By Khara Grieger, Kimberly Bourne, Alison Deviney and Nourou Barry. How can you systematically plan stakeholder engagement? What are the key issues that need to be considered? What guiding question…

The New Orleans City Council voted to disapprove proposed rules from the Department of Safety & Permits governing temporary alcoholic beverage outlet permits, citing lack of stakeholder engagement and nontransparent, punitive processes; sponsors said they will seek stronger oversight and collaboration with the mayor's office and legal counsel.

PUC told the committee H.716’s approach of legislating a single net‑metering price risks higher net‑metering rates and cost‑shifts to non‑participants; the PUC recommended a legislative goal (for example, increased rooftop solar by 2030) and stakeholder rulemaking to set pricing to meet that goal.

Representative Shelly's bill to tax and regulate carbon-credit sales drew lengthy testimony from state officials, rural and agricultural stakeholders and industry. The committee adopted Amendment 1 to the second substitute and then voted to 'hold' the bill to allow further stakeholder engagement and drafting changes.

Representative Watkins described HB413 as a proposal to require utilities to analyze surplus interconnection service opportunities in IRPs to better utilize existing transmission capacity; the committee voted to hold the bill for interim work and stakeholder study.

Advisory committee staff said SB 777 moves up the bureau’s timeline to convene a work group on abandoned endowment-care cemeteries (convene by March 1, 2026; report by June 1, 2026). SB 861 requires online disclosure of hydrolysis and reduction facilities. The bureau will use workshops to prepare the report.

ISO New England is requesting feedback from interested parties regarding its 2024 Economic Study and the associated report, New England’s Evolving Grid. A public survey is now available to collect perspectives on experiences with the study and report. The results of this review, along with the survey findings, will be discussed at the March 24

The Richland 1 Board of School Commissioners unanimously approved its 2026 legislative platform after the administration recommended deleting two accountability-related items; the district will publish a brochure for stakeholders and post the platform online.

House Bill 27 18 would push WSDOT to accelerate multiagency permitting and create a public contractor rating website; stakeholders including Associated General Contractors and asphalt contractors opposed the public rating provision, saying it could punish contractors for delays beyond their control and invite protests.

House Bill 1648 was amended into a model-policy approach requiring the Department of Education to publish guidance and convene a work group to advise on student mental-health days; members debated whether existing law already permits such procedures and expressed concerns about creating a state-level work group.

Members reviewed draft changes to the telecom-siting statute including workshop procedures and invited stakeholders, with the Public Utility Commission urging removal of the 2‑48a sunset for certainty while carriers and some advocates said the workshop process adds low yield and risks codifying federal preemption language.

HB 9 60 clarifies that certain business equipment should be valued by a percentage of original cost to the taxpayer (not manufacturer original cost); after agreeing a reenactment/delayed-enactment clause to allow more stakeholder work, the panel reported the bill as amended, 10–0.

Delegate Shin's substitute would require the five‑year statewide housing needs assessment to include a review of parcels owned by partnerships, corporations or investment trusts meeting specified thresholds; members removed an enactment clause to secure stakeholder neutrality and carried the bill over to the next session.

At its Jan. 28 meeting the Rules Committee reported the bulk of its agenda favorably — saving multiple open‑government exemptions and advancing policy bills — while temporarily postponing CS/CS for SB 290 after extended stakeholder testimony. The committee recorded multiple roll‑call reports and adjourned.

In this masterclass you will gain expert advice from Martha King, Creative Co-Director of Bristols Living Lab (KWMC) and co-chair of ENoLL’s Culture and Creativity Working Group, on how to harness the...

HB 893 authorizes financial institutions to hold law‑firm trust account funds for Florida Supreme Court‑approved purposes and requires banks to pay interest or dividends on those accounts; the committee reported the bill favorably following industry support and sponsor remarks.

Justin Grady told legislators the Southwest Power Pool’s 2025 Integrated Transmission Plan initially proposed about $18.1 billion of projects and was trimmed to $8.5 billion of notices-to-construct after stakeholder engagement; he cited SPP modeling that showed demand growth (a 25% increase in MWh by 2030 and up to a 33% increase by 2034 in the base reliability model) and warned of serious load-shed risk without timely transmission investment.