Transcript Highlights:

• This is an education and training bill.
• with 15 or more employees.
• We will cover the transition training issues.
• We will cover the transition training issues.
• Contracted employees have to go through a certain training regimen or protocol for that specific parent

Summary: The Virginia Disability Commission held its first meeting of the year on June 18, established a quorum, and introduced members. Senator Barbara Favola was elected chair and Delegate Amy Laufer was elected vice chair, both unanimously. The commission also reviewed and unanimously approved its electronic/remote participation policy, which mirrors last year’s policy and allows limited remote participation under Virginia FOIA rules. Staff then reviewed a package of 14 disability-related bills that passed last session and were signed into law. Topics included disabled veterans’ vehicle registration fee exemptions, open captioning requirements for movie theaters, guardianship/conservatorship order forwarding, service dog team definitions, education and transition planning for students with disabilities, Blue Envelope and driver communication training for law enforcement and driver education, deferred disposition and jury service protections, voting rights in guardianship cases, expansion of the Virginia Human Rights Act, continuation of a DD waiver eligibility change, and DMAS training authority for autism competency checklists. Members discussed implementation concerns, especially making the Blue Envelope/driver communication program more visible and considering a follow-up letter and DMV presentation. The commission then adopted its interim work plan unanimously, with discussion of possible presentations on DMAS and Medicaid waivers, DBHDS telehealth training implementation, SCHEV and VDOE transition planning, transition from institutions to community settings, criminal justice reform, transportation and parking accessibility, adult-sized changing tables, and school accessibility. Members also suggested adding EVV concerns, seclusion and restraint, rare disease issues, and insurance coverage problems for needed medications. Public commenters urged the commission to address burdensome EVV requirements for family caregivers, improve accessibility for local government meetings and documents, and explore a standardized credential/career pathway for direct support professionals. The chair said follow-up work would be assigned on EVV and implementation issues, and the meeting location would move to the Senate side of the Capitol going forward.

Transcript Highlights:

• We all get to train. We all get to do training live and in person and go through scenarios.
• I agree with training.
• We need the right training, the right people to review the training...
• It requires employers to pay workers for all training time and cover training costs themselves.
• , including live-fire training.

Transcript Highlights:

• I also have Jennifer Mory Kilby from our employee claims division, Rael Yei, who heads up our employee
• </c><00:18:22.320><c> And</c> our employee staffing division. And our employee staffing division.
• </c> work is when somebody and a new employee work is when somebody and a new employee is<00:29:10.240
• </c><00:29:25.919><c> is</c> the type of work that the employee is the type of work that the employee
• </c> training, finance, and communications. training, finance, and communications.

Transcript Highlights:

• We allow them to hire PRN employees or temporary employees during those peak times of the year, or even
• We allow them to hire PRN employees or temporary employees during those peak times of the year, or even
• The difference between an employer with 50 employees and 100 employees is a huge difference in the amount
• The difference between an employer with 50 employees and 100 employees is a huge did. an employer with
• 50 employees and 100 employees is a huge difference in the amount of HR, your business manager, you're

Bills: HB3043 , HB3044 , HB3078 , HB3940 , HB4117 , HB3428 , HB4275 , HB3257 , HB3901 , HB4298

Committee: House Health and Human Services Oversight

Summary: The Health and Human Services Oversight Committee opened with prayer and then heard a series of bills, most of them request bills from state agencies or related to veterans and military matters. House Bill 3043 would let the Oklahoma Dental Board Association hire temporary or PRN workers during peak periods; it passed 11-1. House Bill 3044 would continue an existing tax-return checkoff for donations and passed 12-0. House Bill 3078 would create an online donation option for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs during license and tax transactions and passed 12-0. House Bill 3940 made a number of cleanup and policy changes to a prior Oklahoma National Guard measure, including retention, benefits, discipline, museum operations, and state active duty pay issues; it passed 11-0. House Bill 4117 would define family resource centers in statute and emphasize faith-based partnerships, workforce development, and braided funding; it passed 12-0. The committee also advanced House Bill 3428, which would require certain businesses to post information about veterans’ benefits in a conspicuous place to help more eligible veterans enroll in benefits; members discussed raising the employee threshold from 50 to 100, but no amendment was adopted during the meeting, and the bill passed 10-2. House Bill 4275 would allow counties and cities to employ case managers and peer support specialists while maintaining certification, to support sheriffs and first responders, and it passed 12-0. House Bill 3257 would treat 100% disabilities caused by VA medical malpractice as service-connected for state benefit purposes, aligning state law with federal treatment, and it passed 12-0. Two public health bills also advanced. House Bill 3901 would authorize psychological autopsies in suicide and overdose cases to better understand causes and improve prevention; members discussed whether the process should include notifying prescribing physicians when patients die from opioid overdoses, and the bill passed 12-0. House Bill 4298 would allow DHS child care rule changes to be distributed by mail and electronically, reflecting current practice, and it passed 12-0. The committee adjourned after reporting all measures do pass.

Transcript Highlights:

• It relocated to Texas, didn't take any employees with it.
• In fact, grew its employee base here in California, and then came back.
• Benefits usually go to one of three classes: employees, consumers, or the environment.
• Benefits usually don't want to three classes, employees, consumers, or the environment.
• “Oh, I’m a small business owner, and they’ve got this free training on digital marketing.

Transcript Highlights:

• And as you see here, the spending per employee on an average is about $10,000, almost $11,000 per employee
• Ours is about $7,000 per employee.
• reexamine the type of employee that...
• Have to have some training or even reexamine the type of employee that we start hiring to work with these
• Yeah, so I think as departments look to hire for, you know, future employees, employees that have that

Committee: House Subcommittee on Appropriations - General Administration

Summary: The subcommittee held an informational hearing on the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) within the Office of Administration, with no quorum present and no formal action taken. Chair Voss said the purpose was to review ITSD’s programs, budget needs, and future plans, and members emphasized the value of an informed appropriator. Representative Riggs cautioned that the state should avoid jeopardizing federal broadband funding and asked that AI-related work remain consistent with federal expectations. ITSD leadership, including CIO John Loren and Deputy CIO Tara Damp, outlined the division’s scope and recent modernization efforts. They said ITSD supports 15 executive agencies plus the governor and lieutenant governor, manages about 1,200 production software solutions, handles roughly 35,000 help desk requests per month, and defends against billions of cyberattacks monthly. They highlighted investments in layered security, data center and network redundancy, a unified Microsoft 365 environment, modern development tools, and portal platforms. Damp reviewed the history of IT consolidation, noting budget reductions after 2007, then increased investment beginning in 2020 and especially with ARPA funds in fiscal 2023. Members asked about spending projections, subscription-based licensing, procurement modernization, and the role of non-consolidated agencies such as MoDOT and Conservation. The committee also discussed future funding needs and benchmarking. ITSD said its current spending is about $287 million, with a projected ongoing need of about $345 million to maintain and modernize services, while Gartner comparisons suggested Missouri spends less per employee and as a share of operating budget than peer states. Members asked for more detailed fiscal-year spending profiles for major initiatives and for clarification on what is and is not included in the projections, including Social Services and HR1-related work. ITSD said it would provide additional detail. A major portion of the hearing focused on AI strategy and governance. Tim Marsheski, ITSD’s director of AI and innovation, described a cautious, pilot-based approach centered on secure use, human oversight, and data governance. He cited examples such as an internal HR chatbot that reduced average response time from about 45 minutes to two minutes, pilots with DESE data transformation, and efforts to use AI for code assistance, document scanning, and workflow support. Members asked about workforce impacts, training, closed versus open models, and whether AI could help with auditing and fiscal analysis. ITSD said it is still early on workforce forecasting, but it is building governance, acceptable-use policies, and feedback loops to test tools, measure results, and scale only when they provide value and remain secure.

Transcript Highlights:

• and determine what kind of training is necessary to be able to... ...of training is necessary to be
• We all get to train.
• I agree with training.
• It requires employers to pay workers for all training time and cover training costs themselves.
• , including live-fire training.

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, offered prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and then moved through confirmations and floor legislation. Three California Housing Finance Agency and State Mining and Geology Board appointments were confirmed unanimously. The chamber then took up several policy bills, with debate often focusing on housing, public safety, energy, and local government impacts. Among the major measures, SB 1173 on lesser related offense jury instructions passed after supporters argued it would give judges limited discretion and improve fairness, while opponents warned it could create inconsistency. SB 1354, barring out-of-state military or law enforcement activity in California without the Governor’s permission, passed despite objections that it conflicted with federal commander-in-chief authority. SB 1090, the Altadena disaster-speculation bill, passed to restrict unsolicited purchase offers in fire-affected areas, and SB 966 passed to preserve refinery worker safety participation rights. SB 1256, a local housing/land-use bill, passed unanimously after discussion of fire-safety concerns and ongoing amendments. The Senate also approved SB 865 on music festivals, SB 866 on homelessness planning and regional coordination for jurisdictions not receiving HAP funds, SB 938 on peace officer training requirements for certain immigration-enforcement-related applicants after the author committed to major amendments, SB 1359 on natural gas planning to reduce ratepayer costs, SB 923 on privacy rights under the CCPA, SB 1098 on utility memorandum and balancing accounts, SB 1010 on refrigerant recovery for cooling appliances, SB 937 on restricting flashbang use in crowd control and immigration enforcement, SB 1082 on inter-district pupil transfers, and SB 1087 on modernizing regional transportation planning. Several bills drew split votes and pointed debate over mandates, taxes, local control, and regulatory certainty, but most ultimately passed.

Transcript Highlights:

• training, there needs to be a signed statement from each employee acknowledging the employment and legal
• consequences for employees who fail or refuse to identify and report fraud.
• We need to have responsibility acknowledged by the employees during that training.
• We need to have responsibility acknowledged by the employees during that training.
• I hope that we can create a government employee base that recognizes, roots out, reports, and rejects

Transcript Highlights:

• ACCESS TO TRAINING, ACCESS TO CREDENTIALS, AND ACCESS TO JOBS.
• THE RETAIL STORE MANAGER HAS MORE TIME TO COACH EMPLOYEES AND BUILD SKILLS OF EMPLOYEES THAN TO INCREASE
• BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BUILD A DATA PILED TO START OUR TRAINING AI TOOL.
• YOU CAN TRAIN OFF THE INTERNET WITH CHAT GPT BUT IF YOU WANT TO TRAIN INDUSTRIAL AI YOU NEED THE ACTUAL
• YOU HAVE TO TRAIN THE TOOL. YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU USE IT SAFELY.

Transcript Highlights:

• In order to become a librarian, an individual receives years of training and typically holds master's
• This bill ensures that trained library professionals can do their jobs, free from political pressure,
• They jumped into action because that's what they were trained to do. They followed their training.
• Negligence can be contained with enforcement; incompetence curtailed with training. Thank you.
• Due diligence is reinforced in our training academies and our union halls every day.

Summary: The House first handled a series of routine actions from the Committee on Rules, including adoption of several congratulatory resolutions and suspension of Joint Rule 12 to allow petitions to proceed, including a Hingham land transfer petition and a veteran rental assistance bridge program petition. The Ways and Means Committee then reported out several bills, including a fiscal year 2026 supplemental appropriations bill, a bill on hot work/fire safety regulation, a free expression/library bill, a bill on ownership and maintenance of certain culverts and dams, a Walsh-Kennedy Commission implementation bill, and a Billerica land transfer for the Yankee Doodle Bike Path. Each was advanced through second or third reading, with the House adopting committee amendments and ordering the bills to third reading or engrossment as appropriate. The most extensive debate centered on S. 2726, an act regarding free expression, which would address book challenges in public and school libraries, require reporting of challenges, protect age-appropriate materials, and establish review procedures. Supporters argued the bill protects intellectual freedom, librarians’ professional judgment, and access to books amid rising censorship efforts; opponents raised concerns about parental rights, local control, and exposure of minors to explicit material. Several amendments were offered and voted on, including one to strike a criminal-law protection, one to streamline the school review process, one clarifying that challenged material is considered in its entirety, and one narrowing who may initiate complaints to parents or guardians; some were rejected and others adopted. The bill ultimately passed to be engrossed by a 151-3 vote. The House also took up H. 5491 implementing the Walsh-Kennedy Commission recommendations on hot work safety after the 2014 Beacon Street fire. Members emphasized firefighter safety, certification and training requirements, stronger penalties for violations, and public notification of violations; the bill passed to be engrossed unanimously. The supplemental fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill, H. 5493, covering snow and ice costs, no-cost calls, substance use services, homeless programs, and several outside sections, also passed after amendment votes. Finally, the House enacted two local bills on Holyoke City Council special meetings and the Reading town charter, and then adjourned to meet the next day in informal session.

Transcript Highlights:

• It also trains how you respond during an active assailant incident.
• How will mixing in armed, somewhat trained civilians affect their response?
• This is communication between highly trained law enforcement agents.
• The students will have to go through training on this before they can actually go to school.
• They’re all public employees, and we live where the sunshine shines extremely bright.

Committee: House Education & Employment Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• 21 years of age and actively enrolled in a registered apprenticeship program or a structured job training
• 00:01:29.200><c> structured</c><00:01:30.160><c> um</c><00:01:30.400><c> job</c><00:01:30.680><c> training
• </c> program or a structured um job training program or a structured um job training training<00:01:31.400
• program with a number of training program with a number of elements<00:01:33.400><c> to</c><00:01:33.520
• </c> farm dwelling and farm employee housing. farm dwelling and farm employee housing.

Bills: HB2592

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Summary: The Judiciary Committee met on several decision-making agendas and first considered HB 1696, which would lower the minimum age for commercial driving in-state from 19 to 18 and adjust qualifying criteria. The committee agreed to accept amendments, including changes suggested by the Operating Engineers Union, and voted unanimously to pass the bill with amendments. HB 2333, which would authorize airport special districts and increase penalties for certain aeronautics violations, was deferred after concerns were raised about treatment of people outside airport security perimeters. On the next agenda, the committee passed HB 1710 with technical amendments only. That bill would allow the State Historic Preservation Division to conduct phase reviews of certain private-property projects and revise concurrence deadlines. HB 1737, clarifying allowable agricultural district uses related to farm dwellings and farm employee housing, also passed with technical amendments only. HB 1823, dealing with coastal zone management and excluding certain state- or county-funded infrastructure projects in Lahaina from the definition of development, passed with amendments from the Attorney General’s office. The committee then took up HB 1897, an alternative dispute resolution measure for condominium-related disputes, including facilitated mediation, evaluative mediation, and binding arbitration. Despite noting broad opposition and a reservation from Senator Buenaventura, the committee adopted the measure and moved it forward as is. Finally, HB 2576, which streamlines background check requirements for health care facilities and workers, passed with amendments reflecting input from OHA, HAH, and DOH. The meeting concluded with notice of a later joint agenda and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• Navit Purrier, on behalf of the California School Employees Association, in support.
• When the employee knew a manager was watching, it stopped.
• I mean, are you going to say we can never put an employee in that situation?
• Nevni Perrier, on behalf of the California School Employees Association, in support.
• It does not mean that the employee is being taken care of or not taken care of.

Committee: Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement

Transcript Highlights:

• because those employees are paid by their parish.
• Municipal Employee Retire. All right. I'll have staff read in.
• They do go through physical training, yes, ma'am. Is it the same physical training as the men?
• The same physical training as the men. I cannot speak to that. I'm not sure.
• I find the 30% of the male employees to handle the strip search.

Bills: SB8 , SB10 , SB11 , SB12 , SB13 , SB14 , SB16 , SB17 , SB18 , SB20 , SB21 , SB22 , SB416 , SB455 , SB456 , SB477

Committee: House Retirement

Summary: The Retirement Committee met on April 29, 2026, established a quorum, and heard a series of retirement-related bills, mostly cleanup or technical measures affecting various public retirement systems. SB 22 would extend Municipal Employees Retirement System eligibility to certain positions in the Second City Court constable’s office in New Orleans. SB 17 would create a funding deposit account for cost-of-living adjustments for registrars of voters’ employees’ retirement system. SB 455 would allow certain district and parish courts to participate in the Parochial Employees Retirement System. SB 456 would update compensation rules for assigned retired judges, and SB 8 would add the Louisiana Asset Management Pool as a participating employer in MERS. All of these bills were described as aligning statutes with current practice or expanding participation options, and each was reported favorably without objection. The committee also heard several Louisiana State Police retirement bills. SB 10 would repeal outdated priority allocation and retiree raise rules and adjust handling of surplus employee contributions; SB 11 would increase the funding cap for benefit increases from 2.5% to 3.5%; and SB 12 would update membership and definition language to reflect the State Police Commission rather than the Civil Service Commission. SB 18 would repeal a special exception allowing certain MERS retirees to return to part-time work while collecting full benefits, while protecting roughly 30 current participants. SB 20 and SB 21 would update actuarial gain/loss and unfunded liability funding rules for school employees’ retirement and LASERS, respectively, in light of the new permanent benefit increase funding structure. Each of these bills was supported by system officials as cleanup or modernization measures and was reported favorably. The committee spent the most time on education and return-to-work issues for teachers and public employees. SB 16 would reduce annual trustee training requirements for retirement system boards from 16 hours back to 12 hours, which witnesses said would better fit smaller systems and match the original intent of the law. SB 13 would similarly update TRSL’s actuarial funding rules after the sunset of the experience account. SB 14, based on a 2025 study work group, would consolidate and simplify TRSL return-to-work rules and expand options for retired teachers, with witnesses emphasizing teacher shortages and the need to retain experienced educators. All three were reported favorably. Finally, SB 416 would allow certain Department of Public Safety and Corrections retirees to return to critical shortage positions after one year, and SB 477 would classify the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board as a full-time state employee for retirement purposes. Both bills drew questions and discussion, especially SB 416, and both were reported favorably. The chair announced the committee’s next meeting would be moved from Monday to Tuesday, and the meeting adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:10:07.600><c> Do</c> employees. Does he need 70 waiverss? Do employees.
• We train our employees. We put them through everything. They complete it.
• We train our employees. We put them through everything. They complete it.
• </c> nationally recognized training programs. nationally recognized training programs.
• </c> &gt;&gt; So that's a state approved training. &gt;&gt; So that's a state approved training.

Summary: The committee first approved the minutes and consent calendar, then took up several rule items. For Department of Safety rule 2611, DMV leadership explained the rule had been under development since January but needed to be updated to reflect a new statutory change and to align the rule with RSA 266. Members discussed narrowing the rule to road-safety items rather than automobile inspection provisions, and the department said it would issue a new public notice and hold another hearing. The committee voted to grant a waiver and postpone the item until the October 15, 2026 meeting. The Board of Active Puncture Licensing item 26-47 was postponed one month at the agency’s request so it could incorporate OS feedback, with no waiver needed. The Insurance Department’s claim settlement rule 25-234 and related item 26-78 drew more extensive discussion over waiver language. Committee members objected that the proposed language gave the commissioner broad discretion to set waiver periods without clear criteria, while agency counsel argued the rule already contained standards and that the language allowed temporary waivers. After discussion about consistency, permanency, and the need for clearer documentation, the committee voted to postpone 25-234 with a waiver and to postpone 26-78. Finally, the committee considered Health and Human Services rule 2690, which sets SNAP certification periods for a pilot demonstration authorized by SB 499. Staff explained that federal changes now require the age threshold for the 36-month certification period to be 65 instead of 60, and that the agency had been directed to make the change by August 12. Agency staff said the rule needed to be updated to match federal direction, and members generally agreed. The committee discussed whether the federal citation was sufficient and whether the rule should reference the law change directly, but no final objection was raised in the portion shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• So, you’re trained to do this.
• So, you’re trained to do this.
• So, you’re trained to do this.
• So, you’re trained to do this.
• So, you’re trained to do this.

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• The act provides immunities that apply only to California employees.
• And our concern is that California employees will be left...
• Our ask is that you exempt California employees from this bill.
• My concern is your local California employees.
• fewer officers, less training, and reduced presence on the streets.

Committee: Senate Judiciary

Transcript Highlights:

• IF AN ENTITY PROVIDES TRAINING OR CONSULTING WILL THEY BE ABLE TO USE THAT MONEY TO PAY THEIR EMPLOYEES
• THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES PER BUSINESS RIGHT NOW IS ABOUT 25 OR LESS.
• SEVERAL EMPLOYEES IN SPECIFIC MANUFACTURING, IT IS NOT ONE COMPANY GETTING HALF THE MONEY. >> Chair
• THE BILL IS FOCUSED ON THE SMALL MANUFACTURER, 20 EMPLOYEES OR LESS AND TRYING TO GROW TO BECOME THE
• Pizzo: THERE IS A DETERMINATION OF ON DIFFERENT CLASSES, WILL THAT BE BASED ON EMPLOYEE SIZE OR CLASS

Transcript Highlights:

• We have to train everyone.
• We have to train all of our clerks, all of our registrars, and then they in turn train all of the commissioners
• He asked how much had been budgeted for the four employees and the part-time employees to work these
• plus the two part-time employees.
• Employees are the biggest cost, especially salaries.

Committee: House Appropriations

Summary: The committee heard a budget presentation for the Department of State. House Fiscal Division said the FY27 recommended budget is $128.6 million and 367 positions, with elections making up the largest share. Secretary of State Nancy Landry said the office is implementing Louisiana’s first closed party primary, continuing voter education efforts, and moving toward procurement of a new voting system that would produce a voter-verifiable paper ballot and support risk-limiting audits. Members asked about polling place confusion, machine replacement costs, election commissioner pay, and the cost of educating voters about the new primary system. Landry said polling places are not changing because of the new primary law, the new system is expected to cost about $100 million total, and a bill this session would raise election commissioner pay by $100 per day. Fiscal staff also estimated the closed primary law will add about $31.5 million in costs over five years, mostly from converting local elections to statewide elections and voter outreach. The committee then reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs budget, which was presented at about $105.2 million with a mix of federal, state, self-generated, and interagency funds. The department said most costs are tied to personnel and veterans’ homes, and that the homes are funded largely by federal dollars plus self-generated revenue. Members focused heavily on delays in processing National Guard disability claims and payments to veterans. Representatives said constituents had waited about a year for claims to be resolved, while the department said it had increased staffing and was processing a backlog of more than 400 claims, but still had about $950,000 in approved claims awaiting funding. The department said the payout program is governed by statute and that additional supplemental funding has been requested. Members also discussed veterans’ home care, including how service-connected disability status affects eligibility and costs, and whether chronic wound care and related complications could increase long-term costs. The department said veterans with higher service-connected ratings receive care with federal support, while others pay fees. Several members urged the department to provide clearer timelines and better communication to claimants, and one member suggested a separate oversight hearing to address the disability claim process and any needed statutory changes. The committee adjourned after the presentations and questions.

Transcript Highlights:

• We have to train everyone.
• We have to train all of our clerks, all of our registrars, and then they in turn train all of the commissioners
• We have four full-time employees. So four full-time employees with a backlog of 400 cases.
• How much have you budgeted for that, for the four employees and the part-time employees to work these
• I mean, employees, I think your employees are your biggest cost, your salaries.

Committee: House Appropriations