractice reform bill, and several members made conflict-of-interest disclosures before debating amendments. The discussion focused heavily on the patient compensation fund, surcharge setting, and whether an advisory board or the superintendent should control rates. Amendments to segregate future fund money, require surcharges no lower than the advisory board’s recommendation, and create a commission with more actuarial and financial expertise were debated at length; the committee rejected the first two amendments. Members and witnesses argued over whether past undercharging of hospitals and doctors led to insolvency and taxpayer bailouts, and whether the bill should require more transparency and oversight. The committee also debated amendments on punitive damages. One proposal would have delayed punitive damage claims until after substantial discovery; opponents said it would conflict with civil procedure, prolong litigation, and likely be struck down. Another would have tied punitive damages to a multiple of compensatory damages or a percentage of net worth; supporters said that would better deter harmful conduct, while opponents said it would create uncertainty and more discovery. That amendment also failed. A final punitive-damages amendment would have removed caps in cases involving sexual assault or intoxication by a health care provider and protected the first $5 million of an independent provider’s personal assets; it too was rejected after members said it would shield egregious misconduct and go beyond the bill’s purpose.

Transcript Highlights:

• Let's continue to reduce or hold discretionary spending flat.
• My perspective is dollar for dollar, year spending payfors match the spending.
• We've talked about reducing spending.
• Can't touch taxes, but man, I can sure spend a I can sure spend a lot. Great. I'm for supply side.
• Can we fund defense but pay for it? Can we fund defense but pay for it?

Bills: HR915 , HB7401 , HB2478 , HR1381

Keywords: Holodomor, Ukraine famine, 1932-1933 famine, genocide recognition, Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, collectivization, grain confiscation, human rights, Ukraine, Ukrainian people, Russian aggression, Vladimir Putin, foreign affairs, sense of the House, commemorative resolution, historical remembrance, Soviet repression, Kremlin denial, Ukraine sovereignty

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm here representing Brightline Defense.
• Our concerns currently have to do with the obligations of the criminal defense lawyers.
• It's unclear to us what that procedure and protocol would be for a criminal defense lawyer to notify
• . the defense has to notify the court in order to potentially trigger a protective order.
• More workable for the criminal defense lawyers.

Committee: House Public Safety

Transcript Highlights:

• linemen Luke and Jake Hussupelo were named San Joaquin County co-defensive players of the year.
• Defensive lineman Luke Lucitello forced a fumble, and both Mason Egal and Nick Anudik snagged interceptions
• And defensive lineman Luke and Jake Hussupelo were named San Juan King County 25 co-adventive players
• The sad irony is that the bill would spend money on abortion clinics when hospitals across the state
• the money you need because we're spending the money on somebody from Atlanta.

Transcript Highlights:

• on things like clothing, A Medicaid resident keeps to spend on things like clothing, phone, a gift,
• It helps folks out who are in these facilities have more discretionary income to spend on needs that
• Budgets of DOCR and indigent defense.
• The bill also removes indigent defense fees. Approximately 25%.
• The bill also removes indigent defense fees, including the $35 application fee for hiring a defense attorney

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a quorum call, then approved journal corrections and moved to elect Senator Kyle Davison as President Pro Tem. Davison was nominated, elected by unanimous ballot, escorted to the rostrum, sworn in, and gave remarks thanking his family, colleagues, and faith, emphasizing relationships, service, and stewardship. The chamber also recognized National Public Health Week with a floor statement honoring public health workers and training programs, and that statement was ordered printed in the journal. The Senate then considered several House bills, beginning with HB 1485, which increases the personal needs allowance for Medicaid residents in certain facilities by $15 per month and indexes it to inflation; the amendment was adopted and the bill passed 46-1. HB 1018, the State Historical Society budget, was amended to adjust one-time and ongoing funding for museum exhibits, repatriation compliance, archives storage, local historic grants, and the military gallery project, then passed 42-0 with one senator excused from voting due to a conflict. HB 1181, defining gender in state code as an individual’s sex and removing a broader application section, passed 41-6. HB 1144, adding a penalty and enforcement mechanism related to transgender student accommodations and restroom use in public schools, passed 40-7 with its emergency clause. The Senate also passed HB 1600, creating an immigration law clinic at the University of North Dakota School of Law and shifting its funding to the strategic investment and improvements fund, by 34-13. HB 1019, the Parks and Recreation budget, was amended to fund deferred maintenance, technology, sewer work, matching grants, and other park projects, add language requiring legislative approval for new or renamed state parks, and clarify use of the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library line of credit; a proposed amendment to remove funding for the International Peace Gardens cactus conservatory failed 20-27, and the bill then passed 39-8. HB 1417, dealing with parole/probation violations, court fees, and a study of criminal justice fees, passed 40-7 after amendments. The most extensive debate centered on HB 1450, which would require parent or guardian access to a minor’s medical exam room and notice of questions asked of the minor, with exceptions for emancipation and suspected abuse or trafficking. Supporters framed it as a parental rights and transparency measure, while opponents warned it could hinder screening for abuse, neglect, mental health concerns, and confidential care; multiple senators shared personal experiences on both sides. A proposed amendment to narrow the bill failed 21-26, and the transcript ends amid continued debate on the bill itself, with no final vote shown in the excerpt.

Transcript Highlights:

• Space is no longer the exclusive domain of sovereignty. and a handful of legacy defense contractors.
• I'm a defense aerospace business. As a company, we operated the world's largest private air force.
• We managed hundreds of millions in defense contracts and saved taxpayers billions along the way.
• First, I mean having run a defense aerospace company for for more than a decade, and generally I am a
• As you know, the Department of Defense has been highly resistant to giving up. spectrum.

Committee: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Keywords: state policy, governance, legislative processes, public concerns, policy improvement

Summary: During the committee meeting, various issues surrounding state policy and governance were deliberated. Although the specifics of bills under discussion were not highlighted, comments from several committee members indicated a focus on improving legislative processes and addressing public concerns. The chairman facilitated discussions that included several points of critique as well as suggestions for enhancement of existing laws. The atmosphere remained constructive despite the complexity of the topics at hand.