actually worked. The Brevard County Legislative Delegation for the 2026 regular session is now called to order. Will everyone please find their seats and silence all electronic devices? Mr. Gooden, would you please call the roll? Chair Mayfield? Here. Senator Wright? Here. Representative Brackett? Here. Representative Hodgers? Here. Representative Miller? Representative Soroy? Here. Representative Traymont? Here. Madam Chair, Quorum is present. Thank you, Mr. Gooden. And Representative Miller is excused from the delegation meeting today. At this time, I'd like to ask Representative Traymont to lead us in the prayer, followed by Senator Wright to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. Will everyone please stand for the prayer and remain standing for the pledge? Father God, we come to you this morning or this evening, and we thank you for this opportunity to be here. We thank you for this opportunity to congregate together, to discuss ideas, to share our thoughts and our concerns with one another peacefully and respectfully. Lord, we ask your blessing upon this. Keep everybody safe here today. Lord, God bless our law enforcement. Thank you for them being here and their protection that they offer. We ask that your blessing to be upon all of the families here as we're traveling to and from this place. Keep us safe in all of our endeavors and give wisdom to Senator Mayfield as she leads and guides this discussion. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Thank you, Representative Traymont and Senator Wright. It is my distinct honor to preside over the delegation this session, and I want to thank everyone for coming. The meeting is an opportunity for Brevard County citizens, government officials, community organizations to address their state legislative delegation ahead of the Interim Committee weeks and the 2026 legislative session. Thank you to Brevard County Commissioner and Chairman Feltner for allowing us to use their facility and county staff, particularly Facility Director Skip Bell and Anda Skarbowski. No, I'm sorry. Amanda, I just screwed your name up, so I'm sorry. With the Communication Department for their hospitality, we were here last night for at least an hour and a half trying to make sure we had everything ordered to do, and I really appreciate their time that they did to do it. In addition to Brevard County Sheriff's Office for their support, we have allocated four hours today for our delegation to complete our business, including the consideration of two local bills and presentation by 85 registered speakers. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes to provide the remarks. If you do the math, you will realize that if everyone takes their three minutes, we are going to run out of time. If the agenda is not completed on time, it will be up to the delegation to vote to extend the meeting. To that end, please keep your remarks as brief as possible. My aide, Christian Chestnut, to my left, will be our timekeeper for today's meeting. In addition to the clock you see in front of you, he will also hold up a yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining. If you see that warning, please quickly wrap up your comments. When your time is up, you will hear the beep on the clock. Anyone who is registered to speak, please make sure you have a copy of the printed agenda and make your way to one of the two center seats in the front of the room during the presentation immediately before yours. At the end of the agenda, public comments will be heard. If you are not registered to provide comment but would like to fill out a card to do so, please see Kelly Lane or Yvette Campbell who are sitting in the back of the room. If anyone in the audience feels the time constraints do not permit you to adequately convey your message, please know that you are always welcome to contact the delegation members' offices to schedule individual meetings either here in the district or in Tallahassee. I would like to take this moment for each member of the delegation to introduce yourself, your staff, and tell us which district and areas you represent. And I would like to start with our newest member, Representative Brian Hodgers, to my left, and then we will just make our way down the dais. So, Representative Hodgers, you're recognized. Thank you. Brian Hodgers, District 32, central portion of Rivard, pretty much from 192 on the south end up to about 520 on the north end. I do not see my district aide here. If he is here, David Jackson, I think he's coming in a little bit. And my legislative aide, Ian Kendall, is over here to my left. Thank you. Robert Brackett, District 34, the southern, very southern tip of Rivard County and all of Indian River County. My district, my district aide is not here with us today. My legislative aide is Sonny Agarwal. He's right over here to my left. And I'm Senator Mayfield. I represent District 19, which includes the Barrier Island and the mainland from Indian River County line to the southern line of the city of Titusville, including Kennedy Space Center and the Cape. I am joined today by my team, including William Gooden, sitting to my left, Christian Chestnut, sitting to my left, and Kelly Lane and Yvette Campbell, who is in the back of the room. I'd also like to recognize Representative Miller, who is excused from today's attendance. Representative Miller serves House District 33, including Palm Bay and West Melbourne. Her legislative aide, Brandon Spurlock, and her district aide, Jessica Reeves, are here today. There you are. You're here today. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Senator Tom Wright, District 8, which covers most all of Volusia County and the northern one-third of Brevard County. Always good to be with you here. Charlene is here with me. Diana is here with me. And I'm not sure where Chris went. There he went, right there, over on the side. So thank you all for being here. Good evening. Tyler Soroy. Good to see everybody tonight. Thank you so much for being here. Very pleased to be joined by my legislative assistant, Kelsey Chase. Good afternoon, Chase Tremont, representing northern part of Brevard and southeast Volusia County. And I'm joined here by Duncan DeMarsh, who is recently engaged now. Thank you, members. We will now proceed with the election of the 2026 officers. Senator Wright, I understand you have a nomination for chair of the 2026 delegation meeting. Yes, thank you very much, Madam Chair. I nominate Representative Brackett to serve as chair of the Brevard County Legislative Delegation for this 2026 term. Is there a second? I happily second that motion. Representative Tremont seconds the nomination. Seeing no objection, congratulations, Representative Brackett. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Brackett, Representative Brackett, I understand you have a nomination for vice chair. I do. Thank you, Madam Chair. I nominate Senator Wright to serve as vice chair of the Brevard County Legislative Delegation in 2026. Second. Seconded by Representative Soroy. Seeing no objections, congratulations, Senator Wright. Thank you. We will now proceed with our presentations. The first group of presenters will be the federal, state, and local governments, including special districts. Each speaker, again, in this category will have three minutes to speak. Again, to ensure that we are accommodating everyone's with marks, I ask that you please keep your remarks brief as possible and mindful of the time remaining on the clock. As a reminder, follow the agenda and make your way to the front of the room during the presentations immediately before yours. Due to an emergency city meeting conflicting with our meeting, we will begin with Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina, and then we will hear from Sandy and Michael Stoopville before we continue the schedule that you have on your agenda. So, Mayor Medina, you are recognized. So, good afternoon, delegation. First and foremost, I want to thank each and every one of you for rearranging the schedule. As most of you know, we have some issues going on in Palm Bay. Along with me is Dr. Brian Robinson, who's our deputy city manager, and our city manager, Matthew Morton. I just wanted to recognize the hard work that each and every one of you are accomplishing. Representative Tremont, thanks for glorifying God in these chambers. That was a powerful invocation. I'd also like to just share with you my communications with other colleagues throughout our state. You are recognized as one of the hardest working delegation, and your reputation precedes you. So, thank you so much for what you do for our city and our community. Just wanted to take a moment to welcome our new staff, as I just did. I'm excited to hear about where we're heading. I'm grateful for your support as we tackle these new opportunities. We've already had the chance to meet with each and every one of you individually, but I want to take a moment to reiterate two key requests publicly. Number one, Babcock Street widening. One of our top priorities is funding to help widen Babcock Street. As most of you know, it's a multi-jurisdictional corridor, and I know that Space Coast Transportation Organization has EMR future funding within its draft advanced 2050 long-range transportation plans for right-of-way construction, construction engineering, and inspection purposes. Number two, we are also seeking continued support for our police department, specifically Sergeant Frank Tobar tactical training building at Palm Bay, at our Palm Bay police range. Thanks for your help. We've already invested in upgrades that have made this a first-class facility. The range is not only used by our officers, it's also utilized by law enforcement agencies throughout our state, with our federal partners, and even from outside our nation. This is not a competition with other facilities. It's an asset and complements them and strengthens training opportunities across those disciplines. We're also exploring ways to partner with FWC to occasionally make facilities available for public use, which would further expand its value to our community. And lastly, I want to briefly mention the compound. You see, I say that with a smile. Lastly, I gotta tell you, in the past we've had enterprise zones have provided incentives to attract investments. We ask for your support finding creative ways to encourage investments in this unique area so we can unlock its full potential. May God bless you, may God keep you, and may God continue to bless our great state and the United States of America. Oorah! Thank you, Mayor Medina, and that's how it's done, members. So, thank you so much. Next, we will have Sandy Stouville. If you will come up with your son. Absolutely. Good afternoon. My name is Sandy Stouville. I'm the mom of Michael, my 21-year-old son who has autism and complex medical needs. I'm here because I love my son and I want him to have the support to live a safe, meaningful life. Life hasn't been easy. I suffered a traumatic brain injury and needed my own caregiver when Michael was just six. I was on another Florida waiver. I had been an engineer and project manager and getting better was harder than anything I'd ever done. I worked hard for years to get better and pushed past wanting to give up because I knew Michael needed me to fight for him. Michael has overcome enormous challenges since birth. He missed every early developmental milestone. Years of therapy helped him make progress, but he still needs daily supervision, ongoing medical care, and structured support to stay safe. Without it, he can shut down, have dangerous meltdowns, or run away. At times, he's struggled with deep despair, including thoughts of not wanting to live. Florida's eligibility rules for services are vague and inconsistent under the autism category. Terms like severe and market are subjective, which leaves families in limbo. I've spoken to APD staff multiple times and received conflicting advice. Some have suggested the long-term care waiver, but that program is designed for seniors, not young adults who need life skills, employment supports, and community connection. Misrouting young adults into senior programs is not only the wrong clinical fit, it also wastes public resources. I spent countless hours gathering evaluations, yet there's no clear path to determine if Michael qualifies. The process is intimidating and no one has clear answers. It shouldn't be this confusing. Other states use objective measures like DSM-5 diagnoses and adaptive functioning. Florida should too. Clear objective criteria would save time, reduce appeals, and spare families and agencies unnecessary costs and stress. I've been married over 38 years and can count on two hands the date nights his dad and I have had the past 10 years. The waiver could change this and give us hope for Michael's future. Sorry, I didn't mean they got to get emotional. Michael always also receives a family empowerment scholarship for students with unique abilities, which has been a lifeline, but reimbursements can take months. Errors are hard to correct and families receive conflicting information. With more than a hundred thousand children relying on this program, small glitches affect thousands. I'm asking you to support two things. Update APD rules include objective transparent eligibility criteria aligned to DSM-5 and adaptive functioning and get APD to publish their criteria in their internal documents similar to what social security used, something called the blue book. I was able to get him disability the first try, which is unheard of, but because they made it clear what was required, I could get the documentation and it's taken me less time than I've spent so far. The other thing is to improve the FESUA system. Establish an oversight committee comprised of lawmakers, representatives from the Department of Education and a panel of parents and providers and 30-day reimbursement turnarounds. I just had over five thousand dollars tied up and it took them 65 days to get it back to me. That's hard. Most families can't afford to ride that kind of money. These aren't abstract policy issues. They're about my son's future and the futures of thousands like him. Please help us make the system clear, fair, and workable. Thank you. You're quite welcome. Yes, Representative Soroy, you're recognized. You mentioned a need for an oversight committee. What was it that you were looking to provide oversight to? Oversight to step up for students and their changing of rules and just the random changes of what's approved and what's not approved. It was a great step. You guys have done a lot to improve it. It just needs more. And I can connect you with advocates who were insiders and were on the family parent board for step up before everything was merged and they recommended not to merge. We also are actually helping to get step up the unique ability separated out and protected to so that we don't get merged because it used to be everybody will support special needs. Not everybody supports school choice. I happen to, but to mix the two, it causes problems. And I think it's why you ended up with all the news, you know, all the bad news, because somebody might be upset taking a child to Disney. That's a typical child. Well, how can they spend money on that? But if you've got a child that's severe and that's going to get them out and learn to spend money, it's a motivator. And some of these kids, they learn around the things they love and they learn to read a map and they learn to spend money. But the committee is to help parents have a voice because right now, if I have a problem, they went and implemented AI right at the end of the year where it was taking me an extra minute for every reimbursement because their AI couldn't even read my receipt. And then I had to put in the same thing 15 times for 15 plants with all the extra information, but they need oversight. And it's a nonprofit and they've got no oversight and they've got no competition. And so there's no pressure to improve. And I, um, the, the community, the person that you put together, the group that puts the purchasing guide, it also would be nice if they could update. It changed a lot of updated multiple times during the year as they see fit. And we just need, parents need a voice. We have not had a voice and they didn't really listen when we were, and we don't want to be under step up. We want something. I don't really think the, um, I originally thought a parent board, but I've talked with other, um, uh, advocates who are very involved and I can connect you with them who know this inside and out because they've been on it for years and they know the players and they know the management inside step up. Triple A is not as big a player, but there's like 5% step up. It's billions of dollars. And, um, parents remember a couple of years ago when schools were shutting down and people were having to take out loans, um, because this funding wasn't, and there's problems with DOE. And that's why I recommend DOE representatives from the legislature and providers and parents be on an oversight board so that you get true because they say every, it's getting better when they change the CEO, but they're having to write a ship and they're stuck with technology. That is crazy. I can't even, if I forget to add a receipt on a, on something, I can't do anything. I have to wait 60 days for them to reject it and then add my receipt. I mean, that's ridiculous. This is the 2025. So, and the, and the new system was not a step up from the old system. No pun intended. Anything else? Real quick. Not a question. Uh, so I just, um, just wanted to offer a word, you know, um, let me know what we can do. Okay. I really appreciate it. And I appreciate all you've done because I got involved more in this because I saw that it actually mattered. Um, we went up to Tallahassee and it gives him a purpose in life and he's, he's a story, you know, he was, I didn't talk about all the details, but he almost died when he was born and he's been in and out of the hospitals. He sees seven specialists now and, um, he had a food impaction. It was life threatening. And, um, he's now drinking just shakes because he's afraid. Well, he's, I'm getting into stuff that he's going to cover. I'm sorry. I don't want to step on your, on your glory, but thank you for the offer. I greatly appreciate it. And we're a resource. I used to be an engineer. Um, I'm a systems thinker. I used to run, um, all the systems at Seattle, Tacoma airport, but with my brain injury, I can't even run my own household now. So anyway, I, I, but I can still think it just takes energy from me. So thank you, Sandy. What I would like for you to do, if you wouldn't mind, uh, you know, we know people boots on the ground are the ones having to work through the systems that we create and it's really good. If you could send us your, your recommendations here, I would love that. I'm connected with Stephanie Norton with we, the people, I don't know if you're familiar with them. That's a great organization. Go visit their Facebook page, go visit their YouTube channel. You want to see stories of families. You'll see what works people that it's worked and helped. And you'll see people that it has not helped. Yeah. So, so that, so the task force or the committee, your oversight, you're talking about, it would be great to have that list from you on who your recommendations would be to be on it, to be on it as well. And who all the contacts are. And then we can take a look at maybe putting together. That would be so helpful. Cause I think it would solve a lot of the problems cause I've seen where you guys have had good faith efforts and then the silliness that went on with the purchasing guide and they couldn't even agree on anything. Exactly. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's unreal. Thank you. Now, Michael, you, you, uh, you had some comments and he has to speak. He wants to speak also. Okay. So let's put this here. You just read it. Okay. And I'll, I'll, I'll go along. Anyway, hello. My name is Michael Studeville. I'm 21 years old and I'm here as a self-advocate. I have autism, ADHD, and severe anxiety. Being autistic means I struggle with planning, organizing, trying new things, and handling changes in routine. When I get overwhelmed, I can shut down or lose control. Sometimes my behaviors get severe. I have also struggled at times with deep despair. I have seen doctors and have failed pain my whole life. When I was little, people didn't think I walk without voices or speak on my own. I walked hard and proved them wrong. I stopped using a computer to talk when I was 13. And now I can run. No voices needed. Last year, I had a scary emergency with food gusts up in my esophagus. Since then, I had, uh, many tests and I'm relying mostly on nutrition shakes because I'm afraid it could happen again. I'm working with new doctors to help figure it out. Here's what I hope for. My dad works. My dad works and my mom has a traumatic brain injury. I rely on them every day. to go to get places, do things, and feel safe. My dad and I play mini-golf all over the state. I love that, but I worry more about refusal when they can help me as much. I want a safe place to live and someone to help me make decisions and keep up with the medical care I will always need. If I'm approved for the Medicaid waiver through APD, I can get the support that may be independent as possible. With the right support, I can work and contribute to my community. My answer is simple. Please make the world's career advance so families know when they qualify before they invest much of time and money. A pleasing approved with Family Empowerment Scholarship for students with unique ability is a lifetime, but delays, certain world changes, and confusing systems make it hard to use. Please don't take away your phone just before someone can go to college by 25. But with your help, I can have a safe future, real friends, and a life without me. Thank you for listening. You're quite welcome, Michael. Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you. Michael, I know you were nervous. Michael, I know you were nervous, but you did an excellent job. So thank you for your presentation. Thank you very much. And just so he mentioned about the 25, right now, the unique ability scholarship, if he turns 22 and we have extra funds, which we will because he was a 254 matrix, which is more money because of all the therapies, if he doesn't go to college or some post-secondary program, he will lose that ability to spend that money. And that seems just crazy to me. And he doesn't qualify. He's not intellectually disabled, so he doesn't qualify those programs, and he's not able to attend college programs. So that would be a shame to lose those funds. Great. Thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for the extra. Quite welcome. Okay, now we're going to start with the rest of the agenda. And first, next, it's going to hear from CEO Captain Murray of Canaveral Port Authority. You're recognized. Thank you. Good afternoon. On behalf of the Canaveral Port Authority, thank you for your steadfast support of Port Canaveral. For 72 years, Port Canaveral has driven prosperity for the Space Coast in Florida. In fiscal year 25, we've welcomed 8.6 million cruise passengers, handled over 6 million short tons of cargo, and supported nearly 50,000 jobs. This marks a remarkable recovery, with revenues now at 225% over pre-pandemic levels, fueled by strong partnerships across our operations. Alongside our seven cruise line partners, our multiple cargo partners moved tons of vital transportation fuels, lumber, and road-building materials that keep Florida moving. Plus, our collaborations with space leaders like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other launch service providers continue to propel innovation. Sustaining this growth requires your partnership to address critical challenges, and we are grateful for the support that you've given us. As you embark on the upcoming legislative session, please consider the following priorities. First, dedicated seaport funding. We deeply appreciate FDOT's work plan funding, but the 2024 expansion of FSTED to include spaceports threatens to dilute mission-critical resources for Florida seaports, which are the backbone of our state's trade and tourism economy. Port Canaveral proudly supports our thriving space sector alongside our robust cruise and cargo operations, yet maintaining aging cargo bursts, expanding land-side facilities, and implementing critical storm-resilient infrastructure requires dedicated investment to maintain our global competitiveness. We respectfully urge the state to establish a clear, dedicated funding pathway for seaports to ensure Florida ports continue driving economic vitality, job growth, and trade across the state. Second, port security. We sincerely thank the legislature for their leadership in passing Senate Bill 1422, which strengthened penalties for unauthorized drone use, a critical step toward safeguarding Port Canaveral and other critical infrastructure. We want to thank Representative Robbie Brackett for his previous leadership in this area through his sponsorship of HB 755 during the 24 legislative session. However, the commercial use exception in Senate Bill 1422 permits unapproved drone flights over our port and critical infrastructure. With millions of cruise passengers, strategic fuel supplies, and space operations at our port, unauthorized drones threaten public safety, endanger ship operations, and compromise national security-related activities. This concern is shared by all Florida seaports and the United States Coast Guard. We respectfully urge you to amend this law to require prior notification and approval for all drone flights over seaports to ensure Port Canaveral and our state's maritime gateways remain safe and secure. Thank you for your leadership. Port Canaveral is committed to partnering with you to deliver prosperity for our region and state, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. I have two questions, Madam Chair. Sure. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Captain Murray. My first question is, in fiscal year 2024, Port Canaveral reported having 7.6 million cruise passengers and a revenue of almost $200 million. My question to you, sir, is what does your special taxing district do to offset the impacts of that to local cities like Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral? Our revenues that we generate are plowed right back into investment within the port. I'm sorry, sir. My question was regarding Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach and offsetting the impacts of those cities of 7.6 million visitors to your special taxing district. They generally benefit from the benefit of the passengers coming through our port. There's local businesses that thrive. When I started at the port, we had three hotels outside the port district. Now we have 11. Thank you. My second question is, what does your special taxing district do to prioritize port tenants that are not cruise-related? Prioritize. For example, you've got restaurant owners, you've got aerospace, you've got cargo, you've got other commercial boating operations. What is your vision of how to prioritize those folks over cruise or along with cruise? What are we doing for the commercial fishermen, for example? We're doing quite a bit with the commercial fishermen right now, and I don't want to get into the fine detail because it's an active discussion that we're having, but we recognize the commercial fishermen. We have two fish houses in Port Canaveral that are protected in our charter, but we've also learned through a lot of work over the past year that there are approximately 50 to 60 commercial fishermen that support those two industries. Thank you. And just one final question, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. Do you, $200 million in revenue that your special taxing district reported in 2024, are any of that funding set aside for grants for local water projects, matching funds for lagoon projects, Brevard Public School projects, for example, are any of those dollars available for matching by other stakeholders in the community? They are not under our charter. Thank you very much. It's in their charter, though. Okay, let me go ahead and set the stage right here. This is not a committee for debating asking those type of questions. Oh, there's just questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. No, it's not just questions. There's not just questions. They were just questions that I was asking. Those were not just questions. Those are questions getting into a debate and answer. Those are the type of questions. I would probably challenge any other special taxing district to see if they're setting money aside out of their money to do matching grants of other things. But this is a meeting to hear what the community has to say. I would suggest if any member on this dais has those type of direct questions, that they set a separate meeting up to get those answers, or we are not going to get through this agenda. So I would ask that all the members please conduct themselves accordingly. This is what this agenda, this is what the delegation meeting is for. You can ask questions, but, again, we're going to keep them minimum, and this is for them to tell us what their asks are. We can set separate meetings up separately in order to get into the details of it. So I just want to make sure that's clear as we go forward. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate your comments. Thank you, Captain Murray. Thank you. The next we'll hear from Devin West, who is going to be talking about the NASA Kennedy Space Center. Thank you, Madam Chair, delegation members. It's great to see you all today. I am here on behalf of Kennedy Space Center, on behalf of our Center Director, Janet Petro. She sent her regards, and she is so disappointed she couldn't be here herself today, so thank you for letting me step in in her stead. Thank you for the invitation for coming to speak today. It's always wonderful to have an opportunity to share what the work at Kennedy Space Center is doing to support the exploration and discovery that inspires the world. Every day is an exciting one at the world's busiest spaceport, but we certainly feel the anticipation building as we move closer to the launch of Artemis II early next year. Just last week, the second-to-last piece of hardware moved to the VAB, bringing us one step closer to completing the fully integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft that will take humans around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. In the coming weeks, the Orion capsule, recently named Integrity by the Artemis II crew, who will call it home during the 10-day mission, will be lifted atop the space launch system, completing the rocket's assembly and signaling the final stages of operations ahead of launch. The crewed test flight is critical to the long-term lunar exploration that is making way for humans to explore Mars and beyond, ensuring continued American leadership in space as we explore and discover for the benefit of all humanity. In addition to the agency's Moon to Mars initiative, Kennedy is also supporting the busiest launch cadence on the planet. Just five years ago, the center's record-breaking manifest boasted 31 launches. Today, the center is postured to support more than 100 launches by the end of the year, and to date has seen nearly 90 launches lift off from the coast, indicating an increased commercial demand of more than 1,500 percent in just over a decade. This work is a testament to the strong relationship between the center and our neighbors at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Through heavy coordination, synchronization, and reciprocal support, Kennedy and the Space Force are working together to deliver on the center's mission to provide a continuous access to space from Earth's premier spaceport. Additionally, Kennedy and the Space Force Station completed master plans for our respective installations, coordinating throughout the process to ensure we are aligned and well-postured to continue delivering on our commitments for years to come. I'd like to take a moment to thank our state legislative delegation for the support and partnership that is enabling Kennedy Space Center to support the needs of the nation. Our success and growth would not be possible without the strong relationships we have formed with all of you. Together, we're advancing science, strengthening the economy, and launching humanity's future. Thank you so much for all of your support. We look forward to working with you in this next state legislative session. Thanks, Kevin. I mean, Devin. Thank you, ma'am. Now we'll hear from one of our previous colleagues, Mike Miller, who represents the—he's Vice President of External Affairs and Workforce Integration for Space Florida. You're recognized. Thank you, Chair Mayfield. Yeah, you excused one Miller and you got another. So, yeah. Well, thank you. I'm Mike Miller, Vice President of External Affairs and Workforce Integration. Glad to see so many familiar faces on the dais. And congratulations, Representative. I'm here also with my colleague, Dale Ketchum, who actually moved here during the first Eisenhower administration. So he's barefoot. And I say that because tomorrow, October 1st, is the 67th anniversary of Eisenhower signing the document that created NASA. So happy anniversary to NASA. 67 years. So I want to just quickly highlight three things, and I'll yield back to Daya since I know you have a very busy day. First, I want to thank you, Senator, for your Bill 1516. The International Aerospace Innovation Fund is the reason that Rob Long is not here with us today. He's in Australia, and I think that's a really great opportunity for us to expand our partnerships not only around the country but around the world. So I think that's a really wonderful bill, and I appreciate you passing that with Representative Kendall. The other great thing to tell you guys is we are doing a lot of great work here, along with our partners at NASA and Space Force, to make sure that aerospace stays in Florida. The state of Florida and Europe's support of our $17.5 million annual budget has returned about $5 billion worth of projects that we have underway right now around the state of Florida. Fifty-seven of those projects are actually right here on the Space Coast. And I just think it's really important to know that not only do you guys support us for all that international activity and all the national activity, but you also support us through the Department of Transportation. And we have a spaceport improvement program that, since 2012, has given back $504 million of state money leveraged against $1.9 billion of private investments. So that's a tremendous leverage. The other thing to highlight today is how many great things we have going on at the spaceport. We have critical infrastructure to expand the launch cadence that Devin just so kindly does over 100 launches this year. It's pretty amazing. We're also enabling new manufacturing and assembly with our friends at SpaceX Blue Origin. I see folks here in the room. We're also estimating, as I think Devin highlighted, that by 2035, Florida will need to be able to support the annual transport of 5,000 metric tons to space. So if you realize right now, most of the time we're launching Falcon rockets, and right now that'd be 219 Falcon launches per year to support 5,000 metric tons to space. Quickly, a couple other things just to highlight with Space Florida. Our community engagement, our CEO, Rob Long, is on the board of United Way and really appreciates that opportunity. We really enjoy working with Linda Weatherman and Edgar and their team at the East Coast, or excuse me, Space Coast EDC. And lastly, I should mention, I know Superintendent Rendles here, the Space Academy program that we're working on. One of the things that all the folks that come to the space, to Florida, they want to know what's the workforce going to look like in the future. And if we're going to support that 2035 number, we're going to need to have a lot of folks get in the aerospace business. So Rachel Rutledge, who runs the CTE programs here in Brevard County, has done a wonderful job incorporating our Space Academy program. It's really been a hit, and we had 6,000 kids graduate last year. I'll tell you about that statewide. Hopefully to double that this year. I'll finish up, Christian. Don't wave me down. So I close with a thank you for you guys, and especially for all your staff. I see not only Christian, but Sonny. Great staff. All of you guys do a great job working with your staff. It would be hard not to. And last but not least, Space Day, February 3rd. Space Day at the Capitol. Please make it. It'll be a fun day. Thank you, Claire. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Next, we have the managing attorney, Casey Brascom, from the Florida Guardian at Lytem. You're recognized. Thank you, Senator. Representatives, thank you for having me. My name is Candace Brascom. I'm the managing attorney for the statewide Guardian at Lytem office here in the 18th Circuit that covers both Brevard and Seminole counties. The Guardians at Lytem that are appointed by our office represent Florida's abused, neglected, and abandoned children in both court and the community. They are appointed by a judge after a child enters the dependency system. So every child appointed to our office is assigned a guardian ad-line attorney, as well as a child welfare professional, and if available, a volunteer or pro bono attorney from the community. This team-based approach is considered the national best practice, and it is alive and well here in Brevard County. Our legal representation protects and advances the rights of children whose age or circumstances prevent them from making decisions for themselves. We consider each child's physical safety, their emotional well-being, and permanent placement in stable, nurturing homes where they can thrive. Our office is the only party in a dependency case that owes a duty of undivided loyalty to each child that we represent. In 2024, our office represented 31,622 children across the state of Florida. We appeared in 497 dependency appeals in 2024, and in the decisions rendered, 98% of those we prevailed in, and that just demonstrates our strength and quality in legal representation. Last year, due in no small part to your support of our office, it was the first time in our office's history where we had sufficient resources to represent every single child in dependency cases with a guardian ad-litem. We are also really grateful to the governor and the legislature recognizing in statute the critical role of mentors, helping out teens that are aging out of the foster care system and moving into adulthood. Our office works with dependent youth approaching adulthood and making sure that they each have mentors, and that's just helping them navigate the real challenges of independent living, whether that's, you know, getting into a lease for an apartment or getting a driver's license. As of today, we have 1,200 teens in our systems that have an identified mentor. So as we're looking forward, we have just two things that we're asking for. We are anticipating requesting salary adjustments in the upcoming budget. Our staff salaries haven't really kept pace with our counterparts in other state agencies. And the other thing is increased budget and authority to allow our office to draw down additional federal Title IV-E funding. This would allow us to offset state costs and assure we are maximizing available federal resources when they are available for our ongoing work. We are deeply grateful to all of you for everything that you've done and your continued commitment to our office. And again, we thank you so much for your service. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Next, we will have Ron Feltner, the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners. Welcome. Thank you. And it's a privilege to speak to you today on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. Madam Chair, members, we greatly appreciate your time. We've got two main things that I'll speak about today, and I know brevity is much appreciated. I appreciate being number seven of 87, I think. So I'll try to return the favor to you. First, I'll just get to what we're looking for in appropriations in the next legislative session. We're looking for support for Scottsmore MIMS Area Stormwater Master Drainage Project, Stormwater Drainage Project in the Atlantic, Martin Fisk Area Drainage Improvements, North Banana River Drive South Bridge, Newfound Harbor Drive Drainage Improvements, Pelican Creek and Fowler Drive, Newfound Harbor Drive Drainage Improvements. And at Stadium and Cuttington, which is in front of your elementary, I've worked on that project. We're 90% of the way there. We're looking for the last 10% for you to help us with. Second, on the policy end of things, as a board, we'd like to see an end to the state's preemption of short-term rentals, return control to the county and municipalities, support legislation allowing all counties to use tourism development tax revenues for police, fire, EMS, support continued efforts to remove derelict vessels. That's important on our waterways. I think we all agree with that. Continued support of ongoing partnership with the state, St. John's, and DEP to restore the Indian River Lagoon. And we could not be a success without all of the help from the state on the river. And greatly appreciate your support there. And then finally, we're looking for support, dedicated, looking for you to support dedicated funding for cost-share grants to replenish sand on Florida's beaches. With that, Madam Chair, I yield my time. Great. Thank you. Short and sweet. Next, we have Superintendent Dr. Robert, Mark Rendell, Brevard Public Schools. Thank you, Senator. Sorry, Dr. Rendell. Good afternoon, everyone. First and foremost, thank you. Your continued support of Brevard Public Schools has made a real and lasting impact on the lives of our students, families, and educators. We're deeply grateful for your partnership. Brevard is proud to once again be recognized as an A-rated school district. Our students excel academically. Our educators are deeply committed. And our schools offer a wide range of innovative programs that prepare learners for success in college, careers, and life. This level of achievement is only possible with strong community and legislative support. We thank you for being part of that foundation and the journey for these students. For example, during last year's legislative session, you fought to preserve the weighted funding for advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge degree courses. To illustrate the importance of that additional funding, Brevard not only increased the number of students taking AP courses to almost 9,000, we also improved our passing rate by 8% to 75%, which is well above the state and national averages. This represents a great investment in our future. Thank you again for supporting that funding. Now, college-level coursework is not our only mission. I believe each of you are well aware of our diverse career and technical education programs. We used to call that vocational education. Well, vocational education is alive and well in Brevard County. We have 49 technical programs. Last year, we issued almost 5,500 vocational certificates. Those are industry-recognized credentials that provide our students with direct access to high-wage careers. This delegation has been a staunch supporter of this segment of our curriculum. You have provided additional funds to support these programs. This year, we have submitted two funding requests. First, we seek funding to expand our Career and Technical Education Center at Brevard Adult and Community Education. This expansion will add auto and diesel mechanic programs to create a state-of-the-art innovation space for our new technical college. Second, we are requesting support to establish a firefighting program at Cocoa High School, modeled after our successful program at Palm Bay High School. This initiative will provide students with a direct pathway into a vital public service career. So, in closing, with your continued support, we can ensure Brevard remains a leader in education and a model for how schools and communities can grow stronger together. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Riddell. Next, we have Supervisor of Election, Tim Bobanek. Stand up, Tim. Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you all. My name is Tim Bobanek, Supervisor of Election, as you said. I just want to take the time to thank you all very much for the personal relationships that we've had over the years. Whenever there's an elections bill comes up, any questions, you never hesitate to pick up the phone to give me a call. And if I have a concern, you always answer my calls. You always, you know, set meetings with me and our association. We really appreciate that. Our association has not finished ratifying its legislative priorities yet. However, one of the items that is on the list for sure, and that has been in the news recently, is the recent driver's license number changes. The Department of Motor Vehicles has changed the format for the driver's licenses. When you go to the DMV office, or in our case, the tax collector's office, if the voter is not choosing to update anything on their voter registration, my office is never receiving that updated driver's license. And we are required to use that driver's license number to validate mail ballot requests and now petitions for constitutional initiatives. So we're hoping that we can fix this problem administratively with the Department of State. However, if not, we might need some help from the legislature to kind of get those numbers pushed over because we all are working together here. The Department of – I'm sorry, Lisa's office is the number one source for all of our voter registrations. You know, Motor Voter is the biggest source, so we want to make sure we're getting that information as much as possible. So, again, thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any. Representative Tremont, you're recognized. I'm sorry. Thank you, Madam Chair. Sure. No question, but I know I'm going to be carrying a – at least filing an elections bill, so I'd like to get with you after this. Absolutely. Thanks. Great. Thank you, Representative Tremont. Any others? Great. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Georgiana Gillette with the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization. Good to see you again. Thank you, Madam Chair, delegation members. Georgiana Gillette, Space Coast TPO. We are responsible for coordinating all state and federally funded transportation projects here in Brevard County. First, I want to say thank you for the recent appropriation for the Ellis Road widening and for allocating additional state and federal funds to finally get us over the hump and fully fund the construction phase. The pre-construction activities are – such as the clearing and grubbing are in full swing, and, you know, they're expected to be finished by November. And next year, the project will be advertised and construction, the full construction, will officially begin. So we would like to thank you and celebrate this major success. Thank you. Thank you. You know, you get one project done and you move on to the next one. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for everything that you do for us. Thank you. Senator Wright. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just one question. You mentioned the 401 Bridge. Yes, sir. What is the timeline for that? Right now, it is under the design phase, and there is no money for construction. The construction is over $200 million, which is a lot of money. That's a heavy lift for the DOT. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Saroy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that. Thank you. It's good to see you tonight. Good to see you. I'm curious if the last time we spoke about Brightline, I recall our discussion. Do we know any more about how a station in Cocoa is going to take congestion off of 528? Because I think that's critically important for everybody to understand. As far as specific numbers, not yet. But clearly, you know, having a station there really opens up an opportunity. I think all of us that travel to the airport, if we go to Orlando and don't go to Melbourne, we see how congestion is getting more and more and more. Not to mention the parking at the airport. So, you know, we can anticipate the numbers. We can anticipate the potential ridership, which, you know, we have done at all of the stations. But having those exact numbers is not something we have right now. Thank you. Any other questions, members? Thank you very much for your update. Next, we will hear from Executive Director Dwayne DeFries of the Indian River Lagoon Council. And, Dr. DeFries, it is wonderful to see you up here in front of us today. It's great to see you, my friend. Madam Chair, members of the delegation, I'm really here to say thank you. Thank you for your vision, your dedication, and your appropriations to support restoration of the Indian River Lagoon. I'm happy to report guardedly that we are seeing progress with all the investments made. And we are also seeing tremendous amounts of opportunity to leverage the state appropriations with both federal and local support. So we currently have over 100 volunteers within our management conference. Over 30 of those are research organizations, private industry, citizens, and community leaders. And I'm going to just leave you with a teaser. In November, I'll be making appointments with each of you. We have used our federal funding to update the Indian River Lagoon economic study. We're looking at that right now. We are in almost constant conversation with our partners throughout the lagoon, including Space Florida, because we know we're growing fast and we know those impacts are going to have impacts on the lagoon. But we are right at that turning point where we need to continue to make investments. Every project is progress. The Indian River Lagoon NEP is only moderately funded, but what we can do that nobody else can is being authorized by Congress with strong bipartisan support. We can leverage those partnerships not only for funding, but for innovation and technology development, and we'll continue to do so. So with that, thank you again. You have made historic progress over the last decade to restore the lagoon. Thank you, Dr. DeFries. Senator Wright? Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just want to echo what Madam Chair said. It's good to see you. I haven't seen you forever. It was a long run at Moffitt Cancer Center and a full day yesterday, so I got home last night just to be here today to see you all. Thank you, sir. So it's great to see you, and thank you. Thank you, Dr. DeFries. Next, we will hear from Board President Phil Weinberg, Melbourne Tillman Water Control District. Good to see you again. Good afternoon, Chair Mayfield and delegation members. I'm here to speak on behalf of two bills that we're asking you to support. A thank you to Representative Miller for sponsoring these bills, and I believe Representative Brackett for introducing these two bills this evening. I'll start with the second bill, actually, which is the shortest and simplest. It's simply a request for an annexation for a small piece of property that was requested by a Palm Bay, a Health First Palm Bay hospital into the district, and that does require an act of the legislature in order to annex any land into our district. The second, we feel the most critical part of the bill is our funding issue. We feel that the legislation is absolutely critical to the district to enable us to continue our primary mission, which is to prevent flooding of residences and businesses in our district, and secondarily to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus from entering the Indian River Lagoon. As you know, our fee structure was capped at $25 per year for residences, $50 to $50 for businesses, and $8.50 for agricultural property. This capsule was set in place over 30 years ago. So, needless to say, our fees structure has nowhere near kept up with the increase in the consumer price index over that 30-year period. And that's resulted, unfortunately, in a severe budget crunch to us. We've had to reduce our workforce from 20 employees to 17. We've had to go from mowing the grass in our 2,300 acres of right-of-way from four times a year to twice a year. Our equipment is aging and becoming challenging to maintain. This bill will allow us to continue to provide the protection to our constituents that we are tasked with providing by law. On behalf of our board of directors, I want to thank you for your consideration. And in addition, our county commission, thank you, has passed a resolution supporting both these bills. And I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Great. I think what we'll do is, since we'll be doing a complete bill presentation, we'll wait until that section, and then members can ask all the questions that they want of the sponsor and then the debate and the presentation. Okay. Thank you, Chair. Next, we'll have Assistant Vice President Robert Salone with the Florida Institute of Technology. Good afternoon, Chair Mayfield and members of the Brevard County Legislative Delegation. Thank you for your hard work in Tallahassee and the opportunity to share a few words about the Florida Institute of Technology, our hometown STEM university and source of pride for the Space Coast. For more than 60 years, Florida Tech has prepared students to turn potential into skills and skills into STEM careers. From our founding in 1958 at the dawn of the space program by a determined engineer working for a private contractor, Florida Tech has been part of the Space Coast's heritage, educating graduates who monitor lagoon health, pilot aircraft, guide rockets, and defend our nation. That mission continues today. Our students and faculty partner with NASA, Department of War, and leading companies and local organizations on real-world challenges. From space-based manufacturing, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, and artificial intelligence, to environmental research on the Indian River Lagoon, and innovation and prototyping for global competitiveness. Employers know the quality of a Florida Tech education. The Global University Employability Survey ranks Florida Tech as the top school in Florida for graduate employability. Our graduates are in high demand at companies like Northrop Grumman, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Leonardo DRS, and L3 Harris. With a 9-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, our students gain skills and confidence that translate directly into high-paying STEM jobs, a strong return on investment for families. And families are taking notice. This fall, we welcome the largest freshman class in history. Programs like the Effective Access to Student Education, or EASE, are important to this student's success. For a few thousand dollars of state support per student, EASE helps make it possible for Florida residents to choose a rigorous, STEM-focused, private sector education that benefits their families and strengthens our economy. The return to the state is nearly 4-to-1. And locally, when combined with other programs, EASE allows qualified Barbard students to attend Florida Tech tuition-free. Looking forward, Florida Tech is building on this momentum. The new Vertex Applied Innovation Hub will connect students, industry, and private capital to solve real problems. Graduate programs at Patrick Space Force Base are tailored to working space professionals. And the Florida Tech Research Institute will expand restricted federal research in fields critical to national security and the Florida's economy. As our president, John Nicklow, says, At Florida Tech, success is earned. It's never handed out. Students prove their merit, and top employers trust our graduates. Thank you all again for your service, your support of Florida Tech, as we all prepare the next generation of STEM leaders for Florida. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Rob. Members, next we will hear from Vice President Jeanette Owens with the University of Central Florida, and you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. I bring greetings from the University of Central Florida's Board of Trustees, President Cartwright, and our faculty, staff, and 70,000 students. We're so proud to have 3,600 Brevard County students enrolled this fall, and over 26,500 UCF alumni who are living and working here in Brevard County. With state support, found efficiencies, and support from industry, UCF has remained focused on solidifying its position as Florida's premier engineering and technology university. We're expanding our academic offerings, deepening our research capabilities, and increasing our impact on Florida's economy, especially in critical areas like AI, aerospace, semiconductor, excuse me, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare technology. Our 2026 funding request will seek operational enhancement dollars to invest in faculty, in student success, and employment, and in infrastructure, specifically to support UCF's growing footprint in engineering, computing, and high-tech disciplines. We have achieved the 12th preeminent metric, a four-year graduation rate of over 60%, which we hope will bring preeminence funding for UCF in the FY 2026-27 state budget. We're now ranked number 45 among public institutions in engineering by U.S. News & World Report, and our aim is to break the top 25. But our focus extends beyond engineering. We're working to embed technological proficiency and innovation across all disciplines, ensuring that every UCF graduate, no matter their major, has the fluency to contribute meaningfully in a tech-driven world. Also critical, UCF is establishing a career-focused ecosystem, including career exploration, readiness, skill development, opportunities for professional experience and job market readiness, networking, and post-graduation success, which is so important because we're here to prepare these students for a great career. To adequately house our growing faculty and students, we need to provide necessary lab facilities. UCF is desperately in need of renovating and expanding our academic facilities, particularly a new Intelligent Manufacturing and Autonomous Engineering Innovation Center. We know and respect that the state is reducing its recurring spending, but we also know that investing in FIT and UCF is investing in Florida's future. We thank you for your leadership and the long hours of service that you provide for Florida and its citizens, and thank you for the opportunity for us to tell you what we so deeply care about. Thank you, Janet. Any questions, members? One thing, I would like to thank you for your internship program that you do, and we have Mr. Chestnut, who is one of our L.A.'s, did the internship program. I've had several of your interns. We trained them. I know. I have to thank Senator Wright for that. But we've had several in our office that you have sent to us, and they actually have done a very, very great job. So thank you for that program. Thank you. I also want to say that I had a chance to meet with Ms. Studeville in the back of the room because UCF is a host of the Center for Students with Unique Abilities, and we are very committed to making sure we listen to her problems and see if there's anything we can do to help as well. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Next, we will hear from Councilwoman Sarah Stokil, and she is going to be presenting on behalf of the League of Cities and Space Coast League of Cities. Yes, I'm kind of double-dipping today, so thank you. I think most of you know me. My name is Sarah Stokil, currently serve as a council member for the city of Titusville, but also serve as the president of our Space Coast League of Cities and was recently elected in to serve as second vice president for the entire state for Florida League of Cities, which means during the 2027 to 2028 year, I will be president for the Florida League of Cities, which is partially why I'm here and part of my ask today. So first, I do want to say thank you. Thank you so much when we go to Tallahassee for meeting with us during committee weeks, for meeting us when we go during legislative action days. I'm a little biased, but I do believe we have the best delegation. Your questions, your willingness to work with us, defender of the home rule with our chair here, so thank you. I did want to say a little bit why I started with the Florida League of Cities, and I was elected at the same time as Representative Tremont over here to serve locally, and we both actually met at a Florida League of Cities function, and I think there's no real training to serving in local government. You kind of, you can do education, you can get involved, but until you actually serve in that seat, you really have no idea what's expected of you, and that's kind of what I loved about Florida League of Cities, but primarily I got involved because of the legislative aspect. So if you're not aware, this past Friday, nearly 400 local elected officials gathered together to serve on one of five different policy committee meetings. So me serving as leadership, I don't really set the policy narrative. It happens during those committee meetings, and so through three different rigorous meetings of coming together and saying, you know, what are our top priorities that the entire state is facing? Throughout that, that is when we come to you with our legislative priorities. That has been all ironed out. So I just want to give some context to that, and then also say, please use us as a resource, especially a big hot topic that I'm sure you're aware of and will probably hear more of, property taxes. There's a lot of research that the Florida League of Cities has done to gather from us, from me being in Titusville, from the entire Space Coast, all over the state, what does that mean if property taxes were eliminated? What does your local elected budget, your municipality budget, actually look like? Those are the kind of conversations that we are inviting you to have with us, because I think we all agree nobody wants to pay taxes, but we really want to come together to see what is the best way that we can fund infrastructure, that we can pay for public safety. What does that actually look like? And then lastly, just to say, as I move into my leadership role, please, if you have any ideas of things that you have experienced throughout your term of serving that you feel like the League of Cities can better research, things that they can do to help, please reach out to us. Let us know. We are always looking for new ideas of things that we can do. And with that, great. Thank you. 20 seconds just there. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we will have the mayor, Mayor Alfre, with the City of Melbourne. Good afternoon, everyone. It's kind of hard to go after Dr. Stokel, because she's kind of, she's got everything ready to go. Us at the City of Melbourne, I will tell you, we highly depend on your leadership. And I know each and every one of you and what you've done for the City of Melbourne. And just Bevard County, when you talk about the Lagoon projects, our roads, everything, what you do when you spend your time from your family, from your businesses up in Tallahassee, most people in this room don't know what you put up with and the long hours and the dedication you give to your community for really no pay. So I'd like to say on behalf of myself and our city council, we greatly appreciate you, Madam Chair, and every member of the delegation. I truly believe also, and to reiterate, this is, in my opinion, probably one of the best delegations that we've had here in Millard County. And so moving forward, I'd like to say a couple things. And our council gave us a list, and we'll be setting up a meeting with each and every one of you. And they said, well, we have three hours to speak. I think they meant three minutes. So we're going to kind of scale that down with this long list. But one of the things that's important that I want you to remember as you go forward in Tallahassee is about the ad valorem tax. And we talk about property taxes, because that's a big vibe right now in the state of Florida, because really nobody wants to pay property tax. We shouldn't have to. But the reality is, if you look at the City of Melbourne budget, 100% of what we take in of our our taxes, property taxes, go to police and fire. And we all support our police and fire and our roads. So hopefully, if we can come to some agreement or something, even just that's very important to the City of Melbourne. Also, going down this long list that my council, my city manager, Jenny Lamb, gave me. She said, you know, I'm going to try it again. And I only got about a minute and 15 seconds left. But we're kind of, we want to kind of maybe revisit or relook at the Senate Bill 180 and restore the local government stability plan responsibly for growth, flooding, and disaster resilience. That's kind of important if we can look at that. And kind of, I believe in a fair and balanced local government with the state government. I think we each have a part to play in government. They're both important. To me, in our city, that's important. Also, we want to continue to support the Indian River Lagoon. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but all of you have been amazing, just what you've done to the lagoon and the funding that Melbourne's received, historic funding with the people up on this dais. And we recognize that. So I got 28 seconds left. I'm not going to go down this long list. We are very fortunate in the city of Melbourne that we have Senator Mayfield in our office. And we know that she has the fourth floor and that to us, that that's important. And again, thank each and every one of you for what you do for this community. Again, I would like to tell everybody out there in the community or watching on TV, you have no idea what our delegation puts up with them, what the time and effort and energy they give for this community. And again, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And as you mentioned, Senate Bill 180, that has been a hot topic in the last few weeks. A month or so. I have already spoken to the chairman and the sponsor, Senate sponsor, Districtly, and we are already started a process of working on doing some amendments to that bill. As any other bill, there's unintended consequences that take place until you actually start applying it. Correct. And that bill covers more than just one subject. I mean, it's a comprehensive land use plan, but it covers many, many, many things. It was a 400-page bill. I've already started looking at it. 400-page bill. So, and the League of Cities has been very active this summer, from what I understand, working with Chairman and Senator DeSigli on it. So, the comments that we know we're going to hear from people related to that bill is going to be from A to Z. And so, just so you know, that that is going to be looked at again this session, and we're going to make some of the adjustments. So, thank you for bringing that up early. Thank you. All of you have a good day. Okay, we're going to hear from our City Manager, Dr. Brenda Fertreau, City of Rockledge, and you are recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair and members of the delegation, great to see you all again. I'm going to sound like a broken record for a moment, so forgive me, but I too, and the City of Rockledge, our mayor and council, believe we have the best delegation in the state of Florida. Often, the audience does not know what you all give up. Two, maybe three years ago, we were meeting with Representative Soroy, and that day happened to be his daughter's birthday. And you know he would much rather be home than meeting with us in Tallahassee. So, for all the family meals, for all the birthdays of children, grandchildren, family members that you all miss, we thank you for your service. You take good care of us here in Brevard, and we believe that will happen again this session. So, thank you. Normally, I come before you all and say thank you for your service, which I do today as well. However, this year, I'm going to ask for your help. The topic of eliminating property taxes—sorry, Rep, don't throw tomatoes at me—the topic of eliminating property taxes has come up. I would ask you to please seriously consider the consequences of such action. I read the, quote, Hometown Freedom Act of 2025, draft by Representative Sapp on the Subcommittee of the House. It stated, and I quote, Florida's property tax system requires residents to pay in perpetuity for assets they already own, close quote. That simply is not correct. The property taxes are paying for services that residents receive, like fire, police, roads, sidewalks, and parks. In Rockledge, in fact, as you heard in Melbourne, property tax dollars pay for police and fire. And, in fact, are not enough to pay for those two services entirely. These services are essential to preserve our quality of life. Over 70% of Florida cities have kept property tax millage rates at or below 2020 levels. This demonstrates that local governments in Florida deliver efficient, disciplined spending, even in the face of rising costs. In fact, Rockledge has lowered its millage rate for the last 13 years, and this year lowered the millage rate below the rollback rate, which gave our taxpayers a true tax reduction of negative 1.2%. Therefore, I urge you to please preserve Florida's current formula. Let Rockledge and other Florida other 400-plus municipalities, their elected officials, to continue to decide what is best for its residents, and continue to operate in a fiscally responsible way. If there are bad actors out there, other cities and counties, shame on them. Those of us in the profession are embarrassed by their irresponsible spending and behavior. But please, please consider very carefully the potential unintended consequences of changing the property tax system in the state of Florida. Florida, thank you so very much for your service. Great to see you all. Thank you so much. And yes, Representative Soroy. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I need to make one correction, one point of clarification. It was my wife's birthday. Oh. And I remember that dinner well. And at that point, birthdays are optional. So there we go. Thank you very much. Well, I'm sorry I misspoke, Representative, but I know it was a hard day. As far as the property tax issue goes, I know that that is going to be a issue that is going to be, probably take up a lot of our session this year. It is complicated. It's not as easy as people think it's going to be. We do hear from first-time homebuyers, we can't afford, we didn't know that property taxes, our property taxes tripled almost from what the previous owner was paying. So there is a disparity between who pays what and property tax. So there's going to be a lot, and the portability adds to that. So there's going to be a lot of discussion made, just for everyone in the room that wants to talk about property taxes, just so you know up front, that is going to consume a lot of our time this year in session, because we are not going to do a knee-jerking reaction to it. It's going to be methodically thought out and decisions made with all stakeholders as to what is the best method of doing it. Thank you, Senator. So just so you guys know that that is, and I'm sure the League of Cities is going to be actively involved as well in those decision-makings, as well as the County Association of Counties. Thank you so much, Senator. We're happy to help with any data or information you all may need. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we're going to hear from Mayor Connors with the City of Titusville. Great to see you again. Very great to see you. Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Legislative Delegation. On behalf of the City of Titusville, I just want to begin by saying thank you for your service and your leadership and the countless hours you spend dedicating your lives to representing Brevard County and Tallahassee. So for that, we very much thank you. Titusville is a community with a proud past and a very bright future. As we grow, we want to be mindful of that progress is only possible when local, county, and state leaders work hand-in-hand. And you have been present and working, listening, and guiding, and helping us make the most of the opportunities before us. Titusville stands at the epicenter of all things space. Titusville is unique in the fact that we're the only city that doesn't abut another city. Out of the three entrances to Kennedy Space Center, we have two of them. We're the only city in Brevard County with two airports, one in FAA Spaceport. So we are primed to support the efforts and initiatives of a growing space industry. But with that, present some challenges. So we will be reaching out to you individually with some different appropriation requests for public safety, infrastructure, water, those things that are very, very important to us. I would say over the last 40, 50 years, Titusville has been a bootstrap community. We've kind of done it on our own for a very, very long time. And now I believe it's the right time for us to sit back, have conversations with you, and figure out how we can move forward so that we're not only helping Titusville grow, but the rest of Brevard County, our space partners, and our school district, and everybody involved. So for that, I want to thank you and yield back my time. As I know you have a long day, and I've sat in that chair, so I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Mayor Steve Osmer with the City of Satellite Beach. Steve, come on up. Oh, I'm sorry. I did skip. I was going to say a point of order. I know. That's okay. You're up. Let's go. Sorry, Mr. Coffey. My sister city will not abide that. That will be okay. Good afternoon, delegation. On behalf of the City of Satellite Beach and alongside my fellow leaders from Brevard County and our 16 municipalities, I want to express our sincere gratitude to the Brevard County Legislative Delegation. Your commitment to listening to our communities, understanding our needs, and advocating for us in Titusville has made a real difference. Brevard County is a diverse geography, character, priorities, but we are united in a shared vision to make our region a place where families thrive, businesses grow, and natural resources are protected. We know the work you do in the legislature is not easy. The issues before you are complex. The choices you make have lasting impacts. That's why your willingness to partner with us and to hear local concerns and help us pursue meaningful solutions is so deeply valued. As we look ahead to the upcoming session, we stand ready to support you and your continued champion of initiatives that strengthen our infrastructure, protect our Indian River Lagoon, enhance public safety, and ensure Brevard County remains one of the best places in Florida to live, work, and raise a family. On behalf of Satellite Beach and our fellow municipalities across Brevard, thank you for your service, your leadership, your unwavering support. We are grateful for the work that you've done, and we look forward to the work that you're going to do coming up. Together, we can ensure a brighter future for every corner of Brevard County. I've had meetings with some of you already, and I appreciate that you take the time to meet with us here. We look forward to seeing you up in Tallahassee. One thing that has always impressed me, and I'd just like to say this again, Representative Brackett, as a fellow mayor, thank you for being where I'm at right now, and thank you for remembering that when you're in Tallahassee. It's always a pleasure to meet and speak with you up there. I look forward to seeing you all in Tallahassee. Thank you again. Great. Thank you, Steve. Mr. Coffey, I'm so sorry. Come on up. City Manager John Coffey with the City of Indian Harbor Beach. Madam Chair of the Delegation, that was no problem. Satellite Beach and Indian Harbor Beach work so closely together. Confusing us is not a problem. On behalf of Mayor Nickel and the City Council, we'd like to thank you for the part you have played in the past and will continue to keep the free state of Florida safe and prosperous and address the environmental concerns that our residents hold dear. As a barrier island, we especially are indebted of your funding of the Indian River Lagoon and request that you continue that focus. As in last year, we request if there's any legislation dealing with vacation rentals, that you look to level the playing field among cities. Our city did not have an ordinance in place in 2011. Our neighbors to the north and south do. So we are the funnel of central Brevard County. If you want to buy a beach home and turn it into a vacation rental, you come to Indian Harbor Beach. That's having a negative impact on our local school. And also to allow us to maintain reasonable registration fees. Our registration fees of $750 initial and $500 a year represents two or three nights rentals for the typical home in our community. And lastly, as mentioned about as you deliberate property tax relief, the city for the last four years has reduced the rate. We have not cut the overall receipts because we are a built-out barrier island. We cannot grow our way out of a fiscal problem. And for example, this year, 65% of our general fund revenue comes from property taxes. Almost half of that went towards increased group health insurance premiums. We had a 31% increase this year, and other cities in Brevard County had higher rates. So we appreciate your consideration that small, built-out communities will have a different set of challenges on whatever property tax reform you present to the voters. Thank you. Great. Thank you, John. Yes. I have a question real quick. Representative Hodgers. You referenced that short-term rentals have a negative impact on schools. Could you elaborate on that? As our short-term rentals have increased incrementally over the years, the number of students enrolled in the elementary school in our community has correspondingly gone down. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Next, we will have Mayor Wes Morrison with the City of Cape Canaveral. Welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair and the members of the Brevard delegation. Thank you for your service and for leading our community in Tallahassee. I speak today on behalf of a unanimous City Council vote and the citizens of Cape Canaveral, who adopted a resolution just yesterday specifically for this meeting. Our two-square-mile city is on the front lines of the county, the Space Coast, the great state of Florida, and the edge of our American border. This morning, my wife and I walked on our shoreline after the small tropical storm passed us. It was not a major storm, but it still left its mark, a reminder of the constant challenges we face with the ocean at our doorstep and the rocket launches overhead that bring both pride and an added responsibility. I also remember, well, I better remember, this week, last year on October 11th, because it was mine and my wife's 10-year wedding anniversary. This day, homes in our city flooded, and it did not happen on the beachfront condos, but in the neighborhoods surrounded by large hotels and a thriving port. Water stood for days, mosquitoes multiplied, and the power was out. Some of the families with the fewest resources bore the hardest impact. It showed the strain on our wastewater storm and stormwater systems. Cape Canaveral may be small in size, but our responsibility is large. Our residents, businesses, and visitors, fishermen on the beaches and the Banana River Lagoon, surfers catching waves, retirees enjoying the sunshine, and families making memories, all make Cape Canaveral a place that matters, far beyond our borders. The people of Cape Canaveral strengthen Brevard County and the state of Florida every day. We are also proving that small cities can lead with fiscal responsibility. For two years in a row, Cape Canaveral has delivered a true tax decrease, reducing property taxes below the rollback rate. We may be the only in this city in Brevard who did that two years in a row. And let me briefly share the legislative priorities we have adopted, not in order of importance, but together they reflect our needs. First is protecting our coastlines, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, and improving A1A as our main corridor as traffic continues to grow to make a sustainable and resilient community. Stabilizing the property insurance market, preserving the local discretion under the Live Local Act to opt out of the tax exemptions when necessary, restoring local authority to regulate vacation rentals fairly, and supporting property tax reform that reduces reliance without compromising essential services. I want to emphasize that we support that. We stand today on Judge Jamison Parkway, and her husband was the first mayor of Cape Canaveral, and today I stand as the 15th and just want to thank you to carry this responsibility forward with you. Thank you. You're welcome. I have a question on your wastewater. Yes. Do you have your own wastewater treatment facility, or are you with the county? We have our own. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Great. Thank you. Next, we'll hear from the town manager, Michael Casey of Town of Indy Atlantic. Thank you all for being here and the hard work you all do do. I realize that. I've worked with Senator Mayfield several times on some projects and things, and she's always been very, very helpful, and she's even been there in person a few times helping out with some projects. Town of Indy Atlantic is a small bearer island. We're also capped out and billed out, so our taxes and stuff, I would bring up a reform that worries us about our public safety. It's our biggest cost of all of our property taxes. It barely pays for our public safety, police, and fire. We have a full-time, so I want to kind of reiterate that. But I'm also here to ask for some funding on the pier. We have a pier that's located just north of the Melbourne Causeway that goes into the lagoon. It's about 400 feet out into the lagoon. It has built-in seating and lighting and tables, and it's got an observation deck that's covered, and it's got educational areas and stuff. And this area, it serves educational purposes. They have oyster beds installed out there to help with the water quality, and we're asking for funding to help with this. The current one is 25 years old. It's unsafe now. It would be approximately about $890,000 to refurbish it, which is more than a quarter of our adlorium taxes a year, so we don't have the money to fund that. We do have some money to set aside to help match some funds and things. But it's looked at by residents, visitors, and everything else. They get to go out and see the sun setting. You can see the dolphins jumping, and it's an asset to the community, to other cities. We get a lot of people coming in from outside the area, tourists and stuff, and they enjoy that area. It's a very popular area down there watching the sunset. And we're just asking for any support you all can give us and funding to help us out to take care of this project and rebuild it and make it safe again for everybody. And that's about it. And I do thank you for the job you all do. I understand birthdays and anniversaries and stuff. I always look when our council meetings are to see which holidays I'm missing. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, next we have, it was a late registration, but we have Mayor Andrea Young with the City of West Melbourne. And Andrea, you're recognized to speak. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me here today. As some of you may know, we are building our own portable water plant in the lovely city of West Melbourne. And one of the projects we need to do with that water plant is we need the construction of a new high-capacity, resilient industrial injection well to reduce reliance on the city's 40-year-old injection well. Injection well, I'm sorry. As the fastest-growing city in Brevard County, you can understand why we are in need of a new injection well. The community environment benefits, enhances long-term wastewater management capacity, and reduces the risk of vertical migration, which, of course, is sewer spells, and that's something that we're very sensitive to for the Indian River Lagoon. It also prevents system failure during high-flow events and safeguards groundwater sources to continue to protect the Indian River Lagoon. We will keep the old well. This is a 40-year-old injection well. We'll keep that available only for emergencies and for testing. Another thing that we are doing is, as you may know, we have a lot of flooding in West Melbourne, and we are putting in a box culvert under the road of Henry and Doherty. That is a $620,000 total project overall. We're asking for $465,000 for that. And that is the existing storm culvert there is undersized. It is a 48-inch pipe, and it was built back in the 70s. We are asking for the funds to build a new culvert to improve conveyance and eliminate bottlenecks, which causes the water to back up and to flood for local flooding. Both of the city's requests today reflect our unwavering commitment for restoring and protecting the Indian River Lagoon, ensuring its rise for future generations as our regions continue to grow. Thank you very much for having me today. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Members, we will now go into our presentation of local bills, and we will take up a bill related to the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District by Representative Miller, and in her absence, Representative Brackett has agreed to present the bill. So you are recognized to explain the bill. Thank you, Madam Chair. And as mentioned, I'll be presenting this bill to the delegation for Representative Miller. Okay. Why don't you, will you wait just one second? We'll let everyone get out of the room that's leaving so everyone else can hear. Did he get it in? Did you fill it out today? Yeah. Did you fill it out in the back of the room? Yeah. Okay. Okay. We'll get it up here and have you after the local bills. You're recognized now. Thank you, Madam Chair. This local bill is an act relating to the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District in Vard County, amending Chapter 2001-336, Laws of Florida, and Amended Removing Obsolete Language, Revising Maximum Stormwater Management User Fees for Residential Agriculture and Commercial Parcels. Members, if you actually look at the bill that's in your packet, beginning on line 58 is where we take out some obsolete information about when this bill was enacted back in 1990 and 91. And then starting line 72 talks about the fees for the 25-26 year will be the same as they were in the previous year. And then starting in the year 26-27, they will be able to be increased by a consumer price index adjustment if needed. And that is the bill. Great. Members, are there any questions on the bill? I'm seeing no questions. Is there anyone in the audience that would wish to comment on the bill? Are we good? Great. And is there any debate on the bill, members? Okay, seeing no debate, Representative Brackett, you're recognized to close on the bill. We've closed. Great. Mr. Gooden, would you please call the roll on the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District? Senator Wright? Yes. Representative Brackett? Yes. Representative Hodgers? Yes. Representative Soroy? No. Representative Tremont? Yes. Chair Mayfield? Yes. And by your vote, Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District local bill will be reported favorably. Members, now we're going to take up the bill relating to the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District annexation. And this bill will be presented by Representative Brackett. He has agreed to carry this bill. So, Representative Brackett, you are recognized to explain the bill. Thank you, Madam Chair. This bill is an act relating to the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District, Rillard County, amending chapters 2001-336, laws of Florida, amending the district's boundaries. Basically, you have the Melbourne-Tillman Control District and the Health First Palm Bay hospitals, the borders, their boundaries. They wish to annex them in and work together for the storm drainage in that area. Great. That is the bill. Great. Thank you. Any questions, members? Seeing no questions. Anyone from the audience wishing to speak? Seeing none. Is there any debate, members? Seeing no debate. Representative Brackett, you're recognized to close on your bill. Wave close. Great. Mr. Gooden, will you please call the roll on the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District annexation bill? Senator Wright? Yes. Representative Brackett? Yes. Representative Hodgers? Yes. Representative Soroy? No. Representative Tremont? Yes. Chair Mayfield? Yes. And by your vote, the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District annexation is reported favorably. Okay, members, we are now going to come back to our city officials, and we're going to speak with Mayor Keith Caprizzi with the Cocoa Beach, and you are recognized. Thank you very much, Mayor Keith Caprizzi, Cocoa Beach. I just want to say on behalf of our city and our residents, we appreciate your representation. We appreciate your hard work, everything you do, your dedication. I especially want to recognize Tyler for his comments, for understanding our hardships that we go through due to our tourism. We are only 1.7% of the county, yet we have millions upon millions of tourism. And the problem is that we don't get money from TDC to address some of the other issues that people were talking about as far as police and fire. So if we could have help on that, that would be very appreciative. Over 50% of all of our police and fire is for non-residential calls. So as well as the port bringing in millions upon millions of visitors a year, it would be nice to have some representation and help on that. So I appreciate you, Tyler, for sticking up for us. Absolutely, you have our 100% support. I publicly endorse you. I would love to see you move forward. Great. Thank you. Can I ask your question? Yes. How many hotels do you have in your community? I would say probably at least around, at least 10 larger ones probably or somewhere around there. Okay. The difference is Canaveral, obviously they're able to bring their tax rate down because they had room to grow and add to their tax base. We do not have that. We are built out. But the hotels pay commercial property tax, right? They pay property tax, of course. And they also, you receive the bed tax? No. You receive a percentage of the bed tax? We're only 1.8% of the county. So the TDC takes it. We generate the highest revenue of bed tax, us and Canaveral, and we do not receive a proportionate amount. How about sales tax? From tourism. Yeah. I mean, in the area there's that too. But like I said, a proportionate amount we don't receive when it comes to the money. What I would suggest that you do, this is not a forum for us to get into debates about your revenue and where your revenue comes from. What I would suggest is that you get with the members, and I would get with more than one member, and explain what your issues are. I would also get with Port Canaveral and ask them what some of their suggestions are instead of coming up here and blasting them on what the problems are that you're having. So with that, I will welcome. We've met several times. I'm welcome to meet with you. I know you guys have a lot of activity going on in Cape Canaveral. You celebrated your, what was it, your 100th anniversary of being in existence just recently? In Cocoa Beach, yes. Right, which was a great celebration that you guys had downtown, and you guys are doing a great job promoting yourselves. They are to bring people to your community, which you guys have done a great job on. So I would welcome it. Let's talk. Let's figure out where the issues are so that we can help make your community as successful as the other city communities are if you don't feel that that's happening. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Okay, now we're going to go into our business community organizations, and we're going to start with Susan Brose with the VFW Accelerie Post 4534. And you are recognized to speak. Thank you. Good afternoon. Distinguished guests, elected officials, fellow citizens, and most importantly, our veterans. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I stand before you not only as a proud member of the president to the veteran of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 4534, but as someone who has had the privilege of serving and spending time with the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States of America, many of whom have made Brevard County their home. And in my experience, I've found that veterans want one simple, powerful thing to matter. They want to know that their service meant something, that their sacrifices are not forgotten, that the country they served, whether by draft or by choice, honors them, not just in word, but in deed. Some joined to defend our freedoms. Others enlisted or commissioned for the opportunity to learn a trade or secure employment. Whatever their reason, each one made a commitment, a sacred promise to stand for this nation. And for that, we owe them far more than a thank you. We owe them action. Our veterans are young and old. Some recently have returned from overseas. Others have served decades in conflicts that are now part of our history. But regardless of where or when they served, they all deserve our support. We must ensure that they receive the benefits, care, and the resources that they have earned, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it sends a clear message to future generations. A message that says, if you serve our country, your country will stand with you. You will not be forgotten. You matter. In Brevard County alone, we are home to nearly 66,000 veterans. These men and women are our neighbors, our friends, our family, and your constituents. I urge each of you, especially in those positions of leadership, to be fierce, unwavering advocates for our veterans. Let us show our young people what it means to honor service. Let us show them that we revere those who defend our freedoms. And let us build a future where every veteran feels seen, supported, and valued always, because veterans matter. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Next, we have Rodney DeFlumary from the Disabled American Veteran. And Rodney cannot be here today, but his information is under tab 25, if you can look at what his needs are that he's already requested from the delegation. Next, we're going to have Stephanie Palacios with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Good afternoon. My name is Stephanie Palacios, and I am the Director of Advocacy and Government Relations at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Second Harvest has the pleasure of serving seven counties in Central Florida. We are the largest hunger relief organization in Central Florida, and we work with over 800 feeding partners to address the growing problem of food insecurity in our community. One in seven Central Floridians is food insecure. To help address this problem, last year we distributed over 82 million meals to Central Floridians. And this work is significant in Brevard County. With the help of our 89 partner agencies, we distributed over 8.9 million meals to Brevard County residents. I want to thank the Florida legislature for your support. In 2024, the Food Cost Mitigation Project was funded, allowing us to distribute an additional 3.5 million meals to Central Floridians. With the support of Senator Trunow and Representative Clasencia, we were able to secure additional funding for 2025, and we anticipate that we will distribute about 1 million more pounds of food. Our statewide network of food banks, Feeding Florida, has been working hand-in-hand with Senator Albritton and Commissioner Simpson to expand the Farmers Feeding Florida program. This is allowing us to source food from Florida agriculture to support working families throughout Central Florida. And not only are we supporting Florida agriculture, we are supporting by purchasing proteins and milk from Florida producers. Last year, Second Harvest Food Bank distributed 36 million pounds of produce, and 75% of that was Florida-grown. With the legislature's backing, this is allowing us to expand our network's investment into Florida producers, and it is allowing us to respond to the growing demand that we are seeing at food pantries throughout Central Florida. We would ask that you continue to support the Farmers Feeding Florida in the upcoming session. We will be asking for additional investments in that program. I want to thank you for your support and your leadership, and I look forward to speaking with you all during upcoming committee weeks and in session. Thank you all, and have a great day. Great. Thank you, Stephanie. Next, we will have Tom Cammerdinner with the Aging Matters in Brevard County. Tom, it's good to see you up here again. Great to see you. Good afternoon. This year, we celebrate 60 years of service to the seniors of Brevard County. Since joining the agency in 2012 and serving as CEO for the past three years, I've had to make some very difficult decisions. Funding for the Older Americans Act and private donations simply aren't keeping up with the pace of rising costs of food, transportation, and wages. For the first time in our history, we have had to place clients with the highest level of critical need on a Meals on Wheels wait list. Today, people like Heather from Indian Harbor Beach, John from Palm Bay, Kathleen from Indy Atlantic, June from Melbourne, George from Cape Canaveral, Janet from Titusville, Brenda from Miko, Nettie from Coco, Thomas from Malabar, Carlson from Rockledge, Joe from West Melbourne, Tom from Merritt Island, and Alan from Satellite Beach will not receive a safety check and a nutritious Meals on Wheels delivery from a Meals on Wheels driver tomorrow. And in front of you is a list of 310 Brevard seniors waiting for help, seniors who need nutritious food and dignity to age in place. Of these 310 individuals, over 75 are level four of fives, the highest of nutritional risk. They are homebound, many with serious medical conditions or disabilities, unable to cook for themselves and often forced to choose between buying medications and eating a meal. I want to thank two of our champions, Debbie Mayfield and Tom Wright, for their advocacy for our local service project last year. Although we didn't reach our goal, we're not stopping, and this work is simply too important. We stand at a critical tipping point. The silver tsunami, the rapid growth of our senior population is hitting Brevard harder than ever. While Federal Older Americans Act funds remain flat, our mission remains the same, to support our aging neighbors maintaining independence, health, safety, and quality of life. But we cannot do it alone. Numbers are clear. $2,000 per year, the cost of keeping one senior nourished and independent in their home, versus $350 per day, the cost of someone in a nursing home and an assisted living facility. Providing Meals on Wheels is not just compassionate, it's cost effective. With increased support, this weight list could grow to, without increased support, this weight list can grow to more than 500 by next summer. We have the kitchen capacity and the staff to prepare meals for everyone on the list and more. What we need is support from the state, the county, and from our towns and community. These are not just names on a page. These are our neighbors, they're our family, and together we can ensure no senior Brevard has to wonder where their next meal will come from. On October 30th, we celebrate our 2025 to 2025 Champions Breakfast, and if you'd like to attend, we'd love to have you. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Tom. Next, we'll have Bruce Bateman with the Vero East Golf Course. Thank you. Good to see you again, Bruce. Good to see you too, Senator, and thank you for inviting us today. I'm here to talk about our little community is boarded up borders I-95, and we weren't given a sound wall 20 years ago or whatever, and it's gotten to the point where the traffic is like 150% more than it was 10 years ago. So every truck that goes by, we hear in our backyard, and we have out of 719 families with 365 of them can't even go in their backyard. So what we're asking for, I'm asking for several things from you guys, is maybe you can help us get some temporary relief by having a burn built, something that will not cost a billion dollars, but it'll last us until 10 to 15 years when the highway gets, you know, expanded, and then the DOT may, they may consider putting in a wall, a sound wall at that time. So I represent a group called the Vero East Golf Course District focus group for sound abatement, and most of the guys on this committee are snowbirds, and they're not here, so I got the lucky job. So, but the truth is the quality of life for the people living on, you know, you wouldn't think that sound would be a problem on a golf course, but it just goes shooting, shooting patios. But, okay. Turn your mic off, it's back on now. If you haven't played golf at Vero East, please do, you won't be able to hear yourself talk. My goal for this, now we have all, we have been working with Senator Mayfield for a long time. The focus group has been going on for four years. We've hit every possible government agency, and we've got, we've even got the Florida Department of Transportation to come out and do sound studies. Well, we haven't seen those yet. So, hopefully, with your help, you can help us get that berm, or, in the future, if you see something that says Department of Transportation, and I know I've spoken to a lot of people about this, you should say, what about the sound? What are they doing about the sound for these people that live along here? So, that's my, that's my goal, and that's the reason I'm here today. And I appreciate your time. Great, thank you, Bruce. And just, just for an update, the, the, the berm has been approved, it's the money that is the situation, and we're working with DOT on that. Thank you so much. The second thing is on the, it has, you do qualify, from what I understand, for the sound, for the abatement wall. Perfect, I can't wait to take that back with me. Again, it's the money that they don't have in order to do it. And I know that, that Space Coast Transportation Organization, yeah, Mrs. Gillette is also working and trying to help solve that problem. Yeah, that was one of her suggestions, and we appreciated that, but we just haven't seen anything from it. Yeah, I know, and we, we got an update I'll send to you. And thank you for keeping Sam informed. Oh, yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks. Okay, next we're going to hear from Jim Kermer with the Space Coast Community Association. Yes. Nice to see you. Hi. I'm one of the directors of the Space Coast Community Associations, or SCCA, as we like to call it. Established in 1975, we just celebrated our 50th year in business. And it was created basically to support condominium, homeowners, timeshares, and cooperative associations. And basically, we do this through education. Our number one goal is by equipping board members and association leaders with the tools and knowledge needed to manage the communities effectively. We also do it through advocacy, by representing the interest of associations in the legislative and regulatory matters. And then, finally, through support by offering resources, networking opportunities, and guidance to help associations navigate legal, financial, and operational challenges. SCCA has grown to represent just over 200 associations, consisting of 20,000 residential units. So we have quite a bit across Brevard County, also a little bit into Volusia County, and also into India River County. And we continue to be a vital resource for community association leadership. On the legislative front, we are concerned about the inverse, the adverse impact that we've had from House Bill 913 is having on our communities, particularly on some of the smaller ones, mostly due to new meeting requirements with respect to video conferencing and archiving, which frequently goes against the previous guidance that these associations have received from their attorneys. So that is one other. And the other issue that we have is the growing extent that we've had from looking at particularly statutes 718 and 720. These things keep growing every year by many, many pages. And what we'd like to see, or at least what I'd like to see, is to use AI or some other tools to see if you can't compress those pages down to something much smaller. Because it's making it basically more cumbersome and less useful for the communities that they serve. And so both items are making it also more difficult than I mentioned, making it more difficult for associations to get volunteers needed to serve on their communities. So what I'm really asking the legislative body to do is for less and not more. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Next, we have Ronald Ecker with the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation. It's good to see you. Thank you. I'm not here asking for money this year. Maybe next year. Okay. Okay. We started reconstruction in 2018 by building a cottage and a restroom. Completed one year later in 2019, we opened our gift shop and museum December 2019. In 2023, Senator Mayfield submitted a request for $650,000 to the state. It was approved all the way up to the governor who vetoed that last minute. Luckily, we had enough time to put in a grant for this county. We put in a grant of $775,000 to the TCD. They approved it. The county commissioners approved it. Right now, and it was approved September 2000, I mean, yeah, September 2024. We have until March 2026 to break ground. Right now, we have raised over $200,000 through fundraising to supplement the grants. So we have about $900,000, over $900,000 to complete the project. The drawings have been updated to reflect the current code requirements. Stormwater permit renewal is in last phase. And we've awarded a contract to the contractor who did phase one to do phase two since he knows I'm working on Kennedy Space Center. We are ready to go. Hopefully by, we'll start construction the end of this month, I mean, end of October or the beginning of November. And it'll take a year. I invite all you legislators and your staff to come out and visit the lighthouse. I think you've been out before. Yes, sir. And Debbie's been out. The rest of you, I'd like to come out. Okay? Any questions? Thank you. No, and I encourage you, I know Senator Wright said he's been out there as well, but it is a, anyone in the audience that hasn't been out there, I would certainly call and make an appointment to go see because it is something remarkable in its history. Yes, ma'am. Right there. So it was, it's a beautiful piece of property and facility that you guys have created. Thank you for coming out and sharing it with us. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, next we will have Rick Mariana with the St. Patrick Shores Residence Association. That's South Patrick Residence Association. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We, the citizens of South Patrick Shores, we need your help. We have a golf cart traffic problem. More and more golf carts are everywhere. They're on our streets, they're on our roads, they're on our highways, and illegally competing for space on our narrow sidewalks and paths designed for pedestrian traffic. The obvious clue is in the name golf cart. Golf carts, originally intended solely for golf course or golf course communities, now drive everywhere. The recent fatal crash on Highway A1A in unincorporated Floridana between a golf cart and a pickup truck shows what we can get more of if we delay taking action. Golf cart accidents result in approximately 15,000 injuries annually in the U.S., while Florida has the highest golf cart fatality rate in the nation. The golf cart traffic ordinances of our neighboring beachside communities are not in sync with each other, and this creates confusion for citizens and frustrates law enforcement. Some municipalities comply with Florida traffic law. Others have neither a golf cart ordinance nor a golf cart traffic enforcement, and yet others register and encourage golf carts but do not comply or enforce state traffic law or county ordinance and do not make the infrastructure changes required by law, risking the life and limb of residents and visitors alike. The South Patrick Residents Association coordinated with District 4 County Commissioner to have no motor vehicle signs placed at key locations along sidewalks to keep golf carts off our sidewalks along State Road 513. We coordinated with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and obtained a focused traffic enforcement and information campaign during the summer months. We approached County Parks and Rec for no golf cart parking signs in our parks, and we wrote the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, NCUTCD, for guidance on signs. On behalf of the Citizens Brevard and South Patrick Shores, it is requested that the Brevard legislative delegation please, please, take the following five steps. Initiate a statewide and countywide education campaign on golf cart and LSV law and safety. Request guidance from NCUTCD since currently there are no golf cart signs of any kind in their manual. Coordinate with FDOT District 5 to install no motorized vehicle signs along the sidewalks adjacent to A1A and South Patrick Shores. Install no golf carts beyond this point signs on the border with Satellite Beach. Follow up with county parks and rec to install no golf cart parking signs in South Patrick Shores. The South Patrick Resident Association requests your affirmation of support in response to our continued efforts to protect our citizens. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions, members? Any questions? Thank you for coming. Next, we will hear from Alex Redkin with the Charter Communications Spectrum. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, honorable members of the Brevard County State Delegation and the terrific district legislative and administrative staff that keep them going. My name is Alex Redkin and I oversee local government affairs for Spectrum in Florida's East Region. As many of you know, Spectrum is a leading connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers across 41 states and here in Florida we're honored to serve 185 communities supported by our dedicated workforce of 10,000 employees who work and live here in the Sunshine State. First, I want to begin by thanking the legislative delegation for your commitment to expanding broadband access. state initiatives like the Broadband Opportunity Program and Infrastructure Program have empowered Spectrum to connect thousands of Floridians and small businesses to high-speed internet, TV, voice, and mobile services. And because of your strong support in Florida, we also reached 139,000 new homes and small businesses in 2024 alone, including 26,000 new locations in rural pockets of the state. Next, I also want to thank you for your focus on practical common-sense solutions. The passage of House Bill 703, Utility Relocation, sponsored by Representative Will Robinson and State Senator Stan McLean, is a prime example. By addressing the costly and unpredictable burden of forced utility relocations, the legislature has given our industry a greater financial certainty, improved planning timelines, and stronger collaboration with state and local partners. In closing, thank you for your leadership. Your work is helping to get more Floridians connected and stay connected to the opportunities of the modern economy. Thank you for your time. Great. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Next, we will hear from Jeff Abel with the Hubs SeaWorld Research Institution. Yes. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I want to start by thanking you, Madam Chairman, and all the delegates' presence for your support for the Indian River Lagoon and for our communities that depend on the health of the lagoon. As a director of a small environmental nonprofit in Brevard County, I have a unique perspective on the health of the Indian River Lagoon. We are responsible for, our team is responsible for marine mammal stranding response across 40% of Florida's East Coast, so that includes all of Brevard County, plus Flagler County and Volusia County. And from that work, we end up with a clear understanding of the successes of recent restoration efforts and also the challenges that we continue to face. Today, I have a really simple message. What I'm asking for is continued support for the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon. We have seen significant successes through your supports and through the efforts of many people in the community, many, many organizations to help improve the health of the lagoon, addressing so many of the root causes of these problems. We've improved our understanding of the lagoon. We've improved our management of the lagoon, and we need to continue to work on that effort. We have a long ways to go, and I just want to share one bit of information, something that we're seeing regularly currently when we're in the field. Our team works regularly with Indian River Lagoon dolphins. They are sentinel species for the lagoon. They are place-based. They do not move nearly as much as you'd imagine for a highly mobile animal, and so they represent, the health of those dolphins represent the health of the region of the lagoon in which they exist. In the northern and central portions of the lagoon, we are seeing rates of more than 90% rates of emaciation or undernourishment in dolphins to this day. This is research our team has been doing. We've connected this directly back to the changes in seagrass habitats and the loss, the changes in prey base associated with those changes in that habitat. And so what we are looking for is continued support for the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon, addressing the nutrients that have led to the harmful algal blooms and then the loss of seagrass habitats. In this particularly, we're having difficulty with recovering of that seagrass habitat in the central and northern portions of the lagoon, and we need to continue to invest in understanding those causes and then addressing them. And so, and with that, we're working closely with our partners at DEP and FWC and many local organizations to address these causes and these problems because it's a collaborative effort. We're all in it. We each bring our own particular expertise, and likewise, we're looking for continuous support from you all, and we really do appreciate the support you've provided. And thank you very much for your time. Great. Thank you. Okay. Next, we will hear from Paul Owens, Thousand Friends of Florida. Thank you, Chair Mayfield and delegation members for this opportunity and for your service. I'm Paul Owens, president of One Thousand Friends of Florida. We're a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates planning to protect our environment, quality of life, and the economy that depends on both of those. We have members across Florida, including in Brevard County. We have a list of legislative priorities for the 2026 session, which I've shared with your staff. Given the time limits, I'm just going to highlight our top priority, and that is to fix Senate Bill 180. I am hopeful to hear that adjustments are under consideration. We know that far too many Floridians have suffered the devastating impacts of recent hurricanes. And to be clear, the original purpose of SB 180, to help residents rebuild their lives and property after disasters, is a worthy goal. But SB 180 didn't stop there. Two provisions, Sections 18 and 28, go far beyond disaster recovery to limit local government's ability to plan responsibly for future storms, strengthen environmental protections, or adjust to population growth. These sections have imposed a three-year freeze on community planning and would extend that freeze after any future hurricane within 100 miles. They prohibit local updates to comprehensive plans or land development regulations that might be considered more restrictive or burdensome. This is undefined language already being used to rule out resilience measures, environmental protections, and adjustments to impact fees for inflation. In Brevard County, revisions to the comprehensive plan that would carry out the 2023 law that protected the Brevard barrier island from incompatible development is these provisions are now in limbo due to SB 180. The law has undermined planning authority for local governments and the citizens they represent. We don't believe that's what the legislature intended. On behalf of a thousand friends and her members across Florida, we urge you to repeal Sections 18 and 28 of SB 180. We're ready to work with you on fixing this law. Please restore Floridians' right to choose the future of their communities. Great. Thank you so much. Members, any questions? Great. Thank you. Okay, next we have Stacey Gallagher with the Sea Turtle Conservation. Or Conservancy. Conservancy. Hi there. I'm good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the delegation. My name is Stacey Gallagher. I'm the policy coordinator at the Sea Turtle Conservancy. We're a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting sea turtles and their habitats. And just as Paul mentioned, we came up here a few years ago, talked about improper development in Brevard County, and that ended up leading to designating the South Beaches as an area of critical state concern. So we first just want to thank this delegation for championing that legislation. And just like Florida's residents and visitors, our sea turtles need sandy beaches, clean waterways free of debris and pollution, and smart development to thrive. So during the 2026 legislative session, there are a few policies that you all will be considering that could potentially impact our sea turtles. I don't want to steal, you know, Paul's thunder talking about Senate Bill 180. We are all very happy to hear that there are some changes that will be in the works with that. We just want to reiterate sections 18 and 28 in particular are very harmful to planning across the state and even to sea turtle specific legislation at the local level, such as sea turtle lighting ordinances. And in 2020, the state actually updated its model guidance for local governments to try to improve their language. So local governments are now, you know, the state is telling them that this guidance exists, it's better, but now because of Senate Bill 180, they're kind of in limbo and conflicting. So it would be great if those sections could be repealed. And second, we also encourage the legislature to reject any efforts that result in preemption of plastic regulation across the state. Florida's beaches and waterways are too precious and too economically important to be polluted with even more single-use plastic and foam. And we know that these regulations work when they're in place. And then finally, because Florida is a hotspot for impacts from climate change and sea level rise, we are concerned about any efforts out there to prioritize gray infrastructure, such as seawalls, as a response to sea level rise. So we encourage the legislature to support natural solutions, such as beach renourishment, dune plantings, and living shorelines. So without our sandy beaches, we know that our sea turtles and our economy will be at risk. Excuse me. So this session, we urge you to prioritize the protection of our natural resources, our coastal economy, and our iconic wildlife. So thank you. Great. Thank you. Next, we have Dr. Laura Wilson with the Marine Resource Council. Hi. Thank you. I'm Dr. Laura Wilson. I'm Executive Director, Marine Resources Council. We're an environmental nonprofit dedicated to preserving and protecting the Indian River Lagoon. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with all of you to be able to talk about things that are important to our county and our state. And thank you, Senator Mayfield and others, for your longstanding support of healthy waters. Healthy waters in our lagoon start with the waters that fall on land and run through our community. Stormwater runoff is the greatest pollutant source into the Indian River Lagoon. Every rain event sends nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, into the lagoon, along with harmful chemicals and debris, degrading our water quality, harming fisheries and tourism, and fueling harmful algal blooms. Too much freshwater from runoff is also pollutant to the lagoon as it upsets the delicate balance of the brackish water within the estuary. But stormwater management isn't just about environmental, is not just an environmental issue. It's also about coastal resilience, integrity of our infrastructure, and even public health. Low impact development, or LID, uses natural and engineered systems like rain gardens, bio-swales, pervious pavements, rainwater harvesting systems, and living shorelines to slow down, filter, and absorb stormwater where it falls. For the lagoon, this means reduced nutrient pollution and helps restore seagrass, fisheries, and sustainable balance. For coastal resilience, LID reduces flooding, it stabilizes shorelines, and provides buffers against stronger storms, and increased sea levels. For community infrastructure, it takes pressure off of our overly-used stormwater pipes and wastewater treatment plants, and that saves taxpayer dollars in the long run. And for human health, it means cleaner air, safer water, less flooding in neighborhoods, and cooler urban spaces. It also means a recharged aquifer. So I'm asking for your leadership to accelerate the use of low-impact development across our county and state by supporting policies, incentives, and funding that makes it easier for local governments, developers, and residents to adopt these solutions. We've talked about Senate Bill 180, so I'm thrilled to hear that revisions are in place because that's something that prevents our municipalities from improving rather than just repairing our communities. The future of the Indian River Lagoon depends on the small choices that we make. Every LID project can lean to cleaner water, stronger communities, and healthier families. So I urge you to make low-impact development a priority in upcoming legislation. Thank you again for this opportunity to speak, and please feel free to reach out. I'll also say that MRC is getting ready to host its fifth low-impact development conference next month, and so I invite any of all of y'all to attend. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Dr. Wilson. Senator Bayfield, just a comment real quick. As I was listening to you, Dr. Wilson, I think it occurred to me that we're coming up on the—this year is the fifth anniversary of the Clean Waterways Act that Senator Mayfield did with Representative Payne. So you all are doing outstanding work. That's a great historic bill for the state of Florida. Keep it up. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, we have Mark Shantis with the Barrier Island Preservation and Protection Association. Good to see you, Mark. Good to see you, Demi. Well, hello, everybody, and again, another thank you for supporting the area of critical state concern. We are here to speak about 180 also, but not so much about the sections that were put in 18 and 28, but an error or an oversight for the BBIA, the Barrier Island Area of Critical State Concern. On that page that you have in front of you there, it's showing that the 380.05, which is the areas of critical state concern and throughout the entire state, are exempted in Section 18, but not in 28. So we see that as an oversight, an accident. It may take a long time to fix the entire bill, and we would like some kind of an express route to just fix that accident for the exemption because, effectively, Commerce is—it's not that it's in limbo. Well, it's a freeze. It's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater if somebody had intended to do that, which we don't think they did. But the fixing of that bill on a large-scale basis is a lot more difficult than just fixing a mistake that's an obvious mistake, which is an oversight. So we're frozen in time right now. We'd like to get on with the protections that the state has—that you have all done for us. The amount of resources that you have spent, the state has spent, and that all of the residents, the 7,000 residents of the area have spent, are now, you know, they're not being used. People are coming to me and saying, what do we do? I go, I don't know what we do. So we're coming to you again to ask you if you would please, at the very least, on an immediate basis, give us an amendment that fixes that 28, and then work on the bigger picture, obviously, of— you know, when I was growing up in my whole life, I always had this feeling, this saying that I would tell people, and that is, fix the right problem, okay? Someone went in there to fix a problem, but it wasn't the right problem. And now we're all going to be suffering from it, including yourselves. The amount of resources you're spending on this is amazing. So that's all I have to say. Thank you again. You're doing great. Area Critical State Concerns are doing great. Everybody loves it. And keep it up. Thank you. And just, you know, we only have, like, I think we only have six or seven areas in the whole state that are designated as areas of critical state concern. And they're now all in Friesland. Right, exactly. And I know we, you know, 23, June of 23 is when we passed it, and, you know, the County Comprehensive Land Use Plan wasn't submitted until, like, November 24. So there's a lot of time frame in there. But we, if nothing else, this, to me, seems like a really simple fix. Right. I mean, if we can't get the whole bill in a posture that can be passed next session, at least we can get this section of it. Because there was, I had spoken to the sponsor, and this was, this really was an unintended consequences. Because the whole idea was to make it more restrictive. And what we just did in the 180 is they said, you can't make them more restrictive. Well, then, what was the purpose of the bill we passed? Okay. May I make a suggestion? Yes. So this is against our own benefits, okay? Because the more grief you get from this, the better, faster you'll do it. Right. But can you stop Commerce from returning everybody's comp plan at this point? Tell them to put it in limbo? Tell them not to be sending back your rejected letters. They have to. They have to. And we talked about that. And they have 60 days to respond. So, like in this incident, it was submitted in, I believe it was in November of 24, and they rejected it in January of 25. Can they do this statewide? Can they just say, oh, we, the response we have is it's in limbo and we're advancing you in another 60 days? And I'll talk to them about that. I'll talk to the Commerce about that. Because what happens is, once they do that, everyone goes into action to respond for that. And so you've got thousands of people throughout the state that are now moving around based on a rejection of things that probably will get reinstated. Right. But in the meantime, everybody's... Just franicking. I get it. I get it. We'll talk to Commerce and ask them if there's a way that we can rephrase the letter. So we're backing off everybody attacking Commerce and y'all with the... That would be nice. ...with the trust. With the trust that, you know... Thanks, Mark. You know, if I send out another letter, it's going to come again. I'm sorry. I know. I know. Thank y'all. Appreciate it. Thanks, Mark. Next, we're going to hear from Craig Wallace, the Bavard Indian River Lagoon Coalition. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for all the work Senator and the whole delegation has done for the Indian River Lagoon. You've heard a lot about the Indian River Lagoon today. Our organization is a rather small organization, but we're a bunch of passionate citizens that really, really want to make this lagoon right again. And so we are, you know, coming, always asking for more funding, but it's in a... We try to focus these things on things that we think will be the most effective. So, you know, the Indian River Lagoon is, you know, we know it's like worth over $6 billion, the local economy. And when we invest a dollar in the Indian River Lagoon, the return on that is like 33 to 1. So it's a great investment. I wish I had that in my... So what I'm going to ask for today is just a small subset of all the things we've tried to do. In 2023, there was a... HB 1739 was passed, which basically required all the septic tanks to be converted, either removed from the system or converted over to advanced septic before 2030. So what we're asking for is to continue the funding to help the county in that project. They've done a tremendous job. Virginia Barker and her team has done a great job. And they've got, you know, over 1,000 septic tanks replaced already. But there's a lot more to go. We have over 60,000 septic tanks just in Brevard County alone, which is kind of crazy when you think about it. But it's happened over 50, 60 years. So what the, you know, the governor has, you know, graciously and you folks have, you know, helped us with this $100,000, $100 million a year commitment to try to help the lagoon. We do anything we can do to help continue that on. But when you have an opportunity to focus on things like septic tank removal, sewage plants and things like that, we'd request your special attention. Those efforts, those are very impactful in the lagoon. So thank you very much for all the efforts you make. And if you have any questions that we can help you with, we'd be glad to meet with you. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Next, we have Elizabeth Blackford with the Florida Native Plant Society. Good afternoon, delegation members. I'm Elizabeth Blackford, a Palm Bay resident, representative of the Conradina chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. Conradina offers monthly educational meetings and an annual native plant yard tour, as well as volunteering for projects in public spaces. Our newsletter has a readership of over 1,000 countywide, and we collaborate with other county environmental organizations. I'll start by reminding you that tomorrow marks the beginning of Florida's native plant month. I have three areas of concern and no money ask. First, please persuade the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS, to add all Florida native plants to its official Florida-friendly landscaping plant list. Right now, ornamentals, non-natives like crepe myrtle, are listed and protected, while Florida natives are left off. True natives are so important because they support pollinators and wildlife and require little to no fertilizer, maintenance, or supplemental watering once established. In contrast, lawns and non-native plants are mostly ornamental and require chemicals that not only pollute runoff into the lagoon, but are carried into the atmosphere and rain down on us indiscriminately, leaching into groundwater, onto food sources, and our bodies. Many homeowner communities still discourage or disallow the use of native plants on the Florida-friendly plant list. An update would provide a legal shield for native plants under existing state law, and the wildlife they support would be protected. Second, please support legislation and projects that use low-impact development principles throughout the state to protect our wildlife, water, and habitat. Particularly with regard to water, lid practices help to recharge aquifers, ensuring a clean and sustainable water supply for the future. And finally, I'm adding Conradina's voice to the outcry by local groups and individuals calling for at least the repeal of Sections 18 and 28 of Senate Bill 180 in order to restore home rule and local planning. Please represent us at the state level by supporting us with native plants, low-impact development, and home rule. Thank you for your service. You're welcome. Any questions, members? Okay, thank you for coming. Next, we have Janice Kershaw with the Brevard Schools Federation. Good afternoon. Esteemed members of the Brevard County Legislative Delegation, thank you so much for your longtime support. I'm Janice Kershaw, and with me is Nina Moser from Brevard Schools Foundation, a proud partner of Brevard Public Schools. For over 35 years, our foundation has worked closely with the district to enhance educational opportunities for our students and educators through innovative programs like the Supply Zone for Teachers, Bright Ideas Classroom Grants, and Discover Brevard study trips, including our transformative Destination Space Initiative. We spark curiosity, inspire innovation, and build a pipeline for Brevard's future workforce, particularly in STEM fields. I have some handouts where you'll find district impact summaries detailing the specific impact of these programs in your constituencies. And now I'm going to hand it over to Nina. The cornerstone of our success is the powerful public-private partnership enabled by the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program. Last year, from the state's $7 million allocation, our foundation received approximately $170,000, which we matched dollar for dollar with private sector contributions. This leveraging of state funds with private investment doubled our impact, directly funding classroom innovations and hands-on learning experiences that prepare students for high-demand careers. This partnership model ensures that every dollar invested yields exponential benefits for our community. Across Florida, through the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, this matching grant program empowers nearly every countywide school district to address local priorities with flexible, focused, and accountable initiatives. Each project is designed with measurable outcomes, tailored to meet the unique needs of its community, whether it's advancing literacy, STEM education, or workforce readiness. We respectfully urge you to prioritize level funding of $7 million for the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program in next year's pre-K through 12 education budget. Your continued support will fuel innovative learning, empower our teachers, and unlock the boundless potential of our students. The full request is included in your packet. We invite you to reach out with any questions or to join us for a firsthand look at the transformative impact of these funds in our classrooms. There's an invitation to destination space in your packet, and we would love to see you there. Thank you for your commitment to Brevard students and our shared future. Great. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Anthony Colucci with the Brevard Federated Teachers. Anthony, I'm so glad to see you. You too. Thank you. It's been a long time. My name is Anthony Colucci. I'm the president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers. I'm here today to speak on behalf of thousands of educators who serve Brevard County students every day. I want to begin by recognizing that you guys have a tough job, balancing competing priorities that impact millions of Floridians. But as you make those decisions, I ask that you keep in mind the central role of public education in shaping Florida's future. Florida continues to face a persistent teacher and staff shortage. Our state now ranks 50th in the nation for average teacher pay. Many of my colleagues are forced to work multiple jobs just to keep food on the table. At the same time, enrollment in college preparation programs continues to decline, creating a pipeline problem that threatens the future of our profession. On top of that, year after year, the statutes governing public schools grow longer and more complex, adding burdens to teachers and students alike. These challenges are not abstract. They are real, they are urgent, and they impact the children we all serve. As you prepare for the upcoming session, we urge you to consider the following recommendations. Expand financial investments in our public schools. By investing $1,000 more per student each year into the Florida Education Finance Program, we can give students access to world-class education while moving Florida's teacher pay from the bottom to the top 10 in the nation. Assign every student a universal state ID number. Whether a child attends public, charter, private, or is homeschooled, this ensures accurate enrollment counts and that state funds truly follow the student. Last year, nearly 22,000 students were double counted. Prioritize teacher retention. That means giving districts authority to offer contracts to proven, experienced teachers, restoring local control over salary schedules and addressing compression so that years of service and dedication are fairly recognized. Reduce unnecessary regulation. Public schools are drowning in red tape while other school sectors operate with fewer restrictions. Leveling the playing field will let educators do their best. I also want to make one point clear. Teacher unions are not the enemy. We deserve the same rights and respect you extend to firefighter and police unions. Like them, we are dedicated public servants committed to protecting our community. Only our work is in classrooms rather than fire stations or patrol cars. Finally, I'll note, Senator Mayfield was once a strong proponent of returning to an elected Commissioner of Education. I believe that idea is needed now more than ever. Florida must ensure decisions are made in the best interest of students. Thank you. Thank you, Anthony. Next, we will hear from Laura Gabboni. Gabbiani. Gambino. Gambino. My favorite wine, Gambino. How can I forget that? I'm sorry. I'm following Colucci. Thank you. Yeah, Colucci. I've known Colucci for a long time. Thank you. And delegation, I appreciate being here. I first have to recognize and thank Representative Tremont for last year's passing of House Bill 1255 that ensured our families were getting the additional eligibility allowances that they have and also for recognizing Duncan serving on your behalf last month. You were right. He was fantastic at our briefing. Thank you and congratulations. I'm here for the Early Learning Coalition of Brevard County ELCs and I want to recognize James Box who's also one of our board members and a provider with six centers in Brevard County. Early Learning Coalition Brevard's mission is to ensure every Brevard child will start school prepared to succeed. Thank you. The strength of any community is the value of education offered to all. Florida is consistently ranked as a national leader in education and strengthening Florida's early learning system ensures this extends to the earliest and foundational years of education. The School Readiness Program, which many of you might have heard about already from last year's session, is the link that strengthens our economy by keeping families in the workforce and providing access to quality early learning opportunities for their children. This is not just an education issue. It is an economic strategy that keeps Florida competitive. Two challenges that we ask you consider going into next session. One is the lack of a compression factor, which is the variability of population and the full-time equivalence that is used to judge our funding every year. Every year we go through a funding element. We ask that you pay attention to that and learn from that going into next session. Also, the population growth and the shifting between counties does impact us. Should there be a shift downward, we would not have that ability to enroll families and enroll children. A couple of solutions that we ask you to consider next session is to include this compression factor in the school readiness methodology, if it's brought before you through appropriations or your committee involvement, and the flexibility of shifting the funds and support, including last legislative session, we had to take steps to roll over unspent funds in order to make all of the counties, including Brevard County, equal in their funding. Through that effort, we were able to maintain and provide to over 4,000 children in the school readiness program. So we are serving families and we are serving the children so that their parents can go to work. In closing for that, I will say we'd ask that you look at four solutions going into next session, aligning all our priorities with state priorities and support Florida's workplace participation, kindergarten readiness, and long-term economic competitiveness, and that clock's going fast, predictability, local communities can play in with confidence, sustainability, general gradual adjustments that would prevent us from having disruption for children in their services, and efficiency. Ensure every dollar is fully and effectively utilized to support children, families, and Florida's economy. Thank you. Thank you. Now we're going to hear from James Botts, just for kids, which is one of the board members. Yes, ma'am. How are you doing today? I just want to thank you, Ms. Mayfield, for seeing me a couple weeks ago. I really appreciate it. Same with you, William. Thank you so much. She kind of covered everything for me. So I'll get out of y'all's way and y'all have a good night. Great. Thank you. That's the way to do it, James. Okay. Eric Austin with Launchpad Preschool. He's going to make me look bad. No, that's okay. Thank you all very much for the opportunity to be here, for putting this together. It's appreciated. I'm not asking for money, so that may be a shock to you. What I'm asking for is for a change to Florida Statute 790-115, specifically in regard to armed security in preschools. Right now, if you were to go to Eastern Florida State College, you would encounter armed security. If you would go to a private school, K-12, you would encounter private security. But in the state of Florida, you cannot do that in a preschool because of the way the Department of Children and Families interprets the statute. So the legislative session, this prior one, you all amended a statute that's the guardian statute where the guardian's in schools. But where that's problematic is it's thousands of dollars to send somebody to that school and it's not offered on a regular basis. So if you know anything about hiring people, they love to come and go. They'll take a dollar an hour somewhere else and you're having to hire someone and then try to train them. That training is not readily available throughout the state of Florida or even in Brevard County. It's ran one time per year in Brevard County. You can see that on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's website. It lists all the guardian training all throughout the state. So that is the change we're seeking. It specifically says in the statute that you can't have a gun on school property. School is defined as public or private preschool through university. So it's the whole gambit. But it does have an exception. It says except for authorized in support of school sanctioned activities. A legal opinion authored by Pam Bondi, our former attorney general, said that that includes armed security. But that is not how the department is viewing that statute. So that is the request we're making is either for a common sense change to that statute which I've provided or to get a legal opinion. That obviously may be a lot more expeditious. Wouldn't take as long as a legislative change. So I appreciate your time. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Next we have Robbie Vogan with the Family Partnership of Central Florida. Hey. And right after the board chair. So look at that. My name is Robbie Vogan and I have the pleasure of speaking to you all today on behalf of Family Partnerships of Central Florida and their CEO, Phil Scarpelli, who unfortunately couldn't make it today. As you know, Family Partnerships grew quite tremendously last year after taking on service of Orange Osceola and Seminole Counties being the state's child welfare lead agency for community-based care. And prior to that has served and continues to serve Brevard for many years. Today the organization has 430 employees. We work with 440 foster homes and the organization serves 10,000 clients in the child welfare system on an annual basis. A few things to celebrate in the past year alone. Family Partnerships celebrated 440 adoptions, 500 family reunifications, and 66 newly licensed foster homes across the four counties. Last year we came to this delegation meeting and many of your offices in Tallahassee to talk about the need for funding to support the transition costs associated with taking on, taking over that system of care in Central Florida. And we are so thankful that the legislature saw fit to include a $4 million appropriation to cover that cost in last year's General Appropriations Act. Since session adjourned, we've been working closely with the department on a new funding model, an actuarial model with the goal of having cost-based allocations for child welfare agencies across the state. And we look forward to keeping your offices informed as those discussions continue. and there should be a report on the legislature's desks coming this December from the department. We are also working on policy to aid in recruitment, retention, and the safety of case managers and other frontline employees and policy that furthers normalcy for the many children and families that we serve in different capacities. And with that, thank you for your time. Great. Thank you. Next, we have Amber Carroll with the Brevard Homeless Coalition. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me today. Again, my name is Amber Carroll. I'm the executive director for the Brevard Homeless Coalition. We are the Brevard County Continuum of Care. We're your lead agency for homeless services in Brevard County. We are one of 27 Continuum of Cares in the state of Florida. You'll often hear COC. That's an abbreviation for that. And we are responsible for coordinating federal, state, and local funding. We have a professional staff of seven. We bring together government, nonprofits, health care, law enforcement, faith-based partners to ensure homelessness in Brevard is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring. I'm here today to thank you for your support. In the past, you have stood up. You have made it a priority to fund the Continuum of Care in the state of Florida. And I want to say thank you for that. We are a local response system that can respond to your priorities at the state level. For example, when House Bill 1365 was passed into law, that's the anti-camping bill, we were able to mobilize locally to use the funding that you set aside to address that issue here. We got together with our city and county officials, some state, I'm sorry, the sheriff's office, to look at what would be a great response locally to ensure that that law was covered, that we made sure we responded to that. We are now enacting a mobile fleet of emergency shelter buses that will put 60 people off the streets at night to cover Brevard County. We can respond locally to your needs. We run the coordinated entry system. We assess the most vulnerable people in our population, ensuring they have access to the right services, duplication of services. We ensure that that doesn't happen. Also, it is an effective way of ensuring the funding is spent appropriately. We also operate the HMIS, which is our homeless management information system, which is a database that shares the information with state and federal systems. Since 2020, we have used over $16 million of funding supporting 20 agencies in our community. That's $11 million in state funding, over $5 million in federal funding and private funding as well. The resources that we've brought into Brevard County have made real progress. Over 170% more people moved into permanent housing, 33% fewer people returned to housing, homelessness, 61% more successful access to housing, and 18% shorter average times in homelessness. In 2025, there was a 5% decrease in our unsheltered homelessness count. We are seeing progress. We are doing the work. We thank you for supporting us. Our ask here today is that you continue supporting the homeless systems of care, the COCs, in our state of Florida, and the staffing grant and the challenge grants that are used to ensure that work. We can continue. Thank you so much for your time. Yes. Representative Tremont. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for all that you do. I had the privilege of serving on homeless shelter first step in Volusia County. And I'm curious as to, you just alluded to it, I think you just gave a percentage. Can you tell me the number of folks that you put into permanent housing, say, in the past five years? Oh, gosh. The number... Or you can get it to me later. That's fine. I would be happy to get that to you later. We have... Well, I can just tell you that from 2020 until now, we had a 170% increase. I think it went from like 385 in 2020 to like 800. So I can get you that information. All right. Thank you. I'm sorry. I don't have that right now. No, no. That's okay. The point of asking that is because that's obviously the ultimate destination. Absolutely. We want people in permanent housing. I see a lot of programs out there and a lot of push for people to get these come-as-you-are shelters so you can stay for a night and whatnot. And I just think that's the wrong approach. I think, you know, I believe come-as-you-are but you don't stay-as-you-are. There should be a program that enables people to become productive members of society. Again, I firmly believe in offering a hand-up versus a hand-out. So I'm glad to see that that's a major push to get them in permanent housing. We do believe we're going to house people out of homelessness. We're not going to shelter them out of it. And so pouring our resources into permanent housing which is actually in trouble at the federal level with the COC funding at risk right now. And so really having you support us in that effort on permanent housing to helping people with getting housed and staying housed is going to be critical this year. Thank you, Chair. Okay, great. Thank you. Next we have Leanne Cicino with the Florida Coalition to End Homelessness. Hey, everybody. You're lucky to have me. Local Brevard County state representative of the 27 Continuums of Care. First, I want to thank you. Thank you for supporting us in the past and thank you for supporting us with this ask. Again, Backbone Agency doing the work on the ground. They are required annually to provide an annual plan to end homelessness. That is due to the state every year and it directs the funding from the state. So annual plan comes together. The Continuums of Care have to work to address whatever the issues are in the community. They come up and problem solve. They're really great problem solvers. So, my ask is this. We can't do the plan if we don't have the full picture. So we're asking for all the other systems of care to be required to participate in that annual plan. That would reduce discharge to homelessness from institutions, jails, etc., hospitals. and it would also help with local data sharing. Sharing happens at the local level when you're able to provide resources. Local level, provide resources, that's data sharing. That's happening at the local level. So we're asking for your support in that. Very easy. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you, Leanne. Thank you again. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we're going to have Bill McInish with the Bevard Christian Early Intervention Center. It's good to see you. Well, I'm going to be doing something a little bit different than everybody else has done. I'm going to tell a story. Okay? I'm a pastor of a small church in Cocoa, Florida, Frontenac Baptist Church. And I do other things, as most of you know. But right now, I'm here to speak for this little center. Several years ago, in 2018, Melanie Autry came up to me and said, Pastor Bill, there's a school in Titusville that serves Down syndrome and autistic kids, and they're closing the doors. And we're trying to find a place for these kids to go. And I looked at her and I said, how can I help you? She said, well, you have this educational building in the back of your church here that's not being used. Could we use that? And I said, well, absolutely, but it's in really bad condition. It hasn't been used for over 10 years. And they said, well, if we get the families together and work on it and make it work, would you let us do it? Sure. So we've supported them. Now, we're a small church. We're like 30 people. So we're a small church. So we can't put out a lot of money to help them. We helped them in every way, giving them a facility to work on. They have brought that back up to state standards. They have now a fully functioning school for these kids. And now they're a victim of their own success. They started out with 12 kids back in 2018. They're at 52 now. And the building is maxed out. They have five kids on the wait list. We're not taking any more kids on the wait list because somebody's got to leave before somebody can come in. So I have an ask is not asking the legislature for anything, but if you know somebody that would be willing to help these Down syndrome and autistic kids in the means of helping us build a facility just for them to have additional classrooms, maybe a good eating area, and also a place for them to do therapy in, it would be appreciated. So I'm asking you to use your influence of people you know to help these kids. And the name of the place, once again, is Brevard Christian Early Intervention Center. It's on Highway 1. We have beautiful property right on the Indian River, so the kids have a beautiful place to be. It's just we need more facility now, and it's not something because it is a private school, I can come to the legislature and ask for money, so I need some help if you know somebody. So thank you, Senator Mayfield, just for giving me the time to come up here. And what a wonderful thing. This lady mortgaged her house to start this school, and the families put it together. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Pastor McInnishan. And your service is a true service of love for the people and God's people. And so you have done a tremendous job putting together what you did and offering your building to these families. So you guys are doing an awesome job. Thank you. Okay, next we have Anita Killen with the Justice Transitions. Yes, thank you. My name is Anita Killen, and I am from Orange County, but I have been for the last 15 years working throughout the state of Florida with families of youthful offenders, young adults, that have been placed on the sex offense registry. I entitled my speech Youth at Risk because of the growing number of young adults, juveniles, and young adults that are being placed on the sex offense registry. My ask today, I want to get this straight. Okay, my ask today is that you consider a rational pathway for removal from the sex offense registry for juveniles, youthful offenders, and young adults. Let's just take youthful offenders as an example. This is a legal status within the criminal justice system granted by the judge, and in Florida, a youthful offender is under the age of 21 with no previous criminal behavior. This designation indicates that the judge recognized the unique needs and vulnerabilities of the young offender. The designation aims to balance accountability with rehabilitation while also protecting their future opportunities. A judge granted this to them in a court of law, but the Florida Sex Offense Registry takes that away. In Florida, the maximum sentence for a youthful offender is six years probation, but if the young person is placed on the sex offense registry, they have to wait 25 years after they complete their probation to even petition a court to be removed from the registry. So imagine that. You have a 19-year-old who is charged as a youthful offender who gets six years probation, finishes at the age of 25, and has to wait until he or she is 50 years old before she can petition the court to be removed from the registry. And what happens in those 25 years? They are bound by more than 60 restrictions that limit where they can live, where they can work, where they can attend school, where they can travel, and it only takes one missed step, one missed registration appointment, or forgetting to register a roommate's vehicle, or staying one day extra at a temporary address on a vacation. These are third-degree felonies for an individual on the registry. And leads, of course, to arrest and possible incarceration much longer than the six years probation that was originally assigned by a judge. A judge gave them the opportunity at the age of 19 to address the underlying causes of their delinquent behavior, but a lifetime on the registry denies them of the opportunities. I ask that you let these first-time, low-risk offenders have the opportunity for their future. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Next, we will have Amanda Walker with the Alzheimer's Association. Amanda, I heard you guys had an awesome walk on Saturday, and you got money. We did. We had over 800 Brevard residents out there with us on Saturday. It's our largest walk to date. It was quite phenomenal. And thank you to those who were able to join us, and we missed those of you who couldn't make it. It was a very heavy check. We missed having you there. Distinguished members of the Brevard County Legislative Delegation, I appreciate the opportunity to address you today. As we've already said, I'm Amanda Walker. I am one of the many faces of Alzheimer's. Florida is at the epicenter of this health crisis with the second highest number of individuals living with Alzheimer's in the country. Over 580,000 Floridians are living with Alzheimer's disease, including an estimated 17,800 here in Brevard County. That equates to 11.8% of our 65 and over population. Due to your commitment, Florida has proven to be a leader in dementia care and support with our ever-aging population. It is critical that we can continue this momentum. Raising awareness about what to look for and when to seek medical advice is essential. We are advocating for $1.5 million to fund a comprehensive statewide public health awareness campaign that leverages multiple media platforms. It's time to break the stigma surrounding this disease. We now have FDA-approved blood test aid and diagnosis and treatments that can slow the progression of Alzheimer's by reducing amyloid plaque in the brain. Yet, Florida remains one of the few states that has not invested in a public awareness campaign. The time to act is now. Second, we must do more for our Florida caregivers. We have over 870,000 dementia caregivers and over 66% of these individuals are managing their chronic conditions. Dementia care navigation and respite services are critical programs that help caregivers get desperately needed support throughout the journey. These services also work to allow the individual living with Alzheimer's or dementia to stay at home within their community. We are asking the Florida legislature to codify the Florida Alzheimer's Center of Excellence, the FACE program. We are also seeking an increase in funding for the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative, ADI, to provide caregivers with respite services. Currently, there are over 17,000 individuals on the wait list for respite services through ADI. Additional funding to eliminate the wait list is vital. Finally, we ask the legislature to continue to support the Alzheimer's Brain Bus. This mobile outreach program travels the state providing information on brain health, warning signs, and caregiver resources. Through support and funding from the legislature, the Brain Bus has been able to travel to all 67 counties every single year. On behalf of the Alzheimer's Association and the over half a million Floridians living with this disease, I thank you for the opportunity and for your continued support. Thank you so much. Thank you, Amanda, for being here. We'll see you next year, Senator Mayfield. Okay. Your promise. We'll be there again. Next up, we have John Petonsky with the Bavard Girac. Yes, I'm actually here representing the Bavard County Commission on Aging. And even though I played Santa Claus, the lead role in the first grade play, I still get nervous when I do this public speaking, so you'll excuse me. Well, I'm privileged again to serve as chairman of the Bavard County Commission on Aging. I've practiced geriatric medicine in Bavard County now for over 42 years. And I would like to thank Senator Mayfield and the rest of the Bavard legislative delegation for allowing me to speak on behalf of Bavard County's senior citizens. In addition, I'm also president of the Bavard County Medical Directors Association, the Bavard District 16 of the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, and the founder of the Florida Medical Directors Association. So if there's any other senior health care issues that you may want input on, please feel out to reach to me in addition to what I'm talking about today. And I'm really happy and privileged to live in Bavard County. And some of you may know that Senator Mayfield's son-in-law, R.J. Scaringe, is the owner of Rivian Automobile Company. But what you may not know is that he went to school with my daughter from pre-K-4 all the way through high school. And they're still friends to this day. And I was also president at our church when Senator Mayfield was confirmed into our church several years ago. And I know that she is a caring and compassionate person as well as the rest of you. So that's why I'm here today to address some present senior care issues that are important to actually life-saving issues for our seniors. Like President George H.W. Bush once said, I am a conservative, but I'm a compassionate conservative. And I'm here today to ask the Bavard delegation to consider our seniors when deliberating issues at the state level. Currently, Bavard seniors make up 25% of the population, far more than people under the age of 18. Yet the young people receive a much greater percentage of our tax dollars than the seniors. Furthermore, our seniors have paid into the system since they've become adults and continue to do so, but unfortunately often find themselves at the short end of the stick. When it comes to receiving necessary funding for basic needs such as housing, food, and medication, which you've heard previously from some other speakers. At BCOA, our first priority is to ask for increased state funding for a wide range of home and community-based services through Medicaid, oh wow, I'm running out of time, Medicaid programs as well as programs that offer long-term services and support. This will actually save Medicaid money in the long run. They won't be paying for nursing home beds. Also, we are advocating for affordable housing for the elderly, some of which live on monthly Social Security as low as $1,000 or less, and that's to pay for housing, food, and medication. So, I'm out of time, but if you have any further questions, you can reach me through the Bavard Commission on Aging through Bavard County Housing and Human Services. I rehearsed this and I don't took three minutes, but that must have been, I must have been speaking fast. Thank you all again and God bless you for your work and please reach out to me on any senior health care issues. We will. And make sure you get our office all the suggestions that we can do to help you. All right, thank you. Thank you. Okay, next we will have Johnette Gindling with the Space Coast Health Foundation. Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen you. Like what, maybe three, four months ago? Yes, exactly. Good afternoon. I'm impressed with your stamina and attention through all of these. Thank you for that. I'm Johnette Gindling. I'm the president and CEO of Space Coast Health Foundation. And thank you, legislators, for your continued commitment to health and well-being. And thank you for the state appropriation to help the foundation provide preventive mental health. We appreciate your support. But today, I want to speak to you on behalf of a community in transition, where the closure of Brockliss Hospital marked a significant shift in our health care landscape. As Representative Soroy stated in a Florida Today article, closing a hospital is no small matter and the impacts of the county to the county are real. The closure of the 298-bed hospital, once a cornerstone of care for Central Brevard, has left a void that impacts thousands of residents across Rockledge, Cocoa, and Merritt Island. But in the face of this challenge, our community responded with resiliency and collaboration, and I am proud of their work. Our local health care providers, including Health First, Brevard EMS, Brevard Health Alliance, Coastal Health Systems, Space Coast Health Centers, Parrish, Orlando Health, MedFast, and others, joined the Space Coast Health Foundation to form a task force to address the immediate health care needs of our residents. I want to thank these partners and also Representative Soroy and Senator Mayfield for their active involvement in this task force. We also appreciated the participation of Congressman Herodopoulos' office. Initially, the task force identified and prioritized solutions, and the result was critical for our community. An immediate infusion of $6 million, including $3 million from Orlando Health, over $2 million from the foundation, and over $800,000 from Health First went directly to putting immediate solutions into place. These included things such as expanded emergency services in place to support health care access, especially in the central region of Brevard, so that residents could continue to have health care close to home. This crisis may have stabilized, but the task force continues to work. I tried to tell them it was time, but they said no. So we continue to work and reimagine how health care is delivered. While future hospitals and freestanding ERs will help lessen the weight for access to care, the foundation and our partners continue to explore ways for coordinating efforts, funding innovative programs, and guiding strategic investments based on the community health needs assessment. One of the most promising developments is a tiered EMS response system being led by Brevard County Fire Rescue. This model prioritizes emergency resources for critical cases while redirecting non-emergent calls to enhance efficiency. We will be coming to you soon with more information about that. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Just a quick comment from Senator Baker, if I may. I really want to thank you and your team at the Space Coast Health Foundation. You all were the tip of the spear on this. It was a crisis and you all met the moment. So thank you very much. Thank you. Next we will have Gabrielle Berjaskot Stock. Barger Stock. And you are with Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard. Yes. Yes, thank you all so much for the opportunity to speak today. As you all know, the Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard County works to reduce infant mortality, ensure women have healthy pregnancies, that babies are born healthy and on track developmentally, and ultimately support our vulnerable families here in Brevard County to get the needed supports and resources. I'm here today with just two simple things. I won't be long. We want to thank you for the increase to core funding for Healthy Start services last year. Each of your offices has always been incredibly open and responsive to listening to Healthy Start's concerns and supporting pregnant women, babies, and young families. That goes for all of you on the dais as well as your staff. I can't say how much we appreciate your willingness to listen. We will have positions on substantive bills, so I will be scheduling appointments with all of you as follow-up to this, but we do not have an ask today for a Healthy Start. I am, however, also here on behalf of the Healthy Families Program. The Healthy Start Coalition serves as the lead agency for healthy families here in Brevard County. Healthy Families Florida has a funding request to increase line item 308 of the 26-27 budget by $5 million. You all do have a fact sheet in your materials that explains that request, and we are supporting Healthy Families Florida request for that increase in funding. That is all I have, and since someone has a question, thank you. Great. Thank you, Gabrielle. Next, we have Dan Nye with Essential Florida Care Health System. Is Dan here? Okay. Next, we'll see if he comes back. Helene Ray with the Florida End-of-Life Options. And then after Helene, we have Lauren Corniciaco with the Florida Medical Rights Association is on deck. You guys can get ready. Thank you. Good afternoon, delegation members. My name is Helene Ray. Imagine sitting at your mother's bedside for days while she cries out in pain, begging you or the hospice nurses to end her suffering. Imagine your father, riddled with cancer, feeling he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands with a firearm. Are these the last memories you want of your loved ones? These are not fictitional scenarios. They have happened right here in Florida. They are the true stories of people we have met, Floridians who support our organization because they know the pain of having no other option. But there is a solution, one built on compassion and freedom. For over 28 years in 11 states across the country and Washington, D.C., it has worked exactly as intended. A solution that is 100% patient-initiated, 100% patient-driven, and 100% voluntary for health care workers and facilities. That solution is medical aid in dying. It is simple. If you do not believe in medical aid in dying, you do not have to use it. But would you deny another person this freedom? Someone already in the dying process? Medical aid in dying is a procedure where a mentally capable adult who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness with less than six months to live can choose to ask their doctor for a prescription of medication that the patient will self-administer to end their suffering and die peacefully in their sleep. The proposed legislation titled Medical Freedom for Floridians with a Terminal Illness has safeguards to protect the patient, physician, health care workers, and facilities. There are waiting periods and counseling about all end-of-life options. Two physicians provide the diagnosis. A mental health expert will ensure mental capacity. Two witnesses ensure the patient is not being coerced into signing the request. It is voluntary to participate, and as long as all those involved follow the law's content, they are protected from lawsuits. In the past 28 years, when it was first legal in Oregon, there have been no documented cases of abuse or coercion. Florida's proposed legislation was based upon all the other states' laws, which all have the same strict eligibility requirements and safeguards. The 2020 Gallup poll showed that 74% of Americans want medical aid and dying to be an additional end-of-life option. A July 2025 University of North Florida poll of action active registered Republican voters showed 65% supported this legislation and 66% said it was important to know where their legislators stood. In a couple of weeks, the University of North Florida is taking another poll, but this time of all Florida voters who plan to vote in the 2026 election. This question will be asked again, and I will send the results to you. I ask that you read the overview of the bill, which is in your packet. We are currently in talks with legislators to get sponsors for this session. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Lauren. Lauren, there she is. Next, we have Maya Hahn with the Children's Health Defense Fund, or Florida, if you will get ready, and Karen McCullough with the Florida Freedom Keepers, if you'll be ready. Hello. My name is Lauren Kornienko, and I'm the Executive Director of the Florida Medical Rights Association. I want to thank all of you on the Brevard County delegation that are here today. Every one of you who served last session voted in favor of repealing the so-called Florida Free Kill Law. Our own representative, now Senator Mayfield, co-sponsored the House repeal bill after hearing my family's story. Thank you so much for that, ma'am. You're welcome. In all, 93% of legislators who voted, voted in favor of repealing this unjust law. For those who may not know, Florida's Free Kill Law says that if an unmarried patient dies from medical negligence and is at least 25 years old without children under 25, their family has no legal right to hold the provider accountable in court for their wrongful death. Florida is the only state in the country with this law. Like most people, I only heard about this law after my mother died due to documented medical negligence. Because she was in the Free Kill category, my family had no legal recourse. This law has blocked justice for countless seniors, members of the special needs community, unmarried military veterans, and even single young adults just starting their lives. The Free Kill Law doesn't just deny families their constitutional rights, it's a public safety issue. When negligence is covered up, unsafe providers face no legal consequences and there's no incentive to change. That makes health care less safe for everyone. Even worse, health care lobbyists admitted that repealing this law could allow as many as 1,500 additional malpractice wrongful death cases every year. If that's true, that is a public safety crisis. Yet despite the overwhelming bipartisan support to repeal this law, Governor DeSantis vetoed this bill at the urging of lobbyists seeking to protect industry profits. Now the good news is that Representative Tribulsi has refiled her repeal bill as House Bill 6003. This session, I urge all of our representatives here to co-sponsor her bill and I ask our senators here to file a Senate companion, please. Finally, I must caution that health care lobbyists will again try to hijack this repeal effort by pushing for caps or limits on non-economic damages for malpractice. What they never tell you is that Florida Supreme Court has already ruled these caps unconstitutional not once but twice. This session, families like mine are asking for something very simple, a clean repeal and the courage to override a governor's veto. Thank you very much. Thank you, Lauren, for being here and sharing your stories. Okay, we have Maya Hahn, Children's Health Defense Florida. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair and members of the delegation. My name is Maya Hahn and I serve as the Florida Chapter Lead for Children's Health Defense, the organization that Secretary Kennedy founded before he became HHS Secretary. I'm here to present the Sudden Deaths in Infants, Children and Young Adults Reporting Act. Florida's 24 medical examiner districts do important work investigating unexpected deaths but there are serious gaps in our system. Reporting practices vary widely across districts and vaccine history is rarely reviewed unless a vaccine is already suspected as the cause of death. A correlation is often overlooked and difficult to prove causation. Medical examiners themselves have told us that they only request medical history and report sudden unexpected death for infants under 12 months. For toddlers and children and adolescents, they are not even reporting sudden deaths, let alone temporal vaccination administration. To make matters worse, the Department of Health SIDS reporting forms do not even provide a place to document recent immunizations. That means critical information is being overlooked. We all know that correlation is not causation, but causation is often difficult to determine without comprehensive data. Collecting consistent information allows us to see patterns. Large data studies have shown temporal associations between sudden infant deaths and recent vaccinations, highlighting the importance of standardized reporting. Without this data, we cannot identify trends and families are left without answers. This bill provides a simple, common-sense solution. It requires medical examiners to, one, review and document any immunizations or emergency countermeasures given in 90 days prior to death in cases of sudden or unexpected deaths among infants, children, and young adults. Two, requiring medical examiners to report these cases to the sudden death in the youth registry, ensuring consistent statewide data collection. And three, to comply fully with privacy laws that make this information available for research and prevention. Other states contribute to the CDC and AH's sudden deaths in youth registry and are already using the data to guide preventative strategies and save lives. Florida families deserve the same transparency and accountability. By passing this bill, you will give our state the tools to better understand and prevent tragedies that claim the lives of infants, children, and young adults. No family should be left wondering what happened to their child, and this bill could help us find more answers. I urge you to support this measure. And so you know, since COVID in 2022, SIDS deaths here in Florida have gone down 39.4%, as well as vaccine hesitancy. So, or I should say vaccine hesitancy has gone up. So the less vaccines that these kids are getting, we've seen these data, but we don't have enough data for us to really know, and it's really important that we do. Thank you. Yeah, great. Thank you. Senator Wright, I understand you have a motion to make. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we extend today's meeting until we have completed, or to 7 p.m., please. Thank you. Members, any objection? Okay. Extend it till 7? He's reluctant. He's reluctant to say so. We did the math, and I think if we extend till 7, everyone that has signed up will have an opportunity to speak. So, Representative Tremont. Please. You good? A quiet second. Okay. Oh, a quiet second. Okay, thank you. Okay, next we will hear from Cameron McCullough with the Florida Freedom Keepers. Hello, and thank you all for your time. My name is Karen McCullough, and I started speaking years ago at these meetings because of medical freedom, but I also advocate for all parental rights and the pre-born. Besides representing Florida Freedom Keepers, I'm a Republican Precinct Committee woman. I'm involved with the national organization's Stand for Health Freedom, and I'm also part of a group of almost 2,000 parents here in Brevard County who are unified by their desire to have informed consent on vaccinations and retain the right to choose all medical procedures for their children. So, while I'm but one voice, I represent many. I personally know dozens of parents here in Brevard who have seen the real, not rare, damaging side effects of vaccines. And parents, really all people, should be informed about and have the absolute right to refuse biological injections containing formaldehyde, aluminum, gene modification, and aborted fetal tissue. We should also be informed about any foods containing mRNA technology as well as other genetic modifications. And, of course, we're thrilled to have RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary, but we know the pharmaceutical companies have had a financial hold on D.C. since the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. However, the Tenth Amendment ensures our freedoms can be protected at the state level, so I'm requesting you all to do that. I want to remind you that you're elected to represent the people in your districts and not special interests that will seek to own you. And since you're all Republicans, I also want to ask that you would honor the memory of Charlie Kirk. He stood for his faith in Jesus, which I know some of you share. He advocated for protection of human life from the time of conception, which we'd like you to do. And he spoke out for conservative values, which we believe that you all stand for. So I want to ask you to honor his memory, not with a road or a statue, but with your bravery and integrity. Stand up for truth and righteousness, even when it's inconvenient and uncomfortable. Do the right things in Tallahassee, excuse me, and work to see that other legislators and the Senate and House leadership do the same. We want champions for freedom in our capital, not like some politicians who are lackluster hirelings of big pharma, big ag, and other special interests. You all can accomplish great things to protect our future generations. Please rise to your potential. Do it for the future of our country and for our children and our grandchildren. Please stand with Governor DeSantis against big pharma and for parental rights and make this legislative session better and far more productive than the last one was. Somehow last session, despite Republican leadership and supermajority, Florida failed to pass important legislation to protect future generations. Please help make a difference in this session so that does not get repeated. This morning I was reading in First Timothy and I was praying for you all who are in authority to not trust in riches but in the living God so that we may all live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Also, Florida has 51 abortion clinics, more than all the other red states combined. Pre-born humans should be protected from conception and we want to thank you all for your work to safeguard medical freedom and parental rights as well. Thank you. Thank you. Next we'll have, next we are going to have Joseph Warner with the Brevard Autism Coalition. All right. Thank you everybody and I appreciate having a chance to speak with you this afternoon. My name is Joseph Warner. I'm the director of the Brevard Autism Coalition and the co-director of One Voice Florida Coalition, both non-profits. I'm also an occupational therapist by trade and the owner of Child and Family Consultants in Melbourne, Florida. What I'm here to talk about this afternoon is to try to increase the awareness about a crisis that's happening where there's a lack of mental health care coverage and funding, especially for individuals and families dealing with autism in Brevard County. I'd like to illustrate this point by telling you a story and the story relates to a mom by the name of Katie Stymus. Now Katie had a daughter with, a teenage daughter with autism and a mental health condition. In 2023, Avery, the daughter, her mental health condition was deteriorating to the point where Katie felt she had to try to find inpatient care to try to basically save her daughter. For over a year, Katie had, did everything she could to find inpatient care for Avery. But time after time, Avery was admitted to facilities and then discharged because the facilities would say that they didn't have the coverage or the staff or the ability to have the resources to deal with teenagers who had both autism and mental health conditions. finally, as the Christmas season started to come around in 2023, Katie thought she had found a place to help her daughter and Avery was admitted to a facility in Orlando. Unfortunately, the same problem happened again and after 48 hours, Katie was discharged from the facility in Orlando. This unfortunately led to Katie becoming hopeless. On December 24th, 2023, Katie left her mom and she left her daughter and she walked out of her house and then she walked in front of a Brightline train. Now, this tragedy may not happen every day, but I can tell you from my work with the nonprofit organization and a child and family consultants, we see families every day who are in a similar crisis because the children with autism are unavailable to get psychiatric care. They don't have funding for this care. If they do have funding, they can't find a provider who will take the funding that's available. Many of these people have lost Medicaid coverage due to the Medicaid unwinding from a year or two ago. Private insurers no longer cover mental health care as much as they're supposed to be able to do. And like I said, you oftentimes can't find providers who will take the coverage that's available. So I'm asking you today to be aware of this crisis and to do whatever we can to try to provide mental health facilities, provide funding, coverage, resources. State facilities are often understaffed and underfunded. We need help with our police departments so that they can receive training and understand how to deal with crisis calls when they come from families too. So thank you again for your attention. I appreciate your help with this matter. Thank you, Joseph, for bringing it to our attention. Members, next we'll have Renee Ledford with the National Association of Social Workers, the Space Coast Unit. Good afternoon. I'm Renee Ledford, a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Space Coast Unit. And I want to thank you so much for taking the time to listen to your constituents. constituents. I want to recognize the House first for its unanimous support the past session for House Bill 27, which was the Social Work Licensure Compact. Unfortunately, it did not advance in the Senate, so we're back here again. Thirty states have already passed the compact, however, and Florida is the only southeastern state that has not participated. Social workers are the largest providers of mental health services in the United States, and essentially the compact will eliminate barriers to practice and increase access to care, especially in rural and underserved communities, streamlines licensure across state lines, eliminating a time-consuming barrier that can discourage social workers from practicing in Florida, and it encourages cooperation between states and also strengthens our existing state licensure system. Currently, Florida risk being perceived as less attractive to incoming professionals. The national social work profession strongly supports the compact because it provides a seamless way to become licensed in multiple states. Without it, seasoned social workers may choose not to undergo Florida's lengthy endorsement process and associated cost. Instead, they may relocate to a compact state where they can maintain their multi-state license with minimal barriers. This has real consequences for communities like us. Florida currently ranks 43rd in the nation in access to mental health providers. The compact would help change that. Each year, social work students graduate from the University of Central Florida and nearby Orange County, for example, many of whom have already completed internships in our communities. With the compact in place, these new professionals could remain in Brevard County putting down roots and building their careers. Instead, students among the most vocal advocates for the compact face limited options. Many may decide to leave the state they call home to pursue opportunities elsewhere. We also recognize that no single policy is a cure-all. The legislature has taken essential steps in recent years, including mobile, in establishing endorsement pathways. And we are very grateful for those efforts. This year, we are asking the House to support HB 13 and also the Senate to support social work interstate licensure compact during the 2026 session. And doing so, we'll strengthen our workforce. Great. Thank you, Renee. Any questions? Has there been a Senate... I was lost on... I know you said there's a House sponsor. Yes. It's new HB 13. Okay. I just learned about it, so I can let you know who is sponsoring that. Okay. Who's the Senate sponsor? Is there a Senate sponsor? There is nothing yet so far. Okay. So give your information to Charlene. She's sitting right there. Okay. And I'll work on it. Okay. I'll connect with her. Thank you so much for your interest. Yep. Just what you want. Next, we have Nicole Gaviner with One Voice Bevard. And then Jeff Neal with Promise in Bevard. And then Maya Hahn with React Research and Education. If you guys can all get ready. Hey. Hi. Good evening. And happy National Nonspeakers Awareness Day. I want to thank the Brevard County Delegation for your time this evening, as well as your staff, for all the hard work, not only in putting this event together, but for everything that they do to help our community and families. Thank you. My name is Nicole Grabner. I'm a disabled veteran and a mother of two autistic children. I'm the founder of One Voice Brevard and a board member of the One Voice Coalition, as well as the Autism Society of Florida. There have been a lot of national conversations surrounding autism lately, and I'm grateful if this interest can help spur advances which are desperately needed. My children represent both sides of the spectrum, but I often refer to them as opposites of the same coin. The reason this is important to know is because while many people have heard about autism, understanding the spectrum of differences and supports needed for each varies from one child to another, which can cause understandable confusion for a disability that isn't visible and presents differently in each person. I'm not generally a person comfortable with sharing my personal struggles, but in an effort to give you context, just this morning my son attacked me. I'm so sorry. My oldest struggles with extreme social anxiety and task management, they both require extreme amounts of co-regulation. We need help. Families like mine need help. While these differences may be complex, the overall definition of this disorder is not. Autism spectrum disorder, as defined by the DSM, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent challenges and social communication interaction, along with restricted repetitive behaviors, interests, or sensory sensitivities that appear early in development. The definition of autism has evolved because our understanding of the condition has evolved significantly through research, clinical observation, better diagnostic tools, and the voices of autistic people themselves. Currently, there are at least three different definitions of autism in Florida statutes that I was able to find. My request today is that the delegation help me in families like mine with standardizing the legal definition of autism across the various state statutes. Some of these definitions have not been updated in over 30 years. I would like your help to bring these definitions current to match the DSM. I feel this is important for our rules to reflect the actual diagnosis. Doctors diagnose. Agencies do not. To that end, I drafted a bill which I have entitled Siena's Chance Act after my daughter in hopes that we can build a unified definition of autism and demand agencies' respect clinical diagnosis. I want to thank you all for your time and consideration. It is my hope that moving forward, Florida can continue to work towards making sure our families who are struggling to navigate these conflicts and often burdensome systems much more accessible. Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. Yeah, Representative Tremont has a question. Nicole, good to see you. Yes, sir. You know, thank you, Madam Chair. We've heard a lot of, a number of folks from our autism community come up here and it grips me every time. And of course, you know our family's story as well. I just wanted to let you know and everybody else know you're not alone out there. And for you parents that have, you know, autistic children, I'm fully aware of how difficult school days are when there is no school that day or spring break or the weekends or summertime when they're supposed to be exciting when the kids are off of school, but it becomes the most challenging for parents to have to figure out what are they going to do with their child all day. Yes, sir. So I say that to say there's enough people up in the house that do share your experience and do understand what's going on. So your voices are not just heard, your lives are felt and your challenges are felt by so many. And I can speak for this entire delegation as well and so many others in the house. It doesn't mean we're going to resolve and solve everything right away. But, you know, so often you think to yourself when you're dealing with this on a day-to-day basis that everybody else, it just must be out of sight, out of mind. And it typically is for a lot of folks that don't have to deal with it on a regular basis. But I can assure you, from the Florida House's perspective and the Senate, it's not out of sight, out of mind. Yes, sir. Thank you. Well said, Representative Tremont. And thank you. And thank you for your time you spent with my office and with me bringing all of the all of this around. So, and I know Nicole is just one person, but I can tell you, she's going all around the state to meet with the other senators and House members, not just Brevard County, but all the way across the state to meet with members that have an interest in this. So thank you for your efforts and what you're doing. And for all the other parents that do not have the ability or the time to do what you do. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you all. I really do appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. So let's do it. Jump ahead. Jeff, do you mind if we have J.J. Holmes and his family's here and we said once she was able to get him here that we would bring him forward. So thank you for understanding. J.J., it's good to see you again. Hey, J.J. And you brought Santa Claus. When people find out that Santa is my dad, they're usually pretty surprised. Although I gotta say, this idea would have worked out a lot better if this meeting had been closer to December. Anyway, take it away, Dad. I mean, Santa. Well, well, well, what do we have here? A room full of legislators who've been naughty this year. That's right, boys and girls. I've checked my list twice. And you're all on it. Because of this managed care scheme, you're cooking up for Florida's iBudget Waiver Program. Let me tell you something. Even the other reindeer, yes, the ones who laughed and called Rudolph names, will draw a line at this one-size-fits-all managed care plan. This idea is called an a frosty snowman. And I've already heard all your excuses. But Santa, you just want to get them better services. Except, boys and girls, I've seen what happens when managed care takes over programs like this with their half-baked ideas that prioritize profits over people. In fact, last week, Scrooge called me up and said, Santa, what's going on in Tallahassee? These folks are starting to make me look generous. So here's the deal. The holiday season is about giving. It's about caring for the most vulnerable among us, not shipping them off to fend for themselves or managed care. I'm here today to give you a choice. You can either embrace those values and fix what's broken without managed care, or you can spend the next year explaining to every child in Florida why Santa put their legislators on the naughty list for life. And trust me, once you're on the naughty list, it's really hard to get off. Just ask the Grinch and Anthony Sabatini. Make the right choice, boys and girls, because I always know who's been naughty and who's been nice. Ho, ho, ho. Thank you. You're welcome. It's a very, very, very serious issue that you guys bring forward, especially in the managed care area. And I know J.J.'s been in the Capitol many, many days, many months, several years now, and you do make a difference in what you do in sharing with the other senators and House members your story. We're working toward helping. And I know that's not the answer that most people want to hear in this room on any of these issues. But we, you know, we do hear you, and we are working on it. And I understand there is an issue with our managed care program, and we are addressing those issues. So thank you for coming. Thank you for making this trip. I know this was a haul for you guys to come. Well, thank you for doing that. Thank you for letting us see you. Thanks very much. Thank you. And I'm sure I'll see you in Tallahassee. Okay. Jeff, thank you for that consideration. Thank all of you for your support of those with disabilities in the state. And Senator Mayfield and Representative Soroy, thank you for your specific support, Promise and Brevard. Promise and Brevard is an affordable housing community that provides housing for 125 individuals with disabilities. The Promise Campus was opened in 2017 and 18 and is situated just north of Palm Bay Road adjacent to the west side of I-95. The location of the Promise Campus is ideal for our population as it is conveniently located near the Hammock Landing shopping area. Most residents do not drive, so this location ensures that they can conveniently meet their daily living needs. However, there is one downside to the location, the proximity to I-95 and the noise level from traffic that poses a challenge for many of our residents with disabilities, especially those who are sensitive to noise levels, especially during regular sleeping hours. A group of resident advocates approached me and expressed their concern about the noise level and asked if there was anything we could do about it. I can personally attest to this challenge as I made it a point to spend a few nights in an apartment when I subbed for an RA who was out of town. After consulting with the West Melbourne City Manager, Council Members, and Mayor Young, I was provided with contact information at FDOT to initiate a request for attention to potential remedies. Several weeks ago, I submitted a letter along with a petition signed by over 100 Promise residents requesting FDOT's support in this matter. I'm bringing this to your attention and would greatly appreciate any guidance and support as we begin to pursue this issue on behalf of individuals with disabilities living at Promise and Brevard. And I thank you for your attention to this matter. I'd like to leave behind a copy of the letter that I sent to the FDOT, and thank you for all you do. Thank you, Jeff. If you would just give it to Representative Tremont, and he will pass them down. Thank you. Okay, Maya? Okay, I'm putting on my other hat now. Thank you for hearing me twice. I, too, am a mother of a son with autism, and I am also a licensed speech-language pathologist for the last 30 years, and I serve as vice president of an autism charity called React. I work with individuals with non-speakers, so today, being National Non-Speakers Day, it's a perfect time for me to present this bill I wrote. I work with non-speakers and low-speakers, including children and adults with profound autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental and communication disabilities. Communication is a fundamental right. It's essential to safety, health, and meaningful participations in our communities. Yet far too often, individuals with communication disabilities are denied access to the tools they need. This happens in schools, group homes, health care facilities, nursing homes, and even during encounters with law enforcement, leaving people isolated, underestimated, and unable to self-advocate. Across Florida, non-speakers are being denied access to their much-needed AAC, augmentative and alternative communication. Many stroke victims in nursing homes lack consistent access to communication aids, leaving them unable to express pain, make choices, or communicate with staff and family. Young, non-speaking adults with autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy are often denied their primary way to interact in adult care facilities, detention centers, and medical settings. Non-speaking students are frequently denied access to the AAC methods they successfully use at home, silencing them and limiting their participation in classrooms. These barriers increase stress, cause miscommunication, deprive participation, and can even have tragic consequences. Over my career, I have seen the transformative power of AAC, a person with autism typing to fully express himself, revealing brilliance that most people never have the chance to see. I cannot stay silent about it. We must protect these individuals and ensure their rights are recognized, just as we have for people in wheelchairs. Denying access to AAC limits potential, deprives our communities of contributions these individuals can make, and in some cases can result in real harm. Florida law provides a bill of rights for persons with developmental disabilities, but does not explicitly guarantee the right to communicate. This amendment closes that gap. It ensures the state agencies, group homes, health care providers, and law enforcement cannot restrict or deny an individual the ability to use their AAC or other preferred communication methods. Supporting this amendment is a moral imperative. Every person deserves the right to be heard, to engage with their community, and self-advocate. By passing the Communication Bill of Rights, Florida will lead the nation in protecting people with communication disabilities. You would empower thousands of Floridians to participate in society, prevent unnecessary harm, and give them the most fundamental gift of all, a voice. I urge you to support this amendment. Thank you. And I just want to point out that, sorry, both of those bills that I submitted to you early have been updated a little bit, so Kelly has the updated forms for you. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Next, we'll hear from Laura Mahensky with the J&M Support Coalition. Hello. First of all, thank you for this opportunity to speak. My name is Laura Mahensky, and I'm a Medicaid waiver support coordinator under the Home and Community-Based waiver that is funded under the Agency with Persons with Disabilities. And I work for J&M Support Coordination here in Brevard County. I've had this job for 25 years and been here in Brevard County as a coordinator for 25 years. I find it to be very rewarding, at the same time, very demanding. As a coordinator, I'm on call 24-7 to the individuals that I serve. We serve folks who reside in group homes, in supported living on their own, as well as in their family home. We also help families who want to be on the consumer-directed care program, and that's the CDC Plus program. That allows families to have flexibility, so where their budget is taken and they're allowed to hire their own workers and use their budget as they want to. It's a very successful program, and I recommend it often to families. But that's not why I'm here to talk about the waiver. I'm here to talk about the concerns I have for the future of the iBudget waiver and the proposal of moving our program over to managed care. And as I think about this, I think about examples that we have seen so far with managed care, and I think of adult dental. And years ago, for years, the waiver covered people on the waiver. We've covered their dental services. And a couple years ago, what they did was they gave dental to two managed care. Actually, at the time, it was three managed care companies. And so adult dental for people on the waiver was under managed care. And all of a sudden, it became very, very difficult for folks to find providers. It became even harder if somebody needed sedation and had to go to a specialty dentist. And it was almost, I hate to say this pun, it was like pulling teeth, trying to get managed care to give us money to provide care for these individuals. So I use that as an example. And families and consumers ask me all the time, Laura, what will it mean if we go to managed care? And I'm like, I'm not sure, but let me give you the best example I can think of. The legislature, every year, gives money to APD. Here's your money. And that money is then given to all the individuals who need services under the waiver. Every penny is used to help people under the waiver. And people get the services. They get the services that are medically necessary. It's hard for me to get services approved. I got to jump through a hoop of fire with APD and make sure everything is justified to get it. So there is no waste. And as a coordinator, I'm a good steward of your money. So here under managed care, what happens? That same pile of money is handed to managed care. Well, managed care, we all know, is a profit. They're going to make money. And they're going to make money off of the people that are here that we serve, the most vulnerable folks. So I ask you, fund the waiver. Don't try to reinvent it. It works. It really works. Please fund it. It's not a one-size-fits-all waiver. Everybody has a unique need. Thank you very much. Thank you. And the other issue I know we found with these managed care programs or the managed care programs is they operate differently depending on what region you're in. That's very, very true. That's the issue. And I will have to make this comment. I hate to talk bad about fellow social workers around the state, but support coordination is a very, very unique service. And Florida is very, very lucky. I, my responsibility is, is, is, is close to 15 pages in our waiver handbook. But under managed care, their responsibilities of case management is very, very different. You could look at the long-term care waiver and some of the others to see that it's a very, very different service that they provide. It is. 24-7. I'm available to those folks. I don't think the same thing works under managed care. Please, please, please, this year, when it comes up, realize that the folks really just need to be served in the program that they have and that if you fund it better, that's all we need to do. Thanks. Thank you so much. Next, we have Martha Passaro with the Native Heritage Gathering. And first of all, I want to say what an honor it is to be here today to speak to you all. And thank you for putting this program together for us. The topic I'd like to address today is the state of Florida's support and funding of the arts. And I am Martha Passaro, the treasurer and event chair for the Native Rhythms Festival, which is presented by the Native Heritage Gathering Incorporated. That is a 501c3 all-volunteer organization that has operated in Brevard County for close to three decades. The Native Rhythms Festival has recently experienced the effects of defunding over the past two years after budget cuts and program changes have been made to the Culture Builds Florida grant programs, which run under the Florida Division of Arts and Culture, which I'll speak of as FDAC. Historically, our support and strength from FDAC enabled over 14 years of our celebration and honoring of Native American Heritage Month each November through our family-friendly, free-of-admission, three-day event that takes place in the beautiful Wickham Park under the pine trees. Native Rhythms Festival is singular in its mission to provide education, exhibition, and entertainment that shares and brings understanding of Native American culture to all peoples. The artists performing on stage represent multiple tribal entities and are award-winning on international levels. The educational cultural presentations are provided by museum-quality exhibits and educators that provide an immersive experience for all peoples. Multiple workshops run throughout the weekend, and our dance performances provide a vivid representation of multiple tribal entities and cultures that have endured the centuries and have been passed down from ancestors to descendants. Over 50 arts and crafts people comprise our vendor village and demonstrate their talents providing commercial experience unique and not found in Walmart. And further, the livelihoods of our performers are dependent upon the festival, and we are asking for a return to fair and equitable funding through programs such as Culture Builds Florida. On behalf of the board and committee and the community and our artists, we thank you for putting your hearts and minds together for the future and survival of culture. Thank you. Thank you, Martha. Next, we will have Richard Ware with the Abate of Florida Lagoon Chapter. Welcome. Thank you. I appreciate you all taking the time to see us all at one time. It usually helps a little. A little background. Abate is a national grassroots motorcycle organization aimed towards safety and education of the public. We do that through education classes and through legislative activism. I am the legislative trustee for the Lagoon Chapter, which is one of 17 chapters here in Florida. We cover Brevard and Indian River County. Right now, the definition that we're using for Abate is American bikers aimed towards education because that really speaks to what we're trying to do. Last year, in the legislature, we advocated for several options and several bills. The only one that came through was driver's ed and it was so watered down it didn't do a whole lot. It added two hours of education, left out the motorcycle awareness program information and did not require somebody to actually prove they can drive before they pass driver's ed. So we're asking that to be readdressed and stiffened up. The next thing was hands-free device legislation. It passed the Senate last year, got hung up in the House, the chair of the committee that it hung up in said it wasn't good for tourism. Yet, when we look at it, we have 30 states outside of Florida that already require this, so that's a bogus argument. For some reason, it got hung up there and what it does is it reduces distracted driving, which is the leading cause of motorcycle accidents in Florida and nationally. And by passing this legislation, we can enhance penalties and create driver awareness and get them off their phones so they stop hitting people on motorcycles. The next thing we advocate for this year is lane filtering. It is not lane splitting. Lane filtering, the traffic has to be stopped. It allows a motorcycle to move up a lane in between cars when the traffic is stopped to avoid rear-end collision. Rear-end collision is about 40% of all motorcycle accidents and results in serious injury most often when it happens. We also would like to see an increase in the penalties for law enforcement officials that use profiling because a lot of times bikers in general get profiled whether they've done something wrong or not. They just get lumped in. Hey, all bikers are bad and we see that quite often and we would like to see enhanced legislation to stop that by our law enforcement officials. With that, I will try and make it out and see each of you individually because we do have a few other things but I'll go ahead and be done for the day. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next, we have Chuck Tyler with Bravery Angels Florida. Chuck, are you still here? Okay, we'll come back if he comes in the room. Next, we have Lou Kontic with Peaceful Brevard and then after Lou, we have Wayne Twitty with the Brevard Republican Executive Committee and then Richard Nienek with Election Integrity if you guys get ready. Hi, great. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Mayfield, legislative delegates and the community as a whole. Yeah, I'm Lou Kontic, Melbourne resident and volunteer with Peaceful Brevard. I wanted to just compliment you all on what a compassionate and what a good listening group and session this has been. Peaceful Brevard is a nonpartisan, pro-democracy organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the rights of citizens here in Florida and in the United States where a chapter of Indivisible. I'm here today to go to the other side of the comment that I just made. I'm here today to express deep concern about the increasing division, conflict and even tragic political violence that we're seeing in this country. And I hope that you agree, I'm sure that you agree, that we should do everything we can to reduce, not enhance, this anger and fear within our community. I urge you as our elected leaders and invite our community as a whole to focus on building bridges, not stoking division. I sincerely hope we can create activities here locally that foster respect, constructive dialogue across our differences. So, I was going to say I applaud the presentation of Chuck Tyler with Brevard, or rather, Braver Angels. And I may make some comments about Braver Angels, which I hadn't intended to do. But Braver Angels is a group that has a track record of helping to bring thousands of individuals with very different outlooks to meet and engage with respect. I'm a novice member of Brevard Angels, or Braver Angels, rather, learning how best to engage in potentially difficult conversations by opening my mind to others' opinions by moderating my own reactions and by sharing my views without harshness. I encourage everyone here and everyone listening to go to BraverAngels.org and spend some time, understand more about their approach and their successes. If building constructive dialogue is important to you, sign up to receive their mailings. I'm glad to talk to others now or later about those who may be interested in helping to build bridges for that communication here. Finally, let's try to communicate, not fight. Please, let's try. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here and also sharing what Bravery Angels Florida was. Thank you. If he's not here, I can give you a little bit of what he was going to say. I'm not trying to horn in or anything. Two minutes. Okay. Can you do two minutes? I appreciate that. What I have is Braver Angels is a national nonpartisan nonprofit working in communities across America to bridge our political divides. In Florida, our mission is to build a culture where neighbors can disagree without dehumanizing. What does it matter here in Brevard? Because division weakens our capacity to solve the very issues that matter most, whether that's housing, education, veteran support, or public safety. When people stop listening to one another, problems remain unsolved. When we create space for dialogue, solutions emerge. In Florida, we're promoting what we call the alliance model, local, bipartisan teams that bring together citizens, faith groups, nonprofits, and public leaders to face tough community challenges side by side. One alliance in central Florida recently convened conversations around homelessness. Another is preparing a community forum on youth engagement. These are not debates, for the sake of winning. They're structured opportunities for learning, respect, and problem solving. So that's a sketch that he was going to present. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you very much. And again, you're doing a great job. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Wayne, you ready? And then we're going to have Richard and then Lamar. I know I saw Lamar come in. I think she left. Huh? I think she left. Oh, did she leave? Oh, she did leave. I get the waiver that she did leave. Okay. I've got my supporters here. Okay. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the delegation. My name is Wayne Twitty, and I serve as a member of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee. Today, I'm here to speak on behalf of the grassroots voters across Brevard County who are deeply concerned about the growing lack of transparency in our elections and the role that unlimited political committee to political committee transfers play in eroding public trust. This is not just a personal concern. It's a documented consensus. In April, the Brevard Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution by a decisive margin of 95 to 16, a margin rarely seen on any matter, calling for the legislature to prohibit PC to PC transfers. That vote sent a clear message. Brevard Republicans want transparency restored to Florida's elections. Let me explain why. Both in the August 2024 primary and the April 2025 special election, voters in our county were flooded with campaign materials, mailers, text messages, digital ads, and the like. Many of these ads weren't just aggressive, they were deceptive. They were styled as official voter guides. They misused the names of logos of trusted institutions, President Trump, Governor DeSantis, the Brevard Republican Executive Committee, even the Republican Party of Florida. The effect? Voter confusion and misleading perceptions of endorsement. But the real kicker, voters couldn't tell who paid for it. That's because the political committees behind these efforts used a legal shell game, transferring funds between multiple PCs to disguise the original donor. These PC transfers currently allowed, under Florida law, act as legalized money laundering schemes in the middle of our elections. If voters, let me be clear, this doesn't, this isn't about regulating speech, it's about identifying the speaker. If voters can't see the funders, how can they make an informed choice? If special interests shape the outcome, how can we expect policy to reflect the public will? This isn't just about flyers, this is about public governance. We understand that legislative priorities are often shaped by leadership, namely the governor, the speaker, and the Senate president. But you, our delegation are our voice in that process. We are asking you to elevate the issue, to elevate this issue, take up this cause, and make transparency a priority in the 2026 election. End the PC to PC shell game, close the loophole, restore public trust. Thank you for your service. Great. Thank you, Wayne. Thank you very much. Okay, Richard. Is, um, Wayne, Wayne, is Richard here? Yes. Oh, there you are. Okay. Good evening now. Good evening. My name is Richard Nink. I'm the chair of the Election Integrity Committee, and election integrity keeps going. It never stops. After successful elections, we're still here. We still got to keep our eye on the ball. Today, you've been presented with a lot of hard issues, asking for some big dollars. Well, I got an easy one. I'm not asking for any money. It's a pretty easy one, just five digits. I'm asking to require nine digits versus four digits for Social Security numbers during registrations to, voter registrations to verify citizenship verification. Just five more digits is going to make a big difference in election integrity. I want to go through the problem background of Simple Solution, a straw man, Simple Solution, benefits, and what our ask is. The SAVE database has been made available to all the Florida supervisors of elections. This helps verify U.S. citizenship. But a nine-digit Social Security number is what's needed to access the data. When the SOEs register in Florida, register voters, they only ask for the last four. So I spoke to SOE Bobanek. You know, how's that SAVE database going? He goes, it's going great. You know, everybody's trained and my staff, but we can't access the data. And he told us why, our committee, why. And I'm like, we've got to be able to solve that. That sounds like an easy one to solve, just five digits. Just ask for the nine digits. So it's actually a two-part problem here. The driver's licenses are also asked as an option for voter registration. And you heard SOE Bobanek talk about the problem of that changing, the driver's license numbers changing, where that's a problem. This solution that we have here can solve that. So what we're looking to do is have a solution that moves away from asking for the driver's license and ask for the nine digits. As you can see on the voter registration, there's a field for your driver's license or the last four, social, or nothing. So we're asking for the nine digits. And if people provide the form directly to the SOE in the office, that shouldn't be a problem. If it's being handed off, we're also asking that the state statute specify that the SOE will contact you for that nine digit via a phone number. So it's a more secure method. So the ask here is, you know, hey, there's a problem. Our SOE can't access the data to verify citizenship. Verifying citizenship is important. The ask is to help here in Brevard, help come up with a solution to modify the state statutes. And our committee will be meeting with each of your offices and each of you to look for a solution to this problem. Great. Madam Chair, I have a question. Yes. Okay, thanks. I have a question. Richard, Richard, Richard. Representative Saroy has a question. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm curious, how do you envision, I agree wholeheartedly in the interest here, how do you envision it being implemented? Does it happen, you know, December 31st, Supervisor of Elections issues due, voter registration cards, do you phase it in over time? Is it done when a touchpoint is made with the office? How do you, how do you see it unfolding? Well, we see it as modifying the state statutes. That's got to be step one to, and then after the statutes are modified, then modifying the form, the voter registration application form would then follow because it would reflect the state statute. So this is for new registrations, and this is for also for people who move. So it's going to be a problem anyway, but they get their driver's license updated, the supervisor is not going to have the information anyway. So new registrations, like car deadline, new registrations only. Starting with new registrations, correct, new registrations first, and that will eventually filter out through the whole system as people update, as they move, and then there'll be, you know, the statutes can be modified later to include all. But, you know, start somewhere. Start with the new registrations first. Right. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Okay. Is that it? Questions? Okay. Suzanne Taylor with the League of Women Voters of the Space Coast. Oh. Lamar left. You don't look like Suzanne. I am not Suzanne. However, I'm standing in for Suzanne. You come on up. Just state your name for the record. My name is Michael Kemp. I'm standing in for Suzanne Taylor, the president of the League of Women Voters of the Space Coast. Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming. We think that this is a great venue for building trust with the voters of Brevard County, and that's what the League of Women Voters does. We want to continue to build trust into the electoral process to help you and to help your voters, and to do that, we do things which support the supervisor of elections. We do things like we publish voter information, contact information for elected officials. We have a website called Vote411 where voters can find not only election information but also candidate information. In the candidates' own words, we put that online for them to find, and we make it very easy for them to find. The League has been building trust in democracy nationally for 100 years, since the 1920s. And we do that by helping candidates reach the voters. We are willing to provide a candidate form for all elections in Brevard County. We do that for municipal elections, we'll do it for special district elections, for legislative elections. We really appreciate it when the candidates will allow us to do that, because we need both candidates, or more candidates if there's more, as there often is in municipal elections. We forgot to set the clock, but we were watching it, so your three minutes is up, but can you wind it down, since you didn't know that? Well, yes. Thank you. I will say one thing. Non-partisan, as to candidates and political parties, the League of Women Voters does advocate for specific policy positions, especially on voting rights. So, in 2010, the majority of women... Are we winding it down? Yes, this is. Okay. The League of Women Voters of the Space Coast asks that you respect a clear request by the voters of Florida and Brevard County to have elections that have elections that are redistricting that only happens in a non-partisan process through compact districts and to reject the national request for a mid-decade redistricting. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you, Michael, very much. We apologize. We forgot to set the clock. Okay. Jean Sizemore, Brevard Democratic Executive Committee. Yes, thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am Jen Sizemore, the new chair for the Brevard Democratic, Brevard County Democratic Party. Brevard is becoming unaffordable, and people are being pushed out of the communities they've built. As our legislative delegation, you all have the power to change that, and I feel like you have a responsibility to act on that. Some of the realities of Brevard County. The median home price is around $354,000, which is out of reach for far too many working families. Average apartment rent is $1,400, and single-family rents are up 45% since 2018. Mobile home residents, many who are seniors and veterans, have been hit with shocking lot rent increases up to $725 in cocoa and up to $855 in Merritt Island, all in under a year. Property insurance premiums keep climbing despite promises of relief. These are not just numbers. These are teachers priced out of the communities where they teach, nurses and first responders who can't afford to live in the counties that they protect, seniors who worked their whole lives but are now in fear of losing their homes, and veterans whose fixed benefits no longer cover basic housing costs. These are our people. They're your constituents. This isn't about party. It's about people and whether Brevard remains a place where they can call home. I know that not every factor is in your control, but many are, and I'm heartened because this is my first time here, and I hear how you've helped all of these other communities, so I know that you'll do your best to support your constituents in Brevard County. Some of the asks. Protect affordable housing funds. Some of them are being raided, and the funds are being spread to areas that do not support working families and veterans in getting housing, stop rent gouging in mobile home parks. People who own their homes shouldn't be forced out because they don't own the land. State law can and should protect them. Deliver real insurance relief. Stabilizing the companies was half the job. Without consumer protections, families are left with premiums they can't pay. We should be putting homeowners first. And support housing that matches the local needs by incentivizing workforce and mixed income housing, not just luxury developments. The people who teach our kids, protect our neighbors, and care for our sick should be able to live here. These are choices that you can make in Tallahassee, and the question is simple. Will you stand with developers and insurers, or will you stand with families, seniors, and veterans who call Brevard home? Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. Thank you, Jen. You did a great job for your first time. Next, we're going to have Sandra Sullivan with Wave Action. Good evening. Thank you for your time tonight. Next year, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our great nation. I believe that increasingly, our republic is increasingly representing we the money's special interests. My Florida legislative request is to restrict PAC-to-PAC transfers, as presented by Wayne, and also to restrict monopolies from contributing to PACs. Benjamin Franklin is quoted saying, a republic if you can keep it. Abraham Lincoln honored the soldiers that sacrificed their lives for our freedom in order to have a government of the people, by the people, for the people. President Reagan said, we the people tell the government what to do. It doesn't tell us. We the people are the driver. The government is the car, and we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Instead, we see the influence of organized lobbying and campaign finance have distorted the constitutional system that led to outcomes that favor we the money's special interests. Remember also Reagan's words, freedom is never more than one generation away. from extinction. PACs are legalized bribery. HB 569 2013 changed Florida's campaign finance by removing political committee contribution cap of $500, making it unlimited. I looked at one PAC with five $1 million contributions in a row. How are the globalist Agenda 2030 buying our laws and undermining our republic? FPNL proposed nearly $10 billion rate hike for electricity over the next four years, about 40% increase in our electric bills, representing the largest utility hike in U.S. history. This is less than a year after the Florida Public Service Commission approved a $1.2 billion in-rate hikes. According to Fox News story, private equity giants like BlackRock and Blackstones are buying local utilities to power AI data centers. FPNL's quote, FPNL's parent company's top institutional stock owners include Vanguard and BlackRock. Florida often favors developers and globalists taking away, sorry, with bills like Live Local, the you-will-own-nothing-and-be-happy law that facilitates Agenda 2030 for 60% of homes to be owned by corporations by 2030. Their 75% discount on property tax exemptions are our tax increases, and fixing this can lower our taxes. And now Senate Bill 180 is even worse for home rule, undermining the new area of critical concern for South Beaches as the comp plan was thrown out by the state. So if you believe in the future of America, please restore our public in Florida back to we the people with PAC reform, with PAC-to-PAC, limiting PAC-to-PAC transfers, and restricting monopolies from contributing to PACs. Thank you. Thank you, Sandra. Next up, we're going into our public comment now, and if we keep it to the three minutes like we've been going, I hope we'll be done by seven. So with that, we have Ms. Ems, you are recognized. Is she still here? Okay. She is not. We have Richard Stimson. I'll be quick. Okay. I work with people who are mentally handicapped, intellectually disabled. Some 40, 50 years ago, the state of Florida decided to have something called a termination rule added to the administrative code. And it worked fine for 40, until 2019, right before the pandemic, and they changed it. My request today is someone here would ask APD to start the administrative rule-making process to change it back to the original. The original rule had real due process. The one now took it all away. It's all about when there's a problem between a state-funded agency, a nonprofit, and a mentally handicapped person. And there was a rule to handle that that was established 40, 50 years ago. And now, that agency only has to get a 30-day notice, and they've got to go. Now, I can go into a lot of detail, but in the pandemic, we lost a lot of group homes. Group homes were able to say, hey, you've got 30 days. You've got to leave. We'll take all the easy folks. We need due process back in the rule. Would anyone here be willing to ask APD to start the rule-making process to replace the current rule with the original and see what they say? I would like to be part of that process. During the pandemic, we had a local agency terminate four people in the middle of the pandemic. We need the rule to be back to the original. Thank you. Let me go check that out. Okay. Next, we're going to have Martin Contensley. Sorry. Martin. Is it Martin here? Okay. We're moving on. Joe Holmes has already spoke. Francine Richman, and then we have Judith Trendell and Elizabeth Huggins. You guys all get ready. My name is Francine Richman. I'm a wife, a mom of four, a grandma of five, and I'm an active voter and a health care professional for more than 42 years. I'm here to speak about the Romeo and Juliet clause. That is part of the sex offender registry. Teenagers are put on the sex offender registry for doing what is often normal human biological behavior. Having teenage sex is not preferred, but it happens. When it's a nonviolent crime, no rape or force, it's not prudent to use such harsh punishment. Putting a young person on the registry is a punishment that is a lifetime sentence. The registry is something they can never get away from. There's no off-ramp. The registry ruins young lives. My son will have trouble with employment, education, housing, the ability to provide for himself and his family if he will ever have one for the rest of his life. In Florida, the Romeo and Juliet law recognizes that teenagers who engage in consensual sex with peers should not be punished. However, when older than the four years that's allowed, one day, if they're one day over, they're put on the sex offender registry. My son was three months. There is much shame and shunning and depression that comes with the label of the sex offender. It's a scarlet letter, and many people try to harm them. Everything about my son is public, published and available to anyone who might want to harm him. This is very traumatic for a young person trying to deal with branding of this label. This puts our youth in danger. Many young people decide suicide is better than trying to live with these shackles. Imagine if it was your teenager. My son was put on the registry at the height of the Me Too movement in 2017. He was 19. I'm able to see clearly now. I have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. This law must be changed. Some relief has to be given to our youth. I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening to our other families. I'm asking for your consideration in amending the Romeo and Juliet law and making it retroactive for youth up to age 21. There are young people who are slower to mature. There must be a gift of time and allowance for maturity. There are kids who might have a nonverbal learning disorder or possibly even on the spectrum. There should be an allowance for normal teenage behavior. I've raised four kids. They all matured differently. Two boys, two girls. We've all made mistakes, and if they've not committed a heinous crime, they should be given relief. Romeo and Juliet are infamous, and a tragedy of youth, putting our youth on the sex offender registry, is a tragedy that makes them infamous. Thank you for your time. I'm asking for your support or sponsorship of a bill called Protect Our Youth. And if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. And if I may pass you a flyer to pass out. Thank you so much. Thank you, Francine, for sharing your story. Thank you very much. Judith? Oh, good evening. I have put my presentation down to talking points. That's fine. You'll be happy about that. We're all good. We all do that. Okay, so SB 180 is why I signed up here. And we all know that it is far too broad. The problem, it handcuffs counties and municipalities from doing their job. A simple fix to the dilemma is an amendment, a simple amendment to restrict SB 180 to disaster-declared areas only. Limit the bill to short-term 12 to 18 months after the disaster declaration. The communities will have the ability to recover quickly without losing long-term local control. This amendment would be the common-sense approach to a very bad, hurried bill. While I have the time, the second subject would be on the pack-to-pack. It affects we, the people. Over-development, high Florida power and light, Duke energy bills, high insurance rates, high property taxes, all are burdening the residents of Florida. So, those entities, what do they have in common with the pack money? They happen to be the biggest donors and contributors to the pack money. Millions of dollars get funneled. Another form of political money laundering. So, I'm asking you to step up to the pump and do what our president said in 2016 when he first got elected. He said, it's time to bring government back to the people. He promised to do that. So, it's time to stop the money laundering and do the right thing. The basement is not a sign of demotion. It's a sign of integrity, and I think all of you know what I mean by that. So, that's it. Please do the right thing. Thank you. Thank you, Judith. Next up, we're going to have Elizabeth Huggins. Good afternoon. I'm sorry. Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Huggins. I would like to begin by thanking the members of this committee who supported House Bill 6017, which was to provide for the recovery of damages for medical negligence, resulting in death. The bill passed due to your support, but was vetoed by Governor DeSantis. I am presenting to you today on behalf of my disabled son to highlight the importance of maintaining accountability of physicians and facilities that are entrusted to the care for Florida's vulnerable disabled citizens. My son, Sean Huggins, is 40 years old, suffers from autism. I had a power of attorney, which was completed by my personal attorney. I would like to briefly tell you of an experience of local physicians compromising not only his health, but potentially his life. In April of 2015, my son was an emergency EMT, transport admission to Cape Canaveral Hospital, due to a side effect from a medication. He was an ED level 5 admission and was subsequently admitted to ICU. What happened to my son, Sean, almost cost him his life. At no time was my POA, statute 709, honored. And during this hospital admission, my son's life was compromised. My son was strapped down to a bed in ICU, had a PICC line placed in his heart, was given an abundance of medications that caused cardiac toxicity. I believe this was intentional. He was given Zyprexa against my wishes. He's not psychiatric. He's autistic. Sean stated he was in excruciating pain to the point that his bones hurt he had no circulation. At no time was I consulted on a treatment plan or listened to when I advocated for my son. What was done to my son is called an IRB experiment. That includes mass injections. In addition, the physicians ordered nicoderm patches. My son never smoked. The massive doses of drugs injections were the cause of cardiac toxicity. Melanie Johnson from CMS, who has purview over the state of Florida, or did at the time, stated to me, the tests done on my son were intentional and were to the cause of the cardiac toxicity. I have filed formal complaints with DOH, ACA, have been unsuccessful holding the physicians responsible accountable. Even more disturbing, due to the veto of House Bill 6017, this makes health care in the state of Florida dangerous, especially dangerous to those who are vulnerable to physicians who have medical authority and are allowed to administer medicine recklessly. My son's rights, as outlined in the state of Florida, rules and regulations were not protected. Furthermore, he has been denied APD services, which would have allowed him to reside in a group home that would meet his individual specific needs. I am still fighting for this today. My son was diagnosed at 10 months of age. He is 40 years old. There are parents who are here today with children who have similar experiences as Sean, but sadly their children are no longer with us due to similar horrific experiences. We must advocate to hold those who have failed. Okay, the gong show. Hold them accountable. Thank you for your time and your attention. Apparently, I'm not alone. I've heard a lot of stories today. And there's a lot of mothers like me with bite marks on their arms who never got help. My son was diagnosed at 10 and a half months. He's 40 years old. Shame on the state of Florida. Elizabeth, thank you for sharing your story. We'll find out what it is. Okay, Karen Colby. Karen's not here. Okay, we'll move on to Jim Anderson, Lieutenant Colonel of U.S. Air Force. And then we have Joel Ledlow and Brian Watts. Thank you for your time. Y'all must have bladders made of steel. Let me tell you. So I want to express my concerns about Senate Bill 52, which will impact our church's ability to defend themselves. Ma'am, earlier you used the term unintended consequences, and I think this bill is the poster child for unintended consequences. There have been 15 church shootings since 2017, including Michigan, just two days ago. And let me tell you why Senate Bill 52 is bad legislation. A legal gun owner can carry a weapon into a church, and this law doesn't apply to him. But that same gun owner is part of a volunteer security team. He has to comply with this bill. And there's three parts that are problematic. First, the team security plan has to be approved by the sheriff. There are almost 25,000 houses of worship in Florida and 67 sheriffs. Do that math, and you'll realize that this workload is going to be a lot for the sheriffs. And so also, is there going to be some sort of a standard plan or template for us to follow? And if so, who's going to write it? Tallahassee politicians, maybe law enforcement, or maybe a guy like me who's had multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq who knows how to secure and protect a compound. Second, church security teams will be required to carry concealed weapons permits in a state that no longer requires a permit to carry a gun. In spite of a commonly held belief, a concealed permit does not require firearm proficiency. CCW classes teach you about when to use and not use deadly force. Finally, it will require a level 2 background check for any of the volunteers on the team. Again, anyone can walk into a church with a gun without this check. These checks will cost the individuals or the churches about $100 each. And if a church security team has an average of five members, that comes out to a cost of over $12 million for those churches statewide. There's a lot of online discussion about Senate Bill 52, and virtually all of the pastors and those on security teams online are against this bill. But here's a problem you can solve, but this bill doesn't solve it. The problem we face in defending our churches is one of liability. If you want to solve a problem, figure out how to protect our security teams from scumbags like John Morgan, or help churches with liability insurance costs associated with protecting our churches. My bottom line is this. The Florida House and Senate needs to keep out of church security. Leave church security to the experts and the professionals. And at the Pentagon, they've taught me to be brief, be brilliant, and be gone. All right. Question, Madam Chair. Yes, sir. Representative Tremont. Thank you. The bill you're referring to, that's a recently filed bill, correct? That's not one that does? Yes, John Gates. Gotcha. Okay. As a pastor myself of a small church where we have significant threats there, I can assure you I'm watching that bill very closely. All right. Thank you. Thanks for the heads up on that. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Okay. We have Joel Lalo. Joel, are you here? And then Brian Watts. Brian, are you here? Thank you for sticking with us. I was last. Maybe you didn't come at two. I got the email. I will be brief. We won't even need the clock. Just want to say thank you all for doing this. I think this is a unique opportunity to address so many elected officials like this. So, I appreciate it. So, I wanted to mention to you about statute 720. So, last year there was a lot of strengthening that went into 720 for HOAs. And I thought that was all good and it's been helpful. But what I wanted to mention to you was the issue regarding enforcement. So, as it stands today, if a homeowners association does not follow 720, there are no repercussions. There is no enforcement mechanism. There's no governing authority. So, I have spoken to the Department of Business Professional Research, which oversees condominiums and mobile homes. Right. They won't touch 720 and tell you, you have a problem? Get your own lawyer. So, homeowners are given the burden to enforce your laws. So, you have 720, which homeowners can tell the board that they're not following it. But the board doesn't care. They don't have to worry about it because there is no enforcement mechanism. So, I really think that the infrastructure is in place in Tallahassee with DPBR that you could possibly do this very easily. It's in the entire state. It's a problem. Now, I've heard, I've spoken to your office. As a matter of fact, your aide was the one that told me about this. So, if you want to blame him, you could tell him. Thank you for telling him. And I spoke to Assemblyman Hodge's office. You have good folks in your office. And they told me about a bill that's rumored to be happening in Miami that somebody wants to get rid of all HOAs. And I said, well, I don't know what you do after that. But maybe it's frustration, though, that brings those kind of things. So, what I'm suggesting is put some enforcement in 720, and I think it could resolve a lot of problems. To meet with a lawyer and then hire a lawyer because your board isn't following the law, that's a burden that we should not have. No, you shouldn't. So, that's all I have to say. Very quickly, I'll just say this on the property tax issue. Right. I know it's a hot-button issue. Yes. I'll say this very quickly. My experience is, and I don't like property taxes. But the locals will probably shift some sort of burden to make up for a loss in revenue, and they'll probably look at stuff like sales taxes. That's probably what will happen. But at the same time, I don't like property taxes either. No one does. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Okay, we're going to go into our cards that were filled out at the end or during the meeting. First, we have Bob White. I saw Bob here earlier. Did he leave? Okay, Bob left. We have Michael Hannon, or Hayen. I'm here now, Chairman. Your action committee, Florida action committee. Thank you for extending the session so that I can speak for the first time in front of y'all. I've spoke to other delegations. My name is Michael Hayen. I'm a Florida resident and a taxpayer, and I've been here since 1982. I'm a 10-year, honorably discharged, decorated combat veteran who served three combat deployments during that 10-year military career. Lastly, I'm a veteran forced to register on Florida's Sexual Offender Registry. Florida's registry violates U.S. Constitutional Amendments 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 19, 15, and 24 in multiple ways, 24 hours every day, for every person forced to register's lifetime. This is especially egregious to all honorably discharged or retired military veterans forced to register in Florida. We sacrificed, sweated, and bled for years, or some of us for decades, to protect and secure the inalienable constitutional rights accorded to every other person subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Constitution. Yet due to an error in judgment in our past, after our honorable military service ended, caused in part by the traumas like PTSD that we all endured during our military career, we are forever denied the rights, obligations, and protections of the U.S. Constitution we so voluntarily and proudly served. If asked, we would all proudly serve again. Florida's veterans forced to register earned those inalienable rights, obligations, and protections accorded to everyone else. We deserve to have those same inalienable rights restored permanently and immediately and in full. So please, for the honorably discharged veterans who serve this country, do the right thing. Thank you. Great. Thank you for being here. Okay, next we're going to have Sean Zeker. I can't—there you go. Bombs for Liberty. Thank you. My name is Sean Zerkey, and I am a resident of Palm Bay. I'm the legislative chair for Moms for Liberty Brevard chapter since April. And in April, we were up on the Hill, and we sat around the table, moms from across the state with the DOE, and 70% of all those stories were issues with IEPs. So I have a background in policy, specifically aging and disability policy, and I authored a bill called the IEP Accountability Act, which was filed by Senator Harrell last week as Senate Bill 72. Unfortunately, it's just a vehicle right now, and I've spoken with Representative Miller and Weinberger, and they've spoken to Ben Arosh, and they're deciding, you know, since you only have seven bills, which one gets to put it up. So the problem is that we have over 400,000 students with disabilities in the state whose services are written into an IEP. But services are delayed, missed, and undocumented, and parents don't find out until a child regresses. Teachers are blamed for the system problem, administrators are blamed, and parents lose trust in our schools. Ryan Petty, the chair of the Board of Education, and I are co-presenting at the Moms for Liberty Summit later this month. And we will be talking about this bill, along with the fact that teachers feel unsafe and unsupported. And this is just one piece of the puzzle, but students are going without services. Parents are not given an explanation of what an IEP is in their own language, whether that be Spanish or another language or sign language. Students with behavioral intervention plans don't have that reported to the school, so they're removed off the bus, and they don't have education time. Students who need a para, a para doesn't show up, so they don't go to school. Students with AAC communication devices like my son, they'll get around to programming them, and they don't get them programmed, so students go without communication devices for two weeks. So this basically takes the IDEA and gives clawback on IDEA funding to the districts when they're not implemented. It puts time measures on IEPs. It informs parents on what their rights are so that they can enforce it. And that gives the school district an out if they're actually educating parents. So it's SB72, and I'm happy to email it to each one of you for the House or Senate site. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Next, we have Teresa Bond. And then after Teresa, we'll have Richard Helfinger. And then it will be Anna Kenna. And Kimberly Gibbs, you are going to be our last person. Good evening. You're recognized. Hi. Good evening, Madam Chair and delegation members. This is my first time speaking in front of all of you, so if I sound a little nervous, please forgive me. I actually wanted to talk to you about your House Bill 757 that goes into effect starting tomorrow. The rapid spread of artificial intelligence has made it possible for young people to create explicit deepfake images with just a few clicks on their phones. What many don't realize is the seemingly harmless pranks or acts of online bullying can now carry devastating consequences with the passage of Florida's House Bill 757. The creation, solicitation, or possession of AI-generated sexual images, even if made as a joke among peers, can be prosecuted as a felony. While this law was crafted with the intention of protecting children from exploitation, it is equally likely that children themselves will be the ones ensnarled by it. Teenagers experimenting with technology or retaliating against classmates may suddenly find themselves branded as a sex offender, facing years in prison and a lifetime on the registry for behaviors they did not fully understand. This is not an excuse. This is not to excuse harmful behavior, but rather to point out the danger of treating all deepfake activity as equivalent to intentional child pornography production. Adolescents act impulsively, often without appreciating the premise of their actions. Laws like House Bill 757 without built-in safeguards fail to distinguish between predatory adults exploiting children and immature peers engaging in reckless digital behavior. Once a child is labeled a sex offender, the stigma, the restrictions follow them forever, closing the doors to education, employment, and community reintegration. Florida needs a safety valve in its laws, a way to hold people accountable without permanently destroying their lives. Diversion programs, restorative justice approaches, and education about the dangers of digital exploitation can all serve as alternatives to felony prosecution and registration. More importantly, the registry itself must contain self-safety valves for all offenders, not just minors, so that everyone has a path to restoration. Human beings make mistakes, sometimes terrible ones, but our justice system should reflect that the benefit that people can learn, grow, and change. Without that, the registry becomes a life sentence for anyone who has ever done something stupid rather than a tool for true public safety. As it stands, the registry is broken. Without legislative reform, Florida will continue to throw away lives in the name of safety while achieving the opposite. Restoration and second chances should be at the heart of justice, and the passage of House Bill 757 gives us the perfect opportunity to see the need for long-overdue reform of the registry as a whole. Great. Thank you for being here, Ms. Vaughn. Thank you. Next, we have Richard Helfinger, and again, after that, we'll have Ann Keena and Kimberly Gibbs. And anyone else that's in the audience that didn't fill out a card, that is the last one. So if you didn't and I don't have it, then will you please check with my staff in the back? Rick Helfinger, 2000 Juniper Drive, Cocoa, Florida. I'm used to doing this at commission meetings. Cocoa, Florida, District 1. Came down here to kind of get a feel for or express some feelings about parental rights in Brevard County and in Florida in general. We know parents have rights. The Constitution, 14th Amendment, establishes that they have the right to upbringing and educate their children, right? Florida's done a great job at furthering that. In 2022, HB 1467, Curriculum Transparency. Florida legislation in 21, 22, Florida law, the Parents' Bill of Rights. 2023, HB 1069, K-12 education. Unfortunately, we've had some pushback about that. But parents have rights. And parents are responsible for a kid until how old? 18, I think, right? That means they're responsible for the raising, the upbringing, the religious indoctrination, if you want to call it. They have that right. How they want to raise their kid. How they want their kid to be educated. Unfortunately, in today's society, two working parents. Who's educating the kid? The state is. Okay? But the parent has rights of the state. You guys have done, and Florida legislation has done a great thing to try to bring that back and try to establish where that line is drawn. There's a common thread in all the legislations. Parents are in charge when it comes to raising their children. And those entrusted to educate our children need to make sure parents know what is going on in school. So it's 2025. We had some great legislation. We've been working on it for years, right? Doing a great job. So it's 2025. We've established strong legal grounds to make sure that our education system and our parents are on the same sheet of music, right? Wrong. Along comes the Melissa Calhoun story. I was at the Florida Department of Education hearing for Melissa Calhoun in Orlando on July 30, 2025. How is it that the female student in Brevard Public Schools was gender-affirmed, but Brevard Public Schools did not investigate gender-affirming that occurred for multiple years and by multiple teachers? Where is the Florida Department of Education on fixing this? I know you guys legislate. Did a great job. Where is the follow-through on making sure legislation is followed? Is it the Florida Department of Education? Another big bureaucracy, right? You can write rules all day long. If you do not enforce them, they are worthless. So there's a disconnect. I don't know what you can do. We talked, a gentleman just came up here and talked about enforcement. Where are the teeth in protecting parental rights? If the Florida Department of Education does not follow through, then all of your work is wasted. At the hearing, the Department of Education attorney, Ms. Wilmont, stated, well, thank you. I just wanted to make you aware it's not going real well. Great. Thank you, Richard, for bringing that to our attention. Next, we have Anna Kenna. We have, like, ten minutes left. Hello. My name is Anna Kenna. I'm a former special educator working specifically with autistic children. I'm also a local author. And I want to thank you all, please, for the opportunity to address a pressing issue that affects not only Brevard County, but all of Florida. In 2023, the Brevard Barrier Island area of critical concern, the BPIA, was passed by unanimous yes vote of both the State Senate and the House of Representatives and signed by Governor DeSantis. This is an area from Melbourne Beach to Sebastian Inlet. Then, a complete contradiction to the BBIA law passed in 2023. In the final days of the 2025 legislation session, harmful provisions were tagged on to Senate Bill 180, dealing with emergencies, a bill that dealt with hurricane disaster recovery. There was not the normal scrutiny of committee debate or public input in the Senate when Sections 18 and 28 were added to a seemingly benign hurricane bill. Ininvertently, and hopefully by accident, SB 180 allowed development everywhere throughout the state. I truly believe that the sponsors and many legislators, using 2020 hindsight, realized their oversight and would like to correct it. This specific area of Brevard is unique and sensitive for its abundant wildlife and unique geography. Further development would devastate the area and also endanger the safe evacuation of the potentially increased population. It seems redundant to have to address this issue once again. If you amend this, what assurance do we have that the issue will not come up again? Ladies and gentlemen, you are the ones that need to correct this. As a resident of the South Beaches, I want to thank you for your attention to this vital matter. Thank you. Thank you. And if you can get with me after the meeting, because I don't want to take up time doing it, I want to explain to you the process of that as well. I want to make sure you guys have the whole story of what's happened. We are going to amend it, and we're going to fix it, but it passed in 23, and we'll talk about it after the meeting. If you'll hang out. I will. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we're going to have Kimberly Gibbs. Thank you, Kimberly, for waiting. Good evening, everyone. My name's Kimberly Gibbs. I live on Merritt Island. I'm here on behalf of the Friends of Merritt Island. We advocate for Florida Native Plants, but our work would not be possible without the expertise and the education provided by the Florida Native Plant Society. So I'd like to speak to you about our highly valuable Florida Native Plants in the context of the development that we're seeing across the state right now. Nearly all of us have seen the unrestrained development that's happening everywhere we go. Where I live, a forest was cut down to make way for a Starbucks, and a car wash nearby. New housing developments have been installed. And what we're seeing is, well, I'd like to talk about the plants that are being replaced. So entire ecosystems are being bulldozed. And the plants that are being installed in their place are typically alien plants that didn't evolve on this continent at all. We're seeing these tidy neighborhoods that mainly have lawn, tidy lawns, and alien plants that came from another continent, providing no value whatsoever to the birds, the pollinators, the butterflies, and the other really immeasurable ecological benefits of our native plants. So in that context, well, and that's the best case scenario. I'm sorry. So we've also seen the harms that can occur from many of the introduced plants, such as the Brazilian pepper, or the invasive plants that are wreaking havoc on our state. And some of you will remember the greening disease that pretty much decimated our agriculture, you know, the citrus industry. So these are occurring from introduced alien plants. So what I'd like to ask you to do is three things. First of all, Floridians have strongly supported conservation measures. Florida forever. I'd like to ask you to restore full funding to Florida forever. What is that number? It's $300 million. Okay, that's what we need in the Florida Forever program. It has wide support across all of the political groups and throughout Florida. Secondly, I want to ask you to strengthen incentives and regulations to ensure that all future development requires the majority of plants to be our Florida native plants, valuable plants. And thirdly, I'd like to ask you to do more to regulate and prevent the plant nurseries from selling invasive and non-native plants. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Members, that concludes our presentations for this evening. I want to personally thank everyone and the presenters for being here and keeping their time short and sharing your concerns. As I said earlier, if you have additional information you want to share, call our office, set up the appointment, see us in Tallahassee, see us in our district. We'll be happy to talk to you about that. I look forward to working with you in Tallahassee as all of our other members up here do. As a reminder, committee weeks start Monday, October 6th, and our regular session will start January 13th, 2026. And members, if there is no other final remarks, Senator Wright moves we rise and see no objections. We are adjourned. Thank you again for coming. We'll be right back. State senators and representatives filed almost 2,000 bills for the 2025 regular session of the legislature. 255 made it across the finish line with approval by both chambers. In this edition of Florida Crossroads, we recap some of that legislative action, including some of the bills that didn't make headlines, others that never made it to the governor's desk, and others that are now state law.