>> ladies and gentlemen, the governor of the state of ohio, mike dewine. gov. dewine: thank you very much. thank you very much. please be seated. speaker stevens, president

hoffman, leader antonio, russo, members of the general assembly, chief justice kennedy and justices of the ohio supreme court, elected state officials, lieutenant governor husted, members of our cabinet, fellow citizens of ohio, i'm going to talk today about ohio's future. i'm going to talk today about ohio's children. it's been said that the future is not our own, that it belongs to our children, our grand children, our great-grandchildren. and that they are the instruments by which our greatest hopes, our greatest aspirations will b n accomplished. all our dreams, all our goals,

really our vision for the future ultimately depends on them. the single, the single most important thing we can do for ohio's future is to en that all ohio children, all ohio no matter where they live, no matter who their parents are, have the opportunity to live up to their full god-given potential, and that they have the chance to pursue their dreams and their passions in life. it's the most important thing we can do. [applause] kids have only one chance to grow up, so we must have a great sense of urgency as every moment we waste is a moment they lose.

our children grew up so very, very quickly. that, ask the parent of a child whothey'l. president reagan talked about this in a graduation speech at seton hall university. listen to what president reagan said. "you who are graduating have taken virtually your entire lives to reach this moment. to you, it seemed like a very long time. but there are others here today, parents and grandparents, who share this day with you. and as they look back, it seems f the journey only started yesterday." you know,to help ohio's

children, but the reality is we really don't. so many things impact a child's future, but we know that reading and the ability to understand what you have read is the key to success in school and the key to success in life. whenunning for governor, fran told me that if i was elected, she wanted to make sure every ohio child under the age of fe would be eligible to receive a book in the mail each month from dolly parton's imagination library. and so when she became first lady, she started on that task. at that time only 13% of ohio's children were getting books. today under the dolly parton library, all children under five are eligible, and we are now at 60% enrollment, with --

[applause] 60% of the children are enrolled with 4 receiving a free book in the mail each and every month. [applause] so let me -- let me introduce my bride of 57 years, first lady fran dew ine. [applause] members of the general assembly, fran and i are so very, very grateful, grateful to you, as

well as our county partners, for your support and investment in imagination library. ohio now leads the nation in enrollment. since fran became first lady, ohio children have received at least 60 million books in the mail.-- 1 million books in the mail. thank you. us achieve that.-- have done to help us achieve that. i want to thank you for what you have done for the science of reading. we know the earlier child is reading at grade levyq, the more success that child will have in later grades as well as after graduation. last year, i told you that 40% of ohio's third-graders were not on track as provision proficient readers. however, as more schools move science of reading, we are beginning to see improvements. during a recent visit to northridge elementary school in dayton, the superintendent

shared with us how they used data to measure the effectiveness of their reading northridge had been using the whole language approach to teach reading. during the 2018-2019 school year, only 46% of the kindergartners were on track. the next school year, they began the switch to science of reading. by the spring, 60% of kindergartners were on track. by the spring of 2023, 73% of the kindergarten students were on track. we're sing similar results all over the state of ohio from schools that have switched completely to the science of reading. it makes a difference. ask our k-12 schools -- as our k-12 schools move to the science of reading, our colleges and our universities that prepare future teachers also must make that

switch. fran and ÷vi know from our many classroom visits across the state, and from what teachers and superintendents all across ohio have told us, they have told us that most teachers while in college were not taught to use the science of reading to teach their future students how to read. this is a huge problem fteacher. a huge problem for their schools. now, many of our schools are having to retrain the teachers.y college and university president in ohio. every provost, every dean, the college of education to immediately align their teacher training programs with what we know works. and that, that is the science of reading. [applause]

i want to talk for a moment about early childhood education. which, of course, lays the foundation for a child's future success in kindergarten and throughout their primary education. sadly, we still have too many ohio children who are not prepared to enter kindergarten. so, we must do more, we must do more to ensure that all ohio children get to the starting line. that's we are revising ohio's child quality rating system to simplify and reduce paperwork. focus on better child outcomes. and for the first time ever, provide our quality programs access to curriculum is aligned with the science of reading. further, we're making childcare

more affordable and making it more accessible to ohio's workingil doing so, we will build today's workforce by getting people back to work and we will ensure thatd for the demands that lie ahead. with the help and support of the general assembly, we have expanded access to childcare in ohio's public preschool programs to greater eligibility and funding investments. as a result, we are now serving 16,000 more children today. and we are going to do even more. i'm very pleased to announce the creation of ohio's new childcare choice voucher program for ohio 200% of the federal poverty level or $60,000 for a family of four. this new program will provide financial support for 8000 more

ohio children. not only that, we will also be allocating federal funding, reallocating that federal funding to dedicate $85 million to create childcare access grants to improve and expand existing childcare facilitie■ns. [applause] and to help the many parents caring for their children with special needs who can't find childcare providers, we have created ohio promise. every childhood professional -- early childhood professionals learn how to care for and teach children with disabilities. the results have been good. in less than a year, over 2700 professionals have been trained. we have seen a 20% increase in the number of children with disabilities who are now being served. [applause]

by doing all of these things, we're helping more families. businesses will find more workers economy will thrive. when i think about how we can benefit of our children, i'm reminded of something that our high school principal, mr. john malone, once told fran and me. he said when it comes to education, only two things really matter. a willing■ student and a good teacher. a good teacher has the power to fundamentally change the course of a child's life. i'm sure that each one of us could recall at least one grade teacher who inspired us or motivated us, and really changed our lives. i want to take a moment to thank

all teachers in ohio. in the gallery with us today are ohio's 2024 teachers of the yewill you please stand so we cn give you applause? ohio's teachers of the year. [applae] #hwe also know that school building principles are vitally important to a school they determine the culture in the school. a great principal is the leader in the school who creates the

conditions for students and teachers alike to thrive. that is why i have directed our new department of education workforce to create a principal apprenticeship program so that aspiringals can watch veteran principals action through hands-on, in school training that will better prepare them for the challenges of the job of a principal. this builds on ohio's successful teacher apprenticeship program and will ensure schools across the state have the leadership that they need to succeed. [applause] let's talk for a moment about education requirements. ohio law today dictates that every student must have a plan on how they will meet their graduation requirements. yet, the law fails to require may the most important thing. a plan for students to find a

career they love and can excel at after graduation. every ohio student needs a graduation plan that includes not only how they meet their course requirements, but also what they intend to do post-graduation and how they intend to pay for it. today, i am asking the legislature to make a very simple fix in our statute. to insert career planning into existing graduation plan requirements so that every ohio student leaves school on a career pathway. [applause] d6fran and i want for all kids what we want for our own children, grandchildren, and now our great-granddaughter, who by the way, is up there. betty jane.

our new great-granddaughter. [applause] it's for them to find -- we want all of our kids and grandkids, and great grandkids that they something that they are deeply passionate about. for many ohio students, they find a pathway through career path. fran and i and the lieutenant governor have visited programs all across the state and they are doing some amazing things. ago, we were being turned away from tech because there was not enough room in the classes or not enough slots open in the student's area of interest. sometimes, the school did not have the right equipment or it was simply too old. with a strong supportive you, of this legislature, we have been making historic investments to

eliminate wait lists to ensure any ohio students that wants career tech education has access to it. [applause] because of your action in november, we were able to announce a $200 million grant to build new career tech classrooms. just last month, we awarded more than $67 million to programs for new equipment. as our high school students plan for their future, they need to options, certainly including career tech. members of the general assembly, let's you and i commit together that in the future, we will do what we have to do so that no ohio child who wants career tech is ever shut out of that because there simply is not room for them. [applause]

if ohio is to compete in the 21st century, we must have an all of the above attitude regarding education. just as we need welders, mechanics, those who understand advanced manufacturing, we also need chemists, we need engineers, we need researchers. need those with career tech credentials as well as those with clear, four-year and advanced degrees. we need to play to our strengths. we have a lot of them. we are blessed with great have become a net importer ofd college students from other states. but, we must keep more of our own students here in ohio. so, i want to thank the members of the general assembly for helping us to enable more ohio kids to go to collegenç■ in ohio

and then to stay in ohio to fulfill their dreams. since 2019, we have successfully persuaded all 14 universities in ohio, public universities, to provide fo room and board guarantees so that no ohio family will experience an increase in college coson [applause] when i came into office, ohio's need-based aid for college students, the opportunity grant, was cut nearly in half from its all-time high in the year 2007. we have now been restoring that aid with your help. for ohio's neediest students, and more than double the first student award. for students in stem fields, we have doubled funding for the choose ohio

scholarship. and the seniors that will be graduating in a few weeks will be the very first students to receive ohio's newerit scholarship, renewable for up to $5,000 for each four years. [appall these scholarships willp people ohio college students in ohio and i look forward to working with you, the general assembly, to keep even more students here in ohio. we used to look college. then in 2013, we changed that and we started holding colleges accountable for the number of those who actually graduate. it is now time to begin measuring how many of those who graduate have a job in six months. and if that job is related to their college degree. so today, i am asking that ohio

department of higher education toeges, our universities to begin collecting thiswhen pickir families deserve this information and we must make sure that they get it. [applause] now, when a child is not he althy, that child will not thrive in school so let me talk about children with vision problems. if the child has difficulty seeing, they will certainly have difficulty reading and difficulty learning. tragically, that is a case for too many ohio children today. today, all ohio children are required to get a vision screening test in school. but, other children who fail that screening test, the vast majority of them never get a comprensive follow-up eye exam

to determine if they need eyeglasses. that. it's wrong that in the third decade of the 21st century, tens of thousands of children in ohio who need eyeglasses are simply not getting them. however, there is good news. there are leaders across ohio who are demonstrating and doing greatget eyeglasses. for at sight for all united and athens eyecare of mobile clinic are bringing comprehensive follow-up eye exams directly to our schools. they are here with us today in the gallery. i would like for them to stand up. thank you for what you do. [applause]

their models work. and we must take these models statewide. today, i am announcing the creation of the children's vision strikeforce. this will not be a study mm problem and we know the solution. whether this group will work with vision care professionals in every corner of ohio to scale the proven models statewide and to provide schools with the technical assistance they need to implement these very important programs. ohio, sadly, has never had a statewide plan to ensure every ohio child that needs glasses will get glasses. now we do. [applause]

another challenge that we face is too many ohio children and adults live in communities where they don't have easy access to good, basic, primary health care. a number of ohio schools have partnered with hospital or other providers to bring primary care inside the school building for the benefit of the children and adults who live in the community. less than three miles from here, for example, nationwide children's hospital is serving the youth at east high school inside their school building. thanks to a clinic right on the school grounds, students are able to schedule appointments with health care professionals who will walk right in if they are sick. these clinics work. these clinics work because our schools are the heart and soul of our communities. it is where people are used to gathering and where people are comfortable going. they also have a significant

impact not just on students health, but also on their academic performance, including improved attendance, higher gpa's, great promotions, better college prep, and reduce rates of suspension. as part of the general assembly's historic investment in appalachia, we've enabled local communities to determine their revitalization priorities. we recently announced the new appalachia insurance health initiative which will be helping 20 ohio counties to create or expand community and school-based health clinics to serve at least 61,000 students and 375,000 residents in appalachia. i think it is important to note that these communities decided this was their top priority. today, i am asking every school in ohio to look at the hool-based model. it works.

take a look at it. talk to your communities about partnering with your local hospital or primary care clinics, community health centers, or children's hospitals. we want to help you get the technical expertise you need to build your own school-based health center, like how u use our student wellness and success funds to build a clinic. that money that you have provided over the years can be used for a clinic, it can be used tprovide that kind of care. so today, i am asking several of our state agencies to work together with school district leaders to provide needed technical assistance on how to utilize existing resources to build more high-quality, sustainable, school-based clinics. i want to talk now about the health of our youngest ohioans. we know the two biggest causes of death for infants are being born too early and not sleeping ■qin safe environments.

i want to thank the general assembly for working with us on so many initiatives over the past fivewith a focus on reducig premature births and encouraging safe sleep, we have helped thousands of pregnant women, new moms get medical care and other resources to access healthy food, breast-feeding support, baby cribs, and guidance on stress management. working together, we have greatly expanded our home visiting program where trained professionalme to the home of moms and parents to answer the many questions all new parents have. it is also a support when they are exhausted and worried. and help them und of healthy li. and we will be helping nearly 36,000 expected mothers this year to have healthy babies through our partnership with over 100 ob/gyn medical practices to offer comprehensive care. that means not just providing

prenatal clinical care, but also directing women to needed resours, services, including funding for housing, food, and transportation. [applause] i'm also pleased today to announce we will be launching a new pilot program in 11 ohio counties that we are calling family c connects. every new mom will be eligible in these 11 counties to receive a visit from a nurse about three weeks after delivering her baby. these visiting nurses can guide families to clinical or community supports, recognize when a mom and baby need additional help as a problems wh breast-feeding, and remind or teach new moms about how a baby can sleep safely. similar programs that we have looked at have shown a track

record of reducing infant mortality. in places where these programs have been implemented, rates of child protective service investigations have decreased by 44% and mothers have shown a 3% drop in postpartum depression and 50% reduction in emergency room visits. in our next budget, we will present next year, i will be asking you for additional support to take that family connects program statewide. when i took office, we started to reimagine health care in ohio. started by transformingre to foe health outcomes and less on the business of health care. historically, our system has paid for health care providers to provide care when you need that care. we don't generally reward doctors for actually keeping you healthy. well, we are changing that in a very big way. today, i am pleased to announce

the creation of a first of its kind partnership between the ohio department of medicaid, the ohio children's hospitals, and medicaid managed care plans to change how we deliver and coordinate care for our children. we are calling this historic undertaking the outcomes acceleration for kids learning network, or oak for short. we will no longer fos on sick care, but rather on wellcare. to do this, we will prioritize better managent of childhood asthma, annual welfare visits for children and adolescents, follow-up care for families room when their child has a mental health crisis, and access to the latest life-saving treatments for children living with sickle cell disease. let's take asthma as an example. it affects one in every 12 children in ohio. when asthma is not managed well, kids miss school, they cannot participate in sports, their

parents miss work and trips to the emergency room are too frequent. to manage asthma well, it requires taking the time to understand the needs and circumstances of the family. making sure they have access to care and to medications. ensuring the school nurse knows the child's asthma action plan. these holistic actions altogether are what kids and families need to manage asthma effectively. our new learning network will reward and incentivize her health care system in a new way to focus on asthma prevention. further, we have the abity to change the game for those children with sickle cell it is a condition that can cause organ damage and stroke, reduce the quality of life, shorten the lives of those who have it. more than 4500 ohio children

have sickle cell disease and roughly 95% of them are african-american. the disease impacts their lives in deep and profound ways. youth with sickle cell disease miss an average of 20 to 40 days of school each year. our network will help patients with effective management of this disease and will connect them to the resources and the newly approved life altering treatments that are now so, we believe that within three years, ohio can lead the nation in the treatment of sickle cell disease and actually cure the disease for ohio's sickest children. [applause]

as i have in my last two state of the state speeches, we focus our attention on mental health. because we all know we are in crisis, a crisis in this country. our children today are more isolated, more anxious, more depressed, and more suicidal. there are a lot of factors impacting behavioral health of our children. but likely number one on the list is the use of smartphones and access to social media. i want to talk about that right now. in his new book, "the anxious generation," author and social psychologist jonathan hite examines the impact that smartphones have had on this generation. e generation to go through puberty with instant and constant access to the internet. giving a generation of children smartphones, and these are the author's words, was "the largest

uncontrolled experiment humanity has ever performed on its own and that experiment has failed, and failed miserably. [applause] i want to take a moment to recognize my lieutenant governor, john husted, his wife tina who is up in the balcony. [applause] tina and john have started to crusade against smartphone use in schools, and for parental notication for children to use

social media. i am grateful for what they are doing. let's give them a round of applause again. recently, i joined the lieutenant governor and tina for around table discussion with educators about■- schools and their cell phone policies. what is happening today is bad. ?and if you don't believe me, talk to a teacher. talk to a principal, talk to a superintendent. they wl all tell you how distracting phones are in the classroom andi how negatively they can impact a child's mental health. when you talk to teachers in schools, schools that have actually removed phones during the lunch period, they will tell you that change is miraculous. guess what? without phones, the lunchroom is noisy again. instead of having their heads

n their phones, kids are talking and interacting and laughing and enjoying themselves. a number of ohio schools have made the decision to eliminate cell phone use during the school day and i believe clearly that is the right decision. [applause] thesph are clearly detrimental to learning. they're detrimental to our children's mental health. and they truly do need to be removed from our classrooms in ohio. i want to thank the members of the general assembly who have taken on this issue. that includes stephanie cousy, bill morrow, steve demetrio, and tom young. senator andy brenner is working on an amendment requiring all ohio schools to adopt a

smartphone policy that will minimize phone usage by students in the classroom and make those policies available■ and encourage the general assembly to take this up legislation and quickly. [applause]ewine: further, we neo go after the social media companies that are targeting ou monetizing that addiction. what they are doing is shamful. last year as part of our budget i signed a law requiring parental consent for children understood 16 to use social media. got to get the parents' permission first. however, as you tphoe a federal judge hasson joined the will you from going into effect.

but while it would be best that the federal government set a national standard they have not acteded a we cannot and should not wait. let's take the lessons we are learning from courtrooms across the country and develop a plan a blueprint for putting parents, not social media companies back in charge of the digital lives of their children.c' i believe we can craft law that is informed that is expressed by the words of judge marbling and all the things in the law you previously passed. so i'm asking you to work with us to get this done. we simply have no time tosome c

extremely complex behavioral healthcare needs. if it is not your own child it is hard to manual what these parents are going through. so i want to share part of a letter a sphoerpt to me about her son. i'm an adopted mother with three kids inclu son tom. he has been physically and sexually abused starting at age five. in recent years he started acting out and became physically aggressive hittingng furniture, to hurtknives. i was scared every day and forward for the safety of our other kids. one occasion we had to lock ourselves and the other kids in the basement while we called the police to restrain our son. as a result of what he's been through he ran away, started using drugs to cope and was

physically aggressive toward a. convenience store ownerment he was arrested and locked$?■ and needed was treatment. end of quote. these are not isolated cases. this is the reality of life for a lot of ohio parents and too t turn. and, really, they have been pretty much ignored. we are now giving line through our ohio rise program created two years ago connecting families and children who have the most complicated needs to appropriate care and do all of this in ohio. all of these children need more than a doctor. they need therapists, prescribers, teachers, school counselors, other caring people to help them. families who participate in ohio rise are assigned a hands on coordinator to bring these

professionals together to plan and manage care with the goal of keeping children in their homesed a their families together. since i delivered my state of the state address last year we have added 14,000 more ohio children to ohio rise. today we are serving 32,000 children and families, 11,000 getting very intensive care including tom. his mother went on to say in the letter with nowhere else to turn relinquishing tom was my own option until cooked with ohio rise. we now have a team of professionals to support tom and or family and we found a residential facility where being live and intensive treatment he needs. and we

are able to visit him often. ohio rise helped my family connect with therapy following the incident and aware healing. [applause] -- and we are healing. this is what complete wraparound care should look like. because no child, no parent, no family, should ever walk alone. one of the biggest complaints i hear as i travel around ohio is families that don't know where to turn we their child is in a mental health crisis. so we are increasing the availability of immediate healthcare at the right place at the right time at mobile response stabilization services. these services are similar to what first responders do when they show up for a physical health emergency in the community. or mobile crisis response units

would deploy within 60 minutes directly to the youth experiencing distress. a team of transcend professionals will conduct dees situations and offer peer support among other services. when i took office 13 ohio counties will mobil response stabilization services. today, with your help, we are now in 38 ohio counties andintel 88 counties so no matter where you live, if your child is in mental health crisis that child will be able to get immediate care. [applause]=■ gov. dewine: when we talk about expanding mental health treatment one of our greatest challenges is having enough professionals in the mental

health field. the demand for behavioral health servicesrefast as the increase in the workforce. so it is critical that more people go into the community based community healthcare. we must dramaticallyn= increase the pool of people. and all of us, our career tech centers, colleges, universities, all of us must work aggressively as the demand for these jobs is astounding. by the end of this decade ohio will need 4,500 new chemical dependent r depend si, 4300 new social workers, hundreds of new psychiatrists. with generous support from you we have created the great minds fellowship to attract 4,000 new behavioral health officialless. if you are pursuing a degree in

the area you can get $10,000 toward your education before you graduate. it ia have to pay pack. in ohio's colleges and universities have the funds available right now. they have those available right now to spend on these students. therefore, i'm calling on ohio college for year and two-year to find these students, recruit tell. get the money in their hands and get them started in school. it will make a huge difference. [applause] gov. dewine: i want to turn to foster care. in my career i focused on the need of children who arela fost. we have made hick investments. with your help to help these kids. as a result, 1,000 fewer ohio

children foster care than when i took office. while that is progress, we must and can do better. currently there are more than 1800 foster children in group settings because they are not foster families willing or comfortable enough to take on the significant behavioral and health exams and complex needs these children present. and though some need to be in congress degree -- congregate care the best place is in as to terror h with adults who love them. there's great work going on in northwest ohio with sandusky, seneca ottawa, wyandotte counties have recruited foster parents to help children with the most complex needs and created a situation for a child

to remain at home in a family. represents from these counties are with us in the gallery today and i want you to stand and give tell a an applause for the work they are doing.■ [applause] gov. dewine: we are now replicating what they are doing through a pilot program that will help more counties recruit and create foster homes providing one-on-one help for families and crisis downing and training so childre needs can stay in a home with a loving family that can remain actively involved in that child's treatment process.

that is the goal. we are expanding that and we will continue to expand it. i'm also very excited to announce on fran's new effort to get those in foster care signed up to receive a monthly book from the dolly parton imagination library. [applause] gov. dewine: we are doing this by our department of children youth being a new affiliate organization. they have developed a system to keep mailing addresses updated so when a child moves around the monthly boo delivery will always follow them. so, starting this summer 5,000 children in ohio's foster care system will begin receiving a age appropriate work from the dolly parton imagination

library. my friends, we have accomplished big things together so it is really no wonder that pennsylvania, as governor shapiro put it -- and i quote the governor -- is sick and tired of losing to frigging -- gov. dewine: think about it. employment is at historic lows, the job market is booming and unlike the federal government ohio has the credit rating possible. [applause] gov. dewine: we are a national leader in aerospace.

we are making great progress protecting lake erie and other ohio water way he's through h2 ohio. we have an outstanding state fair that is better thanks to your invest manies. in a few weeks we will open ohio's 76th state park and they all remain free. and the ceremonial earth week, are a unesco world heritage site. i'm so grateful for all we have been ablure together. but we've more to do. additional urgent issues that we must address. let me talk for a moment about them. first, intoxicating camp known as delta 8. it is phone easily accessible to

kids in gas stations and convenience stores.■x it is disguised as candy, gummies, even breakfast cereal. it can cause hall laws nation, vomiting, dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness. just in the cases that were reported to the ohio spoken control center there were 100 delta 8 poisonings last year. those, 40 were children five or younger. that is just what was reported. further a recent national survey of 12th graders found over 11 had used delta 8 the pass year. because of a loophole in the law it can be sold as hemp without the warning restrictions of marijuana. we know the companies that produce and sell the products intentionally market them to our

children. members of the general assembly today i'm asking you to pass legislation to ban the sale of these dangerous products to our children. [applause] gov. dewine: then there's marijuana. we must respect the will of ohio voters, absolutely. absolutely. however, i doubt if very many people voted yes on issue two want theirathing in marijuana smoke while walking in a public park, or a sidewalk to ball practice or smelling the stench of it walking from a parking lot to a guardians or

reds game. that's not what people voted for. but make no mistake about it, that is what the current law allows anue to allow until we do something about it. we owe it to or families to -- to our families to change that and you have the power to do that. i ask you to exercise that power. it is not what people want tdwa. [applause] gov. dewine: now, let's not forget about the tobacco cotinue to target our kids eager to adick the next generation through cigarettes, vaping and tphraeufrdz products. nearly youths 12 to 17 have used a tobacco product reported that the first product they ever tried wasflavored.

the biden administration has the authority to stop the sale of flavored to be products including menthol cigarettes and flavored vaping rods but they have not done so. i urge them to do that. but i think we have all learned that we can't depend on washington. we have an obligation to protect ohio children and we have the ability to do that. now, i understand the desire for you to form it statewide so i'm asking y tss a uniform state law banning flavored vaping and flavored cigarettes. we need to protect our kids. gov. dewine:no the ohio juvenile justice working group and asked them to.

i was intentional in involving skwraoufr -- juvenile jobs bass of their commitment to building programs to serve youth so they can remain with their families. the judges do a good job. the working group will review the wellxz■u system and develop recommendations on behavioral health. safety operation staffing and the pop lease served. these recommendations will include, one of them is placing facilities. so i will be asking you in the implement that very specific recommendation. we can't talk about the health of childrewithout talking about gun violence. we have dedicated hundreds millions of dollars with year help to help ohio cities and

local law enforcement to protect citizens with investments in crime prevention technology and higher staffing levels for the local police departments. we have september in our ohio state highway patrol authority and ohio investigative unit to work side by side with local police officers to search into high crime areas to prevent violence and gets guns out of the hands of those who are illegally armed. in cleveland, for example, alone we supported authorities in recenting more than 100 suspects and seizing more than 450 illegally possessed firearms to police, to ohio's local safety directors, our team is rdy and willing to search in and help. just call us. we will be there.

we also obligation to keep our children safe on ohio roads thank you for passing the distracted driving action the l manyng saved. a study released last week says it has prevented 3600 crashes, 2,000 injuries and saved 17 lives. we also know that a primary seat belt will you with traveling on highways. here are the statistics, and they are not good. ohio is 10th from the bottom of all states in seat belt use. while the national average for seat belt use is 91%, ohio's number is only■h 81%.

91, 82. and sadly, our youngest drivers have the lowest rate of all. that is why i will come to you with a proposa young people's lives and adults through a primary seat belt law. we will be bringing that to you. [applause] gov. dewine: before we conclude i want to take a moment to remember the five respected former leaders from this body who died since the start of this year. former senate president stan arenof. former speaker of the house chuck curtis. former majority majority leader edds■ grey and c.j. apprentice

and former minority whip bridgett kelly. each of them embodied what is truly gate about ohio. by always looking to the rising sun, focusing on what is important to ohio families, an fighting for the betterment of the whole state. they wilmissed, but they will always be [applause] gov. dewine: in january, fran and io host at the governor's residence and honor some of the most heroic figures that have defined

nation's aerospace history. they came to ohio for then valleying of ohioans in space. the grant painting of the ohio space legends john glenn, neil armstrong, jim level. resnik and gene they take their place in our rotunda brothers. it was a thrill to meet and listen to toledo native gene kranz who tkrbged a number of missions. he spoke of our early space pioneers w great person risk in the name of eagerly accepted president kennedy's challenge to put the american flag on the moon. they were children of the

depression, first generation college graduates who grew up on farms. they were leaders and team builders. they stood for something greerm. they loved their country and vowed to serve. always grounded in the strong work ethic and deeply held values they were from their own parents. and they all have big dreams. tomorrow will be the 54th anniversary of the liftoff of apollo gene krans was the mission flight director and general level was the mission commander. on the third day an only tank exploded damaging the spacecraft forcing crew into a line knar module supported for two days and it became their life boat for nearly four days. but this was their time in

history. failure as we know it was never going to be an option for tell. this ingenious currentous reso takers managed to return the spacecraft safely to earth coming done section days after it began. we asked if he believed this was going to be nasa's darkest potomac, he said no. this will be our fineest hour. o this is now our time in history. and we must act with great urgency to not squander this precious finite window of opportunity when our children are growing up. this is our time to meet the challenges that i have laid out today. to do the hard things tha matter. it will make a lasting difference for o children and the future of ohio. this is our time.

our time to chart a path forward as we protect our most precious resource, our children. we must protect our children so our newborn babies can grow and thrive, so kids are healthier and more resilient and learn to read and go to school, find a career they are passionate about and ultimatelyto thriving productive ohio adults together, to work together to be resourceful, to be h]innovative to be optimistic, to inspire and, yes, and when we do this and when we do this, this will be ohio's finest hour. thank you, may god bless ohio. [applause]■xo4"■ today, first fm

former president trump, and then from of manhattan d.a. alvin