Transcript Highlights:

• The Committee on Steering and Policy and Scheduling, to whom was referred the House bill relative to
• Report of the Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling to The Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling
• The Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling Reports of the matter be scheduled for consideration
• All of these policies and authorizations are vital to creating more housing.
• I rise in support of Consolidated A and the policy measures contained in H.5562.

Summary: The House adopted a resolution congratulating Fire Chief Timothy Clancy on his retirement from the Whitman Fire Department after suspending the rules. It also concurred with a Senate petition authorizing MassDOT to take easements over certain land in Woburn and Burlington, and then gave final passage to several local bills, including measures on culverts and dams, alcohol licenses in Milford, Salem, and Bridgewater, and firefighter civil service eligibility in Arlington. The chamber then took up several bills on second reading and third reading, including a Norton land parcel bill, a Watertown property tax classification bill for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent years, and a transportation bond bill. In each case, the House suspended Rule 7A, adopted the Ways and Means amendments, and ordered the bills to a third reading or passed them to be engrossed. The transportation bond bill was substituted for a broader bonds bill and advanced as amended. The main debate centered on House 5562, the economic development bond bill. Representative Viola described it as a $425.1 million package supporting applied AI and quantum, defense, robotics, ag tech, downtown revitalization, housing, higher education bridge funding, and business climate changes such as lower LLC fees, a CPA licensing pathway, nurse licensing changes, film tax credit adjustments, internship incentives, and food truck inspection reforms. Representative Haggerty and Representative Kazner spoke in support, emphasizing housing production, site plan review, land use board training, commercial conversion, faith-based housing, and local control. The House adopted Consolidated Amendment A by roll call 142-5, with a second consolidated amendment then made available; the bill remained under consideration at the end of the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• parcel of land in the town of Norton, House No. 4660, The Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling
• Report of the Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling: The Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling
• All of these policies and authorizations are vital to creating more housing.
• I rise in support of Consolidated A and policy measures contained in H. 5562.
• Municipal Association, Abundant Housing, Mass Housing Partnership, and Chappa.

Transcript Highlights:

• We had formal partnerships with UC Berkeley and Stanford.
• Why is GovOps moving in the space of education policy?
• I would say GovOps isn't necessarily doing education policy.
• In particular, the Workforce Development Board oversees statewide workforce policy.
• I have heard that there are still some partnerships.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a good policy.
• We pride ourselves on public-private partnerships all the time.
• We're going to need public-private partnerships a lot.
• We do public-private partnerships all the time. Oh.
• And that's a consistent policy for me, albeit sometimes unpopular.

Bills: LB878 , LB958 , LB958A , LB762 , LB1187 , LB966 , LB929 , LB962 , LB1209 , LB937A , LB962A , LB1050 , LB1050A , LB965 , LB1022 , LB753 , LB788 , LB913 , LB1055 , LB1195 , LB429 , LB721 , LB722 , LB727 , LB745 , LB749 , LB778 , LR293 , LR296 , LR422 , LR495 , LR496 , LR497 , LR498 , LR499 , LR500 , LR501 , LR502 , LR503 , LR504

Transcript Highlights:

• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.

Transcript Highlights:

• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.
• President's reference: Fiscal Policy.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, opened with a prayer recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Secretary then read Governor DeSantis’s proclamation calling the Legislature into special session from January 27 to January 31, 2025, limited to five subjects: combating illegal immigration, condominium regulation, agricultural relief after natural disasters, replenishing the My Safe Florida Home Program, and changes to the citizen initiative petition process. The chamber read the filed bills within the call, including several Senate bills on illegal immigration and petition process issues, all referred to Fiscal Policy. A motion was adopted to send any bills filed outside the call to the Rules Committee to determine whether introduction was warranted. The Senate President then discussed President Trump’s immigration executive orders and said Florida would align with federal efforts while preserving the Legislature’s constitutional role. He announced that Senator Gruters would sponsor legislation to implement Trump’s border and immigration plan, including funding to reimburse law enforcement costs and incentives to recruit more officers. He said the bill would be posted, referred to Appropriations later that day, and heard on the floor the next day. The session then adjourned sine die by motion without objection, with senators told the chamber would reconvene momentarily for the special session.

Transcript Highlights:

• The policy that's before you, I put a paper copy in front of each of you.
• Any questions from the committee for Chandler about the policy?
• Okay, we've adopted the policy.
• We've adopted the policy.
• Coverage losses are not unintended consequences of this policy.

Transcript Highlights:

• This identifies the groups to participate to effectively address the policy concerns, the engineering
• And so then at that point it becomes a policy issue.
• And so then at that point it becomes a policy issue.
• I wanted to ask about your partnership.
• I'm curious about your partnership with counties, with your local counties.

Committee: Senate Transportation

Summary: The Senate Transportation Committee met in Yakima and focused on tribal traffic safety, with an emphasis on the Yakama Nation’s transportation safety efforts and partnerships. Yakama Nation leaders and engineering staff described ongoing work on U.S. 97 corridor safety improvements, heritage connectivity trails, roundabouts, and the use of advanced traffic sensing technology through a University of Washington spin-off, AI Vision. The technology, called MUST, was presented as a way to collect speed, volume, pedestrian, roadway-condition, and near-miss data, support real-time warnings, and help create a digital twin and virtual traffic management center to move from reactive crash response to proactive risk reduction. Committee members asked about speed tracking, driver behavior, enforcement, and agency coordination, and Yakama representatives said the work depends on a multi-pronged approach involving engineering, policy, and enforcement, with strong coordination among the tribe, WSDOT, the Traffic Safety Commission, counties, and universities. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission then presented statewide fatality trends and tribal traffic safety data. Staff said 2024 saw about a 10% drop in statewide traffic fatalities after several years of increases, but recent years remain among the highest in decades. They noted that among American Indian and Alaska Native fatalities, many victims were pedestrians, passengers, or bicyclists rather than drivers, and that restraint nonuse and alcohol impairment were significant factors. The commission also highlighted that many AI/AN fatalities occur off tribal lands, while many fatalities on tribal lands involve non-tribal members. Penny Rerick described tribal traffic safety coordinators as a proven countermeasure and outlined current and planned tribal projects funded through federal and state dollars, including work with Yakama Nation, Colville, Kalispel, Makah, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Muckleshoot, Lower Elwha, Puyallup, and others. She said state proviso funding is being used flexibly for equipment, education, pedestrian safety, and local planning, and committee members asked staff to provide data on total requests versus funded amounts. The final presentation highlighted Yakima-area impaired driving enforcement and ignition interlock compliance efforts. Yakima Police Chief Sean Boyle said the city created a DUI enforcement and education officer program, later expanded with state support, to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes; he reported more than 1,100 contacts, 222 DUI-related arrests or stops, extensive outreach, and a 12-month period without an impaired-driving fatality in the city. Nick Bazan of Yakima County District Court described a DUI supervision and ignition interlock compliance pilot that targets both pre-conviction and post-conviction barriers, including indigent support, case planning, and evidence-based supervision. He said the county had more than 1,000 DUI convictions in 2024-25 and roughly 3,800 noncompliant ignition interlock users, and that 51% of roadway fatalities involved an impaired driver. The committee praised the work, noted the importance of sharing best practices statewide, and then adjourned the work session.

Transcript Highlights:

• PCOR Partnership, and work closely with EERC clients to support CCUS project development.
• The EERC leads the PCOR Partnership, one of DOE's regional Sequestration partnership programs.
• PCOR is an industry-government partnership with more than 250 member organizations across a 10-state,
• What has become apparent over the course of now over 20 years of PCOR partnership activities is that
• America is leading the way, and the future, as always, is a policy choice.

Committee: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• It does take a partnership. It takes negotiations.
• And I know we have another presentation from Commerce later, that... a partnership.
• This was in partnership with the DEP Office of Greenways and Trails.
• It has been a really great partnership.
• It has been a really great partnership.

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development

Summary: The committee met to receive a base budget overview for agencies under its jurisdiction, which include the Division of Emergency Management, Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Military Affairs, and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Staff explained the budget format and noted that the Legislature appropriated more than $20.2 billion to these agencies in the current fiscal year, a 66.7% increase over 10 years. The Department of Transportation then presented on the Moving Florida Forward initiative, describing it as a $7 billion effort to advance 20 major congestion-relief projects statewide. Secretary Jared Perdue said the department is ahead of schedule, with 14 of 20 projects expected to be underway by the end of the calendar year. He highlighted major projects including I-4 in Polk and Osceola counties, I-75 improvements, Southwest 10th Street in Broward County, Fruitville Road, Capital Circle in Tallahassee, and I-275, and discussed innovations such as aggregate supply grants, modified phase design-build, workforce hiring events, and voluntary acceleration. Senators asked about business impacts from construction, tourism-related transit funding, aggregate sourcing, and labor shortages; the secretary said FDOT works with local businesses and that additional revenue sources for transit would require legislative action. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reviewed motorist services, revenue collection, licensing, vehicle titling, specialty plates, insurance compliance, driver safety, and commercial driver licensing. Officials said the department collected about $2.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2023-24 and described modernization efforts, including electronic verification systems, Real ID compliance, mobile licensing units, and a planned digital driver license. Members asked about the driver license backlog in Miami-Dade and Broward, and the department said service delays were driven by growth and staffing constraints but should improve with $7.5 million in recent funding and the eventual transition of services to county tax collectors. Questions also addressed temporary paper licenses and birth certificate fraud prevention. The Department of Commerce presented on the Job Growth Grant Fund and Visit Florida. Commerce said the grant fund, created in 2017, has awarded $257 million to 70 projects in 37 counties since 2019, with demand exceeding supply about four to one. Officials emphasized that the program supports targeted industries and workforce and infrastructure projects, and they highlighted examples in CDL training, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and health care. Senators raised concerns about small businesses affected by transportation construction, and Commerce said it has an Office of Small Business Innovation and other tools, though the grant fund is limited by statute to targeted industries. Visit Florida then described its public-private tourism marketing role, saying the state’s $80 million appropriation is matched by private investment and that the latest EDR review found a $3.30 return in tax revenue for every state dollar spent. Visit Florida reported record visitation and tourism spending, along with hurricane recovery marketing and rural promotion efforts.

Transcript Highlights:

• Health partnership.
• And development of partnerships, I think that's self-explanatory.
• So it's been a fun partnership.
• And I think that's a policy lever that you as the legislature have.
• Are there other levers, other potential policy solutions?

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• And we believe in that partnership.
• And it always returned to that person because also policies change.
• So we are going to cover AI policy and regulation.
• One is establishing statewide policy standards and guidelines.
• So the next panel is Omar Santana Gomez, policy and legislative affairs.

Committee: House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans

Summary: The committee held a work session focused on technology use in government, AI policy and oversight, and federal broadband funding. The first panel featured Seattle CTO Rob Lloyd, who described the city’s AI approach as centered on public trust, responsible use, privacy, security, and community partnership. He said Seattle is using small pilots and a data strategy to test AI for tasks such as public records processing, infrastructure inspection, and housing/permitting improvements, while keeping human decision-makers responsible. Members asked about permit review, training on best practices, labor engagement, and public records risks; Lloyd emphasized that AI should assist rather than replace human judgment and that the city is still testing solutions for records redaction and search. Washington Technology Solutions CTO Nick Stow and Deputy Director Mark Quimby then outlined the state’s AI policy work, noting that the state’s guidance now covers more than generative AI and is built into existing privacy and security review processes. They described a statewide AI community of practice, a sandbox used by more than 15 agencies, and use cases including a resident portal with opt-in consent features, cybersecurity screening, and wildfire detection. Committee members raised questions about labor, data privacy, and the status and effectiveness of wildfire detection tools. The AI Task Force update from the Attorney General’s office reported progress through eight subcommittees on topics including governance, consumer protection, labor, health care, public safety, education, government efficiency, and climate/energy, with an interim report due December 1 and a final report due July 1, 2026. The presenter also warned that a pending federal budget reconciliation provision could bar state AI regulation for 10 years, and a member noted ongoing work on prior AI bills for the 2026 session. The broadband portion of the meeting began with Commerce’s Dave Pringle, who said the BEAD broadband program is being reshaped by new NTIA guidance issued June 6. He explained that Washington’s original multi-round application process has been compressed into an expedited roughly 30-day application window, with a September 4 state submission deadline, and that earlier rounds are effectively being replaced under the new federal rules. He noted that no projects have been built yet, that four counties did not receive round-two applications, and that the state is working with applicants, the Governor’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office while also managing a leadership transition in the broadband office. The Office of Equity then reported on the Digital Equity Forum’s growth, membership expansion, outreach, and draft recommendations, including better interagency coordination, improved data for underserved communities, and elevating digital equity as a statewide priority; members discussed the loss of federal digital equity operating funds and the forum’s transition back to Commerce. The final presenter, Lumen’s Rob Thoms, discussed private-sector broadband deployment, saying the company continues investing in fiber overbuilds and working with local governments, but faces permitting, regulatory, and geography challenges. He said Washington has strong backbone fiber and is well positioned for enterprise and AI-related demand, but that rural and legacy telecom transitions remain difficult and that satellite and wireless options may play a larger role over time.

Transcript Highlights:

• School districts were not providing them with clear policies on AI and education.
• Most districts don't have policy.
• Our school district was one of the first districts to develop policy around it.
• And then finally, some around professional learning and partnerships.
• make sure that districts have policies, whether it's a big P like a policy like Mr.

Committee: Senate Education Pre-K - 12

Summary: The Senate Committee on Education Pre-K through 12 met to hear a panel discussion on artificial intelligence in K-12 education. Dr. Maya Israel of the University of Florida gave an overview of AI literacy, the benefits of AI for personalized learning and teacher support, and the risks involving data privacy, overreliance, hallucinations, and misuse. She described the Florida K-12 AI Task Force, which published statewide guidance in March and is now providing professional development, case studies, surveys, and resources for teachers and families. She also noted that teacher preparation programs and microcredentials are being developed, but there is not yet a statewide baseline standard for teacher AI training. Superintendents Van Ayers of Hillsborough County and Kevin Hendrick of Pinellas County described district policies and implementation efforts. Hillsborough adopted an AI governance policy, created an implementation guide, and set rules barring generative AI use for students in pre-K through 7th grade while allowing limited, teacher-approved use for older students with district-vetted tools. Pinellas emphasized digital responsibility, parent transparency, data-use agreements, and a governance process for approving tools. Both districts said AI is being used for lesson planning, tutoring, reading-level adjustments, scheduling, and other administrative tasks, but they do not yet have reliable evidence that AI is improving academic performance. They also discussed teacher training, stipends, and certification efforts, including partnerships with universities and vendors such as Microsoft, Google, Magic School, and Gemini. Drew Allen of FSU Inspire offered an industry-focused perspective, arguing that AI is not new but that education must adapt more quickly to industry needs. He described Inspire’s workforce and research mission, its AI and robotics training for teachers, and the need to build teacher comfort and confidence through incentives and applied training. Committee members raised concerns about student dependence on AI, academic integrity, mental health, moral decision-making, data privacy, and whether schools should return to more paper-based testing. The panel generally agreed that AI should be used with strong guardrails, human oversight, and a balance between technology use and traditional learning. No legislation was considered, and the meeting ended with a motion to adjourn, which was adopted without objection.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, but first up is P20 Partnership.
• I'm excited to tell you a bit more about the partnership.
• And our take on this is that the partnership really is an intermediary.
• </c><00:08:26.319><c> and</c> us leading these State Partnerships and us leading these State Partnerships
• This came out of work that our partnership had done.

Committee: Senate Education Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• So, please policy changes as well.
• </c><00:04:00.400><c> government</c> president for policy and government president for policy and government
• </c> for this well before the partnership for this well before the partnership that<00:06:52.400><c>
• And as partnership with our communities.
• We've that is leveraging partnerships.

Summary: The Make America Healthy Kentucky Task Force met with a quorum, approved the minutes, and then heard a presentation on the state’s “food is medicine” work from Kentucky Hospital Association and Kentucky Department of Agriculture leaders, including Jim Muser, Holly Harris, and Commissioner Jonathan Shell. The chair framed the discussion around personal wellness, injury prevention, and the broader goal of improving health through better sleep, nutrition, and activity, then asked the presenters to describe current initiatives and any policy changes needed. The witnesses described a partnership linking hospitals and Kentucky farmers to improve health outcomes while supporting rural agriculture. They said the effort has moved beyond the pilot stage and now includes more than 40 hospitals statewide, with programs such as healthier hospital cafeterias, grab-and-go options, farmers markets at hospital sites, subsidized CSA boxes for employees, and medically tailored meals or groceries for patients with chronic conditions. ARH was highlighted as a leading model, with local food procurement, employee wellness efforts, and measurable outcome pilots, including a Russell County Hospital project focused on diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. They also emphasized barriers to scaling the model, including fragmented short-term funding, lack of reimbursement for food-as-medicine programs, and burdensome procurement and testing requirements that can make it difficult for small farmers to participate. The presenters said hospitals are using their own funds or temporary grants to sustain programs and argued that policy changes are needed to simplify sourcing, expand reimbursement pathways, and support clinical measurement of outcomes. No votes or formal actions beyond approving the minutes were taken during the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> service provider providers and policy service provider providers and policy makers<00:09:01.360>
• And then we're going to do ongoing policy monitoring, actively tracking federal, state, and local policy
• I'm a policy researcher at U-Hiro.
• </c> limited budget and with partnerships limited budget and with partnerships with<00:58:16.960><c>
• :18.960><c> can</c> with creative partnerships how we can with creative partnerships how we can find<

Summary: The House Committee on Human Services held an informational briefing on the impacts of federal funding cuts, inflation, labor shortages, and chronic underfunding on Hawaii’s nonprofit social safety net. Hawaii Community Foundation opened with a story about a federal worker family relying on food pantry support, then described a “perfect storm” facing human services nonprofits: historically high demand, rising costs, staffing challenges, federal cuts, and state and county contracts that do not cover true service costs. The foundation said it has reactivated its Hawaii Resilience Fund, launched strengthened service grants, and is tracking policy changes and data to help nonprofits respond. Trey Gordner of UHERO presented research on the vulnerability of Hawaii’s nonprofit sector, explaining a framework that assessed political, financial, and structural risk. He said about 8,200 501(c)(3) nonprofits are active in Hawaii, but only about 200 receive direct federal funds; 74 grants to 59 organizations were flagged as politically at risk, totaling about $126 million in unpaid obligations. He said about 68 of the direct-funding recipients rely on federal funds for more than 20% of annual revenue, and that human services nonprofits are among the most exposed subsectors because they serve vulnerable populations and depend heavily on federal support. Catholic Charities Hawaii and the Hawaii True Cost Coalition said community-based organizations were already under strain before the current crisis, with most contracts not covering full costs and many groups depending on private philanthropy to fill gaps. They reported that half of surveyed organizations expect to reduce programs, more than a third may decline future contracts, and some are waiting months for reimbursements. Examples included reduced shelter admissions, fewer case management hours, and cutbacks in kūpuna services. The coalition urged higher contract rates, regular inflation and cost-of-living reviews, and timely reimbursement; no votes or formal actions were taken. Partners in Development Foundation described the loss of Native Hawaiian education funding as especially damaging, saying the federal Department of Education has zeroed out support that creates a roughly $46 million gap, including about $20 million for early childhood programs. The speaker shared a family story from the Nā Pono program to illustrate how early learning services support both children and parents, and warned that the organization’s federal funds make up 72% of its budget. The briefing ended with a call for continued emergency funding and longer-term structural changes to sustain nonprofits statewide.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's a $90,000 Equity Partnership.
• </c> more about in their review of the policy more about in their review of the policy items.
• The resident tuition policy. I'm Okay. The resident tuition policy.
• Is there any the OHI policy bill.
• </c><01:26:17.600><c> Hopkins,</c> policy bill. Mr. Hopkins, policy bill. Mr.

Summary: The Higher Education Finance and Policy Conference Committee met publicly to compare House and Senate positions on the higher education budget, with the chairs emphasizing transparency and alternating gavel control. Nonpartisan fiscal staff walked through a spreadsheet of differences across the Office of Higher Education and Minnesota State, including major items such as state grants, childcare grants, work study, tribal college grants, emergency assistance grants, hunger-free campus grants, student parent support, direct admissions, paramedic scholarships, and several medical residency and fellowship programs. The House and Senate also differed on administrative funding, campus sexual assault reporting, and a House FY25 cancellation that would be carried forward. Members discussed several of the larger policy and funding choices. The Senate explained its increase for Minitex as support for operating costs and statewide access to information. The House explained its cuts to student parent support and other items as necessary to work within a zero target and to prioritize direct aid to students, while the Senate said it focused on direct appropriations and access-related programs. On hunger-free campus grants and emergency assistance grants, the Senate said it was changing the distribution method and direct appropriations rather than reducing the overall money, while the House noted differences in whether nonprofit institutions remained included. The committee also reviewed Senate-only additions and reductions in Minnesota State, including free course materials, Lake Superior College remediation, and changes to the Kids on Campus appropriation. A representative from Lake Superior College testified that the PAS remediation funding would help address contamination issues at an emergency training site near Lake Superior and that the money was shifted from the Kids on Campus initiative. No final conference agreement or vote was taken in the portion of the meeting provided; the committee continued discussing differences and testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• ,</c><00:15:31.920><c> draft</c><00:15:32.399><c> policy</c> with concrete policy, draft policy with
• </c><00:15:40.480><c> language</c> and say, "Here's some policy language and say, "Here's some policy
• And so I'm curious if um you policy.
• As students needs grow with policy.
• ,</c> comes from proactive partnerships, comes from proactive partnerships, building<00:43:21.280><c>

Committee: House Education Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• That's a policy choice of school... policy choice of school boards.
• However, the partnership between The partnership between Fremont 1 and the city of Lander is very strong
• We looked at SRO policies and funding policies We looked at SRO policies and funding policies implemented
• I think it's a policy I think it's a policy decision. It's not one we can answer.
• Do you have ideas on how that partnership could look...

Committee: Joint Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration

Transcript Highlights:

• Simple policy changes like those proposed in House Bill 1021 can help and show...
• Michael Winn, Director of Policy. I'm Michael.
• I am the Director of Policy for the Professional Educator Standards Board.
• We have several policy bills that we’ll be asking you to support.
• The good news is, we saw on the policy bill front that won’t cost anything.

Summary: The committee heard updates from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Navy Region Northwest, Fairchild Air Force Base, the Coast Guard, state licensing agencies, the Professional Educator Standards Board, the Washington National Guard, and a veterans behavioral health presenter. Across the military briefings, common themes were readiness, infrastructure, and quality-of-life issues for service members and families, especially child care, housing, food insecurity, medical and dental access, and military spouse employment. JBLM highlighted its role in Indo-Pacific readiness, ongoing PFAS cleanup, 212 new family housing units under construction, efforts to expand child care, and continued work to keep the Lewis Army Museum open. Navy Region Northwest discussed its major installations and economic impact, the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan, future carrier and submarine homeporting needs, and asked the legislature to continue support for licensure compacts, educational stability for military children, housing, and medical access. Fairchild emphasized its tanker and survival missions, child care shortages, food insecurity, aging housing, and concerns about wind turbine development near flight paths, while the Coast Guard focused on rebuilding Base Seattle for new icebreakers and on rural access to housing, medical care, and child care at dispersed stations like Neah Bay. Members repeatedly raised food insecurity and asked for follow-up on solutions. JBLM and Fairchild both described increased demand for food assistance during the shutdown, and committee members noted progress in getting mobile food vans onto JBLM. The presenters also praised state action on military spouse licensure and child care, including Senate Bill 5545 and related compact and portability efforts. The Department of Licensing reported about 9,000 self-identified military members or spouses licensed, with average time-to-license just under nine days, and said applications are prioritized when military status is self-identified. The Department of Health said its military-to-civilian crosswalk now covers more than 35 health professions, that temporary practice permits and expedited processing are in place, and that 1,300 credentials were issued to military spouses and domestic partners and 129 to military-trained health professionals in the last fiscal year, all within 30 days. The Professional Educator Standards Board explained that military spouses and service members can receive expedited teacher certification with reduced documentation, and that they are moved to the front of the review queue when they self-identify. Members asked about verification, and staff said the process relies on attestation with investigatory safeguards if needed. The Washington National Guard briefed on its dual state and federal mission, the impact of the recent shutdown on nearly 700 employees who worked without pay, and policy and budget requests including youth academy protections, alignment of the Washington Code of Military Justice with the UCMJ, making Civil Air Patrol a division of the Military Department, 911 funding, disaster assistance, and capital funding for headquarters and readiness facilities. The Guard also warned about drone threats and said it wants authority to identify, track, and monitor suspicious drones. A veterans behavioral health presenter, an Army combat veteran and clinical social worker, described high suicide risk, barriers to care, and the need for more culturally competent services, especially for women veterans and caregivers. He said Washington veterans’ suicide rate remains above the national average and emphasized that childcare, transportation, and provider shortages can prevent timely treatment. Members generally responded supportively throughout, asked for follow-up on food security and other issues, and encouraged agencies to bring forward legislative ideas for future sessions.