Video & Transcript : 'absenteeism' :
Page 4 of 51
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- A addressing<00:42:01.599><c> absenteeism,</c><00:42:02.880><c> strengthening</c> addressing absenteeism
- ,</c> efforts to address chronic absenteeism, efforts to address chronic absenteeism, which<00:43:07.359
- Uh we absenteeism across the state.
- I'm just talks about absenteeism.
- </c> safety and not not rope and absenteeism. safety and not not rope and absenteeism.
Committee:
Senate Education Finance
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- Excuse me, I haven't talked absenteeism.
- Chronic absenteeism is not just a school issue.
- Chronic absenteeism is not just a school issue.
- The Minneapolis chronic absenteeism.
- </c><01:44:02.720><c> and</c> 25 years and chronic absenteeism and 25 years and chronic absenteeism and
Committee:
House Education Policy
KY
Kentucky 2025 Regular Session
Juvenile Justice Oversight Council (10-8-25)
Transcript Highlights:
- </c><00:04:10.319><c> is</c> systems. 30% chronic absenteeism is systems. 30% chronic absenteeism is
- I just looked at my numbers absenteeism.
- </c> started tracking chronic absenteeism. started tracking chronic absenteeism.
- chronic absenteeism what it was. So it chronic absenteeism what it was.
- </c> reduction in chronic absenteeism. reduction in chronic absenteeism.
Summary:
The Juvenile Justice Oversight Council met on October 8, 2025, approved the minutes from the August 29 meeting, and then focused its agenda on truancy and chronic absenteeism. Chad Butler, director of pupil personnel for Meade County and president of the Kentucky Department of Pupil Personnel directors, said chronic absenteeism remains a major problem statewide, citing recent Kentucky rates around 28% to 30% and noting that schools are trying to identify best practices to get students back in class. He said causes appear to include post-COVID social-emotional distress and confusion about when students should stay home, and he described a local effort to use a Healthy Kids Clinic model to keep some students in school when possible. In response to questions, he said chronic absenteeism has only been tracked seriously in the last two to three years and that House Bill 611 appears to have increased the number of youth entering the court system for habitual truancy; AOC said it would provide county-by-county data and outcomes later in the meeting.
The council then heard from John Tyson of Alabama, a former Mobile district attorney, who described the Helping Families Initiative as a school-community partnership designed to address truancy and related behavior issues without arrest. Tyson said Alabama defines chronic absence as missing 10% of the school year and emphasized that the program is preventive rather than punitive, using warning letters, family engagement, assessments, individualized intervention plans, and referrals to community services. He said the program has operated since 2003, now includes 20 district attorneys and 44 school systems, and served more than 95,000 students, 73,000 families, and 162,000 parents in the most recent year. Tyson reported that in Mobile County the program was associated with a 3.15% attendance improvement in 2023-24 and a 4% reduction in the issue in 2024-25, along with a 50% reduction in truancy and 58% reduction in chronic absenteeism, and he said the program produced a large return on investment.
Tyson also stressed that student absenteeism wastes tax dollars and that better attendance improves educational outcomes and community safety. He described the program’s use of a case-management database, real-time data tracking, and more than 1,000 referral agencies, and said the model is intended to be replicated statewide. He closed with examples of students whose attendance and family circumstances required coordinated support rather than punishment, including a teen mother and a disruptive child, to illustrate his view that schools, courts, and social services should work together to address underlying needs and keep children in school.
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
State Board of Election Supervisors Feb 5th, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- Item 30 provides for a scheduling procedure to ensure that there is enough time for counting absentee
- Item 30 provides for a scheduling procedure to ensure that there is enough time for counting absentee
- Okay, I would... supervisors to challenge the absentee ballot.
- Item 34 makes the laws for curing an absentee ballot consistent with the new laws regarding rejection
- of an absentee ballot.
Summary:
The State Board of Election Supervisors met on February 5, 2026, with Secretary of State Nancy Landry presiding. The board approved the minutes from its March 11, 2025 meeting and then received a presentation from First Assistant Secretary of State Catherine Newsom and Deputy Commissioner Lainey Boyd on proposed technical changes for the 2026 elections omnibus bill. The board removed item 7 from consideration before the presentation began.
The proposed provisions covered a wide range of election-administration topics, including ROV payroll timing, restrictions on ROV employees running for office, party affiliation clarification for voters marked “unaffiliated,” registration transfers, assistance for disabled voters, protection of pre-registrant information, removal from protected voter lists, absentee voting procedures, precinct boundary notices, candidate death notice procedures, nomination petitions, ballot design, watcher deadlines, overvote definitions, absentee ballot curing, nursing home voting timelines, procurement authority for voting equipment, and contest procedures for elections and constitutional amendments. Board members asked several clarifying questions, and staff explained the intent of various technical and procedural changes.
Two items were specifically discussed as policy concerns. Board member Guidry objected to item 37, which would allow the Secretary of State to bring an election contest based on irregularities reported by an election official, and staff agreed to remove it from the omnibus bill for separate consideration. Item 38, concerning deadlines and causes of action for contesting the calling of a constitutional amendment, and item 39, clarifying that such a contest cannot be filed before election day, were explained as intended to align amendment contests with other election contest deadlines. After discussion, the board approved items 1 through 6, 8 through 36, and 38 through 39 for inclusion in the report and eventual omnibus bill. No public comments were submitted, and the meeting adjourned.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
- Um HB1306 absentee ballot bill.
- </c> relative to the counting of absentee relative to the counting of absentee ballots<04:15:25.920><
- </c> reconciling all of our absentee ballots. reconciling all of our absentee ballots.
- </c> are doing in reconciling the absentee are doing in reconciling the absentee ballots<04:29:00.560
- </c> approved absentees. approved absentees.
Committee:
House Election Law
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
State Board of Election Supervisors Feb 5th, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- Item 30 provides for a scheduling procedure to ensure that there is enough time for counting absentee
- Item 34 makes the laws for curing an absentee ballot consistent with the new laws regarding rejection
- of an absentee ballot.
- Item 34 makes the laws for curing an absentee ballot consistent with the new laws regarding rejection
- of an absentee ballot.
Summary:
The State Board of Election Supervisors met on February 5, 2026, with a quorum present and approved the minutes from the March 11, 2025 meeting. Chair Nancy Landry explained that the board was reviewing proposed technical and administrative changes for the Department of State’s 2026 elections omnibus bill, which would later go to the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees for public hearing. No public comment cards were submitted, and the board reiterated that comments could also be emailed to the acting secretary.
First Assistant Secretary of State Catherine Newsom and Deputy Commissioner Lainey Boyd presented items 1 through 39, with item 7 removed before consideration and item 37 later removed after board discussion. The proposals covered a wide range of election-administration topics, including registrar salary payment timing, restrictions on ROV employees running for office, clarifying party affiliation for voters who select “unaffiliated,” technical updates for voter registration transfers and precinct changes, protections for pre-registrants’ personal information, removal from protected voter lists, absentee ballot procedures, nomination petition certification, notice requirements when a candidate dies, watcher deadlines, over-voting, ballot curing, nursing home voting timing, procurement authority for voting equipment, and deadlines for contesting constitutional amendments and election irregularities. Several items were explained as cleanup or consistency changes to align the election code with current practice and prior omnibus revisions.
Board members asked multiple clarifying questions, especially about the meaning of “unaffiliated,” the timing language for pre-registrants, what counts as actual notice of a candidate’s death, and whether proposed rules would follow the APA. The most substantive disagreement involved item 37, which would have allowed the Secretary of State to bring an election contest based on irregularities reported by an election official; after discussion, the board agreed to remove that item from the omnibus recommendations. Members also discussed item 38, which would create a cause of action and deadline for contesting the calling of a constitutional amendment, and item 39, which clarifies that election contests cannot be filed before election day. The board then approved the remaining provisions—items 1 through 6, 8 through 36, and 38 and 39—and adjourned.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee 4/2/25
Elections Finance and Government Operations
Transcript Highlights:
- Representative Tabke's bill dealing with absentee voting provisions.
- </c> city to unilaterally opt out of absentee city to unilaterally opt out of absentee balloting<00:54
- </c> prefer five days um for absentee prefer five days um for absentee applications<01:01:31.119><c>
- </c> voters um either inside an absentee voters um either inside an absentee location<01:02:19.559><c
- </c><01:23:23.400><c> period</c> the absentee period the absentee period thank<01:23:25.639><c> you</
WV
West Virginia 2026 Regular Session
WV Senate Education Committee in Session Mar 11th, 2026 at 09:36 am
Transcript Highlights:
- It removes criminal penalties for an 18-year-old for chronic absenteeism and makes a number of technical
- What if the absenteeism continues? I mean, what if the services don't work?
- What if the absenteeism continues? So you're talking about the court itself?
- One concern I believe that I have is just the changing definition from truancy to chronic absenteeism
- What would the changing this definition to chronic absenteeism do with the ability for the courts to
Summary:
The committee first approved the minutes from its prior meeting and then took up House Bill 5537, a bill to repeal several obsolete or outdated code sections. Counsel explained that the bill would remove provisions related to professional development, a behavioral interventionist pilot program, county lists of facilities for child daycare, and high school graduation rates, with a proposed amendment adding another outdated education code section from 1923. The committee adopted the amendment and reported HB 5537 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass as amended.
The committee then considered House Bill 4656, which would shift truancy policy toward chronic absenteeism and earlier intervention. Counsel said the committee substitute would replace punitive status-offense treatment with wraparound services, student support specialists, and a new child-in-need-of-supervision process, while also ending compulsory attendance at age 18 and removing criminal penalties for 18-year-olds. Members questioned how the new thresholds would work, including the role of attendance directors, prosecutors, judges, and the Department of Human Services, and whether the bill would change current diversion funding or court authority.
Witnesses from Fayette County, Greenbrier County, and Taylor County largely opposed the bill or urged caution. The Fayette County attendance director said current truancy procedures, including school-based probation and court involvement, help secure family participation and services, and warned that removing the status offense would weaken enforcement. A Greenbrier County probation officer said diversion programs are effective and that court involvement often leads to needed services. A Taylor County juvenile prosecutor said status-offense jurisdiction gives courts meaningful leverage and flexibility, and asked that counties be allowed to keep existing approaches that work locally. After testimony, the committee voted to report HB 4656 to the full Senate without recommendation and with a recommendation that it be re-referred to the Committee on Education, then adjourned.
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- </c> for a new city to opt into absentee for a new city to opt into absentee voting<00:21:34.880><c>
- And finally, absentee period begins.
- </c> a city administers absentee a city administers absentee uh<00:21:53.080><c> needs</c><00:21:53.720
- </c><00:22:08.880><c> location</c> the opening days of an absentee location the opening days of an absentee
- </c> completing and pre-filling an absentee completing and pre-filling an absentee ballot<00:44:29.080
Committee:
Senate Elections
MO
Transcript Highlights:
- This only allows them to be in during the absentee period.
- And the concern being, especially during absentee voting. Great. That in-person absentee...
- The concern being, especially during absentee voting.
- One judge attempted to shut down all absentee voting in my county.
- But the language changes it during the absentee voting period on line four.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
Elect Committee Meeting - 2025-04-02
Elections Finance and Government Operations
Transcript Highlights:
- Representative Tabke's bill dealing with absentee voting provisions.
- We are also very pleased to see the inclusion of the absentee ballot application deadlines.
- We do a lot of data entry with absentee ballot applications; however, I'm not sure if the statewide..
- In section 6, the office would prefer 5 days for absentee applications to be received by mail, email,
- People in the act of voting or registering or signing an election petition in the absentee period.
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- </c> students to prevent chronic absenteeism students to prevent chronic absenteeism we<00:13:20.720>
- </c> specifically to Chronic absenteeism specifically to Chronic absenteeism including<01:09:29.799><
- </c> the complexity of chronic absenteeism the complexity of chronic absenteeism and<01:36:36.280><c>
- <01:57:13.800><c> begin</c><01:57:14.079><c> to</c> absenteeism begin to absenteeism begin to increase
- </c> contributing to this uh absenteeism contributing to this uh absenteeism anyway<01:58:43.239><c>
Committee:
Senate Education Finance
OK
Transcript Highlights:
- Under federal law, overseas voters can use this to request an absentee ballot.
- Under federal law, overseas voters can use this to request an absentee ballot.
- “We would flag them in the system to only receive what’s referred to as the federal write-in absentee
- But this would not be on Election Day or in-person absentee voting or regular absentee voting.
- “Voted VFX or submitted their absentee ballot VFX.
Committee:
House Elections and Ethics
Summary:
The Ethics and Elections Committee heard several election-related bills. HB 2938, as amended by PCS, would restrict certain overseas voters who are not military or dependents from voting in Oklahoma state and local elections unless they were bona fide residents with an intent to return, while still preserving federal voting rights where applicable. The Secretary of the State Election Board explained the measure as a tightening of existing law and said counties would flag affected voters for federal-only absentee ballots. After questions about how intent would be determined and how ballots would be administered, the committee passed the bill 5-1.
HB 2939 would remove outdated references to fax machines from election law at the request of the State Election Board. Testimony noted fax returns are now rare, limited to a very small number of military and overseas voters, and are less secure than current electronic and mail options. The committee passed the bill 6-0. HB 3306, as amended, lowers the threshold for requiring a candidate committee filing from $1,000 to $400, with the author describing it as a transparency measure to ensure more candidates disclose fundraising and spending. The committee passed that bill 6-0.
The committee also passed HB 3722, with a PCS clarifying that voter registration applicants must actively choose a party affiliation rather than being defaulted to unaffiliated if they leave the field blank. The bill passed 5-1. HB 413, with an amendment, clarified that people with felony convictions regain voting rights once all incarceration, parole, supervision, probation, and related obligations, including fines and fees, are completed; the committee passed it 6-0. Finally, HB 4123, which would bar former school employees terminated for cause from running for school board in the same district, drew concerns about fairness and the breadth of “for cause.” The author said the bill was aimed at serious misconduct cases and agreed to work on clarifying language, and the bill was laid over until the next week.
WV
West Virginia 2026 Regular Session
WV Senate Education Committee in Session Mar 11th, 2026 at 09:36 am
Education
Transcript Highlights:
- It removes criminal penalties for an 18-year-old for chronic absenteeism and makes a number of technical
- What if the absenteeism continues? I mean, what if the services don't work?
- What if the absenteeism continues? So you're talking about the court itself?
- One concern I believe that I have is just the changing definition from truancy to chronic absenteeism
- What would the changing this definition to chronic absenteeism do with the ability for the courts to
Committee:
Senate Education
NH
New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session
Committee of Conference on SB 221, SB 213, SB 218 (06/18/2025)
Transcript Highlights:
- ballot because they vote via absentee ballot because they require<00:09:59.040><c> us</c><00:09:59.279
- </c><00:10:06.640><c> So,</c> order to cast our absentee ballot.
- So, order to cast our absentee ballot.
- If you had an objection to one of these absentee ballots, you had to do that at the pre-processing, and
- If you had an objection to one of these absentee ballots, you had to do that at the pre-processing, and
Summary:
The committee worked through several election-related bills and conference committee compromises. On SB 221, members discussed a streamlined re-registration form for voters removed from the checklist, with the Secretary of State to develop the necessary form; one member opposed the bill as unnecessary and warned that more frequent purges can disenfranchise voters, but the committee ultimately accepted the compromise and prepared it for signatures.
On SB 213, the committee reviewed technical language changes to the HB 340-related provisions, including changing “legislative body” to “governing body” and replacing “measure” with “warrant article.” Despite those edits, one member argued the bill could chill public employees’ participation in official duties and should be held to the Senate position; another said the bill was unnecessary in light of other voting restrictions already enacted. No position change was made, and the bill remained opposed by at least some members.
On SB 218, the committee agreed to add the word “applicable” in two places, and to remove sections 5 and 6 from the Senate version so pre-processing language would be restored. The House also asked to strike a sentence giving the Secretary of State broad authority over errors identified in the process, preferring that such matters remain in statute. Members generally described these edits as improvements, though some still opposed the bill overall. The meeting ended after a final comment on SB 213 seeking to remove language requiring public employees’ factual information to be provided only in response to public requests, followed by adjournment.
NH
New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session
Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs (04/29/2025)
Election Law and Municipal Affairs
Transcript Highlights:
- </c><00:33:46.960><c> ballot</c> registering through the absentee ballot registering through the absentee
- If they're applying for an absentee ballot, they don't have to provide proof of citizenship.
- If they're applying for an absentee ballot, they don't have to provide proof of citizenship.
- If they're applying for an absentee ballot, they don't have to provide proof of citizenship.
- </c> were registering uh through the absentee were registering uh through the absentee process.<00:41
Committee:
Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs
MN
Transcript Highlights:
- bowling locations the temporary absentee bowling locations the city<00:03:25.640><c> count</c><00:03
- voting have to post that information 14 days before the absentee voting period starts.
- as well as um cities counties absentee as well as um cities counties and and and municipalities<00:07
- have to post uh that administer absentee have to post uh that information<00:07:25.639><c> 14</c><00
- voting period starts yep yep so absentee voting period starts yep yep so there's<00:07:31.120><c> a<
Committee:
Senate Elections
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
House and Governmental Affairs Mar 18th, 2026
House and Governmental Affairs
Transcript Highlights:
- An absentee ballot? What things have to be cured on an absentee ballot for the count?
- For requiring a ballot to be cured, an absentee ballot.
- What things have to be cured on an absentee ballot for the count?
- It is only for an absentee ballot or that type of thing.
- But on the absentee ballot, all you have is a witness.
Committee:
House House and Governmental Affairs
Summary:
The Committee on House and Governmental Affairs met on March 18 and first adopted the minutes from its February 21 meeting. The committee then took up HB 250, which would have narrowed financial disclosure requirements for appointed, unpaid board and commission members by exempting immediate family information. Supporters said the bill would reduce burdens and help recruit volunteers, while opponents argued it would weaken ethics enforcement and create opportunities for undisclosed conflicts of interest. After debate and a roll call, the committee deadlocked and HB 250 failed to advance on a 6-6 vote with one abstention.
The committee next considered HB 576, which transfers ownership and maintenance responsibility for the Old Governor’s Mansion to the Department of State and codifies its current operational role. Secretary of State Nancy Landry and mansion staff testified in support, describing expanded programming, increased visitors, and the need to align the statute with current practice. The committee adopted technical amendments and then reported HB 576 favorably without objection.
The committee also heard HB 117, which recreates the Department of State and its statutory entities through July 1, 2033, and reported it favorably without objection. The major remaining item was HB 842, the annual omnibus elections bill, which makes numerous technical and substantive changes to election law, including voter assistance for people with disabilities, absentee ballot and petition procedures, inactive voter updates, and election contest deadlines. Several members and public witnesses raised concerns about disability documentation, absentee ballot curing, witness requirements, constitutional amendment challenge deadlines, and the scope of authority given to the Secretary of State, while others said the bill clarified existing practice and improved election administration. After adopting amendments and rejecting a motion to defer, the committee reported HB 842 favorably by an 8-5 vote.
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Appr-Sub-General Government and Transportation 2ND REVISED Afternoon Session Jan 12th, 2026 at 01:30 pm
Transcript Highlights:
- All 77 counties are now set up to utilize this as we head into 2026 for absentee ballots.
- you can call your county election board and say, 'Jan, where's my absentee ballot?'
- You know, it may save on some printing costs for absentee materials.
- There are some people, though, other than those that certainly need to vote absentee.
- I always vote absentee. I find it very efficient.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
- </c><00:33:33.200><c> ballot</c> Bill 218 relative to absentee ballot Bill 218 relative to absentee ballot
- So it applies to everyone requesting an absentee voter.
- </c> original bill only applied to absentee original bill only applied to absentee ballots<01:14:21.040
- So it applies to everyone requesting an absentee voter.
- </c><01:19:13.120><c> balls,</c> Um, open these, 800, 500 absentee balls, Um, open these, 800, 500 absentee
Committee:
House Election Law