Senate exits executive session, schedules early-childhood and CYFD hearing as chair calls CYFD a 'big hole' in the budget

The Senate left an executive session and announced it will reconvene tomorrow morning to hear early-childhood items and matters involving the Children, Youth and Families Department, the chair said, adding, "CYFD is still a big hole in the budget."

Senator Gonzales moved to come out of executive session, and Senator Brent seconded the motion; the chair then announced, "We are out of executive." The chair said the body will "come in tomorrow morning" to take up early-childhood and CYFD items and that senators Padilla and Trujillo are involved with a bill pending in the Judiciary Committee. "We're still trying to figure that out. We're waiting for that bill to come out," the chair said.

The remarks were procedural and scheduling in nature: the motion to exit executive session was made and seconded, the chair declared the body had left executive session, and the body set a time to resume consideration of early-childhood matters and CYFD. The chair characterized CYFD as a significant budget gap but gave no dollar figures or line-item detail. The chair also said the relevant bill was in the Judiciary Committee "today," and asked that it provide guidance once the bill is available.

No formal vote tally was recorded in the transcript for the motion to exit executive session. The transcript does not specify the bill number, the exact hearing time, or any appropriation figures for CYFD.