2015 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Families & Children

Bill Haslam: Response speed exceeds standard for Child Abuse Hotline

• Our Department of Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities' state service delivery system is the very first to be accredited in the nation.
• In the Department of Children's Services, the Child Abuse Hotline took 140,000 calls and 80 percent of those calls were answered within 20 seconds, which exceeds national standards.
• We are all concerned about prescription drug abuse in our state, and from the work of our Public Safety Subcabinet and legislation you've passed, the amount of narcotic pain medication prescribed in Tennessee is down five percent. And, doctor shopping is down 42 percent from its peak in 2011.

David Ige: Government builds a home for our kupuna and our children

Home.

It's a sentiment I intimately understand.

After I graduated from the University of Hawaii, I was fortunate enough to be offered a number of jobs. But only one was located in Hawaii and that's the one I accepted. To this day, I know it was the right choice because this is my home.

For me, that one word brings everything into focus and gives purpose and direction to everything we do. And what is it we really do here at the Capitol?

It's quite simple: We are building a home for our kupuna, ourselves and our children.

We build schools, hospitals, community centers, and places to work and play. And we safeguard the things that are important to us: our families, our freedoms, our environment and our future--because this is our home.

Bill Walker: First Lady will chair Alaska Children's Trust

Her first official act as First Lady was agreeing to serve as Honorary Chair of the Alaska Children's Trust, an organization that works to provide real solutions to preventing child abuse and neglect.

I also ask that this legislature make Alaska the next state to pass Erin's Law. This is a bill that will enable our schools to further implement a proven, age-appropriate program to help children identify sexual abuse and seek help. We will take an important step toward protecting the lives of so many young, precious Alaskans.

Phil Bryant: Support Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs

"I can assure you from personal experience, this response to dyslexia will result in direct benefits. This reading disorder is the number one reason children drop out of school. If we confront it aggressively, we can see a dramatic decrease in our state's dropout rate and help turn around our reading scores for thousands of Mississippi children.

"This year, we must also do all in our power to help children with special needs. The Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act will empower parents with educational choice to get their children the services they need. When only 22.5% of special needs children graduate from high school, something is terribly wrong. I call on you to send this bill to my desk. Mississippi children with special needs, and their parents, deserve nothing less."

Rick Snyder: Adoption rate in Michigan is up 25 percentage points

Terry McAuliffe: Children's Cabinet, and Council on Childhood Success

I was proud to help Virginia win a $17.5 million grant last month to expand our pre-school program so that another 1,600 at-risk four-year-olds can learn in a Pre-K classroom in their community.

Terry McAuliffe: Allow same-sex couples to adopt

Doug Ducey: Serving Arizona: highlight volunteer and charitable efforts

Christmas season has come and gone, but Serving Arizona has not. Giving more to charities close to our heart is always a good thing, but there is nothing like giving your time, and I hope with this effort to encourage that spirit.