Transcript Highlights:

• </c> to cryptobased data mining operations. to cryptobased data mining operations.
• House File 3296 simply data centers.
• has</c><00:21:35.440><c> a</c><00:21:35.679><c> high</c> or a data data center that has a high or a
• </c> wanted to pass a law so that data wanted to pass a law so that data centers<00:26:33.919><c> would
• Um and the data that that region.

Bills: HF3296 , HF3802

Committee: House Energy Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• And do we have any data in that regard?
• And we looked at a good lot of data here, and it's great data. I love this data.
• You know, I like data. But, you know, do we ever try to track?
• data regarding access to educators, and then we're going to look at data regarding district level of
• Is there any data that shows that? I know there's definitely data that looks at that.

Summary: The committee received a lengthy Bureau of Legislative Research presentation on Arkansas academic standards, accountability systems, and adequacy-related requirements. Staff reviewed the history of state curriculum and accreditation laws, the current standards for grades K-12, required high school units and graduation pathways, and recent changes such as career-ready pathways, embedded instruction requirements, and the distinction between courses required to be offered versus courses actually taken by students. Members asked for a chart comparing the 1997, 2003, 2015, 2017, and later law changes, and staff agreed to provide one. The presentation then turned to the federal ESSA plan and Arkansas’s state accountability system. Staff summarized ESSA requirements, Arkansas’s long-term goals for proficiency, English learner progress, and graduation rates, and recent data showing that 2025 proficiency rates remained well below the 80% goal, while English learner progress and graduation rates were also below long-term targets. The committee discussed school support and improvement, equitable access to educators, report cards, and the apparent lack of evidence that equity labs are currently being conducted. Members requested follow-up from the Department of Education on equity labs, report card data, and whether the ESSA plan can be changed. The presentation also covered state assessment results under the Arkansas Accountability Act, including ATLAS, DLM, ELPA 21, ACT, and NAEP data, along with teacher access measures and geographic shortage districts. Staff reported that Title I and high-poverty schools tend to have more emergency/provisional teachers and less experienced staff, and that shortage districts are concentrated in parts of the state. Members asked for additional information on test highs and lows, the number of assessments students take, dropout data, and whether higher teacher salaries have affected shortage areas. The committee also discussed district levels of support under the state accountability system, including the possibility of state intervention at the highest level of support.

Transcript Highlights:

• So this has data from a year ago.
• GDP growth coming from spending on AI and data centers.
• They have to do so without this kind of data.
• And so, we will continue to monitor our, independent data with the taxpayer data.
• talking about that data.

Committee: Joint Revenue Stabilization & Tax Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• You calculated as $52 million, if we were accurately reflecting data from new reflecting data from new
• And as I mentioned, this work may also include updating data submissions we receive from existing data
• We have very sensitive student data and financial data in those servers.
• In terms of data collection and data analysis on the outcomes?
• to sign the participation agreement for the purpose of data sharing with the C2C data system.

Transcript Highlights:

• Driven primarily by data centers in Virginia, growth in data center power demand exceeds the capacity
• </c><00:52:13.760><c> Um</c> data noise center. Um data noise center.
• </c><00:53:31.359><c> Data</c> from frequent transit access. Data from frequent transit access.
• Thank you. 2025, opponents blocked or delayed data 2025, opponents blocked or delayed data center<00:
• </c> performing data center markets performing data center markets demonstrate<00:56:24.559><c> that<

Committee: Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• So let's start with the data.
• Right now, local governments approving data centers have no site-specific use data or no peak demand
• A 2024 report out of the largest data center market in Virginia shows that 83% of data centers in the
• If they can't feed the beast that is a data center, the data centers aren't going to win either.
• Do you want to do your other data center? The other data center, which is yes, Item 23, AB 2619?

Summary: The committee hearing covered a long agenda of local government and housing-related bills, with the chair repeatedly noting the committee was operating without a quorum for much of the meeting. Several measures were heard with no opposition, including AB 2639 on Merced County flood control coordination, AB 1788 on allowing best-value contracting for general law cities and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, AB 2058 on reducing duplicative permitting and inspection costs for factory-built housing, AB 2576 on clarifying historic resource protections in a housing law, AB 2568 on increasing the compensation cap for water district board members, AB 2224 on updating county recorder fees and requiring electronic recording, AB 2469 on water-supply review and cost responsibility for data centers, and AB 2397 on requiring local governments to justify denials of certain housing-finance decisions. Most of these bills were presented as targeted fixes to improve efficiency, reduce delays, or modernize outdated statutes, and the authors generally requested aye votes and noted committee amendments where applicable. The most extended debate centered on AB 1751, which would streamline approval of qualifying townhome projects while setting a $28 hourly minimum wage floor for construction workers on covered private projects. Supporters argued the bill would expand homeownership opportunities, raise wages for largely non-union residential workers, and preserve existing prevailing wage law while adding enforcement tools and developer liability. Opponents, including several building trades and labor organizations, argued it would undercut prevailing wage standards, create a race to the bottom, and potentially affect wage-setting more broadly. Committee members asked detailed questions about land-use barriers, the relationship to prevailing wage, and whether the bill would affect unionized work; the author and supporters responded that it applies narrowly to private for-sale townhome projects and does not alter prevailing wage requirements. AB 2469 also drew a substantive split. Supporters said data centers should be required to provide water-supply assessments before approval, pay for infrastructure they trigger, and account for impacts on overdrafted groundwater basins and local ratepayers. Opponents from the Chamber of Commerce, Data Center Coalition, counties, and tech groups argued existing law already covers water planning, that the bill imposes unique and burdensome requirements on one industry, and that some reporting provisions could raise security concerns. The author responded that the bill is about front-end planning and local accountability, not daily reporting, and emphasized the hyperlocal strain data centers can place on small water systems. No final votes were taken during the hearing because the committee lacked a quorum, though members repeatedly indicated support or intent to vote aye once a quorum was present.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our student data is here.
• and payroll data.
• We want to be clear this data is reflective of 2024–25 data. It is not the current 2025–26 data.
• data is.
• This was their data.

Committees: Joint Education , Joint Education Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Cross-tabulating data about Black students and students with disabilities...
• It is only with this data that we can truly plan the best ways to keep all children in school.
• . ...surprised when I learned about the lack of publicly available cross-tabulated data.
• This bill would require DESE to publish student data, including school discipline data, that is cross-tabulated
• When the data is broken down like this to reflect a student's multiple identities, When the data is broken

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Education

Summary: The Joint Committee on Education held a hearing focused primarily on special education-related bills, with testimony centered on two major themes: transition planning for students aging out of school-based services at age 22, and the fiscal strain special education costs place on districts. Committee members explained hearing procedures, noted the House was in formal session, and periodically stepped out for votes while staff recorded testimony. A separate bill on special education due process was also taken up briefly, along with a bill on special education finance and another on equitable access/data reporting. On House Bill 752 and Senate Bill 313, witnesses from the Arc of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, the Developmental Disabilities Council, families, self-advocates, and Senator Comerford described the “Turning 22” transition as a crisis point that often leaves families without adult placements, services, or clear communication. Testimony emphasized earlier planning, more accountability, better data collection, and a commission to improve coordination and residential placement. Several parents and advocates shared personal accounts of traumatic transitions, delayed placements, and the need for plans to begin at least a year before age 22. The committee later closed testimony on these bills after hearing from all signed-up speakers. House Bill 4217, on special education due process, drew support from Representative Sullivan-Almeida, parents, and advocates who argued that the burden of proof should shift from families to school districts. Testimony described costly legal battles, delays, and parents having to become experts in reading instruction or hire advocates and attorneys to secure services. Brody Dwyer, a 10-year-old student with dyslexia, and his mother described how evidence-based instruction helped him after years of struggle. The committee also heard testimony on House Bill 546/Senate Bill 317, which would require DESE to publish cross-tabulated data on race, disability, gender, income, and other factors; advocates said this would better expose disparities and help address the school-to-prison pipeline. Finally, on House Bill 691/Senate Bill 430, school leaders, educators, and union representatives testified that special education costs are outpacing district budgets and that increasing circuit breaker reimbursement and creating a commission to study long-term sustainability would help prevent staffing cuts and service reductions. No votes were taken during the hearing; the committee repeatedly closed testimony on individual bills as speakers finished and moved through the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• commercially available Earth observation data could support NASA's scientific missions.
• commercially available Earth observation data could support NASA's scientific missions.
• That data translates directly into better decision-making on the ground.
• That data translates directly into better decision-making on the ground.
• THAT DATA TRANSLATES DIRECTLY INTO BETTER DECISION MAKING ON THE GROUND.

Transcript Highlights:

• And do we have any data in that regard?
• And we looked at a good lot of data here, and it's great data. I love this data.
• Is there any data that shows that? I know there's definitely data that looks at that.
• Are we using this data maybe early, but are we using this data to maybe fund, give more funding to these
• Are we using this data maybe early, but are we using this data to maybe fund, give more funding to these

Transcript Highlights:

• to provide near real-time data reporting, develop uniform data governance policies, and system-wide
• Currently, different district data systems make it hard to manage and report data, causing extra work
• So our information could be fed from common cloud data platform into the cradle to career data system
• having our real time data readily The cradle-to-career data system is not necessarily focused on having
• The cradle-to-career data system may not be in that same real-time vein in terms of the data that it

Summary: The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance held a hearing focused on California Community College budget proposals. Chair Alvarez opened by emphasizing the system’s role in access, transfer, workforce training, and serving more than 2 million students, while also noting persistent challenges in enrollment, persistence, transfer, and graduation. Public commenters and system representatives broadly supported COLA, enrollment growth funding, deferred maintenance, student support block grants, and additional flexibility for districts facing uncertainty. The first major panel covered the student-centered funding formula, COLA, and enrollment growth. The Department of Finance said the Governor proposes a 2.43% COLA ($230.4 million) and 0.5% enrollment growth funding ($30.4 million). The LAO said the COLA was reasonable and recommended funding at least the proposed growth amount, citing uneven enrollment recovery and regional differences. The Chancellor’s Office supported both proposals and asked for additional changes, including using the greater of current-year or three-year average for apportionments and lifting the 10% local enrollment cap, arguing these would better fund growing districts. Members questioned how the formula works, whether SCFF is improving outcomes, and how much additional funding would be needed under different growth scenarios. The committee then reviewed categorical program COLAs, Rising Scholars, career education proposals, IT proposals, and student housing. The Governor proposed a 2.43% COLA for selected categorical programs ($31.9 million). For Rising Scholars, the Governor proposed $30 million ongoing and removal of the cap on participating colleges; the LAO urged waiting for outcome data before doubling funding, while the Chancellor’s Office said the program is serving more students and supports equity for justice-impacted students. On career education, the Governor proposed $50 million for credit for prior learning and $50 million for a career passport; the LAO supported more reporting on credit for prior learning but recommended rejecting the career passport as too undefined, while the Chancellor’s Office supported both. On technology, the Governor proposed $162.5 million for a common cloud data platform and $168 million for a common ERP system; the LAO said both were premature or lacked sufficient planning and recommended rejection, while the Chancellor’s Office argued they would improve real-time data, security, and systemwide efficiency. The committee also heard an update on student housing: the administration said the 2024 shift to a lease-revenue bond model remains in progress for 13 approved projects, with 11 still active, and members asked about withdrawn projects and possible use of any returned funds. No votes were taken, and several items were held open for further discussion and May Revision updates.

Transcript Highlights:

• Walters if we could provide, if I were to provide you with some data and showed you some data that we
• Because you said you didn't have the data, so I just want to make sure we have the data.
• that no data would change your opinion on this.
• If I showed you, we discovered data, irrefutable data, that shows that Colorado has better outcomes with
• Without this data, we cannot use our expertise to inform data-driven policies that support justice, safety

Committee: Senate Judiciary B

Summary: The committee first approved the April 28 minutes and announced that Senate Bill 499 was voluntarily deferred. It then heard several House bills, beginning with HB 168, a reentry/transitional housing program for female parolees near release; supporters said it would improve public safety and reduce recidivism, and the bill was reported favorably without objection. HB 322, a cleanup bill from the Maggie Grace Act clarifying that victims or families requesting transcripts would not be charged, was also reported favorably without objection. HB 622, which aligns Louisiana criminal history information practices with federal rules, was amended and then reported favorably. HB 821, moving the School for Safe Centers from GOSEP to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, was reported favorably as well. The committee then took up HB 364, which directs State Police to partner on public awareness efforts about the illegality of discharging firearms, especially around holidays. An amendment removed a proposed printing cost and shifted the bill toward PSAs; the bill was reported favorably with amendments. HB 568, which strengthens enforcement of drug-free school zone laws by creating a clearer offense for openly smoking or vaping illegal drugs in school zones and setting a specific penalty for marijuana, drew extensive debate. Supporters, including the author and governor’s office, said it was needed to protect children and families and to give law enforcement a workable deterrent. Opponents argued it would impose harsh, geography-based penalties, sweep in medical cannabis patients and veterans, and worsen racial and fiscal disparities. After roll-call, the committee reported HB 568 favorably by a 3-2 vote. The committee also approved HB 296, a cleanup bill removing long-defunct programs from statute, without objection. HB 823, creating an Orleans Parish DA pilot diversion program for unhoused people accused of nonviolent offenses, was supported by Covenant House and others as a way to avoid criminalizing homelessness and was reported favorably without objection. Finally, HB 1038, a major bill revising the authority and liability structure of city marshals and local governments, prompted extensive testimony. The bill and amendments would limit some marshal powers in smaller jurisdictions, require local approval for certain staffing/insurance matters, and allow local governments to restore powers by ordinance. Supporters said it would reduce liability, clarify authority, and address problems in some marshal offices; opponents, including multiple marshals and law enforcement supporters, said it would undermine elected marshals, hurt small offices, and was too broad and under-studied. The transcript ends amid that hearing, with no final committee action shown on HB 1038.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, there's some data about COVID-19 spike protein being toxic to hot tissue and some other data.
• </c> know data was suppressed and safety data know data was suppressed and safety data was<02:11:06.159
• </c> what the data provided. what the data provided.
• </c><02:33:23.040><c> Um</c> suppression of data. Um suppression of data.
• </c><02:51:48.880><c> So</c> handling this data. So handling this data.

Summary: The committee met as a special House committee on COVID response efficacy, noted absences, and restated its mission to review New Hampshire’s pandemic response, including federal guidance, federal funds, emergency use authorization vaccination efforts, long COVID treatment, patient bill of rights implementation, and vaccination policies. The main business was discussion of a proposed letter or report language concerning current COVID vaccine recommendations for young children, especially those under age two, and how to support any conclusions with cited scientific and state sources. Representative Polozov argued that the committee should ask the governor or agencies to reconsider current recommendations, saying the committee should focus on whether vaccination is needed for that age group, whether it is effective, and whether the risks outweigh the benefits. He said he had distributed articles and wanted the committee to pair its conclusions with scientific and statistical data. Other members asked him to identify the specific New Hampshire DHHS and American Academy of Pediatrics sources for the recommendation, clarify the age range being discussed, and separate any evidence about adverse effects in other age groups from the infant/toddler demographic so the letter would be transparent and not misleading. Members generally agreed the letter should be carefully sourced and refined, with citations for each claim. The chair said the committee would treat the request as urgent and try to finalize a version by the next meeting, noting that some members would be traveling. The committee also discussed scheduling additional testimony in September and October, possibly with extra meetings, to continue gathering evidence and to hear from witnesses. The chair then began reviewing supporting articles, including studies he said were new since the 2024 report, and introduced a 2025 South Korea cohort study and another 2025 Italian cohort study as examples of the evidence he wanted to incorporate into an updated 2026 report.

Transcript Highlights:

• We also created the data-sharing and data-flow infrastructure that enables the student data to come from
• We also created the data-sharing and data-flow infrastructure that enables the student data to come from
• We also created the data-sharing and data-flow infrastructure that enables the student data to come from
• So, their<00:27:27.520><c> data</c> their data their data &gt;&gt; So,<00:27:28.720><c> are</c><00:27
• </c> And so we collect data on that. >> How long have you been collecting data on that?

Bills: SB2901 , SB2902 , SB2903 , SB2904 , SB2905 , SB2906 , SB2907 , SB2908 , SB2909 , SB2910 , SB2911 , SB2912 , SB2913 , SB2914 , SB2915 , SB2916 , SB2917 , SB2918 , SB2919 , SB2920 , SB2921 , SB2922 , SB2923 , SB2924 , SB2925 , SB2926 , SB2927 , SB2928 , SB2929 , SB2930 , SB2931 , SB2932 , SB2933 , SB2934 , SB2935 , SB2936 , SB2937 , SB2938 , SB2939 , SB2940 , SB2941 , SB2942 , SB2943 , SB2944 , SB2945 , SB2946 , SB2947 , SB2948 , SB2949 , SB2950 , SB2951 , SB2952 , SB2953 , SB2954 , SB2955 , SB2956 , SB2957 , SB2958 , SB2959 , SB2960 , SB2961 , SB2962 , SB2963 , SB2964 , SB2965 , SB2966 , SB2967 , SB2968 , SB2969 , SB2970 , SB2971 , SB2972 , SB2973 , SB2974 , SB2975 , SB2976 , SB2977 , SB2978 , SB2979 , SB2980 , SB2981 , SB2982 , SB2983 , SB2984 , SB2985 , SB2986 , SB2987 , SB2988 , SB2989 , SB2990 , SB2991 , SB2992 , SB2993 , SB2994 , SB2995 , SB2996 , SB2997 , SB2998 , SB2999 , SB3000

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> learn about data practices and whatnot. learn about data practices and whatnot.
• I appreciate all the audit trails and data, the data nerds in judiciary. Appreciate that.
• I appreciate all the audit trails and data, the data nerds in judiciary. Appreciate that.
• </c><01:10:18.480><c> act</c><01:10:19.360><c> uh</c> data uh government data practices act uh data uh
• </c> in society versus protection of data. in society versus protection of data.

Bills: HF1027 , HF2226 , HF1916 , HF1915 , HF1567 , HF1986

Committee: House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:37:22.400><c> is</c> this is really about the data that is this is really about the data that
• with no regard for data this data with no regard for data privacy<00:40:04.680><c> um</c><00:40:05.280
• It's requiring the production of the data, so it's saying to MMB, we need you to provide that data to
• </c> minute we need you to provide that data minute we need you to provide that data to<00:42:58.160>
• data privacy conscious.

Bills: HF1867 , HF1240

Committee: House State Government Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill also requires ALPR operators to require data security training and data privacy training for
• SB 1013 implements a maximum data retention time of 30 days for license plate reader data.
• Agencies keeping data more than 30 days are outliers.
• to which ALPR data can be compared.
• And so I appreciate the protections that are here in the bill on the use of the data, the data systems

Committee: Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection

Transcript Highlights:

• of that data is moving around at record pace through these data centers.
• of that data is moving around at record pace through these data centers.
• That's all data.
• That's all data.
• The question is not, are data centers good or are data centers bad?

Bills: SB6061 , SB6234 , SB6170 , SB6176 , SB6182 , SB6335 , SB5647 , SB6047 , HB2367 , HB2606 , SB6129 , SB6228 , SB6231 , HB2235 , HB2272 , HB2340 , HB2543 , HB2554 , HB2632 , HB2464 , HB2619

Summary: The Senate opened with ceremonial items, then moved through gubernatorial appointments and a series of floor votes. It confirmed Acacia E. Ingram to the Evergreen State College Board of Trustees, Ashland J. Tibbet and David S. Frockt to the Western Washington University Board of Trustees, and Christine Rolfes to the Olympic College Board of Trustees. Members spoke in support of the appointees’ public service and ties to higher education. The chamber also heard a personal privilege statement honoring a Colfax basketball coach who died of pancreatic cancer, followed by a caucus break. The Senate then considered several bills, passing measures on derelict vessels (SHB 2199), radiologic technologist supervision (HB 2113), nitrous oxide retail sales (ESHB 2532), ambulance transport fund alignment (HB 2531), EMT recertification (HB 2540), affordable housing on religious property (2SHB 1859), factory-built housing standards (SHB 2151), social housing public development authorities (EHB 1687), the Washington Voting Rights Act and voter suppression claims (ESSHB 1750), privacy and data protection reporting and AI use (HB 2606), military family school stability (ESHB 2534), coal-fired utility treatment (HB 2367), and school access to albuterol (SHB 2360). Most passed on strong bipartisan roll calls, though the voting-rights bill and coal-utility bill drew the most debate and partisan division. Several bills were amended on the floor. The Senate adopted changes to the nitrous oxide bill, the factory-built housing bill, the social housing bill, the albuterol bill, and the 3D-printer/firearm-manufacturing bill (ESHB 2320), while rejecting some proposed amendments on the voting-rights and 3D-printer bills. Debate centered on whether the voting-rights bill set too low a threshold for lawsuits and whether the coal-utility bill gave improper treatment to coal generation; supporters framed both as needed protections or transition measures, while opponents warned about litigation and policy overreach. The chamber also discussed tribal consultation in energy siting (SHB 2496), ultimately passing it after a close vote, and later returned to the 3D-printer bill, which advanced after amendments narrowed exemptions for gunsmiths and dealers and clarified the bill’s focus on digital files used to manufacture firearms.

Transcript Highlights:

• This is some data from the Pew Research Center.
• This is some data from the Pew Research Center.
• So I don't have that data here for you.
• We cannot share any data with you.'
• She's a data scientist.

Committee: House Privacy and Consumer Protection

Summary: The hearing was an informational session of the Consumer Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee on AI risks and mitigation, with the chair framing the discussion around two areas: automated decision systems used in high-stakes settings and frontier models with broader capabilities. The chair emphasized that California has already passed some targeted AI measures, but broader regulation has stalled, and criticized a proposed federal moratorium on state AI laws as a threat to public safety and state innovation. The hearing was organized into two panels, and members repeatedly returned to the balance between innovation, trust, and guardrails. The first panel focused on automated decision systems and algorithmic discrimination. Princeton professor Arvin Narayanan described predictive AI as often only modestly accurate and prone to reproducing historical bias, citing examples such as welfare fraud, criminal risk tools, hospital discharge predictions, and opaque hiring systems. Alondra Nelson, former White House OSTP official, outlined a spectrum of algorithmic discrimination—allocative harms, surveillance and privacy harms, targeting and profiling, and misrepresentation—using examples from IRS audits, Life360 data sharing, facial recognition misidentification, ad targeting, and health care. Cathy O’Neil described her auditing work as building a “cockpit” for AI systems to identify who could be harmed, measure disparities, and set thresholds; she argued that audits, impact assessments, and transparency can improve systems and reward better actors. Members asked about costs, whether AI is more biased than humans, the availability of auditors, and whether state regulation would drive business away; witnesses responded that compliance costs can be managed, that many harms are already occurring, and that companies often need outside pressure and access for meaningful audits. The second panel turned to frontier models. Joshua Bengio warned that frontier AI capabilities are improving rapidly, with planning and reasoning benchmarks advancing at an exponential pace, while alignment and honesty problems remain unresolved. He cited recent research showing models that appear to deceive trainers, preserve their own goals, or even blackmail in simulated settings, and said these behaviors are especially concerning as systems become more agentic and able to act over time without human oversight. The overall discussion ended with bipartisan remarks from members about the need for California to lead on AI safety, protect consumers, and support innovation in lower-risk uses such as agriculture while imposing stronger oversight in consequential domains like employment, housing, health care, and elections.

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh so the prevailing wage data.
• This includes certified payroll data, personal license data, and prevailing wage survey data.
• Consider license data.
• By putting all of this data in one location portal, all it takes is one data breach.
• </c> all it takes is one data breach. all it takes is one data breach.

Committee: Senate Labor