Video & Transcript Research : 'technology solutions'
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MA
Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session
Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming Jun 21st, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming
Transcript Highlights:
- It's an equitable solution that we need to provide payment for nature services.
- That would set up a three-way solution to natural and working lands.
- That would set up a three-way solution to natural and working lands.
- solutions.
- Properly sited trees can be a solution to some of this.
Summary:
The committee held a hearing on natural and working lands, carbon sequestration, and related provisions in Governor Healey’s $3 billion Mass Ready Act. EEA officials described the bill’s investments in flooding, land protection, tree planting, wetlands restoration, biodiversity, dams, seawalls, and coastal resilience, along with permitting reforms intended to speed ecological restoration projects. They also outlined current programs on resilient lands, healthy soils, forest climate solutions, forest reserves, and urban tree planting, and said the administration expects natural and working lands to offset up to 7 million metric tons of residual emissions by 2050, while acknowledging that additional strategies will be needed to close the gap to the state’s 10-million-ton offset target.
Committee members pressed EEA on the cost of reaching the 30% conservation-by-2030 goal, the loss of a federal USDA grant of about $22 million, the adequacy of current sequestration estimates, and whether the state should consider regional approaches or statutory changes. EEA said current state conservation spending has been about $35 million to $40 million annually, that the Mass Ready Act is intended to help double the pace of conservation, and that federal funding remains uncertain. Senators also raised concerns about PILOT payments for state-owned land, the management of state forests, and the proposed Chapter 91 general license for restoration projects. EEA said the bill’s forest reserve language is meant to create a more durable designation process while still allowing limited active management.
Advocates from The Nature Conservancy and Mass Audubon supported stronger investment in land conservation and restoration, saying natural and working lands are a cost-effective climate strategy that also provides biodiversity, water quality, and public health benefits. They urged passage of legislation to increase funding, improve PILOT equity, and strengthen land-use planning and mitigation requirements. They also backed removing Chapter 91 licensing requirements for ecological restoration, arguing that the current process adds cost and delay. In a later panel, a forest scientist and an urban forestry advocate emphasized the carbon and cooling benefits of mature trees, called for greater protection of older forests, and supported bills to expand municipal reforestation and modernize public shade tree law. No votes were taken during the hearing.
CO
Colorado 2026 Regular Session
Colorado House 2026 Legislative Day 118 May 12th, 2026
Colorado House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- So being able to have the technology, which does exist,...
- Sixth grade at a school that did not have technology at all.
- And by the end of the year, they had not utilized technology at all.
- And we had seen the impact that taking technology out of the...
- and reducing technology in their classrooms because of the impact that technology has on... ...the impact
MN
Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session
Cmte on Rules - Subcommittee on the Federal Impact on Minnesotans and Economic Stability - 09/25/25
Transcript Highlights:
- Um, all the paperwork and technology.
- We're going to talk technology systems.
- of pro providing a solution. of pro providing a solution.
- <01:30:22.080>
don't So, when the policy and technology don't So, when the policy and technology - I've served on the board of Hunger Solutions.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- A 4.1 or 4.8 million total for information technology upgrades is adopted.
- Item 3, 78,000 for information technology upgrades is adopted. Now on page 37.
- Item D, advancing cybersecurity protections and technologies.
- Item B, maternal mortality and morbidity, information technology.
- Item 14, modernized surveillance utilization review technology.
Bills:
SB 1
AZ
Transcript Highlights:
- The other information-sharing feature of this is the new technology of drones.
- And we have a technology that's coming online here very shortly.
- And we have a technology that's coming online here very shortly.
- We do, with nuclear technologies, have to figure out issues like waste.
- This has come a long way as technology.
Keywords:
electronic monitoring, nursing care, assisted living, resident rights, privacy, consent, surveillance, marijuana, rural opportunity, dispensary, economic development, licensing, social equity, unserved communities, Arizona, small modular reactors, energy regulation, environmental compatibility, utility construction, agricultural use
Summary:
The committee took up several appropriations and policy bills, beginning with SB 1488, which would provide $600,000 for a workforce development study on coal-impacted communities in northern Arizona, including areas affected by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station. The sponsor and supporters said the study is intended to help communities transition economically, diversify, and support new jobs; the bill received a do-pass recommendation on a 7-0 vote. SB 1523, appropriating $340,000 to the Navajo Nation for the Ganado waterline pipeline project, was also advanced after testimony that the project would bring clean drinking water to about 235 homes and that the remaining funding gap had been reduced to the requested amount; it passed 7-0 with one member not voting.
The committee then approved SB 1041, which would appropriate $500,000 to the Arizona Trail Fund. Supporters described the Arizona Trail as a statewide recreational and cultural asset that needs maintenance and continued support, and the bill received a do-pass recommendation on a 7-0 vote. SB 1445, which would allow smaller cities and towns to use approved on-site bacteriological testing equipment and limit how often ADEQ may require sampling, drew concern from one member about whether the language could be read as restricting sampling during discharge events, but supporters said it would save small towns money; it passed 5-3.
Members also advanced SB 1580, a $2.545 million appropriation for fire incident management software and hardware for fire and law enforcement agencies. Fire officials said the platform would improve accountability, information sharing, drone integration, and interoperability during incidents; the bill passed 5-3. SB 1363, which would create additional rural dispensary licensing opportunities for underserved areas, drew support from rural advocates and opposition from the dispensary industry over the number of licenses and transferability language; it passed 8-0. SB 1418, which would streamline siting for small modular nuclear reactors in certain counties, was supported by proponents who argued it would help Arizona meet future energy demand and opposed by counties and environmental groups concerned about local zoning, public review, and waste; it passed 5-3. Finally, SB 1419, a rooftop solar consumer-protection bill requiring added disclosures and inspections, was supported by county officials and some consumer advocates but opposed by solar industry representatives and environmental groups who said it could discourage rooftop solar and restrict speech; it passed 6-2. The committee then began hearing SB 1447, which would extend the groundwater withdrawal fee moratorium and related fund deadlines for Pinal County water projects, with supporters saying the extension is needed to continue well rehabilitation and infrastructure work after Colorado River and CAP-related cuts.
ND
North Dakota 2026 1st Special Session
Tax Reform and Relief Advisory Property Tax Div. Jun 24th, 2026 at 09:00 am
Transcript Highlights:
- I'm the development director with CPT, Counties Providing Technology.
- Our software, Counties Providing Technology, originally started as CPUI in 1986.
- Tyler Technologies has been involved. I've been working in property tax.
- Tyler Technologies has been involved in the software in North Dakota since the late 80s.
- And German Headland, this is Don Carlson at Tyler Technologies.
Summary:
The subcommittee of the Tax Reform and Relief Committee met with a quorum to begin its study of whether the content of North Dakota real estate tax statements should be revised to improve transparency. Legislative Council staff reviewed the background for the study, including House Bill 1176, current statutory requirements for tax statements, and recent changes such as separate line items for bonded debt, primary residence credit, and legacy fund-related amounts. The Tax Department then explained the current statement format and noted that the form is prescribed and approved by the tax commissioner, with changes typically driven by statute and implemented collaboratively with counties and vendors.
County officials from the North Dakota Association of Counties described the full annual process for preparing budgets, setting levies, calculating taxable values, and issuing notices and tax statements. They said counties spend significant time coordinating with taxing districts, neighboring counties, and software vendors, and that the new budget hearing notices and valuation notices have not generated much public response. Members raised concerns about the usefulness and clarity of certain line items, especially the legislative tax relief calculation and the primary residence credit, and discussed whether the current statement creates confusion rather than transparency. Testimony also addressed the 3% cap, mill levy worksheets, assessment cycles, and the role of county auditors and tax directors in maintaining accurate values.
The committee also heard from software vendors CPT and Tyler Technologies about how legislative changes are programmed into tax systems and how online taxpayer portals can provide more detailed breakdowns of tax bills. Vendors said changes required by law are generally absorbed in contracts rather than billed directly to counties, and they demonstrated web tools and pie-chart style breakdowns that show where tax dollars go. NDACO presented a survey of eight counties estimating tax statement preparation and mailing costs, concluding that outsourced printing tends to be cheaper on average and that total statewide tax statement costs may be roughly $600,000, though the estimate was based on limited data. No votes were taken; the meeting was informational and focused on gathering testimony and identifying issues for possible future recommendations or bill drafts.
CA
California 2025-2026 Regular Session
Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee Jun 24th, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- CAISO's energy markets have not evolved with the development of these new technologies.
- We are a nonprofit dedicated to advancing middle housing solutions, including ADUs and JADUs.
- And so to backslide on fuel standard has not been the proposed solution.
- To assess one of the potential solutions.
- Elizabeth Escobel with the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, also in opposition.
Summary:
The committee first heard SB 804, the Hydrogen Pipeline Safety Act, from Senator Arreguín. He said the bill would designate the State Fire Marshal as the safety regulator for intrastate hydrogen pipelines and require hydrogen-specific standards, while not mandating any pipeline construction or bypassing environmental review. Supporters included labor groups, utility employees, and the City of Burbank, while Air Products opposed unless amended, citing concerns about the bill’s specificity, fee structure, and the need for a hydrogen-specific rulemaking process. The committee discussed safety, fees, and regulatory certainty, and later passed SB 804 on a 9-0 vote to Emergency Management with commitment to take amendments.
The committee then took up SB 905 by Senator Becker, aimed at reducing electricity rates by changing utility incentives. The bill would tie part of executive compensation to keeping rates below inflation, require more performance metrics, and allow the CPUC to consider lower returns on equity for certain lower-risk investments and alternative financing options. Support came from consumer, environmental, agricultural, and large energy user groups, while Southern California Edison, CalChamber, PG&E, and utility labor groups raised concerns that the bill could reduce investment, create regulatory uncertainty, and raise borrowing costs. After extensive discussion about utility affordability, wildfire costs, and capital markets, the committee passed SB 905 on a 7-1 vote to Appropriations.
SB 913, also by Senator Becker, would create a clearer pathway for distributed energy resources such as batteries and smart thermostats to participate in the resource adequacy market and compete with utility-scale resources. Supporters said the bill would better use existing grid capacity, lower costs, and build on the state’s Demand Side Grid Support Program; PG&E opposed unless amended, saying the use case was not yet proven and was already being addressed in other rulemakings. After the committee accepted amendments, one opposition group moved to neutral and another said it might do so after reviewing the changes. The bill passed 8-0 to Appropriations and was placed on call.
Several other measures were heard and advanced, including SB 1196 on faster utility hookups for small energization projects such as ADUs and EV chargers, SB 931 reauthorizing the Diablo Canyon Essential Services Mitigation Fund through 2028, SB 1158 reducing the frequency of joint reliability assessments from quarterly to twice yearly, and SB 1245 directing further study of California’s gasoline market and potential use of non-CARBOB fuel during supply disruptions. SB 1196 and SB 931 both passed with broad support and no opposition after amendments, SB 1158 passed without testimony, and SB 1245 drew strong support from consumer and environmental advocates but opposition from fuel industry and business groups concerned about costs, confidentiality, and fuel standards.
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Appr/Sub-Education REVISED Jan 13th, 2026 at 10:00 am
Transcript Highlights:
- Technology centers do both things.
- I do think that, at some point, we cap service to from technology centers.
- So two is going to a formula for Technology centers: 3 is going to K-12 schools, yes, so technology center
- Options are, this would be our idea for a solution to that.
- But we believe we are one small part of that solution.
AZ
Transcript Highlights:
- We can use technology to do that, but...
- Our association is built around trying to find solutions to problems within our sector.
- She's someone you can count on to find solutions. And that's the same...
- She's someone you can count on to find solutions. And that's what we're all here to try to do.
- And I would lean towards also agencies that are doing so that technologies or innovation.
KY
Kentucky 2026 Regular Session
Senate Standing Committee on Health Service (2-4-26)
Transcript Highlights:
- And with the technological advances that we have, I mean, you also have video conference.
- You have the ability to review medical records or imaging studies, assisted by technology.
- a reasonable solution how to address<00:23:36.159>
those. - solutions for us. solutions for us.
- And that was supposed to be the answer, the solution long term.
Summary:
The Senate Standing Committee on Health Services heard Senate Bill 18, a bill described by the sponsor and podiatry witnesses as a modernization of Kentucky’s podiatry laws. The bill would recognize and regulate podiatric assistants, podiatric residents, and supervising podiatrists; allow podiatrists to supervise physician assistants in podiatry practices with approval from the relevant licensing boards; require new podiatrists licensed after January 1, 2027 to complete at least two years of residency; and extend disciplinary authority to the new categories. Witnesses said the measure would improve access to foot and ankle care, especially in rural areas, without expanding scope of practice. The Kentucky Medical Association was said to be neutral after working on the language with the sponsors.
Committee members raised concerns about the meaning of “supervision,” whether it required direct or indirect oversight, and whether the bill could broaden billing or coding privileges. Dr. Roberts said supervision could mean direct supervision or indirect supervision, including being available by telephone, and noted the bill mirrors language used in allopathic PA supervision. He also said the bill would not change office staff billing roles and that podiatric assistants would not bill separately. Several senators said they supported moving the bill forward but remained concerned about workforce, cost, and scope creep.
The committee adopted a committee substitute, then voted on the bill. The motion passed unanimously with favorable expression. After the vote, the committee moved on to a presentation on outpatient pediatric therapies, where providers described Medicaid reimbursement pressures, workforce turnover, and long waiting lists for children’s therapy services, but no action was taken on that presentation in the portion provided.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee 2/19/26
Higher Education Finance and Policy
Transcript Highlights:
- I'd like to mention that there are some off-the-shelf solutions that, for a long time, were not very
- before implementing a new technology before implementing a new technology process<00:21:08.480><
- I believe we do have technology side.
- Again, that is more on the business side, not on the technology side.
- real solutions to these emerging<01:09:52.719>
issues.
CA
California 2025-2026 Regular Session
Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance and Education Committee Feb 25th, 2026
Transcript Highlights:
- We acknowledge them, but today we're hoping to focus on solutions.
- It's really about solutions.
- So we've heard about the incoherence, LCAP versus planning purposes, timing, technological solutions
- So what's the solution there? Is that more tutoring in ELOP?
- And finally, we should have a modern technological solution that simplifies work and lessens the human
Summary:
The joint hearing focused on coherence in California’s education planning and reporting systems, especially the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and related grant plans. Committee chairs and members described widespread frustration with duplicative, lengthy, and sometimes conflicting reporting requirements, while emphasizing that the goal was not to reduce accountability but to make planning more useful, stable, and student-centered. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond also previewed the Governor’s education budget priorities, including expanded learning, community schools, universal transitional kindergarten, literacy supports, and concerns about the proposed Prop. 98 deferral.
Panelists from the State Board of Education, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office said the LCAP was intended to balance local flexibility with statewide transparency, but has become overloaded by repeated revisions and additional requirements. They argued for fewer core reporting elements, more stability over time, better alignment of planning cycles, and integrated systems that reduce duplication. Fresno County staff described a multi-year calendar and support tools that help districts manage timelines, but said these tools only ease the burden rather than solve the underlying problem. The LAO noted that some newer plans, such as expanded learning and transportation plans, are narrative-heavy and often less informative than separate reporting requirements.
Local district leaders and county officials described the practical effects of the current system: staff time diverted from instruction, multiple portals and forms, audit risk aversion, and planning documents that can exceed 100 pages. Several superintendents said coherent systems work best when districts have clear priorities, stable governance, and aligned budgets, and when state requirements are predictable and tied to outcomes like literacy, attendance, and student achievement. The California Federation of Teachers added that coherence also depends on meaningful collaboration with educators, classified staff, parents, and communities. Committee members repeatedly asked whether the state should streamline reporting, create a uniform portal, or develop a more unified grant-reporting structure, and Thurmond said the department was piloting a simplified common form and was willing to work with the Legislature and districts on broader solutions.
FL
Florida 2025 Regular Session
Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Feb 4th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- NOW TAKE UP TAB ONE, THE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION ON THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TECHNOLOGY
- IN PLACE. 630,000 ATTACKS THAT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED SINCE WE PUT THAT TECHNOLOGY IN PLACE.
- THIS IS TECHNOLOGY FROM THE LATE 80s AND 90s THAT THEY ARE DOING THAT.
- I ONLY SAY THAT JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE WORKING ON THEIR SOLUTION AND MAKING A STEADY PROGRESS.
- WE CURRENTLY HAVE, FROM A TECHNOLOGY STANDPOINT THOSE IN PLACE.
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Education Oversight - Morning Session Dec 17th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- I will say, you know, technology—I get vendors that call me or try to call me every day.
- But I'll discuss some of those and some other potential tools, including some technological.
- I don't know what the solution necessarily would look like to prevent that.
- The Rave app is a phenomenal solution to that problem. I had that mentioned in here.
- I'm sure they love technology. Thank you for the opportunity.
Summary:
The committee heard extensive testimony on Oklahoma school safety from Commissioner Tipton, OSSI director Mike Fike, OACTIC director Alan Young, OSBI lieutenant Isiles Keene, and Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton. The main focus was a statewide school-safety framework built around response, prevention, and recovery. Witnesses described training law enforcement in the LASER active-shooter response model, adding A-TURK training for coordinated law enforcement/fire/EMS response, expanding run-hide-fight and Stop the Bleed instruction for educators and staff, conducting risk and vulnerability assessments, and using the Rave panic-button system and the ProtectOK tip app to speed reporting and dispatch. They also emphasized behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) teams as a prevention tool to identify and support at-risk students before violence occurs.
Members asked about administrator and teacher training, school counselor involvement, how apps are deployed on personal versus school devices, and whether schools are actually using the programs. Witnesses said administrators, counselors, and SROs should be part of BTAM, that training is most effective when it is realistic and repeated, and that Rave is geofenced and typically invited onto devices by schools. Several members stressed that school leaders must buy in for safety plans to work, and one member raised concerns about traumatic training and the need for mental-health support as part of prevention. Witnesses said mental-health referral and monitoring are part of BTAM, but the school and local partners must manage the process.
OSBI’s lieutenant added broader context, comparing school safety to fire safety and noting that Oklahoma still lacks some statutory requirements for intruder drills and stronger penalties for school threats. He also discussed possible future tools such as surveillance analytics, gunshot detection, ballistic-rated doors and walls, and better access controls, while warning that technology should supplement, not replace, basic safety systems and training. Sheriff Walton closed by describing rural response challenges and his foundation’s effort to place ballistic shields in schools and police cars, arguing that human resources and rapid communication remain the biggest gaps. No votes or formal actions were taken in the meeting.
FL
Florida 2026 Regular Session
FL House Floor Session - 2026-01-13 (11:00AM Session)
Florida House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- But this technology also threatens to upend key parts of our economy in ways that can leave many...
- Ultimately, these technologies will be designed by human beings.
- The technology may change, the window dressing may be different, but human nature is what it is.
- We have a responsibility to ensure that new technologies develop in ways that are moral and ethical,
- We welcome technologies that enhance the human experience, but not those purporting to supplant it.
Summary:
The House and Senate met in joint session to receive the Governor’s annual message. After the customary opening, prayer, pledge, and motions to notify the Governor, the Governor and First Lady were received and the Governor delivered a lengthy address reviewing his administration’s record and outlining priorities for the coming session.
The Governor highlighted what he described as major accomplishments over the past seven years, including stronger state reserves, debt reduction, tax relief, economic growth, school choice expansion, higher teacher pay, civics education, higher education reforms, Everglades restoration, hurricane response improvements, public safety measures, and immigration enforcement. He also discussed affordability concerns, especially rising local property taxes, and urged lawmakers to pursue a ballot measure for property tax relief. He called for legislation on informed consent in medical decisions, regulation of artificial intelligence, and bills already filed on issues such as eliminating DEI in local governments, further restricting illegal immigration, expanding Second Amendment rights, and blocking Sharia law.
No substantive votes were taken on legislation during the address. After the Governor concluded, the joint session approved a motion to dissolve, and the meeting adjourned.
MA
Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session
Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses Jun 21st, 2026 at 01:00 pm
Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses
Transcript Highlights:
- They are just one tool, not the whole solution.
- They are just one tool, not the whole solution.
- They are just one tool, not the whole solution.
- We have the technology to do it. We need the goodwill to do it.
- Families do not live in silos, and our solutions should not either.
Summary:
The Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business held its final hearing of the session on H. 5187 and S. 3022, the Enough Act, with Chair Andy Vargas and Senator Adam Gomez opening by thanking committee members and stakeholders for their work during the session. The bills were described as a grant-based, place-based anti-poverty initiative intended to support cradle-to-career services by funding local nonprofits, schools, community organizations, and backbone entities that can coordinate housing, education, health, workforce, and family supports in high-poverty neighborhoods.
Testimony was overwhelmingly in support of the bills. Speakers including Strategies for Children, Chelsea Public Schools, Bunker Hill Community College, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, Rep. Antonio Cabral, the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Kwame Owusu Kesse and Jeffrey Canada, former Education Secretary Paul Reville, AFT Massachusetts, United Way, the Boston Foundation, Give Black Alliance, Eastern Bank Foundation, and others argued that poverty is a systems issue that schools alone cannot solve. They emphasized the need for local control, community voice, coordinated services, and long-term public-private investment, often citing examples from Chelsea, New Bedford, Springfield, Lowell, Boston, and other communities, as well as the Harlem Children’s Zone and Maryland’s similar model.
Committee members asked several questions about how the bill would function in practice, including what organizations would do on day one, how it would interact with existing efforts like community schools, McKinney-Vento, and the Student Opportunity Act, and how it would be sustained over time. Witnesses said the act would help create or strengthen backbone organizations, reduce duplication, align existing resources, and leverage philanthropy and future revenue sources for long-term sustainability. No vote was taken during the hearing, but multiple speakers urged the committee to report the bill favorably and quickly.
NH
New Hampshire 2025 Regular Session
House Children and Family Law (04/01/2025)
Transcript Highlights:
- Um, without a technological solution like the one we're pursuing in bail, it's a little hard for me to
- Um, without a technological solution like the one we're pursuing in bail, it's a little hard for me to
- Um, without a technological solution like the one we're pursuing in bail, it's a little hard for me to
- Um, without a technological solution like the one we're pursuing in bail, it's a little hard for me to
- Um, without a technological solution like the one we're pursuing in bail, it's a little hard for me to
Summary:
The subcommittee met to continue its review of recommendations for New Hampshire’s family court, with the chair emphasizing a collaborative approach and noting that the group would focus on the origins of the family division, recurring problems identified in earlier reports, and comparisons with other states. Members discussed organizing testimony into three broad topics: the court hearing process and pro se litigant preparation, mediation/arbitration/counseling, and the interaction of domestic violence issues with family court and related criminal proceedings. The chair also noted that the subcommittee would not meet again for two weeks and encouraged members to review materials from Judge Michael Mace and NCSL research on other states’ family court systems.
Attorney Heather Culp, senior administrator for the judicial branch’s circuit court, testified about New Hampshire’s ADR programs. She explained that the Office of Mediation and Arbitration, created by statute in 2007, oversees more than 12 statewide ADR programs across the Supreme, Superior, and Circuit Courts, including family division programs such as divorce-parenting mediation, neutral case evaluation, guardianship, termination of parental rights, and voluntary adoption mediation. She said the divorce-parenting mediation program is the largest family division ADR program, with about 3,400 mediation sessions in 2023 out of roughly 6,700 cases, and that most cases involving minor children are referred to mediation soon after the first appearance session.
Culp described the family division process as beginning with a first appearance session led by a case manager, who provides information, helps with paperwork, and schedules mediation, usually within 30 to 45 days. She said mediation is strongly encouraged in parenting and divorce cases, but there is no requirement to reach agreement, and parties may settle some issues while leaving others for court. She also explained that mediation is prohibited or limited in certain domestic violence cases: cases with active civil protection orders may proceed only with both parties’ consent and possible safeguards, while cases involving criminal protective orders are not sent to mediation. Mediators in court-referred family cases are contracted with the court and must be certified by the executive branch’s mediator certification board; mediators do not communicate with judges, except through a brief ADR report noting whether the case settled or what the next procedural step is. Members asked about referrals, timing, and the meaning of “neutrals,” and Culp said the court uses in-house contracted neutrals for family division ADR and does not refer divorce-parenting cases to outside providers.
FL
Florida 2026 Regular Session
Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education Jan 15th, 2025
Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education
Transcript Highlights:
- You have education media and technology.
- You have education media and technology.
- You have education media and technology.
- Is it employing technology?
- But I do think technology is the future here.
Summary:
The committee held its first meeting and received an overview of the Pre-K-12 education appropriations jurisdiction and base budget. Staff explained that education funding is driven largely by enrollment and per-student formulas, with most money coming from state and local sources. The presentation highlighted the major budget areas: early learning, the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), non-FEFP K-12 programs, federal programs, and the State Board of Education. Members asked about instructional materials funding and how scholarship students who return to public schools are counted and funded; staff explained that instructional materials remain in the base and that funding depends on survey timing, with districts ultimately funded through the enrollment count process.
The committee then reviewed federal IDEA funding for students with disabilities. Department of Education officials explained how IDEA Part B funds are split between state set-asides and local educational agencies, and noted that Florida ranked fourth nationally in total IDEA Part B funding and received a 95% state determination for meeting IDEA requirements. They also described the bureau’s responsibilities, including monitoring, dispute resolution, instructional support, and the Hope Florida unit for ages 3 to 5. Members asked for more information on student performance outcomes and how the state measures success beyond compliance, and the department agreed to provide follow-up data.
The final major topic was the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System (FDLRS), including associate centers, multidisciplinary centers, and specialized centers for deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired students. Presenters described services such as child find, family support, assessments, professional learning, accessible instructional materials, and technical assistance. Committee members focused on whether families and schools have equal access to services across the state, how IEP disputes and reevaluations are handled, and whether more support is needed for parents, teachers, and rural districts. FDLRS representatives said they do not write IEPs but help connect families to districts, provide training and assessments, and support compliance and data collection; they also emphasized staffing and resource needs, especially for low-incidence disabilities and multilingual family outreach.
FL
Florida 2025 Regular Session
Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Feb 11th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- We supported the demonstration of this technology at the department's most recent summit and recently
- So it's not the same as consultation which involves providing expert solutions and advice for particular
- So I guess, as I mentioned, we provided the virtual reality technology and support around simulations
- It also limits the ability to implement broad scale solutions has no 2 cases are alike.
- Our goal is to find a solution that will best serve children and like you shared families, a solution
MN
Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session
House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee 3/11/25
Public Safety Finance and Policy
Transcript Highlights:
- Chair, accelerates a statewide solution and ensures every state agency, local public safety office, and
- The National Weather Service is currently using what's called S-band technology.
- If we all work together on these solutions, we have a better solution for all of our citizens.
- If we all work together on these solutions, we have a better solution for all of our citizens.
- If we all work together on these solutions, we have a better solution for all of our citizens.