Transcript Highlights:

• THERE WERE A LOT OF INDIVIDUALS THAT HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE STATEWIDE MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT.
• WE'VE GOTTEN THERE SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CUT A LOT OF TIME OFF OF THAT.
• WE GO TO THAT MIDWEST AREA FOR WHATEVER REASON THEY GOT A LOT OF SWIFT WATER RESCUE TEAMS.
• THERE'S A LOT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES OUT THERE, A LOT OF THINGS CHANGING AND I WILL TALK ABOUT ONE OF THEM
• Guthrie: THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE ABOUT CONSOLIDATION.

Transcript Highlights:

• So we do have a lot of history here.
• So we've done a lot of...
• So we've done a lot of this work.
• I think a lot, you know, I did a lot of voice recordings with residents here in my area that really helped
• I do want to remind folks that a lot of the history and a lot of this sort of engagement beyond the Cape

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The commission approved the minutes from its March 11 meeting after a motion by Jeannie Costa and a second by Senator Michael Brady, with members noting a few possible corrections to attendance and wording. The meeting then focused on updates about the commission’s timeline and funding. Staff reported that an amendment to extend the commission’s deadline from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2027 was filed in the Fair Share budget but was not accepted, and members discussed pursuing the extension through other budget vehicles, including the regular budget, a supplemental budget, or other legislation. Commissioners also discussed the need to fill a vacancy left by Julius Brito and to potentially extend the deadline for appointing new commissioners. A substantial portion of the meeting was devoted to brainstorming the commission’s community engagement plan for the proposed Cape Verdean Culture Center. Members revisited a three-part approach involving site visits, traditional listening sessions, and outreach at existing Cape Verdean events, while also emphasizing historical accuracy, youth engagement, visibility, and regional collaboration. Commissioners suggested using surveys, canvassing, social media, a website, and other digital tools to reach people across the diaspora, including those unable to attend in person. Several members recommended specific locations and institutions for engagement, including New Bedford, Brockton, Boston, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island, with references to museums, historical societies, clubs, and cultural organizations already doing related work. Testimony and comments also addressed funding and organizational structure for the future center. Legislators described possible funding sources such as House and Senate earmarks, a bond bill, and a nonprofit structure that could later support fundraising and operations. Members discussed examples from other cultural institutions, including the Holocaust Museum, the African American History Museum, and the Haitian Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center, as models for governance and public support. The group also raised the possibility of future collaboration with the Cape Verdean government and institutions in Cabo Verde, though one member urged waiting until after upcoming elections there before making formal contacts. No additional votes were taken beyond approving the minutes and adjourning the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• So an awful lot needs to be done. It’s a lot that has been needed to be done over the years.
• first floor by the hall of flags, a lot first floor by the hall of flags, a lot of<00:54:26.480>
• > of to be done and there are a lot of to be done and there are a lot of questions<00:55:52.480
• Uh so an awful lot needs to portraits. Uh so an awful lot needs to be<00:56:28.720> done.
• So there's a lot there and a lot that needs to be reviewed and updated.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Legislative Administration Committee opened with Senate Bill 197, which would remove the Department of Health and Human Services commissioner’s supervisory role over the legislative facilities committee nurse and instead place the nurse under the Board of Nursing’s scope of practice. The sponsor’s aide and DHHS legislative director explained that the change updates outdated language last amended in 1995, aligns the statute with current practice, and was reviewed with legislative staff and nursing regulators, who were said to be comfortable with the proposal. Members asked why the change was needed and whether the commissioner had actually been supervising; the response was that the language no longer reflected how the position functioned. The chair said the bill might still be a simple consent item, but additional modifications were being discussed, so the hearing was closed with no vote taken at that time. The committee then heard Senate Bill 186, authorizing the Joint Legislative Historical Committee to accept and display a portrait of former Senator Jeb Bradley in the State House. The sponsor’s aide described Bradley’s legislative and congressional service and urged the committee to move the bill ought to pass. Members asked practical questions about whether the portrait was completed, its size, and where it would be hung. The witness said the portrait was not yet completed and that size and placement had not been determined, though the committee was told the historical committee would decide placement. A committee member noted that portrait sizes and locations are already being reviewed because of space concerns, and the hearing ended without a vote. A work session followed on the portrait bills, with the chair using them as a vehicle to discuss broader problems in the statutes governing portraits and the historical committee. He said the committee had gathered information from other states and suggested possible policy ideas such as portrait moratoriums, waiting periods after death, size limits, and clearer placement rules. Members discussed the need to update the RSAs and better define the historical committee’s authority. The committee did not take final action during the work session, but the discussion indicated that the portrait bills may be held while broader statutory revisions are considered.

Transcript Highlights:

• A lot of pushback, public pushback.
• I have a lot of co-ops, and there are a lot of these large loads coming up there.
• We bring a lot of revenue, we bring a lot of economic development, but we don't use services.
• This was articulated earlier today, and because capital is fungible and a lot of these, a lot of the
• But the batch zero process right now has not a lot of transparency, and there's not a lot of regulatory

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Fifty-three counties times that is a lot of time.
• Glott or probably you for a whole lot longer.
• So we've had lots of conversations.
• A lot of those things came later.
• A lot of these things are intertwined.

Keywords: 908, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A couple of the things is, yes, a lot of individuals that are from the North A lot of resort owners and
• I visit a lot of our schools.
• We have a lot of different technology, and we have a lot of other school management systems that allow
• a teacher... ...to leave a lot of instruction and a lot of lesson plans.
• We have a large committee with a lot of differing opinions and a lot of different ideas that came to

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:03:42.720> of measure them so we have a lot of measure them so we have a lot of different
• By the way, lots of charts, lots of excitement, lots of good information for people to make decisions
• Well, we have a lot of demand, really excited about not a lot of supply.
• So, seller's market: a lot of demand, not a lot of supply.
• the way uh lots of charts lots of the way uh lots of charts lots of excitement<00:24:29.960>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• So that's a lot cheaper than $158 million. That's a lot cheaper than $158 million.
• You hear talked about a lot.
• A lot of you like to look at your tax rate and you have a lot of feelings about your tax rate, wherever
• <01:04:15.799> of your tax rate and you have a lot of your tax rate and you have a lot of
• town so um this looks obviously a lot town so um this looks obviously a lot like<01:46:07.440>

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Department of Education’s Bureau of School Finance provided an adequacy-funding training for Division II, led by Mark Mello. He walked the committee through the adequacy formula using Albany, Allenstown, and Alton as examples, explaining average daily membership, base adequacy aid, and differential aid for free/reduced-price meals, special education, and English language learners. He also noted a recent change requiring home-education differential aid and emphasized that these aid streams are generally unrestricted district funding rather than money tied to specific students or programs. A major focus was the ongoing litigation over the adequacy base amount and the statewide education property tax, or SWEPT. Mello explained the historical basis of the current base amount, the 2008 legislative report that set the original methodology, and the later court ruling that the adequacy amount should be $7,356, which is now before the Supreme Court. He also described how SWEPT currently raises a fixed statewide amount of $363 million and how that revenue is used to offset the state’s adequacy obligation. For the example towns, Albany and Allenstown receive state adequacy grants because their SWEPT revenue is below their calculated adequacy cost, while Alton is an excess SWEPT community because its local SWEPT revenue exceeds the cost of adequate education. The discussion then turned to the pending “excess SWEPT” issue in the Supreme Court and what would happen if excess collections had to be remitted to the state. Mello said the Department is preparing a hypothetical walkthrough and explained that, if the court upholds the Superior Court ruling, DRA would likely be directed to collect excess SWEPT. Members raised concerns about whether SWEPT must be used for educational purposes and about the cash-flow burden on towns if money had to move from municipalities to the state and then back to districts. Mello and members discussed possible administrative workarounds, such as credits against other state aid distributions, and noted that the committee would continue reviewing the mechanics if the court decision comes down during budget work.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think we have a lot more...
• There is a lot more for us to dig into.
• It's PM2.5 and a lot of the particulate matter, a lot of the PM2.5. Oh, okay.
• A lot of it is, yes.
• From our perspective, the governor's drilling proposal is a lot of hope and not a whole lot of strategy

Summary: The joint informational hearing of the Assembly Committees on Utilities and Energy, Transportation, and Natural Resources focused on California’s transportation fuels sector, especially the state’s response to refinery closures and the broader transition away from fossil fuels. Opening remarks emphasized the tension between climate and air-quality goals, fuel affordability, refinery jobs and local tax bases, and the need to avoid crisis-driven responses as Phillips 66 and Valero consider shutting refineries in Wilmington and Benicia. Professor Emily Grubert framed the issue as a long-term managed transition in which the public already bears much of the risk and should also capture benefits from a well-planned shift. CARB Chair Leanne Randolph reviewed the state’s emissions and fuel policies, including AB 32, the low-carbon fuel standard, clean vehicle programs, and the at-berth regulation for ocean-going vessels. She said California’s transportation sector remains the largest source of greenhouse gases and a major source of smog-forming pollution, but that the state has made substantial progress and still needs to reduce demand for fossil fuels while maintaining compliance with federal air-quality standards. Randolph also said CARB’s recent LCFS amendments had not caused the predicted spike in gas prices and explained that compliance pathways for the at-berth rule include emissions-reduction technologies or payments into a remediation fund. CEC Vice Chair Gunda described declining gasoline demand, shrinking in-state refining capacity, and growing dependence on imports, arguing that the state is in a “mid-transition” period that requires both support for legacy infrastructure and continued investment in cleaner alternatives. He outlined the administration’s petroleum market stabilization proposal, which aims to return California crude production to 125 million barrels a year through four components: codifying the ban on fracking, validating the Kern County oil-and-gas permitting ordinance, creating a temporary CEQA exemption paired with a two-for-one plug-and-drill framework, and strengthening pipeline and spill-safety requirements. Department of Conservation Director Jennifer Lucasey said the proposal is intended to stabilize crude supply and pipeline throughput while preserving health and environmental protections, and noted that CalGEM would still review permits and enforce other requirements. Mayor Steve Young of Benicia testified that a Valero closure would significantly reduce city revenue and leave the community facing years of cleanup and redevelopment challenges. He said the city supports environmental protection but is worried about the economic hit, the possibility that Benicia becomes a fuel-import terminal, and the lack of local influence over refinery decisions. Members pressed the panel on the CEQA exemption, tribal and habitat review, disclosure of closure liabilities, fuel-demand projections, and whether the proposal should include more demand-side measures. No formal votes were taken; the hearing was informational, and officials said some proposals, including a margin-cap pause and further transition planning, would be taken up later in the process.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:38:56.079> of um what I think I'm hearing a lot of um what I think I'm hearing a lot of
• It was a lot of animal handling and that kind of stuff.
• At the moment, I don't have a whole lot to add.
• at the moment I don't have a whole lot at the moment I don't have a whole lot to<01:21:38.159>
• <01:23:52.480> of prosecution okay because um a lot of prosecution okay because um a lot of

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The subcommittee work session focused on HB 153, a bill intended to improve law enforcement response to animal cruelty cases. The bill’s sponsor explained that the proposal would require one sheriff or deputy and one state trooper in each county to receive specific training in animal cruelty laws so they could serve as knowledgeable resources. The sponsor described real-world examples where agencies were unclear about jurisdiction, veterinary involvement, and response protocols, arguing that better training was needed because animal cruelty cases can require quick action and many towns do not have animal control officers. Jerry Sorenson, a retired UNH professor and longtime animal cruelty instructor, described the existing training structure at Police Standards and Training. He said recruits receive a required two-hour introductory block at the academy, while additional animal cruelty materials and a more comprehensive online resource library are available through the Benchmark system for certified officers. He noted that the older two-day in-service course he taught was more detailed and guided, but the current online materials are more of a self-study resource and are not mandated for in-service officers. He also said the committee could track usage through Benchmark analytics. Kurt Arenberg of the Humane Society of the United States and Rob Johnson of the Farm Bureau both supported the goal of ensuring a trained law enforcement contact is available statewide, but they questioned whether assigning one trained officer per county would be the best way to achieve it. They emphasized the need for a real-time response and for officers to know where to find help and guidance, rather than expecting one person per county to handle all cases. Vincent Greco of State Police said the agency is willing to help and has handled animal cruelty matters, but he said one trooper per county would not realistically meet the goal given coverage demands and vacancy rates; he suggested broader access to resources and training may be more effective. Representative Freeman asked how cases are handled now and was told State Police responses generally follow standard criminal investigation steps, with assistance from animal control, veterinarians, and other resources when available. No vote or final action was taken during the work session.

Transcript Highlights:

• To the committee, because I think that in a lot of instances, there's a lot of positions that are vacant
• There's just a lot of different assumptions and a lot of different variables that can play into being
• Lots of stuff has happened in those 10 months, lots of education, and just been really glad to be here
• You have lots of different things there.
• A lot of information, a lot of stuff for us to digest, but these are the things that we have to digest

Transcript Highlights:

• And that's gonna be kind of a Something that that I'm going to talk about a lot is a lot of this influx
• You can see, we need a lot of addiction counselors.
• I've been holding a lot of meetings and opening up a lot of time for just listening and engaging, understanding
• I'm sure a lot of you have heard of that.
• And we said, Gee, that's a lot, guys.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, they did, they provide us a lot of great information, a lot of great data, and a lot of great, great
• And I know we're going to have a lot of wonderful bills and public policies sent our way and a lot of
• So we save the state a lot of money on that.
• It's a lot of great information, a lot of services and resources being provided to the men and women
• a lot of resources.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I want to thank a lot of them.
• May you're going to see that a lot May you're going to see that a lot around<00:02:54.640> here
• <00:06:18.400> of you're fortunate to have um a lot of you're fortunate to have um a lot of
• this bill with just this we have a lot this bill with just this we have a lot more<00:30:22.679>
• <00:53:05.680> of deed come up and respond to a lot of deed come up and respond to a lot of

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• They have a lot of grants to manage.
• They have a lot of grants to manage.
• They have a lot of grants to manage.
• They have a lot of grants to manage.
• <00:36:31.200> of seems like there are a lot of seems like there are a lot of requirements

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Human Services Committee met on January 22, 2025, to focus early in session on waste, fraud, abuse, and program integrity in Minnesota human services programs. The chair said taxpayers expect funds to reach people in need and asked the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) to present on resources, progress, and possible solutions. Members also asked the auditors to note where the legislature or agencies had already taken action to address prior findings. OLA staff summarized recent reports on grants management and oversight. They said noncompliance with grants policies has been pervasive across agencies, including problems at DHS in conflict-of-interest documentation and pre-award financial reviews. In one DHS review, 30 of 41 grant reviewers had missing or incomplete conflict forms, and 20 of 57 grants lacked required financial review documents; the issues affected about $11.5 million in grant funding. OLA said DHS spent more than $400 million in grants to nonprofit organizations from 2018 to 2022, and they identified broader factors affecting compliance such as inconsistent funding for grants administration, ad hoc training, inconsistent data systems, and limited enforcement authority. They noted 2023 legislative changes that allowed agencies to retain some grant funding for administration and directed an assessment of a statewide grants management system, and they said OGM training and staffing have increased, though training is still not required for all staff. The Financial Audit Division then discussed the senior nutrition program at DHS, which delivered about 3.1 million meals to more than 40,000 participants in 2022 through the Minnesota Board on Aging, area agencies, service providers, and subcontractors. The audit found nine findings across documentation, monitoring, contract oversight, participant recertification, and data quality. Examples included service providers failing to recertify participants or recording inaccurate data, the Board on Aging not performing monitoring visits since 2017 or financial reconciliations in 2022, and area agencies failing to complete required site visits. Survey results also suggested participant database inaccuracies. OLA recommended stronger monitoring, clearer procedures, and more reliable data to ensure services reach intended recipients. No formal votes or committee actions were taken in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• A lot in a bus lot. They don't know what to do with them. They can't recycle them.
• We have a lot of division. We have a lot of hurt.
• They're a lot smarter, a lot more savvier than we think they are.
• I call it a lot of financial uncertainty. A lot of budgetary uncertainty.
• A lot of financial uncertainty. A lot of budgetary uncertainty.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Because we have a lot of people in my district on fixed incomes. We have a lot.
• We have a lot of division. We have a lot of hurt.
• They're a lot smarter, a lot more savvier than we think they are.
• I call it a lot of financial uncertainty. A lot of budgetary uncertainty.
• A lot of financial uncertainty. A lot of budgetary uncertainty.

Summary: The Senate took up Committee Substitute for Senate Joint Resolution 2F, a proposed constitutional amendment on property tax reform. The measure would increase the homestead exemption in stages, lower the assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, and limit county and municipal ad valorem tax revenues to specified uses such as public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, debt service, employee benefits, and certain administrative costs. Supporters, led by Senator Avila, argued the proposal would provide meaningful property tax relief and push local governments to rein in spending, while opponents warned it would shift costs to fees, reduce local flexibility, and threaten funding for core services. Several amendments were offered and rejected. Senator Sharief proposed an income-based circuit breaker for property tax relief; Senator Smith offered a sunset clause; and Senator Berman proposed revising the ballot statement to better match the amended proposal and remove outdated references. Each amendment failed on recorded votes. During questioning and debate, senators pressed Avila on the ballot language, the effect on local services, whether the legislature could later restrict local spending by statute, and whether renters would benefit. Avila said the ballot language was not his and repeatedly stated he was presenting the governor’s proposal, while also saying local governments would need to prioritize budgets and that future legislatures could address implementation details. After the amendment votes, the joint resolution was read a third time and moved into final debate. Supporters said the proposal would give homeowners relief and force fiscal discipline at the local level. Opponents, including Senators Nathan, Bracey Davis, Smith, Polsky, and Errington, argued the measure was rushed, lacked a completed fiscal analysis or replacement revenue, and could harm police, fire, libraries, parks, housing, and other local services. They also criticized the ballot summary as misleading, especially regarding the staged homestead exemption increase. The transcript ends during debate, before any final vote on the joint resolution itself.

Transcript Highlights:

• I think a lot of these these maps.
• <00:13:56.640> of though there might be a lot of though there might be a lot of similarities
• We've got a lot going on, so you do have a lot going on.
• We have a lot of components in motion We have a lot of components in motion right<00:29:24.960> now
• Um, you You do have a lot going on.

Keywords: Meeting Start - 00:00 Roll Call – 00:34 KY Chamber of Commerce KY Business Perspectives – 01:50 COT Update on SB4 – 27:16 Adjournment – 48:18, 958, all

Summary: The 2025 Artificial Intelligence Task Force met for its first meeting of the year and heard updates on federal AI policy, state implementation of Senate Bill 4, and the business community’s perspective on AI regulation. Co-chairs noted that federal legislation could affect the task force’s work later in the year, but said Kentucky still has significant issues to study, including energy, land use, education, social media, and children’s engagement with AI. The task force had quorum and no votes were taken. Kate Shanks of the Kentucky Chamber said the business community supports continued discussion but favors a federal approach over a patchwork of state laws. She described the Trump administration’s new AI executive order as emphasizing innovation over regulation, noted the pending federal AI action plan, and discussed congressional action including the Take It Down Act and industry-specific changes to existing laws. She warned that state-by-state AI rules could increase costs and burden businesses, and said the Chamber would prefer incremental, flexible policy that avoids conflict with existing law and limits private rights of action. Members asked about uniform model legislation, education uses of AI, and civil liability; Shanks said a model approach could help avoid fragmentation and that liability should generally be handled through consumer-protection-style enforcement rather than broad litigation. The Commonwealth Office of Technology then reported on implementation of SB 4, saying it has worked with industry, agencies, other states, and vendors to build an AI policy framework now in final review. Officials said an AI Governance Committee has been established and will meet in July, and a draft RFP is being prepared to meet the bill’s tracking and documentation requirements. They said no major implementation challenges have been identified so far, but the impact of pending federal rules remains uncertain. Members also discussed the need to educate students and teachers about AI, with one member emphasizing that schools should teach both how to use AI and how to think critically about information online.

Transcript Highlights:

• I see a lot of familiar faces.
• And so what is the message we send to a lot of people?
• You're going to get a lot of calories.
• I know I'm spending a lot of time thinking and...”
• I know I'm spending a lot of time thinking and listening to a lot of people and reading about it.

Summary: The committee met to hear an update from consultants Mason Bishop and Cameron Christie on Arkansas’s “one door” or “no wrong door” workforce and social services modernization effort. The discussion focused on moving the state toward a work-first system that better connects job seekers, employers, education, and public assistance programs, with goals of increasing upward mobility, improving labor force attachment, reducing inefficiencies, and adapting to changes such as AI and other economic disruptions. The consultants argued that Arkansas’s current system is fragmented across multiple offices, portals, agencies, and funding streams, and that people often have to navigate separate doors for workforce services, TANF, SNAP, Medicaid, and related supports. Bishop repeatedly pointed to Utah as the model, describing how that state integrated workforce and human services into a single department, used cost allocation to blend funding behind the scenes, and saw improved customer service and outcomes after reform. He said TANF should be treated as a workforce program, not just a benefits program, and suggested that Arkansas could use TANF and other tools to cross-train DHS staff, co-locate services, and create a more unified service delivery model. Members asked about federal flexibility, waivers, and whether the state could use one large waiver or a broader restructuring to simplify the system. Bishop explained that a federal pilot authority proposal failed in Congress, so the current approach relies on waivers, cost allocation plans, and possible state-level changes. The committee also discussed the relationship between DHS and workforce offices, the role of local workforce boards, how disability and vocational rehabilitation cases would be handled, and how the governor’s Restore Hope/Hope Hub and faith- and community-based initiatives might fit into the broader plan. Bishop said Arkansas already has rehabilitation services within the workforce department and emphasized that case managers should focus on people rather than programs. No votes were taken. The chair said the committee would revisit case management at its August meeting and adjourned the meeting after thanking the consultants.

Transcript Highlights:

• They're actually collecting lots of donations through that.
• There's a lot of audience members watching you today.
• We have felt a lot of love from our neighbors. I am so glad to hear that.
• But again, it's a lot of technical assistance, a lot of hands-on, and really, really...
• But again, it's a lot of technical assistance, a lot of hands-on, and really trying to just get the message

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Special Commission on Anti-Semitism met to focus on the role of law enforcement in responding to anti-Semitic incidents. After approving amended minutes, the chair opened with remarks emphasizing that the Commission would confront anti-Semitism from any political direction and outlined the day’s agenda: extremist activity trends, hate-crime statutes, intergovernmental coordination, and security funding. The first presentation came from Ben Pott of the ADL Center on Extremism, who described rising extremist propaganda and anti-Semitic incidents nationally and in Massachusetts, highlighting groups such as NSC-131, GDL, and Patriot Front. He said these groups increasingly use anti-Zionist language, public disruptions, and online platforms to spread hate, and recommended prosecution where possible, civil litigation, education about symbols and tactics, and community reporting to law enforcement and ADL. Assistant District Attorney David Solvin then reviewed federal and Massachusetts hate-crime laws, including federal civil-rights and hate-crime statutes and state provisions for civil-rights violations, assault and battery to intimidate, religious vandalism, terroristic threats, and criminal harassment. He explained that many of these laws enhance penalties based on bias motivation, but some do not create standalone offenses or qualify as dangerousness predicates under current law. Commissioners pressed him on hypothetical fact patterns involving anti-Semitic slurs, symbols, and attacks, as well as on the limits of existing law for pretrial detention and the need for better data collection. Solvin said more training, better reporting, and possible legislative updates could improve enforcement, and he noted pending bills that would require more regular hate-crime reporting and expand protected classes. Detective Lieutenant Ryan Cepiel of the State Police Anti-Terrorism Unit and HART described the unit’s creation in 2023, its role in implementing prior hate-crime task force recommendations, and its work with local, state, federal, and community partners. He said HART has trained civil-rights officers, developed recruit and in-service curricula, created resource pamphlets and a Teams page, and is building a GIS-based reporting portal to improve tracking and victim support. Cepiel reported a year-over-year rise in reported anti-Semitic hate crimes in Massachusetts, while noting that current numbers are incomplete because reporting is inconsistent and there is no mandate for local departments to notify HART. Commissioners discussed underreporting, rural versus eastern Massachusetts coverage, the need for more officers and training, and the importance of making victims feel safe coming forward. The meeting ended with agreement that better data, training, and coordination are needed to address the rise in anti-Semitic hate and bias incidents.