>> [ applause ] >> thank you, guys.

>> please be seated. >> lt. governor ivey, speaker hubbard, president marsh, distinguished guests, members of the alabama legislature, chief justice moore, justices of the alabama supreme court - and my fellow alabamians.

the poorest county in the united states of america is located just 73 miles from where we sit tonight. if we were to drive a little over an hour from this historic hall we would find ourselves in wilcox county where the median household income is below that of any other county in this nation. 11-thousand of our fellow alabamians live in wilcox county where the unemployment rate is chronically in double digits and consistently ranks above the national average. everyone in this room knows alabama is one of the poorest states in america, where one in four children live in poverty. nearly 1-million of our fellow alabamians are dependent on food stamps.

the statistics are sobering. the facts are indisputable. never ending cycles of a need for jobs, better job skills and better education, plague our communities, counties and state as they have for years. we recognize the challenges that we face and we resolve to reverse the trends that have troubled our state for decades. alabama is truly a great state. it's a state filled with hard working people, people who want to provide well for their families, seek to live freely and are driven to care for their neighbors, friends and communities. good people live here. and we must all serve them and

offer them greater opportunity to prosper if we are to ever see our state rise from the depths of deficiency. we will never see an end to the plague of poverty by offering a deeper dependence on a flawed government system. we will never help our poorest citizens, or our future generations by casting over them the net of federal government giveaway programs.

poverty, but not with programs that drag our communities and our people into the downward spiral of dependence. "we will help no one if we continually make decisions that ultimately offer little hope for our citizens while driving this great nation deeper into debt. there is never freedom for the breadwinner who is dependent on the government. freedom is only found in the land that offers opportunity. that comes from hard work and sacrifice. the people of alabama deserve

the opportunity to find a job that pays well - more than enough than to just make ends meet. our hard-working neighbors deserve an opportunity to acquire the skills needed to get a great job that pays well. an opportunity for their children to receive a quality education even at an early age so they have a fighting chance to compete in school. an opportunity for a lifeline out of the cycle of poverty and dependence by a government that doesn't solve problems with more spending, but with saving the taxpayer's money. that opportunity is here. in alabama. it continues to grow and is available to anyone who seeks to find it. opportunity is being found in over 40,000 new, future alabama jobs that have been created since i became your governor. these are the higher-paying, higher-skilled jobs that offer families a steady income, not just a wage. these are jobs that are waiting

to be filled in brand new manufacturing plants being built as we speak. one-thousand alabamians are finding that opportunity in mobile where airbus has invested $600 million dollars to produce the first a320 family aircraft at its ultramodern facility once it is completed in 2015. [[ applause ] >> boeing is building one of its five research facilities in huntsville where the aerospace giant will bring up to 400 more high paying jobs. nine-hundred more people are working this year assembling montgomery-made hyundai vehicles, which account for more than half of the company's record breaking sales.

1400 new jobs are coming to tuscaloosa's mercedes plant to produce two new models. 600 more jobs have been added at their new logistics hub. toyota is expanding its huntsville engine plant, the only location in the world where the automaker produces four-cylinder, v6 and v8 engines. in lincoln last spring, honda launched mass production of its 2014 acura mdx sport utility vehicle, the first time the automaker has assembled a vehicle from its luxury line in the state. word is spreading far and wide that alabama is a great place for companies to do business. there are over 60 japanese companies in alabama. two months ago i had the opportunity to travel there to

recruit more jobs and strengthen relationships with japan's biotech industry. during the trip, i sat on the bus next to the ceo of otsuka, the parent company of pharmavite in lee county. i told him about uab and southern research institute, and the work they do in the fields of bio-tech research. as a result next week, otsuka will be meeting with those institutions to explore ways they can work together in the research and development of new products. companies, like otsuka, have quickly recognized, as others have, that we have a positive business climate and that our job training program is second to none. but without doubt our greatest asset for any industry is our workforce, the men and women of

this state who get up every day and go to work to produce, build and develop a product, a good or a service that is made in alabama. i have seen for myself the pride, skill and dedication of the men and women who work in alabama's industries as i've traveled across this state on our road to economic recovery tours. in fayette, i saw workers weld together dump truck beds. in clarke county i watched as skilled craftsmen carved out church pews, and i saw workers in franklin county assemble motorhomes known the world over. and at hyundai, they now work around the clock to meet the world's growing appetite for alabama-made cars. montgomery workers broke the facility's monthly production record three times last year. watching these men and women work on the assembly line, i

have never been more convinced the best workforce in the country is right here in alabama. [[ applause ] [ applause ] alabama. >> and nothing is more important to me than making sure there are well-paying jobs for our people. alabama has seen remarkable job growth since i took office in 2011. between january 2011 and last november, alabama saw an increase of 59,400 jobs. that is in addition to those 40,000 new future jobs we've created. companies have invested over $5 billion in our state. and unemployment in alabama has

dropped to a five year low, and now stands at 6.2 percent, the lowest rate in the deep south [ applause ] >> alabama once again ranks among the top five states for doing business - for the fourth year in a row. but we must not stop here. we have to keep working to make sure we are doing all we can to not only help people find jobs, but also help businesses continue to create those jobs, especially the nearly 400,000 small businesses in the state. that is why i am creating the small business advisory council to address specific needs of alabama's small businesses. nearly half of alabama's private sector workforce is found in small businesses.

the small business advisory council will focus on making sure they have the resources and support needed to not only grow their business, but to create well-paying jobs for the people of this state. we must create greater opportunity for alabamians to acquire the skills needed for higher paying jobs. companies are looking for and jobs are waiting for skilled workers. in athens, tr electrical is a small family-owned company i visited last year. business is good, but to keep up with demand, they need more skilled electricians. that's why we created the governor's college and career ready task force. we brought together leaders in the fields of business, industry and education to develop ideas to help prepare students for a

career. the task force recently presented a number of recommendations that will result in a constant supply of high school and college graduates who have the skills industries and businesses such as tr electrical want. we will present legislation creating a statewide workforce council of business and industry leaders who will advise educators and colleges on the workforce needs on the types of jobs needed in each region. we will expand the number of career coaches. we will expand dual enrollment programs, so that students may attend high school and a 2-year college at the same time. [ applause ]

>> we will also develop a marketing campaign and put a greater emphasis on teaching essential skills. once implemented this program will improve high school graduation rates and increase the number of higher-skilled workers. from north alabama to south alabama, we have positioned ourselves for what i believe will be tremendous growth for generations to come. at the gulf coast we will build a lodge and meeting facility and improve the gulf state park for all the people of alabama to enjoy, with funds we secured from a portion of the bp oil settlement. in north-central alabama we will soon begin the study and research of one of this state's greatest energy resources.

7-point-5 billion barrels of oil are located on the surface and subsurface in north-central alabama, in the form of oil sands. e this year we will create the alabama oil sands program at the geological survey and oil and gas board to further study this potentially rich resource. each of alabama's 67 counties has been given the opportunity to recruit more jobs, thanks to the largest road and bridge improvement program ever conducted in the state. when companies look for places to build, expand and hire more people, they look for places that have good infrastructure. the alabama transportation

rehabilitation and improvement program, atrip - along with its program, atrip - along with its companion program, the rural assistance match program, known as ramp are making over $1 billion available to counties and cities, and allowing -- [ applause ] >> >> and allowing much-needed road and bridge projects to move forward. today more than one thousand road and bridge improvement projects are underway or soon will be because of atrip and ramp. alabamians elected us, and have expected us to operate their state government more efficiently, and to live within our means.

when we entered office in 2011, our state was broke. we took a serious look at all areas of state government to identify savings. thanks to the hard work of lieutenant governor ivey, speaker hubbard, president marsh and the legislature, we made history in the state of alabama. tonight i'm proud to tell the hard working people of this state that we did what we set out to do. in just three years' time, we have reduced this state's bureaucracy at the third fastest pace of any other state in this nation - and saved our taxpayers over one billion dollars. [ applause ]

>> we also remain steadfastly committed to paying off our debts. one year ago, i stood here and promised i would sign legislation to pay back millions of dollars the people allowed us to borrow from the alabama trust fund. that transfer allowed us to prop up lack of funding in the state's general fund, kept alabamians working, and enabled us to continue to provide essential government services. that was the first bill passed by this legislature, and i signed it. and in october, because of conservative budgeting and an improving economy, we made

substantial progress in our commitment to paying off millions of dollars still owed to the education trust fund's rainy day account. we must keep our word to the people of this state, and we must pay our debts. [ applause ] >> >> and that's exactly what we are going to do. debt is one of the greatest threats to our country today. our nation is now buckling under the weight of a federal government that has continued to take on debilitating debt.

we've opened the doors of dependency programs to millions. our nation is an overloaded ship, slowly sinking as even more passengers come on board. exactly fifty years ago, this nation's president declared a war on poverty, with sweeping new legislation aimed at lowering the poverty rate in this country. but this war did little to liberate its people. the national poverty rate now stands at 15 percent, and has changed very little over the last 50 years. in alabama, the poverty rate is even higher, with some counties as high as 36-percent. this war gave our country a new set of federal government-run programs, intended to offer assistance, or a safety net for

americans who are struggling. those programs today have grown, expanded and have become a lumbering giant threatening our nation's economic stability, national security and the very freedom of our people. the affordable care act - or obamacare and medicaid expansion is taking our nation deeper into the abyss of debt, and threatens to dismantle what i believe is one of the most trusted relationships, that of doctors and their patient. and their patient. essential to obamacare is medicaid expansion - a federal government dependency program for the uninsured, which is administered by states.

administered by states. since 1980, medicaid spending has increased nationally by over 1500-percent. 1500-percent. here in alabama, medicaid takes up 35% of our general fund. up 35% of our general fund. under obamacare, medicaid would grow even larger - bringing millions more people to a state of dependency on government, and saddling our state and our nation - the taxpayers - with the enormous expense. the enormous expense. here in alabama alone, an estimated 300-thousand more people would be added to the medicaid role, to a system that by our own admission is absolutely broken and flawed. absolutely broken and flawed. the federal government has said they will give us money to expand. expand. but how can we believe the federal government will keep its word?

the anything but affordable care act has done nothing to gain our trust. trust. first, they told us we could keep our doctor - that turned out not to be true. out not to be true.c next, they told us we could keep our policy - that's not true. our policy - that's not true. then they told us our premiums would not go up - nothing could be further from the truth. be further from the truth. now they are telling us we'll get free money to expand medicaid. medicaid. ladies and gentlemen, nothing is free. 1y50irbgsz [ applause ] >> the money the federal government is spending with wild abandon is not federal dollars - those are your dollars, your hard-earned tax dollars. there is no difference between federal money and your money.

our great nation is 17-point-2 trillion dollars in debt and it increases by $2 billion every single day. that is why i cannot expand medicaid in alabama. [ applause ] >> we will not bring hundreds of thousands into a system that is broken and buckling. the patient protection and affordable care act is everything but affordable. there are 18 new taxes embedded in obamacare and medicaid expansion, which will cost you an estimated $800 billion in the next 8 years. it is draining our state budgets, and will siphon

millions of dollars from our education budget by 2016 - that's money that could have been spent on teachers, students and support personnel. it does not protect patients. only half of all of alabama's primary care doctors will even see a medicaid patient. if we were to add 300,000 to medicaid - where would they receive care? already in alabama, because of obamacare, over *87-thousand people have seen a change in their coverage, and you or someone you know has likely seen your premiums double. business and job growth is being stifled. employers are leaving positions unfilled, or laying off workers

so they can fall under the employee threshold that would require them to participate in obamacare and medicaid expansion, or face penalties.

with legislation passed last year we are establishing regional care organizations, which will use community-based, managed care to improve the health of those on medicaid, and lowering the cost to taxpayers. lowering the cost to taxpayers. these reforms will serve three groups, patients who are receiving care, providers who are working to manage patient if state's do not stand firm and say "no more", there will be no one left to stop the out of control spending in washington.

i love alabama. and i love america. if we continue down this path, the america our founding fathers envisioned will no longer exist. gone will be the promise that was once based on opportunity, independence and individual liberties. nearly 1 million people in alabama are on medicaid. it is not my goal to put more people on medicaid but to have less. it is not my intent to put able-bodied individuals on a government dependency program. we will encourage our people with the opportunity for education and employment. it will not happen overnight, but i truly believe where there

is opportunity, and training for higher paying, higher skilled jobs there is greater capacity for independence and less people will be dependent on government. there is no greater opportunity we can give an alabama child in poverty than a chance to excel in school. so many of our children need this opportunity - but too few have access to it. and the earlier they begin receiving a quality education, the better chance they have at success. alabama is home to one of the nation's top pre k programs.

last year we opened 100 new pre k sites, and i can tell you, pre k sites, and i can tell you, pre k is making a real difference in the lives of alabama's children. first class pre k children consistently miss fewer days of school, they are less likely to need special education services and are less often retained than those children who are not in those children who are not in pre k. third-graders who were in pre k scored at 100% reading proficiency. but the most significant result of children in pre k is the impact on those who live in poverty, from low-income families. pre k closed the achievement gap for lower income students by as much as 29%.

because of these proven results, i'm including more funding for voluntary pre k in my budget, so that we can once again expand. [ applause ] >> nothing is more important to a child's education than their teacher. and i truly appreciate the sacrifices our teachers have made. last year alabama teachers received a 2 percent increase in pay. this year i am proposing another 2 percent increase for teachers - and support personnel. state employees have also made sacrifices that have enabled us to balance our budgets.

that is why i lifted the merit pay freeze on state employees two weeks ago. we are still optimistic and if the money is available, will propose a conditional pay raise up to 4% for state employees. [ applause ] >> we've assembled in this chamber tonight, marking the beginning of another session of the alabama legislature. and most of us in this room have one thing in common: we have been chosen by the men and women of this state to serve our fellow citizens.

we have been elected - chosen - charged with the task of making our state better than it was when we first came into office. we have been all placed here to create opportunity, not just for the men and women of one county or one district, but for the over 4-million alabamians who make our state so great. wilcox county, alabama - the poorest county in the united states hasn't seen a new major industry since man set foot on the moon. when i became your governor, i had one goal in my mind. i truly wanted to help all the people of this state - especially in disadvantaged areas, such wilcox county.

my first week in office, i met with golden dragon copper tubing, and recruited that company not just to our state - but the area that included pine hill in wilcox county. in a few weeks golden dragon will begin production in its brand new 100-million dollar plant. working there will be a man named william ausbon. william lives 10 minutes from the plant, in pine hill. he lost his job in october 2012. and for one year he was another statistic, another percentage point in wilcox county's high

unemployment rate. then golden dragon started hiring and a year later william got a job. a really good job. i'm honored that william and his wife toshika are here tonight as mine and dianne's special guest. i'd like for you to meet him. (please stand. applause)

this is our role, to create an environment where there is opportunity for people to get a good job, to train and get the skills they need, to get a good education at an early age and to continually encourage people to break free of the bondage of dependency, to stand on their own two feet, and we do this by giving him or her an opportunity for - and the satisfaction of having a job. [ applause ]

>> william is why i am here. he is who i work for. and alabamians just like him are why we are all here. we should never forget that. [ applause ] god bless you all, and god bless the great state of alabama.

>> the the governor positives final state the state before election gave a fiery comments about not expanding the state medicare statement. the article included reaction from the state legislators. the state house minority leader, a democrat said the governor was running against the president of the united states instead of the governor. many said the governor was inline with what they thought. >> democratic governor delivered mary land's state of the state.

>> treasure cop, attorney general, governor hews, governor glen bening, attorney general kern, cheap journalling barbara, colleagues from city and county

government. to all of the people contributing to the life of the state. and to my mom who is with us today. [ applause ] >> mom, thank you for raising me with an appreciation and a love for the tide of our state's history. members of the hardest working cabinet in america, men and women of the maryland general ass assembly. there is one more person i would like to a specially acknowledge this day. she has been at my side every day for 23 years. she is my best friend, my partner in life and the finest

mother anyone would want. [ applause ] >> over the course of these seven years you and i have carried commitment. it is commitment to a better future. a better future that our children deserve. a commitment founded on the belief we share in the dig nity of every individual. a commitment strengthened by the

belief we believe to increase the common good and the belief we hold that we are in this together and each of us is needed in god's eyes. i have seen this commitment in the eyes of our teachers, firefighters, police officers and in the eyes of the veteran and their brave, brave families. in the quite hard working moms and dads throughout our state. it is a commitment that has been shared by each of you who have the privilege to represent the citizens of maryland in this historic place. i remember well the first time i set foot in this building as a young boy with my father. he was a lawyer and he had a case here in annapolis at the court of appeals.

he took me by the hand as we climbed the step and brought me to the room where general washington gave this authority over the army back to the representatives of the people. and in that doorway, he leaned down to me and he explained to me significance of this house chamber. the duties of the men and women we elect to serve here. i was awed by the fact that this is the place where we have come together as a people for over 200 years to make a better life. to make this place, our place, a better place. it has been a tremendous and humbling honor to have been able to serve the people of our state

through difficult and important dates with each and everyone of you, all of us together. on this occasion, we take time to reflect on the way we have travelled and where we have come. through the longest wars in america history and the greatest recession since the great depression. our goals as an administration have remained truth. to improve the middle class, improve public safety and public education and expand opportunity to more people rather than fewer. the opportunity to learn and to earn. the opportunity to enjoy our own health. and the health of the people we love. and the health of this land we love. the chesapeake, the mountains of western maryland and the marshes

of the eastern shore. today because of the hard work and courage of our people i can report to you that the state of our state is strong and is growing stronger by the day. [ applause ] >> in fact, not only is maryland stronger than before. it is cleaner, smarter, safer, more competitive than she was before the recession hit. think back. whether we took office maryland had a $1.7 billion structural deficit. no sooner did we take action and

then had recession hit. and families struggled. even as we fought to help every family we could and save every job we could, our state revenues took a huge hit right along with family incomes. since that time, we have used the challenge of these times to make our government more efficient and more effective. we have cut spending by $9.1 billion. we have made more cuts than any administration in modern maryland history. we have the smallest executive branch we have had in the government since 1973. and the budget i give you last week puts us on the track to eliminate the structural deficit

without any new taxes. we remain one of six states that have remained a triple bond rating all through the recession and to this day. [ applause ] >> we have built up our rainy day fund now to $800 million dollars and placed this year an operating surplus of $37 million dollars. cuts are only part of the story. no state cuts their way to prosperi prosperity. we have made investments to educate, innovate, rebuild, grow jobs and create more economic opportunity. this is what a balanced approach is all about. seven years agree we were failing to live up to many cases of the state's full potential.

seven years later we are not just one maryland, in many cases we are now number one maryland. [ applause ] >> just listen with me for a quite moment here. maryland today is number one in the student's ap successes for seven years in a row. number one in education for five years in a row. number one in holding down the cost of college tuition. number one in innovation for two years in a row according to the united states chambers of commer commerce. number one in sciences and also businesses owned by women. and number one in median household income. this is what the people in our state have achieved and together

we can applaud their accomplishments. [ applause ] >> now seven years ago in response to the desires of our people, we set out in this administration to governor in a fundamentally different way: setting goals, measuring performance, hitting deadlines, making progress for you to see and me to see. every day the test of any policy, action, has been whether or not it is actually working. working to produce the intended results. in the past our states and indeed our country have been governed by a top-down approach. shattering orders from above. but that is not the world we

live in. this generation isn't about command and control. this generation seeks good ideas on level ground everywhere. it is operationally colaberative. it is the new way. this generation wants its government to be accountable for its actions and accountable for the results that we seek. today in maryland you can go online right now and see 16 strategic goals that we have set for our state's progress in the areas of job creation, education, security, sustainability and health. on some of these we have exceeded our initial goal. on others we are making progress. and on a few we have a longer way to go. progress requires accountability. but accountability means putting

your commitment out there for us to know and see. and hopefully help us drive. the people are in charge. one example, in 2007 one of the goals we publicly set was to acchel drive down our infant mortality rate by 2012. a lot of people counseled be not to make it public. you see the old way of thinking says elected officials should never set measurable results with deadlines because you are criticized if you fall short. we set real goals with specific and immediate deadlined. we published plans and called upon the public to hold us countable and achieve the results we are seeking together.

we used the pressure of that public awareness to drive for maximum results. we had driven down the rate not just by 10% but by 21%. [ applause ] >> in more real terms that is 164 lives saved. as you might have guessed, the reward for hitting or exceeding your goal is set an even higher goal. so we have. in order to save more lives and we are in it together. goals. deadlines. performance measures. doing what works and doing serves. this is how we create jobs as

wellism we are one of 17 states that has recovered all of the jobs we lost in the national recession. [ applause ] >> one more fact and since the lowest point of the recession, we have now achieved the fastest rate -- the fastest rate of new job growth of any state in your region. this is how we drive to get attainment. this is how we improve to get public safety. today with law enforcement officers we have now reduced violent crime to 30 years low. with our first responders, traffics deaths have been reduced to lowest levels in

decades. we enacted common sense measures to reduce gun violence. we repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life without parole and now there are fewer people in carcrated than since 1994. goals, deadlines and performance measures are huwe are making the air and water cleaner. we have planted more trees than ever before. we have added more renewable energy grid than any time 85 years ago. more farmers are planting cover crop to reduce nutrient runoff than over before.

maryland passed the milestone of preserving one million acres for our children's future. and together, we have taken the strongest actions in decades to make the chesapeake bay cleaner. bringing back oyster population. cleaning up the bay and meeting the two-year action stones. allowing less nitrogen and that is the long term restoration of the bay. [ applause ]

... [applause] and said the children of new american immigrants can realize

their full potential, we passed the. >> translator: tier in maryland. [applause] end to protect the dignity of every child's home in the inshore equal rights under the law for all marilyn beers we passed marriage equality. [applause] unborn but for all of our achievements being accountable also means acknowledging when we have fallen short. the health care website fail to perform as desired with launched a source of great frustration. especially for those who were looking forward to obtaining health care for the very first time in their lives. my administration and i have thus succeeded it every first try, but we have never ever given up. we learn from both success and failure.

sometimes failure it's the deepest. we will continue to improve. we will continue to help the city health care, and we will continue to enroll as many marilyn beers as possible by the march 301st deadline. [applause] but let's not lose sight of the larger goal. we have already dealt extended health care coverage since the beginning of this administration to 453,000 people, many of them, as i said, were children who did not have coverage before. nl dates president obama and the affordable care act, not a single person can be denied coverage because of a prior existing condition, and no one can be dropped by an insurance company when they become sick. [applause]

and with which to that governor brown fifth and, i must add, the support of our congressional delegation. we earlier this month embarked on a new and better way to improve wellness and reduce overall health care costs. let me talk with this for a second. you see the old paris system for health care is encouraged to the volume of services instead of the wellness of our people. the building system that made it look as if even the hospital these hospitals. but not anymore. this new approach will change our payments system to reward hospitals for actually keeping people well. it has been described by health

care experts in the "washington post" as without any question the boldest proposal in the united states in the last half century. ten of our 44 hospitals have already moved to this the payments system. part rey with nursing homes, public-health agencies to a primary-care doctors, well as professionals, and others to actually keep the communities they serve of here. it works. it achieves results. is a better way. you see, for us here in maryland the question is never been about whether we move left or right. it's always about whether we move forward back. which is to move forward. the progress is the choice. we have important work to accomplish this year. with all the strides we've made in education, this session we had the ability to advance towards universal pre k.

this session we have the responsibility and the opportunity to improve our laws to better protect the victims of domestic violence first. we also have the chance recession to come together to forge consensus to let and raise the minimum wage in maryland. [applause] to strengthen and grow our middle-class, is destructive and grow our middle-class. this has been the north star of everything this umbrella brand administration has been about. our fiscal discipline, strategic investment, are different way of

governing and openly, transparently, setting goals in order to achieve results. together in maryland we have invested dearly in through recession and the revenue hit, we have invested dili to improve education. why? because it is the ladder to success. we are investing more than ever in our transportation infrastructure in order to get more of our people back to work. we raise the erin income-tax credit. why? in order to better reward hard work. we have maintained the highest goal for minority and women- owned business participation in for the first time ever in the life of this a ministration we actually exceeded its. you became the first in the country to pass a living wage. we put in place for the first time a progressive income tax and actually lowered income taxes for 86 percent of marilyn beers, just last calendar year we moved more people in a single year from welfare to work than

we ever have before. and because of these actions coffee the pew foundation now ranks maryland one of the top three states for upward economic mobility. [applause] but we, of course, are a part of a larger national economy. something still appear wrong. we have lost sight of how our economy works, when our economy is actually working. prosperity does not trickle down from the top commended never has it is built from the middle out, and it is built from the middle up. every ford understood that a hundred years ago. when he double the pay of all of his workers. no, of course, the capitalists

of his era up at henry -- thought that henry had gone a little crazy, but he insisted america actually works best in our economy work best if workers could afford to buy the product they were making. other words, and a properly functioning capitalist is not the consequence of growth and prosperity, it is the source of growth and prosperity. [applause] with every worker earns more money, every business as more customers. by the way to every taxpayer is relieved through funding poverty programs for workers who are being paid poverty level wages. we have all met the hard-working people its oil lakes. often that not one but two jobs

to pay middle-age tests for most of their women. very often their moms who are trying to support a child or to other rogue working 16 hour days and yet falling further. this is not how our economy should work. no person who works full-time employees of the rules should be forced to raise their family and poverty. not in our state should we be satisfied with the people, and our corporations are becoming ever more profitable and get some many of our people are unemployed kimberly say that our economy is working if our stock

market is booming for middle-class earnings. cuban purpose our economy itself and grow and the only way we're going to grow our economy is to grow our little middle-class. [applause] the minimum wage in maryland is no longer always that anyone can live on. even though maryland has the highest median income in the nation, 21 other states have no set a higher minimum wage then we have. we can be better, raising the minimum wage to attend to in is going to create more and better customers for marilyn business costs, and that is why raising the minimum wage is the only good for the hundreds of thousands of marilyn pursue will

see a boost in their paycheck. it is good for every marilyn there because it is good for our entire economy. it is time to raise the minimum wage in maryland. [applause] feist i believe in my heart that we are pleased for a generation of greatness. i can see the day on our horizon when the achievements of our students need not only the students of our nation that the children of the world. i can see the day when all of our teachers actually have the technology they need in the classroom to provide personalized learning tailored to the unique abilities of every child. a day when every high-school student in maryland upon graduating from my school also

has a modern, technical skill. end a year of college credit that has already been aired. i see marilyn's children enjoying the benefits of the state that was the safeguards its waters and woodlands and open spaces. the 22nd surgery and beyond. the state that leaves the green economy of the future faugh treating thousands of new jobs. i see a time fast approaching when are booming high-tech economy is fueled by the tower of an effort more highly skilled workforce. yes. the middle class, the status of living is rising, a growing in the average middle-class that has become a forerunner of the newer, better, american economy. i can see a year that is telling

when not a single child in maryland will die a violent death. this is the future that remains to be one. it will be one. conclusion. we're standing of the threshold of a new era of american progress. as our world becomes more complex it is also becoming more personalized and better connected. and no state is better poised to succeed in this new era that maryland. the future is where we look. the past is what we have learned from. the only things were doing are the things that might possibly brickyard. for children 30 years we have helped lead our country ford

into the future , especially through moments of great doubt and diversity, when others said it was impossible, that all was lost, it could not be done. we stood our ground and made it happen. for many when. from one many. it is time to do it again. they keep. [applause] >> the baltimore sun depicted it is striking in the peak in valedictory loan -- tell a election year when he is considering his future. the publication also knows that while most democrats received the speech warmly, republicans and what we regret in particular who is running for governor that governor o'malley misrepresented his tenure.

last week arizona governor announced she abolished the state's child protective services department and replaced it with the new division. the action came in response to an investigation that revealed as a reports alleging child abuse and neglect that were never investigated. from the state capitol in phoenix, this is half an hour. [applause]

a note has been a long morning. honorable senators and representatives, supreme justices of the court sets and constitutional officers, trouble leaders, ordered guests, and my fellow airs audience, it is my pleasure to welcome back. a long struggle. -- [applause] a long struggle. as the see you here today. and while employees by a recovery, was terribly sad and still lose.

extending the deepest sympathies for your loss and the loss of the great public servant, your husband and my friend. his voice will be missed. let us pray that his spirit of public service lives on in all this. when i sit here for the first time as governor we faced the task of navigating the state i love. backup to the path to prosperity and opportunity. i recognized that overcoming this challenge would be difficult and painful. it will require honest leaders and tough decision making.

then, of course, there are challenges we can never predict, and challenges that test our resolve. arizona experienced while the worst tragedies in our history. leyte heroic firefighters. that date will forever be etched into arts. the braves 19 forever in our prayers. please stand and join me in a moment of silence to honor these vote -- fallen firefighters. [silence] they keep. today am proud of the progress we've made, the comeback.

we stared arizona of the debilitating did recession and implemented a long-term improvement in secure areas of the prosperity. the challenge. when i could not happily minister of the cost to support and guidance from a family. iso very grateful. thank you to my husband, sun for once again joining me in this chamber. [applause] from the people of arizona lawmakers, the business community, and countless others. together we have worked hard. as my hero ronald reagan said

during his 1967 inaugural the governor california and ', we will put our fiscal house in order, and as we do we will fill those things that we need to make our state a better place. we will enjoy them more willing we can afford them, and they're paid for. of proud to report to you today that arizonas fiscal house is in order. together let's keep it that way. [applause] we have, a long way in the short time. in 2009 arizonas budget was irresponsibly friend after years of unsustainable spending. we had the worst budget deficit of any state. today we rein in government

spending by consolidating, eliminating, and transforming our operations. in 2009 arizona had a $3 billion deficit. today arizona bus a healthy state surplus in the replenished rainy day fund. most impressively, we ended this last fiscal year with nearly $900 million in the bank. [applause] there is no doubt arizona is back on track. [applause] we also remember that our state was swept up to some of the worst of employment in our history. arizonas businesses and families struggled to stay afloat. today we turn things around with helping the areas of the congress authority, historic tax