Transcript Highlights:

• We're hearing from commercial fishing operations.
• You can still launch at the same boat launch. No, no, no, no. He's not saying that.
• Are there other ways for you to operate and make a profit?
• But what I actually, the first conversation I had was with a local operator, a small operator.
• And this fee goes toward the operations of the department.

Committee: House Natural Resources & Environment

Transcript Highlights:

• We operate 15 garages.
• That does, I think, help quite a bit with operational issues.
• The statements that changes to operations would not change is inaccurate.
• Francesca Wander, HCD, SEIU-1000 bargaining committee: Operational needs.
• There is no operational need for RTO.

Summary: The subcommittee heard an informational update on the state’s generative AI implementation and related oversight. Administration officials said several proof-of-concept projects have moved into minimum viable product phases, including work at CDTFA and Caltrans, and that CDPH has a May Revision request for up to $8 million to scale up its healthcare facilities inspections project. The Legislative Analyst’s Office urged the administration to publish a report on lessons learned from each POC and recommended limiting the new generative AI approval process to a pilot through the first two rounds of projects, with continued monthly meetings and stronger legislative oversight. Members pressed for more transparency and questioned why the CDPH request was not included in January; the administration said the cost estimate was not available then and that only one project is seeking additional resources beyond existing departmental budgets. The committee then reviewed a proposed $400 million loan from the Labor and Workforce Development Fund to the General Fund. Finance and the Labor Agency said the fund has grown because civil penalty revenues have risen sharply, and the loan would be repaid in 2029-30 with provisional language allowing earlier repayment if needed. The LAO agreed the fund could support the loan but warned that recent PAGA reforms may reduce future revenues. Public commenters, including labor and community groups, argued the money should instead support labor-law enforcement and outreach programs such as CWOP, and urged rejection of the loan. Members also heard a Department of Industrial Relations request for $19.1 million for phase two of Public Works Information Technology System Enhancements, which officials said will support labor-law enforcement and apprenticeship registration. The department said the project was delayed because a prior procurement did not result in a contract award and that completion is now expected in October 2026. The committee then took up an EDD Next reappropriation technical adjustment to extend UI fund spending authority through June 30, 2026; the LAO said the request was fine but again raised concerns about oversight of the larger modernization effort, which EDD said now totals more than $660 million and is expected to continue through 2029. Finally, the committee discussed DGS’s request for new parking facilities near the May Lee Building and a trailer bill shifting statewide telework policy language from DGS to CalHR while also expanding NDI eligibility for certain CEA employees. The LAO said the telework trailer bill should likely go through the policy committee process instead of budget, and union and employee witnesses strongly opposed it, arguing it would undermine bargaining rights and could be used to narrow telework. In a separate item on the governor’s return-to-office order, administration officials said departments are being directed to move to a four-day in-office expectation starting July 1, 2025, but they had no statewide cost estimate yet because departments are still assessing vacancies, exemptions, and space needs. Members criticized the lack of analysis and said the state should have clearer numbers before moving forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• I yield back. operation and strike in world history." operation and strike in world history."
• Bush launched the glo the George W.
• </c> stream of consciousness press operation. stream of consciousness press operation.
• I mean, this is not the way government is supposed to operate. It's not working.
• I mean, this is not the way government is supposed to operate. It's not working.

Bills: HR519 , HR538 , HR530 , HR537

Keywords: Minnesota lawmakers, political violence, domestic terrorism, assassination attempt, state legislators, Melissa Hortman, John Hoffman, Yvette Hoffman, Mark Hortman, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, public safety, law enforcement response, civil discourse, democracy, gun violence, elected officials, House resolution, condemnation, bipartisan unity

Transcript Highlights:

• year, including a statewide Medicaid managed care transparency dashboard, the first one since the launch
• We are about to launch a chatbot, and there are a couple other AI-forward-facing tools that the agency
• So I think we will do so looking at which regions the health plans are operating in, whether they're
• I also would say our regulatory environment in which we operate the vertically integrated system that
• Again, we only operate under the law in the statute that set us up.

Committee: Senate Ethics and Elections

Transcript Highlights:

• Sometimes the order of operations can create more holding costs and other things.
• offering essential education and technical assistance from the very beginning through the day-to-day launch
• the monthly fee that she pays is called a carrying charge in a cooperative, and it truly is the operating
• limited equity cooperative, plus a little for debt service, but that only changes as the cost of operations
• We're able to run our program with less than $200,000 a year just for program operations.

Committee: House Housing

Summary: The committee held a work session on land banking and shared homeownership models, with members and staff discussing ways to use public land and nonprofit partnerships to expand permanently affordable housing. Commerce’s Dave Anderson outlined recent policy changes that may support these models, including ADUs, middle housing, lot splitting, condominium reforms, church land housing, and public land transfer policies. He described community land trusts and limited equity housing cooperatives as ways for households to build some equity without owning land outright. Representatives asked about statewide numbers and implementation, and Commerce said it is preparing a guidebook for local planners. Pierce County staff described the Pierce County Community Development Corporation’s rapid acquisition fund, public-to-public land transfers, and land banking loans. They said the county used general fund and 1406 sales tax dollars to acquire properties, preserve a manufactured home park through resident ownership, and assemble public surplus and underutilized sites for future affordable housing. Committee members asked about the entity’s advantages over private developers, funding sources, coordination with housing authorities, and whether similar models exist elsewhere. The presenter said the main advantage is the ability to receive public property transfers at no cost and hold land while development plans are assembled. Amy Manning of the Spokane Regional Land Bank said land banks help move vacant, blighted, or underutilized properties into affordable housing and community use, but holding costs and taxes can make projects harder to finance. She described EPA brownfield assessments, Commerce planning grants, donated properties, and work with the City of Spokane on surplus and underutilized land. Victoria O’Beynion of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center then testified on limited equity cooperatives, especially in manufactured housing communities, saying they preserve affordability, support resident governance, and can build modest equity over time. She cited growth in cooperative acquisitions since 2020 and said recent legislation allowing manufactured homes in cooperatives to be titled as real property has improved access to traditional financing. The committee then shifted to maximizing existing housing stock. Dave Anderson reviewed the state’s recent housing laws and said implementation is still unfolding, with local code updates and planning cycles taking years. He noted growth in ADUs, room rentals, and multifamily production, but also concerns about short-term rentals and corporate ownership of single-family homes. Members asked for follow-up data on implementation timelines, vacancy, corporate ownership, and eviction patterns. Sightline’s Katie Gould presented on mobile dwelling units, arguing that RVs and tiny houses on wheels are a low-cost, fast-to-install housing option that is often blocked by zoning, and described cases where people were forced into precarious or illegal arrangements. AARP’s Kathy McCall closed by emphasizing aging in place, housing cost burdens on older adults, and the need for more accessible, lower-cost options such as ADUs, missing middle housing, and manufactured home community preservation.

Transcript Highlights:

• Early last year, we launched an attorney of record portal, fulfilling a longstanding request from Idaho
• Courts in Idaho operate through a long-standing partnership between the judicial branch and our counties
• And while most never materialize, those that do require precautions that can disrupt court operations
• These principles focus on improving court operations, strengthening public trust, ensuring a safe and
• These principles focus on improving court operations, strengthening public trust, ensuring a safe and

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:05:00.160><c> Uh</c> currently operates with open records.
• Uh currently operates with open records.
• From an operational standpoint, body armor is not simply equipment for law enforcement.
• From an operational standpoint, body armor is not simply equipment for law enforcement.
• From an operational equipment the most.

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• one I would highlight is DentistLink, which is actually a public-private partnership originally launched
• Prior to performing an operation under deep sedation, the dentist must ensure a patient is evaluated
• When deep sedation is administered by a dedicated anesthesia provider who is not the operative dentist
• Twice a week, we operate outdoor mobile clinics in the community.
• In the 2023 to 2025 operating budget, the legislature created a pilot program to reimburse a licensed

Bills: SB6138 , SB5899 , SB6072 , SB6094

Committee: Senate Health & Long-Term Care

Keywords: dental procedures, sedation, patient safety, multiprovider system, healthcare regulation, chiropractic, animal care, veterinary medicine, license endorsement, nonhuman animals, veterinarian-client-patient relationship, VCPR, veterinary telehealth, telemedicine, teletriage, teleadvice, animal health, licensed veterinarian, Washington veterinary board, prescription drugs

Transcript Highlights:

• So in May, we launched the Reimagined Visiting Project.
• So in May, we launched the Reimagined Visiting Project. That project had a large project team.
• As Secretary, it's important to me that frontline staff have input in the way we operate and the policies
• As you may know, Norway is known for operating prisons that focus on rehabilitation with a well-being
• And then, custody staffing relief: operating 24/7 facilities means you have to have people in shifts

Bills: SB5873 , SB5895 , SB5945

Committee: Senate Human Services

Keywords: incarcerated individuals, escorted leaves, criminal justice, rehabilitation, state law, healthcare, incarcerated, extraordinary medical placement, criminal justice reform, medical care, persistent offender, three strikes, resentencing, juvenile conviction, youth offender, juvenile sentencing, life without parole, LWOP, most serious offense, sentencing reform

Transcript Highlights:

• So our Health and Wellness Unit operates on the holistic well-being philosophy that embraces nine dimensions
• And these are in areas related to academics, business operations, and also our research and creative
• activities. ...business operations, and also our research and creative activities.
• In operations and administration, we want to use AI to improve operational workflow and accessibility
• And then our fall 2026 launch cohort will actually start training in March.

Committee: House Postsecondary Education & Workforce

Summary: The committee heard a series of informational presentations on student mental health, artificial intelligence, and the High School and Beyond Plan. Central Washington University, Washington State University, the University of Washington, and the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges described campus and system efforts to support student well-being through counseling, peer programs, behavioral intervention teams, basic-needs assistance, crisis response, and partnerships with community providers. Presenters said students are reporting high levels of anxiety, loneliness, basic-needs insecurity, and substance-use concerns, while also increasingly seeking services. Members asked about substance-use treatment, student feedback, historical trends, and the distinction between counseling and academic advising. The community and technical colleges also discussed a four-college mental health pilot that expanded access through licensed counselors, telehealth, referral pathways, and stronger connections to basic-needs supports. The committee then shifted to artificial intelligence in higher education. Washington State University, the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges described how they are developing AI policies, governance structures, faculty guidance, and training for students and staff. Topics included academic integrity, ethical use, privacy, cybersecurity, equitable access to AI tools, and using AI to support teaching, research, advising, and operations. Presenters emphasized that AI should be used with human oversight and that students need clear course-level policies and foundational skills. Members asked about deepfakes, AI use in hiring and admissions, student monitoring, K-12 alignment, and the risk of bias or privacy problems. Finally, OSPI presented the statewide High School and Beyond Plan platform, School Links, as a practical tool to help students plan for postsecondary pathways and connect to career and college information. The presenter said the new platform is intended to create more equitable access across districts, improve implementation data, and support students’ future planning, while also helping them see a pathway forward. OSPI reported that about 200 districts and 694 middle and high schools are using the platform, with roughly 282,000 students rostered, and said additional funding is needed to complete the statewide rollout beyond June 30, 2026. No votes or formal actions were taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• Our launch program goes to religious institutions. So we're already hitting that gray area.
• Our launch program goes to religious institutions. So we're already hitting that gray area.
• Our launch program goes to religious institutions. So we're already hitting that gray area.
• Because of the launch program and other programs in the state, you were already doing what the Supreme
• Consider Idaho launch grants. They're available to a wide variety of programs.

Committee: House State Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• And it's a program that we are proud to have launched and to have shown as a model of success for the
• I'm the Chief Operating Officer with Housing and Community Development.
• , from issuing permits to operate. ...mobile home park residents and park owners and operators, from
• fees and fees per employee that the operator pays to HCD cover that expense.
• We're a 50-year-old fair housing agency operating in the Bay Area.

Summary: The subcommittee heard an extensive presentation on the administration’s housing reorganization proposal, which would centralize multifamily affordable housing finance under the new Housing Development and Finance Committee (HDFC) and align it with the Governor’s trailer bill language. Administration officials said the plan is intended to create a one-stop application and award process, reduce duplicative timelines and costs, and pair state subsidy with private activity bonds and federal tax credits more efficiently. They also described proposed changes to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, including shifting a larger share of funding toward housing-related awards while preserving a portion for sustainable communities investments. The Legislative Analyst’s Office generally supported the streamlining concept but recommended changes to the proposed bond set-aside timing and urged flexibility for integrated applications and future reporting on demand. Senators, especially Senator Cabaldon, raised concerns that the proposal could weaken the original climate-and-transportation purpose of the sustainable communities program and that the reorganization would be undercut by the lack of new housing production funding in the budget. The item was held open without a vote. The committee then received a report from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee on federal and state housing tax credits. Staff explained that the federal H.R. 1 change lowering the bond-financing threshold from 50% to 25% greatly expanded the number of projects able to use the 4% federal tax credit, allowing California to fund many more projects and units. They also described the state low-income housing tax credit as an important gap-filling tool for projects that still need additional subsidy, and noted existing set-asides for rural, homeless, at-risk, and extremely low-income projects. Members discussed rehabilitation as well as new construction, and the item was informational only. Finally, the Civil Rights Department reported on the effects of federal civil rights policy changes and on three programs facing expiration: California vs. Hate, the Community Conflict Resolution Unit, and Investigations and Conciliation Enhancement. Director Kevin Kish said federal cuts and policy shifts have reduced support for fair housing and other civil rights functions, while CRD’s caseload has grown from about 8,700 open matters a year ago to more than 12,000, with a six-month wait for interviews despite overtime triage efforts. Senators expressed strong support for continuing the programs and concern about the broader federal rollback of civil rights enforcement. The department said it is using overtime, intake triage, and outreach partnerships to manage the workload and direct Californians to appropriate state, local, and nonprofit resources.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are looking at initial operating capability by the end of the year.
• You're the one that's operating in here, so yeah. Mr.
• For our Helios launch, we did something called random circuit sampling.
• Maybe we separate out operational. I don't know what the solution is.
• Maybe we separate out operational. I don't know what the solution is.

Committee: Senate Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• We're the ones that operate that lovely PPW program that Kim just spoke about.
• We're the ones that operate that lovely PPW program that Kim just spoke about.
• We're the ones that operate that lovely PPW program that Kim just spoke about.
• As the name suggests, CCA operating is for the operating budget and CCA capital is for the capital budget
• The operating account, or the operating Ecology administration funds, would be growing by the fiscal

Summary: The committee first heard a briefing on the proposed Senate capital budget, Substitute Senate Bill 6003, which would spend about $723 million total using debt-limit bonds, Climate Commitment Act funds, and other cash resources. Staff described major investments in housing and homelessness, human services, local infrastructure, flood response, water conservation and clean energy, K-12 school modernization and seismic work, and higher education projects. Members then took public testimony from a wide range of advocates and project sponsors, most of whom urged the Senate to preserve or increase funding for specific projects in the final budget, including affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, child care facilities, food banks, behavioral health and substance use treatment centers, tribal courthouse relocation, school modernization, community colleges, university projects, floodplain restoration, community forests, and local civic or cultural facilities. Several witnesses also asked the Senate to match or approach House funding levels on items such as the Housing Trust Fund, permanent supportive housing, the Community Forest Program, Floodplains by Design, and CCA-supported clean energy and water projects. The chair noted that amendments to the capital budget were due the next day at noon. The committee then received a briefing on Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2251, which would restructure Climate Commitment Act accounts by repealing three existing accounts and replacing them with two new accounts: a CCA operating account and a CCA capital account. Staff explained that the bill would preserve most existing uses while changing revenue distribution formulas, capping Ecology administrative costs, expanding allowable uses for EV-related costs, housing, and carbon capture/sequestration, and changing reporting and tribal consultation provisions. The bill also shifts some reporting from annual to biannual and modifies the thresholds for tribal-supported and overburdened-community investments. The fiscal note was described as relatively small, with the main impact being the revised revenue allocation structure. Public testimony on the CCA bill was mixed. Supporters, including the League of Women Voters, said the restructuring better aligns spending with the intent of the CCA and could improve investments for tribes and overburdened communities. Critics, including the Washington Policy Center, argued the bill still lacks strong requirements to ensure CCA spending is effective and objected to reducing the frequency of the state’s climate-spending report. No votes were taken during the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• Most of the novel medicines approved in 2024 continue to be launched in the U.S.
• The strength of an FDA is an important influencing factor in determining where first launches occur.
• The overall number of devices launched in the U.S. or in parallel with other countries has been increasing
• That's a long-term, first-of-kind project that was launched actually in 1991 to study cancer and heart
• This means fewer jobs for Wisconsinites, fewer young scientists launching their careers at a time when

Committee: Senate Senate Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• So we have now conducted more than 424 community engagement sessions since the launch of the program
• I'm the Chief Operating Officer with Housing and Community Development.
• , from issuing permits to operate... ...mobile home park residents and park owners and operators, from
• fees and fees per employee that the operator pays to HCD cover that expense.
• We're a 50-year-old fair housing agency operating in the Bay Area.

Transcript Highlights:

• Christina and I are with our Juvenile Justice Program team at CSG, and about six or seven months ago we launched
• passage of SB 3, the waiver approval to get access to health care for young people in facilities, to launching
• Lastly, there are opportunities to strengthen the operation of juvenile courts across the state in New
• And through that conversation, it was prior to us launching the CYPSI initiative.
• When we launched CYPSI, we offered the opportunity, and CYFD, healthcare authorities, Senator Lopez,

Committee: House Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• So, 85% of the CSU's operating budget, or operating fund, is a combination of the state general fund
• So it's all essentially state operations as opposed to having a split between state operations and local
• To the operations of the Whitkin State Law Library.
• A set of revenue options to fund the law library's operations.
• Of costs of the law library operating?

Transcript Highlights:

• PCS for House Bill 1177 clarifies ad valorem tax exemptions for defense and aerospace operations and
• Members, as you continue to see record numbers of rocket launches from Florida, it is becoming increasingly
• The regular operating process.

Summary: The Transportation Economic Budget Subcommittee met with a quorum and heard four measures. First, the committee considered PCS for HB 1177, which originally addressed ad valorem tax exemptions for defense and aerospace operations and contract procedures for Space Florida. An amendment removed the tax exemption portion for later consideration in the tax package, and the bill then passed favorably after brief discussion about Florida’s competitiveness in the space industry. The committee next took up a conforming budget bill on documentary stamp taxes, which redirects a portion of doc stamp revenue from general revenue to the State Transportation Trust Fund. The sponsor said the change restores a $60 million transportation funding stream with a corresponding general revenue reduction, while maintaining a net zero fiscal impact overall. Members asked about why the funding was being restored and how the money would be used, and the bill passed favorably. Members then heard PCB 26-02, which re-creates the Emergency Preparedness Response Fund and adds restrictions and oversight. The proposal limits the fund to state appropriations for natural emergencies, requires legislative consultation for extended emergencies, keeps revenue in the fund, sends federal reimbursements to general revenue, adds quarterly reporting and inventory/accounting requirements, and sunsets the fund in 2030 unless reenacted. Testimony and debate focused on accountability, disaster response readiness, and concerns about prior uses of the fund; the PCB passed favorably. Finally, the committee considered HB 953, which strengthens oversight of commercial driving schools by authorizing county tax collectors to enforce related statutes and inspections. The sponsor said the bill responds to fraud and misrepresentation in the industry and would help protect driver licensing integrity, especially in South Florida. After supportive testimony from the Miami-Dade Tax Collector’s Office and a lobbyist, the bill passed favorably. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• When you look down at the operating expenses, you'll see a 10.5% favorable variance on the gaming contracts
• We launched no new games in July, and so that may have had something to do with our dip in instant sales

Committee: All ALC-LOTTERY OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEE

Summary: The meeting began with a review of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s Miles Partnership contract for website hosting. Sharon Strong explained that the hosting function had been separated from the new advertising agency contract and put out for competitive bid because the amount was under the RFP threshold. Three companies bid, Miles Partnership was the lowest, and the one-year contract would cost up to $61,000, down from the previous $90,000 annual cost. The committee reviewed the contract without objection. Strong then gave the lottery director’s report for July, noting that instant game sales were down but draw game sales were up, resulting in a 3.7% decline in total revenue year over year. Operating expenses were lower, especially marketing and advertising, reflecting savings from the new contract, and net proceeds were 14.8% higher than the prior year and 7.4% above forecast. Fiscal 2026 ended with $114.3 million in net proceeds, the second-highest transfer in lottery history, and the lottery had already transferred $67 million to the Division of Higher Education for fiscal 2027. She also reported $1.1 million in reserves, $3,545 withheld for debt setoff, and a renegotiated Bank OZK arrangement expected to improve interest earnings. The Arkansas Division of Higher Education then presented scholarship reports. Assistant Commissioner Nick Fuller said 29,055 students received the Academic Challenge Scholarship in 2026, totaling $110 million, including 11,000 students who received Challenge Plus awards worth an additional $18 million. For first-time awardees, 12,708 students received $40 million, with 5,816 of them receiving Challenge Plus funding. He also reported that the Academic Challenge portion of the net proceeds trust account ended the year with a $4.4 million balance, and the Higher Education Grants Fund ended with a $5.3 million balance after spending $74.9 million in fiscal 2026. Representative Garner asked about the lower budget request for the next year, and Fuller said the main reason was that the Arkansas Future Grant had cost more than expected in 2026 due to higher-than-anticipated private school participation and related factors. ADHE also requested $667,346 in reimbursement for administering the scholarship programs, the lowest request in five years. The meeting concluded with no further business and adjournment.