[applause] before i leave the topic of educates, i want to thank secretary mark holliday for all his hard work. mark, please stand. [applause] mark was a teacher, a principal and a superintendent before he took the job as cabinet secretary. and his leadership has been tremendous, study and strong. over the past 19 months, secretary holliday chaired the public education compensation committee. the group studiedinger pay, and they presented a recommendation for paying our teachers what they deserve. i'm determined to win the competition with the states around as. we want the best educators working right here in the first state. that's why my budget fully funds the first year of those recommendations for educators, building on the raise that you passed and i signed into law last year. if we stick the to the plan, we will raise teachers' starting salaries to $60,000 over the next four years. let's get it done together. [applause] i would like to take a moment now to recognize our lieutenant governor long has been a real partner over these past seven years. she's a nurse, as you all know