Transcript Highlights:

• being able to enable this functionality being able to enable this functionality sooner<00:21:56.679
• what is required to enable functionality what is required to enable functionality uh<00:54:39.640
• <00:59:37.359> that enable the advanced functionality that enable the advanced functionality
• incompatible with a monopoly function incompatible with a monopoly function for<01:56:00.639>
• scale because these two don't function scale because these two don't function function<04:56:38.040

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Workers who keep our communities functioning, whether they are home health aides, early childhood educators
• I have to acknowledge the progress made since 2020; it has not solely been a function of the pandemic
• It has mostly been a function of wage growth through persistent investment from this body.
• worthless. ...to claim credit for cheap, high-deductible plans that are functionally worthless, valuing
• worthless. to claim credit for cheap, high deductible plans that are functionally worthless, valuing

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hybrid hearing on legislation concerning unemployment insurance, non-compete agreements, prevailing wage, and minimum wage issues. Committee leaders outlined the hearing process, asked witnesses to keep oral testimony to three minutes, and invited written testimony through November 20. No votes were taken during the hearing; it ended with a motion to adjourn and notice of the next hearing on November 20. Much of the testimony focused on bills to expand unemployment insurance for striking workers, including H. 2168 and S. 1319. Labor leaders, union members, and legal advocates argued that workers who are out on strike for more than 30 days should be able to receive UI benefits, saying the policy would help workers and families meet basic expenses, reduce employers’ ability to “wait out” strikes, and encourage good-faith bargaining. Speakers cited recent strikes, including the Republic Services strike, and said the proposal would not meaningfully increase strike activity or strain the UI trust fund. Another major topic was minimum wage legislation, especially H. 2107/S. 1349 to raise the minimum wage to $20 by 2029 and index it to inflation, and H. 2191 to create a $25 enhanced care worker minimum wage. Supporters said current wages are not keeping pace with housing, food, and childcare costs, and that care workers, direct support staff, and human service employees face chronic vacancies, burnout, and turnover. Testimony also supported H. 2126 on prevailing wage by adding apprenticeship and training contributions to the wage calculation, and H. 2159 and S. 1363 on prevailing wage-related issues. One witness, Russell Beck, testified against S. 1336, which would ban non-competes, and against H. 2118, arguing Massachusetts’ current non-compete law is a balanced compromise that should not be disrupted.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's not able to function, if that makes sense. You're recognized.
• Like I said, the primary function of the board is to advise and review the rules that get promulgated
• We have no functional numbers on the number of homeless because it seems to be wavering.
• And so I just want to make sure that, one, we're addressing how to deal with functional zero homelessness
• Functional zero homelessness is the number of homeless being less than the number of shelter beds in.

Bills: HB3131, HB3380, HB3502, HB3552, HB3849, HB3886, HB3907, HB4201, HB4302, HB3448, HB3409, HB4095, HB3637

Keywords: homelessness, shelter standards, safety, accountability, state funding, local governance, regulation, Oklahoma Homeless Shelter Safety and Accountability Act, foster care, child welfare, Department of Human Services, educational opportunities, employment support, technology in child welfare, faith-based organizations, self-sufficiency, financial literacy, HB3502, Oklahoma, children's code

Transcript Highlights:

• or helping the federal agency perform those functions.
• or helping the federal agency perform those functions.
• or helping the federal agency perform those functions.
• or helping the federal agency perform those functions.
• or helping the federal agency perform those functions.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• 16:56.840> its<03:16:57.040> legislature<03:16:57.720> May<03:16:58.120> function
• Either way functionally works the same, but that's a different style of doing it.
• vitamin D, calcium, zinc, magnesium, fiber, and potassium, all of which are critically important to cognitive
• function and health and well-being.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first discussed HB 443, which would change terms and vacancy language for members of a higher education commission. Members raised concerns that the bill was too narrow to address broader issues with commission membership, including expired appointments, attendance expectations, and whether the Department of Education could replace the commission’s role. Several members suggested the bill was not ready for action and favored holding it for further work, possibly through a subcommittee or work session. One member suggested that if attendance standards were added, no more than two unexcused absences should trigger removal, given the commission’s meeting schedule. The chair said he would defer action and form a small subcommittee to report back before the committee deadline. The committee then moved to HB 484, dealing with repurposing Career and Technical Education classroom space after 20 years of exclusive use. The chair explained that the bill was aimed at the Milford CTE project, where shared use of space could allow a school to repurpose part of a CTE facility while still using it for CTE-related instruction. Members discussed other possible situations around the state, including Claremont, North Conway, and Jaffrey/Rindge, and whether the bill should be limited to Milford or broadened to allow local districts more flexibility. Some members favored passing the bill now to help CTE projects move forward, while others argued for an amendment removing the requirement that the space be vacated specifically to expand the CTE program occupying it. Testimony and discussion emphasized that the Milford project had state approval but reduced funding, requiring a smaller scope and repurposing of existing space. Supporters said the bill could help preserve CTE programs while also benefiting general education space needs, and that local districts should have flexibility after 20 years. Opponents or cautious members noted that the language might not fit every district situation and asked for feedback from Director Beard and Steve Rothenberg before final action. The committee did not take a final vote in the portion provided, and instead discussed waiting for an amendment and additional input before acting.

Transcript Highlights:

• been working to do with things like House Bill 5 is our intention, but I think another important function
• to create an oversight function across the child welfare system.
• Finally, we need to streamline and consolidate those oversight functions in developing new oversight
• There was a period of time when that review function was a bit more robust. and perhaps some of these
• Turning to page 17, many other states have an ombudsman or Office of Child Advocate functions.

Transcript Highlights:

• It eliminates programs and functions, transfers some of those programs and functions, and specifies the
• It eliminates programs and functions, transfers some of those programs and functions, and specifies the
• :24:08.240> of<00:24:08.400> funds program, function or group of funds program, function
• Next is section three and functions.
• <00:40:57.520> of to do all the statutory functions of to do all the statutory functions of

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• and the lower-level academic functions—the school board's academic functions—in line with what we got
• higher level strictly business functions higher level strictly business functions and<00:35:56.480
• the the school board's functions the the school board's academic<00:36:01.119> functions<00:36
• <01:03:50.400> in math that allows you to function in math that allows you to function in
• Um functionality. Functionality. All right.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The meeting focused on reviewing and amending draft minutes and then discussing a draft report on SAU consolidation and school administration efficiency. Members first corrected a disputed statement in the minutes about who starts charter schools, and agreed to mark it as disputed. They also noted a donation figure mentioned in the meeting but not reflected in the notes, and then approved the minutes as amended. The committee then reviewed supporting materials, including a Census Bureau education spending table and a 1993 report on eliminating SAUs. The chair argued New Hampshire ranks very high in administrative spending and used that as evidence for reducing administrative costs. Other members pushed back, noting that education costs are largely borne locally and that the committee should stay focused on its charge. Several members also objected to characterizations of SAU boards and to relying heavily on an old report or on the School District Governance Association’s proposal. The draft report itself drew repeated edits. Members objected to language suggesting the testimony from associations was simply that change was not needed, and proposed more neutral wording about concerns over the impacts of changes. There was also disagreement over a proposed model in which a county-level school administrator would be elected; some members said that would be inappropriate and premature, while others argued the committee had not yet fully developed a consolidation model. The discussion ended with a call from some members for more time and for a future joint legislative committee to continue refining any proposal before legislation is introduced.

Transcript Highlights:

• In the 2023 session, those two functions split into their own agency, and so a lot of the work we've
• been doing over the last year has been around splitting those functions off and redefining what DHS is
• split into their own agency functions split into their own agency and<00:03:06.400> so<00:03:
• those functions off and redefining<00:03:14.400> what<00:03:14.959> DHS<00:03:15.799><
• <01:54:16.719> related our program Integrity functions related our program Integrity functions

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We develop a curated set of 306 business requirements encompassing functional and nonfunctional needs
• functionality most critical to providers was fully represent throughout this process.
• But there are people across the state who have never used technology to do a certain function before
• We had the it a lot of ties to the EV functionality.
• of whether it's new functionality, whether it's an enhancement for an upgrade.

Transcript Highlights:

• so that the functions of the state can be modern... ...current, and that at no point I would like to
• So they really kind of function together. Okay, thank you. Any additional questions?
• That's a safety function.
• Now the next one for this one is functionality.
• Maintenance, equipment distribution, and operational functions.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They function almost exclusively in the public school system.
• That's part of our function.
• It's financial and then it's what we call functional.
• The AG also has a function similar to ours on the criminal side and on the civil side.
• So today Audrey and I are going to walk you through the major functions of our agency.

Transcript Highlights:

• As a school psychologist, they function almost exclusively in the public school system.
• That's part of our function. So that's why we have been so adamant.
• It's financial, and then it's what we call functional. So do they still meet that?
• That's part of our function. But your question. it really hit to the part of deterrence.
• About the conservatorship functions that we do, excluding family-based safety services.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We message that those can continue to function beyond June.
• We message that those can continue to function beyond June.
• So that was an estimate... ...of those different functions.
• The interfaces, a lot of them are functional.
• “A lot of them are functional.

Summary: The committee received several informational reports from NDIT and DPI. Justin Data reviewed the quarterly major IT project portfolio, noting the portfolio was slightly under budget and behind schedule overall, with three red schedule items: Bed Management System and Vital Records were essentially complete and being closed out, and the Roadway Capital Planning Project was delayed by vendor bug fixes after testing. He also summarized recent project startups and closeouts, including the Victim Notification System, Medicaid data exchange, Highway Patrol’s motor carrier permit system, and several completed HHS and RIMS projects. Members asked for follow-up on ADA compliance work, the public-facing RIO website, and the state’s mainframe retirement timeline, and staff agreed to provide updates later. Craig Falkley reported on coordination of services with political subdivisions and higher education, including StageNet, cybersecurity, radio/911 services, and PeopleSoft coordination. He also explained distributed ledger technology as a tool for transparency and fraud prevention, but said it is not widely used in state government and suggested the report be modernized to focus more broadly on emerging technologies such as AI and cybersecurity. The committee generally agreed that the topic should be updated. Chris Gurgan presented the mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting program created by HB 1314, explaining how agencies and political subdivisions report incidents through NDIT’s website or service desk. He said 77 incidents had been reported since 2021, 47 met the statutory definition, and most were phishing-related; most reported incidents were resolved, with one recent ransomware matter still open. He also reviewed notable incidents since the last report, including the PowerSchool compromise, a SimpleHelp intrusion at a school district, a court intrusion, a WSUS vulnerability, a business email compromise, and a recent ransomware incident involving a non-state critical infrastructure entity. Members asked about recovery of stolen funds, early warning signs, smishing, training, MFA, conditional access, and cybersecurity maturity assessments; Gurgan said the state uses MFA and conditional access, provides awareness training to state employees, and would return with more information on maturity assessments. Tony Ambrose then updated the committee on the K-12 student information system bridge project. He said district implementation of Infinite Campus had begun statewide, but the data migration vendor originally selected was terminated for poor performance and replaced by Aurora Educational Technology, which had experience with similar statewide migrations. He also said DPI is migrating special education data from Tynet into Infinite Campus, and that some SLDS-based tools such as e-transcripts and Choice Ready may not function exactly as they do now at July 1, requiring interim or alternative solutions. Members raised concerns about summer school disruptions, the timing of the cutover, and whether the new system would support existing reporting and transcript functions; DPI said it was working on identity, authentication, data-sharing agreements, and post-go-live integrations, and would continue to refine the plan beyond June 30.

Transcript Highlights:

• functions that the legislature gives us. functions that the legislature gives us.
• You may be a similar licensing function.
• :30.560> very<01:26:31.360> very that licensing function is very very that licensing function
• <02:11:01.679> like cells that look and function like cells that look and function like miniature
• > the<02:22:14.319> criminal technically a function of the criminal technically a function

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Or were the positions performing important public safety functions?
• For both of these departments, a good number of the positions are related to law enforcement functions
• They were established to serve important functions, as the JLBC found in its review, and eliminating
• The wide range of functions that we do.
• But it has a real critical function.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The subcommittee heard an extensive discussion on the Governor’s proposal to eliminate vacant positions across several environmental and natural resources departments, including Fish and Wildlife, Parks, the Coastal Commission/BCDC, DPR, DTSC, CalRecycle, and the State Water Resources Control Board. The Legislative Analyst’s Office explained that the JLBC had already not concurred with 650 of roughly 1,000 positions under review, citing concerns that many of the vacancies support core functions such as law enforcement, permitting, public safety, sea-level rise planning, and implementation of recently enacted laws. The Department of Finance defended the vacancy reduction exercise as a way to capture savings from a statewide pool of about 40,000 vacancies, arguing that departments need flexibility to manage operations and that some vacancies are used to cover operating costs or hard-to-fill roles. Several department representatives testified that the cuts would reduce capacity and could slow permitting or enforcement, though they said they would try to reclassify positions and prioritize the highest-need work. No vote was taken and all items were held open for a future hearing. Members focused heavily on the practical effects of the cuts. Senators questioned whether vacant positions should be treated as a budget savings tool, whether special-fund positions should be eliminated when they do not affect the General Fund, and whether long-vacant positions should simply be removed if they have not been filled for years. Fish and Wildlife and Parks described impacts to permitting, wildlife conflict response, and law enforcement; Parks said its academy can train only about 50 rangers a year, leaving many vacancies even after the proposed reductions. The Coastal Commission said the affected positions support SB 272 sea-level rise planning with local governments. DPR said the proposed cuts would affect multiple branches involved in pesticide registration, enforcement, and safety review, while DTSC said it was still hiring from a large 2022 reform package and had reduced its vacancy rate from about 30 percent to 15 percent before the drill. The State Water Board said its proposed reductions would be spread across programs and could lead to slower permitting and backlogs, though it would protect drinking water functions as much as possible. The committee then moved to a State Water Resources Control Board overview and a new budget proposal tied to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision. Chair Esquivel described the board’s responsibilities for water quality, water rights, drinking water, and financial assistance, and said the board is updating the Bay-Delta Plan while also pursuing voluntary agreements and broader water-rights administration. He said federal workforce reductions and the Sackett ruling have increased pressure on state programs. The board requested $2.6 million and 12 permanent positions from the Waste Discharge Permit Fund to address permitting and enforcement gaps created by the narrowing of federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction. The LAO said the request met its high bar for new proposals because it was supported by the board’s data and would help maintain water-quality protections, though it noted that state processes are less efficient than the federal framework they are now partially replacing.

Transcript Highlights:

• Rearchitect is probably one of the more difficult types, but you get more functionality out of that.
• If you're going to be re-engineering that application and adding additional functionality, it may not
• necessarily be a cost savings, but we're hoping that the state is getting better functionality for the
• If you're going to be re-engineering that application and adding a additional functionality, it may not
• , it may not necessarily be a cost savings, but we're hoping to functional functionality.

Summary: The subcommittee first heard a panel on state cloud modernization efforts after canceling an LBR on the Department of Corrections’ OBIS project because the presentation materials were not submitted on time. Florida Digital Service, the Northwest Regional Data Center, and several agencies described how the state is assessing and migrating applications to cloud environments under the cloud-first policy. Northwest explained its 2023 cloud readiness assessment of 890 applications from 24 agencies, the criteria used to rate readiness and risk, and its recommendation to tackle lower-risk applications first. Agency updates covered the Department of Corrections’ modernization of 98 legacy applications tied to OBIS and cloud-native infrastructure, the Department of Elder Affairs’ Microsoft Power Platform modernization, the Department of Health’s health management and child protection systems, and FDOT’s large cloud program for transportation systems. Members repeatedly asked about costs, data ownership, disaster recovery, single sign-on, security tools, and whether cloud migration actually saves money; presenters generally said the focus is more on modernization, resilience, and efficiency than immediate savings, and that cost analyses are often application-specific rather than enterprise-wide. The discussion also covered governance and architecture questions. Florida Digital Service said agencies remain responsible for their own databases and cloud tenants, while FLDS provides advice and an enterprise architecture framework; it does not have statutory oversight over most projects, except for OBIS project oversight due to its size. Northwest said it is acting as a cloud broker for some agencies and is consolidating Azure and AWS payer tenants to seek better pricing, but agencies still make system-by-system decisions based on business needs, risk, latency, and total cost of ownership. Members raised concerns about fragmented data structures, the lack of a complete statewide application inventory, and the need for better interoperability and enterprise standards. Several agencies said disaster recovery is built into their cloud plans, and FDOT and Corrections described ongoing efforts to keep systems current through core platforms, training, and ongoing support. In the second half of the meeting, the Department of State presented two new technology requests. Secretary Byrd described the SunBiz corporate registry system as a 34-year-old platform supporting more than 3.5 million business entities and generating over $575 million in annual general revenue. He said the department had already virtualized the legacy hardware after earlier modernization efforts failed and is now seeking $800,000 recurring for password protection and $5 million nonrecurring to continue procurement for a replacement system. The department also presented the Florida Voter Registration System modernization request, noting that the current system is outdated and requires manual workarounds for some statutory changes. The department requested $2.4948 million nonrecurring and $44,000 recurring to procure a modernized FVRS solution, and staff said the feasibility study recommended a hybrid approach. Members asked about the study’s findings and about creating a database for voter eligibility information for returning citizens; the department said that would require data sharing with all 67 clerks of court and other entities such as DOC.

Transcript Highlights:

• She can't answer that because by doing that now she's functioning as a supervisor for 2 minutes.
• It really is, though, um, no different in function for a worker. Uh, you're serving a customer.
• in function for a worker. worker. worker.
• And the only way I would vote for it is if we amend it to allow the winery to handle those functions
• > in<00:44:12.200> a tips spelled out in the functions in a tips spelled out in the functions

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• turned off you the notification function turned off you can<00:21:50.320> still<00:21:50.520>
• If they have generative AI, they do not do this function, and so there was no pushback on the bill as
• If they have generative AI, they do not do this function, and so there was no pushback on the bill as
• If they have generative AI, they do not do this function, and so there was no pushback on the bill as
• There are some that have a limited trial subscription, but it's very few functions.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• How those systems are structured, how they function in practice, and, most importantly, what impact they
• The proposal aligns the TK through 12 management functions of the California...
• The proposal aligns the TK through 12 management functions of the California Department of Education
• And yet we know that we do have a need for some folks who are serving sort of that coherent function
• Yeah, that is part of the commission set up to assist the State Board in its curriculum functions.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The joint Senate Education and Budget Committee hearing focused on Governor Newsom’s education governance proposal, which would reorganize state K-12 education leadership by shifting day-to-day management of the Department of Education from the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction to a governor-appointed education commissioner, while giving the superintendent a more policy-focused role and voting seats on the State Board of Education and the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. Brooks Allen, for the State Board of Education and Governor’s office, argued the change would reduce fragmented authority, improve accountability, and align California with other states that use appointed chief education officials. Amber Alexander of the Department of Finance outlined the budget-neutral staffing transfers and transition timeline, and LAO analyst Sarah Cortez said the LAO supports the shift to an appointed commissioner but recommends Senate confirmation, clearer statutory duties, preserved legislative oversight, and a cost-neutral fiscal plan. Committee members raised substantial concerns about timing, constitutionality, voter expectations, and whether the proposal would actually improve student outcomes. Senator Cabaldon argued the change would effectively alter the meaning of the constitutionally created superintendent office during an election year without voter approval, and questioned whether governance restructuring has evidence of improving achievement or should instead yield savings. Other senators asked how the new structure would work in practice, who would be accountable if it failed, whether a governor-appointed commissioner was the best model, and whether local districts would truly see clearer lines of authority. Allen responded that the Legislature retains plenary authority over education, that the transition would be minimally disruptive, and that the proposal was designed to create a single line of management and clearer communication for local districts. The discussion also covered the Legislature’s role in curriculum and education policy. LAO staff explained that the Legislature has broad authority over education and can direct curriculum-related policy, though it has generally delegated detailed curriculum work to the State Board and the Instructional Quality Commission. Several senators said the current system already creates confusion for voters and local educators, while others argued the proposal adds another layer of bureaucracy and overpromises on results. No vote was taken at this hearing; members continued questioning witnesses and indicated the proposal would be examined further in later panels, including testimony from local education leaders.