Transcript Highlights:

• So, we're training them now.
• But we trained most of the radtechs in the state. We train 80% of LPNs.
• That's a call on us to train more nurses.
• Then, in slide five, when you talk about workforce training Is this the type of training that fits into
• Training for industry is different.

Committee: House A&B Education Subcommittee

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, probationary employees.
• Under the civil service laws, new employees and certain employees who have changed offices or recently
• Uh probationary employees. Uh this >> Okay. Uh probationary employees.
• > who</c><01:03:05.920><c> have</c> employees and certain employees who have employees and certain employees
• </c> vocational training among other areas. vocational training among other areas.

Summary: The Judiciary Committee held an informational briefing on the State of Hawaii’s affirmative litigation against the federal administration, with no public testimony. Attorney General Lopez and deputies said the office’s goal is to enforce the rule of law, not make partisan points, and noted that Hawaii is involved in 27 ongoing cases. They grouped the cases into four broad areas: immigration, funding freezes and grant terminations, federal agency dismantling/reductions in force, and protecting elections, health, and safety. Several immigration-related cases were discussed in detail. These included a challenge to the federal sharing of Medicaid data with DHS for immigration enforcement, a similar challenge to USDA’s demand for SNAP applicant and recipient data, and litigation over immigration-enforcement conditions attached to federal grants. The office also described the birthright citizenship executive order, saying it conflicts with the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court precedent; lower courts granted preliminary relief, and the U.S. Supreme Court later addressed only the scope of nationwide injunctions, not the merits. In the Department of Transportation case, the court granted a preliminary injunction against the “Duffy directive,” finding the immigration conditions lacked statutory authority, were arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Spending Clause and APA. The briefing also covered multiple funding disputes. In the education funding freeze case, the Department of Education and OMB withheld about $6 billion in formula funds, including roughly $33 million for Hawaii; after suit was filed, the funds were released. Other cases included the termination of over $11 billion in public health grants, which affected Hawaii Department of Health grants, the NIH indirect cost cap case, and NIH grant terminations tied to DEI, transgender issues, and vaccine hesitancy. The speakers said some cases have already resulted in preliminary or permanent injunctions, while others remain on appeal or are still being litigated.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's also about the charging infrastructure and the training to maintain them.
• In terms of school retirees and Plan 1 employees, it's a constant struggle.
• In terms of school retirees and Plan 1 employees, it's a constant struggle.
• with other state employees.
• Without this coverage, caregivers do not get trained.

Bills: HB2289

Committee: House Appropriations

Keywords: appropriations, budget, fiscal matters, state spending, general fund, supplemental budget, biennial budget, substitute bill, public defense, civil legal aid, courts, judicial branch, homelessness, supportive housing, affordable housing, behavioral health, juvenile rehabilitation, youth services, child welfare, foster care

Transcript Highlights:

• That's an eight-hour training.
• He said the training was done online.
• That money was supposed to be used for raises for the employees.
• We didn't give the employees a raise this year.
• Senate Bill 1110 last year was brought up about employees.

Transcript Highlights:

• And my first question often is: Are they actually a trained social worker in Minnesota?
• Government employees should not be exempt.
• Government employees should not be exempt. There should not >> Thank you for your testimony.
• Tell me how this bill would affect that 30 year-old county employee.
• They're hired after its own terms of new employees. Right?

Bills: HF3454 , HF3917 , HF2906 , HF3832 , HF3769

Committee: House Health Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• This is training. This is involvement.
• This is training. This, you know, the old saying, for every action is a reaction. This is training.
• In a recent employee survey, 90% indicated that they would be interested in an employee housing program
• This bill would allow VTA to implement an employee housing preference policy, giving our employees the
• , get on trains, be part of the project.

Summary: The Senate Transportation Committee heard a long agenda of transportation-related measures, with testimony focused on housing, safety, environmental access, and fuel affordability. Several bills dealt with Caltrans surplus or former freeway properties in the Los Angeles area: AB 1338 would let the City of Linwood transfer a public-purpose covenant to another parcel to enable 55 units of affordable housing; AB 1594 would remove a net-equity repayment requirement for Ronald McDonald House’s purchase of former SR 710 properties in Pasadena; and AB 2329 would create a more transparent process for tenants and cities to facilitate sales of former SR 710 homes, with support from South Pasadena and Pasadena officials and tenants. AB 2679 addressed safety and access around Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay corridor by allowing Caltrans and local Tahoe agencies to manage parking and improve pedestrian, transit, and public access infrastructure. The committee also heard several public safety bills aimed at impaired driving. AB 1685 would increase DMV points for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated from two to three, and AB 1687 would extend the license revocation period for a third DUI conviction from three years to eight years, with an interlock option after four years. Both measures drew strong support from law enforcement, MADD, and victims’ families, including emotional testimony about repeat offenders and drunk-driving fatalities. AB 1613 would require an off-highway vehicle safety and stewardship course before access to off-highway lands beginning in 2029, with supporters describing it as an education-first response to rising OHV injuries and fatalities. Other bills focused on transportation efficiency and affordability. AB 2046 would allow EPA-approved E85 conversion kits in California, which supporters said would give drivers a cheaper, lower-carbon fuel option and improve fuel resiliency. AB 2168 would revise the Active Transportation Program to better prioritize transit-connected biking and walking projects and add stronger accountability for grantees that do not spend funds on time. AB 2263 would authorize the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to reserve some affordable housing units for its employees, and supporters said it would help workers live closer to their jobs and reduce long commutes. The committee reported no opposition on most measures, and after quorum was established it approved the bills, sending them onward mostly to the Committee on Appropriations, with AB 2679 sent to Natural Resources and Water. Several votes were unanimous, while AB 1613 and AB 2168 drew some no votes but still advanced.

Transcript Highlights:

• That's the reason why it says public school. to transfer employees from one agency to to transfer employees
• That's where we do training on Fridays, 11. That's what I'm saying.
• </c><00:47:44.559><c> for</c> can catch up and we also do training for can catch up and we also do training
• </c><00:48:05.720><c> for</c> you can put in your guys training for you can put in your guys training
• <00:48:43.839><c> um</c><00:48:44.319><c> every</c> training um every training um every Friday<00:48:

Committee: Senate Education

Summary: The joint committees heard Senate Bill 659, which would exempt the Department of Education from the electronic procurement system for purchases of fresh local agricultural products and local value-added processed agricultural or food products up to $100,000, and require geographic preference guidelines for locally sourced products. The Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and State Procurement Office all testified in support or support of the intent. DOE said the bill would give it short-term flexibility to buy local items not currently on the vendor list, such as poi and limu, while procurement staff said they would provide written comments and a corrected version of their testimony. Committee members questioned why the bill was needed, why the threshold would rise from the current $24,999 small-purchase limit to $100,000, and whether the department should instead amend its vendor list or RFP process. Members raised concerns about efficiency, administrative burden, whether the bill was a temporary fix for procurement planning gaps, and whether purchases would remain compliant with federal USDA rules if federal school-lunch funds were used. DOE responded that the measure would help it expand local purchasing, support farmers, and allow purchases of products not currently available through existing distributors, and said it was working with partners on food-safety certification and federal compliance. The committees then voted to pass SB 659 with amendments. The Joint Committee on Education approved it 3-2, and the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Environment later approved the amended measure 4-0. The chair noted an amendment and a deferred effective date, and the motion was adopted.

Transcript Highlights:

• So our training includes helping employees navigate data protection.
• are in-person trainings.
• </c> happening so we do help our our training happening so we do help our our training includes<00:42
• data</c> includes helping employees navigate data includes helping employees navigate data protection
• </c><00:49:15.680><c> to</c> being trained to you being trained to being trained to you being trained

Transcript Highlights:

• We call it industry's training center.
• And then in 2021, so we took our training center, and it's been a great amazing successes, Training Center
• They happen to have mobile training equipment.
• What we do is we take the training to them. We set it up.
• But this is what training, this is what one of the industrial training machines, the mobile application

Committee: House Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact

Transcript Highlights:

• So, us as Independent grocers, if we train our employees and actually have butchers in our stores, we're
• On the train, you just pull the train off. That way, more trains can go, and this train unloads.
• On the train, you just pull the train off. That way, more trains can go, and this train unloads.
• And the train, a boxcar, so to speak, can be transferred from a train to a truck.
• A workforce training.

Committee: Joint Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• , Apic Bio with 50 employees, Adalanta Therapeutics with over 70 employees, Via Scientific with 30 employees
• , and Comanche Bio, also 30 employees.
• In fact, a majority of our members are businesses with 200 or fewer employees.
• Insufficient funding significantly hampers this training potential.
• We've trained more than 150 graduate students and postdocs.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies

Summary: The committee on Economic Development held a hearing on the DRIVE Act, a proposal to invest $400 million in Massachusetts research and innovation without new taxes. Governor Healey and administration officials said the bill would direct $200 million to public higher education research and regional partnerships and $200 million to a research funding pool for hospitals, universities, and other institutions, with the goal of retaining talent, leveraging private and philanthropic dollars, and offsetting major federal R&D cuts. They argued that research is a core economic engine for the state, supporting jobs across labs, construction, services, and surrounding businesses, and said the bill would help protect the Commonwealth’s tax base and competitiveness during a period of federal uncertainty and cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other programs. Committee members raised concerns about whether Fair Share surtax dollars should instead be used for K-12 and other community needs, whether the proposal is enough given the scale of lost federal grants, and how the money would be allocated. The governor responded that the funds are one-time surplus dollars, that most surtax revenue already supports education, and that the bill is meant as a bridge to stabilize public higher education and research. She also said the legislation includes a review board and could support a revolving or matched-fund approach in some cases. Several members pressed for more detail on selection criteria, future funding, and whether private companies and large endowments should contribute more. University of Massachusetts leaders and researchers testified that federal grant cancellations and delays are already causing layoffs, furloughs, rescinded admissions, and lost research capacity. UMass officials said the bill would help preserve faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and research programs in medicine, climate science, marine science, Braille instruction, and AI decision-making. They emphasized that the funding should be merit-based and that the state needs to act quickly to prevent talent from leaving Massachusetts. Business, labor, and industry groups, including MassBio, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, AIM, the AFL-CIO, and Building Trades, supported the bill, saying it would protect jobs, sustain the innovation ecosystem, and reinforce Massachusetts’ national leadership in research and life sciences. No vote was taken in the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• I happen to be trained as one.
• We do have policies in place, and employees, faculty, are trained on those every year.
• And so you have to be well-trained.
• They go to training. They get the training. They return. Now they're operating on a mission.
• They go to training. They get the training. They return. Now they're operating on a mission.

Summary: The committee heard a presentation from University of Idaho representatives on the university’s land-grant mission and its role in federalism, followed by detailed overviews of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources. Speakers described the Morrill, Hatch, and Smith-Lever Acts, the university’s history, and examples of research, extension, and workforce training in agriculture, engineering, law, forestry, fire science, and youth programs such as 4-H. They highlighted facilities and programs including research stations, the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, the deep soil ecotron, the Wildland Fire Center, the experimental forest, and the policy analysis group, while also noting the impact of federal and state funding delays and cuts on staffing and research capacity. Committee members asked about several current issues, including quagga mussels, screw worm, chronic wasting disease, and the effects of funding cuts. University officials said they were not actively researching some of those wildlife and livestock disease issues but were willing to help if capacity and funding allowed. They also said budget reductions had caused real losses, including layoffs and reduced programs, and that federal grant delays had disrupted research timelines. The committee also raised questions about conflicts of interest and university employees’ outside work; the university said it has annual conflict-of-interest and conflict-of-commitment training and review procedures. The committee then heard from Bonneville County Sheriff Sam Hulse and the Idaho Sheriffs Association on the federal 287(g) immigration partnership program. Hulse argued that participation should remain voluntary and locally controlled, describing the different 287(g) models, the training and liability concerns, and the distinction between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement. He said Idaho agencies already cooperate with ICE in other ways and that mandatory participation could create staffing, legal, and community-trust problems. Members asked about costs, liability, detention standards, and whether deputies lose local control under task force arrangements; Hulse said the answer depends on the specific model and operation, and he emphasized the need for local discretion. Later, the committee took testimony on the long-running bighorn sheep and domestic sheep conflict affecting western Idaho grazing allotments. Idaho Wool Growers representatives and affected ranchers described the history of state legislation, federal litigation, and the closure of grazing areas after bighorn sheep transplants, which they said cut livestock operations in half and caused major financial and personal hardship. They argued that the state and federal agencies had not lived up to assurances that permittees would be held harmless, and they urged continued attention to the issue. No formal votes or committee actions were taken in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• You were at the LBB, you were trained right, you came up through the system, you ran for election, you
• Would you be in favor of making this option available to employees generally or only to teachers?
• To the extent this can be used to help other employees, and let's talk about that too.
• business only at the employees' regular place of employment, to Business and Commerce.
• Senate Bill 2715 by Middleton, relating to sexual abuse and assault prevention training for employees

Bills: SJR12 , SCR39 , SB27 , SB29 , SB241 , SB406 , SB414 , SB464 , SB568 , SB578 , SB609 , SB660 , SB689 , SB693 , SB785 , SB857 , SB879 , SB921 , SB922 , SB955 , SB985 , SB993 , SB996 , SB1008 , SB1035 , SB1036 , SB1059 , SB1098 , SB1120 , SB1122 , SB1147 , SB1188 , SB1197 , SB1209 , SB1227 , SB1245 , SB1267 , SB1307 , SB1321 , SB1332 , SB1386 , SB1396 , SB1453 , SB1484 , SB1494 , SB1536 , SB1537 , SB1596 , SB1610 , SB1664 , SB1741 , SB1814 , SB1822 , SB1841 , SB1948 , SB2065 , SB2155 , SB2188 , SB2230 , SB2406 , SB2407

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum present, heard an invocation, and approved the previous day’s journal. The chamber then adopted Senate Resolution 358 honoring the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on its 10th anniversary, with senators highlighting the university’s growth, medical school, research expansion, and role in serving South Texas. The Senate also adopted Senate Resolution 368 honoring outgoing Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, with numerous senators praising his long public career, leadership in higher education, and statewide impact. Senate Resolution 361 recognizing Texas HBCU Day and Senate Resolution 362 recognizing Denton County Days at the Capitol were also adopted, along with other routine recognitions and gubernatorial appointments being read into the record. The Senate then took up several bills. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 27, relating to rights and support for public school educators, was debated and amended to shorten vacancy posting requirements, allow bilingual certification candidates to retake only failed test sections, give teachers more flexibility with paid leave, clarify classroom removal procedures, and ensure parents are informed of appeal rights. The bill passed to engrossment, the three-day rule was suspended, and it was finally passed unanimously. Senate Joint Resolution 12, proposing a constitutional amendment to establish a parent’s right to direct a child’s education, was also brought up and passed to engrossment after a contested suspension vote. The Senate next passed Committee Substitute Senate Bill 1741, which would require reporting of foreign funding at public universities, bar gifts from adversarial governments, and require training and reporting systems to prevent foreign influence and intellectual property theft in higher education. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 29, the so-called “Dexit” bill, was debated at length for its corporate governance changes, including codifying the business judgment rule and altering internal corporate litigation and records rules; it passed to engrossment, the three-day rule was suspended, and it was finally passed by a 30-1 vote. Senate Bill 857, allowing law enforcement discretion to tow vehicles driven by unlicensed or uninsured drivers, passed after discussion of towing abuses during flooding and disaster conditions. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 1536, requiring dementia and Alzheimer’s training for certain guardians, passed with broad support, and Senate Bill 922, addressing delayed electronic disclosure of sensitive medical test results so physicians can discuss them first, was taken up and passed to engrossment as the chamber continued through its calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• As you all know, on February 2nd, Governor Abbott made expanding career training an emergency item, and
• in his press release, he stated it was vital to education. ...is expanding career training.
• We have a need for employees right now.
• In our best chance we are... is to actually train up our own and give them the skills to employ those
• But this can help employers to offer incentives to their employees.

Bills: SB209 , SB529 , SB1265 , SB1592 , SB1728 , SCR37 , SCR38

Committee: Senate Economic Development

Transcript Highlights:

• This is the State Employee Insurance.
• Um, and employees group insurance falls underneath A&I, as you all know.
• So, the employees bear that cost.
• We had 18 participants complete wildland fire and chainsaw training in early June.
• have successfully transitioned 13 employees into these two retirements.

Committee: Joint Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• a good employee, and it may be, it gives the employee an opportunity to say, I'm on this medication.
• a good employee, and it may be, and it gives the employee an opportunity to, I'm on this medication
• or on a positive, and they know that this is a good employee, and it may be, and it gives the employee
• employee at the time.
• They're trained to do this, and they're trained to forensically interview the children and not take sides

Committee: House House Government Committee of Reference

Summary: The special committee on government convened to discuss child welfare reform, with members framing the meeting as a response to Arizona Auditor General findings and broader concerns about the Department of Child Safety (DCS). The chair emphasized that the committee’s goal was to improve accountability, oversight, and child-centered practices rather than assign blame, and said bills advanced from the committee would move to the floor. Roll was taken, and the committee then heard testimony on several bills focused on foster care and DCS operations. HB 2611 was heard first. The bill would require termination of a group foster home employee who tests positive on a drug screen, establish screening and safety requirements for group homes, expand foster youth rights, and include designated advocates on family/service teams. An amendment was adopted that changed the drug-testing language to require removal from child contact pending confirmatory review rather than automatic termination, and to require testing after certain incidents. Supporters, including foster youth and former foster youth, described unsafe conditions in group homes, bullying, drug use by staff, inadequate training, and the need for posted rights, mental health services, and stronger accountability. Some members raised questions about the amendment, drug-testing procedures, backup staffing, and contracting authority, but the amendment passed and HB 2611 was given a do pass recommendation by a 5-1-1 vote. The committee next considered HB 2035, which would add extended family members to the search, notification, and placement process when a child enters custody and create a presumption that placement with relatives or significant adults is in the child’s best interest. Testimony strongly favored kinship placement, with speakers arguing that children do better with familiar caregivers and that current practice often fails to locate or prioritize relatives. Several witnesses described tragic cases, including the death of Zariah Finley Dodd, to argue that repeated placements and congregate care increase risk. Some members questioned whether the bill duplicated existing law and asked for clarification on differences from prior legislation; the sponsor said the bill strengthens existing policy and adds written documentation requirements. HB 2035 was ultimately given a do pass recommendation by a 4-2 vote. Finally, the committee heard HB 4049, which would authorize DCS to employ legal counsel and incur legal expenses, along with an amendment that would require independent representation or review in certain cases involving credible allegations against DCS or its agents. The sponsor and several witnesses argued that the Attorney General’s office has a structural conflict when representing DCS, and that independent counsel would better ensure honesty and accountability in court proceedings. Others cautioned that keeping representation within the Attorney General’s office preserves consistency, oversight, and existing checks and balances. Discussion continued on the structure of legal representation for DCS, but the transcript ends before a final vote on HB 4049 is recorded.

Transcript Highlights:

• They're paying to train an employee workforce, but when they do the training, it's all on them.
• to training.
• </c> anywhere with that training. anywhere with that training.
• So employee many employees as they had.
• . employee. employee.

Transcript Highlights:

• We can cross-train employees.
• You can have more than one employee doing licensing for one board, which is how it used to be.
• Many of our public employees have acupuncture insurance benefits.
• These employees are firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other state and federal employees.
• These employees are firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other state and federal employees.

Committee: House Health and Welfare

Transcript Highlights:

• in the DOH because their base salary isn't high enough to attract good employees.
• So, and they lose employees to other departments.
• So, um, So, and they lose employees to other departments.
• And when you look at the cost of any business that has to find three employees for that same position
• that they recruit and not be a training center.

Summary: The Health Care Budget Subcommittee met to review agency budgets, vacant positions, and possible efficiencies across several health and human services agencies. Members were asked to identify savings and potential areas for increased funding, and the discussion repeatedly focused on whether long-vacant FTEs, reversion of funds, and staffing shortages reflect true operational needs or broader budgeting and recruitment problems. The chair and members emphasized that the exercise was intended to help the committee make more informed budget decisions and to identify structural issues that may require legislative action. For the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, members highlighted a large waiting list, including individuals in crisis and children, and discussed whether vacant positions and unspent funds could be redirected to services. Several members raised concerns about delays in crisis applications, the use of paper applications, and whether the issue is staffing, process, or both. For the Department of Children and Families, the presenters discussed vacant positions, the use of staff augmentation in state hospitals, support for expanding behavioral qualified residential treatment program beds, and concerns raised by audits of the managing entities, which showed procurement and financial management problems. They recommended continued oversight, reporting requirements on Medicaid enrollees receiving mental health services through managing entities, and support for the governor’s proposed funding items. Other agencies reviewed included Elder Affairs, where members questioned the need for multiple divisions, CARES assessments, and supervisory overhead; the Department of Health, where vacancies, turnover, pay gaps, and units of rate were discussed as barriers to recruitment and retention; and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where the presenters said vacancies were tied to new nursing homes and recommended shifting a major priority into general revenue rather than trust funds. Throughout the meeting, members generally agreed that the vacancy review was eye-opening and suggested deeper, possibly separate, reviews of agency staffing, pay parity, and fund reversion practices. No formal votes were taken during the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• The way we covered that was by entering ADOL training—job training—so you still get paid while you're
• training.
• You know, it costs a lot of money to bring on a new employee. lot of money to bring on a new employee
• Well, that is an option, is AD training?
• Sure, but somebody's got to be trained, and that's the component that's... ...trained, and that's the