action berndt the it operations support from the coastal state governments. there is more to do but we can be proud of progress we've made. even as we seek to protect our natural resources we look forward to a exciting future. i signed a bill to have our first new state parks in 40 years. since its dedication, 12,000 visitors have experienced the scenic vista and walk the trails. last month i had as summit to seek ideas for confronting the recent decline of numbers as we fight the beatles we can identify and have solutions as the world's best doesn't hunting destination. -- doesn't hunting destination our climate is

challenging i would like to talk about the governor's house this program build affordable homes using labor from the prison the inmates gained pliable skills for when they leave prison and they help those to have an opportunity to own their home i ask the department of corrections to explore the options to make the governor's house more efficient they had to meet a prototype that passed the passive house standard that requires heavy insulation and it airtight around the house high the efficient windows in the energy recovery air exchanger.

and then have period the utility bills enough heat to provide survivability even extreme cold weather without power. the demonstration house was built in a few months applying techniques that builders have learned only that year but in spite of these it met the passive house standard it was put on display at the state fair to educate their doors about cutting edge technology. building every governor's house has tough standards we make it too expensive. but we have redesigned it to apply the principles better insulation, windows, is an energy recovery air exchanger. these will now be the energy star standard's that makes us eligible for federally insured mortgages. the increased cost is offset

by the decrease cost and hold it all -- homeowners will see in their utility bills. the last two weeks uncovering of the potential sale of the real way that paul's more than 80 million bushels of grain cover 13,000 cars of clay in hundreds of thousands of tons of cement every year. i became a fault in this issue december 2012 as a canadian subjects announced four short years after purchasing it promising to invest more than 400 million of improvements. my first concern wanted to be certain any buyer would continue to operate the entire line. second, to determine if canadian pacific had failed its promises of upgrades. i believe our efforts have been a success. last month the transportation board granted the petition to get the

information we need from canadian pacific to verify the upgrades have been made. reported by u.s. secretary of transportation and u.s. secretary of agriculture as well as the congressional delegation. union pacific has now announced its intention to sell the line to the nation's largest short one operator in wyoming. they came to appear last week i am optimistic they will operate the wine in the way that benefits our state as they have similar short lines and other parts of the country. another piece of legislation we passed one year ago dealt with us caribbean and to online registry, a donor registry to make it easier for south dakotans to register as an organ donor. that already began and south

dakotans have shown their generosity for others in 2013 we have more than doubled to registered donors and 2012 and that is more than 2011 i encourage everybody to register as a donor. those waiting for transplants are our friends and neighbors and in this room today and bitterly. you know, them. we can give no better gift them the gift of life. i was encouraged to promote this legislation by my senior adviser. dab would not be with us today and she had not received a kidney transplant more than one decade ago. she is planning to retire at the end of this session after 22 years with the state government has been a friend and adviser to me as well as governors nicholson and reynolds. she is also worked with many

of you in the legislature libri although how passionate and compassionate she can be. please join me to thank her. [applause] [applause] [applause] >> they key you for that. everyone of us is here today because of the support that love us families and friends i would not be standing here

today without my wife linda. [applause] wait a minute. there will be to live for that. she has worked tirelessly as our first lady in in addition to hosting thousands of people to would tour at the governors' mansions but focus on the state's children the first-aid of the state address i talk to infant mortality and linda has also worked hard to maturity into mortality task force and has spoken around the state to promote practices and raise money for the cribs for kids' programs of has distributed 3,000 troops to providers and domestic abuse shelters this is a tough issue that states and private health care partners are in is for the long haul. in 2012 we had the lowest

number of sudden infant death syndrome deaths we ever had an overall mortality wind up. the numbers 2013 indicate the rate has dropped but we need to continue to work on this important issue. shortly after it took office linda began to travel the state reading in elementary schools and so far she has visited third in fourth and fifth graders in over half of the elementary schools in our state and as part of the boston one campaign she travelled across the state to talk to martin 500 people of the importance of foster care in and the positive impact foster parenting has on children who hops on dash hour support she asked people learn about it in just the last six months the number of people interested in becoming a foster parent has doubled more than

one-third have already taken the next step to become a foster family now to be a big favor to give thanks to our first lady. [applause] that will pay dividends later. [laughter] just days before christmas i join soldiers and famine members to send of the transportation company holiday or not 162 soldiers

answer the call to duty leaving homes for their yearlong tour in afghanistan. since an 11 we have deployed more than 7,200 soldiers and aaron and overseas. i am happy to report according to the general be believe they will be the last south dakota national guard unit called to support the war is over iraq and afghanistan. [applause] these brave men and women represent the finest hour stay has to offer to serve a sacrifice in defense of our state and nation returning also creates a new generation since out the kodak gained statehood 89 hours a has provided a whole for veterans.

i read the initial stage of the state and he talked about at home as a reporter last month our plan to build a new veterans' home is on track a and under budget. contractors have been busy moving earth than blasting rock underground utilities are being installed in one building is being demolished it is scheduled to open late to next year to provide a place for 18 veterans. those who live and hot springs are a small portion of the 75,000 veterans living in south dakota -- to cover every teenage rolled for to add to those returning from afghanistan. this year department of veterans affairs is launching operation reach all veterans to reach every veteran to offer assistance

of federal or state local benefits involve more than 130 open houses with at least one in every single county to reach out to veterans and later today and will sign a proclamation declaring today operation reached all veterans day to kickoff this effort. please join me with a roundup of supplies for our service veterans and active military. [applause]

as cyclos, i thought that would bring a smile. [laughter] five like to return to the topic of the workforce with the employment work task force to focus on opportunities for a very specific group of south dakotans those with disabilities. those with job openings overlook those with disabilities according to the 2011 estimate only 41 percent of working age individuals with a disability were employed less than half the rate cannot pretend i understand all the obstacles that confront a disability but i do feel a special appreciation for the disabled worker both my parents were born deaf by witness the challenges they faced as the job punted my

father was a former but it was not big enough to support our family so dad always had another job off the farm i believe in this world people with disabilities often develop higher levels of determination and accomplishment. they worked harder. they had to and employers know the most valuable worker is one who works hard disloyal, honorable gives the honest day's work for the august days pay if they are disabled or not. they no hiring people with disabilities is good business. it builds character in people with character are good employees. for too long some had seen employment of disabilities as a favor but i agree with the task force it needs to end in south dakota we need to connect employers with employees because it makes good business sense.

we need to start today. we can begin by making the state as an employer that sets the example there are many examples of ready that state agencies work together to provide employment opportunities for those with disabilities. your human-resources and department of human services working together to increase those opportunities in the state workforce. the division of vocational rehabilitation assisted over nine to two people to reach their employment goals and i support the task force report to make the department of human services a single point of contact to educate employers then provide technical assistance for those with disabilities. and is the opportunity to enjoy the rewards.

i am not talking about financial but the sense of self-worth that we all need from the personal effort and hard work. south dakota works in so many ways through blizzards blizzards, drought, tornado blizzards, drought, tornado, a fire, floods we come together to overcome adversity. as loraine goals while there recalls the long winter of eight to 81 it has got to quit some time in we don't. we want to give up. south dakotans don't give up we saw that prove to us again last fall the early winter storm at the worst time for ranchers they lost tens of thousands of sheep and cattle and sod decades

of work wiped out in a few days. as a friend from union center said yesterday the next reinjured judiciary and a government handout a work hard and brave the elements in did what they did neighbors cave in to gather state and local governments cleared carcasses in the richer relief fund has reached $4 billion to help those to get back on their feet $4 million is a lot but compared to the value of life -- lost livestock this small but it is important what it says that we care into what we can to help. that is what we do in south dakota to pull together when times get tough.

take care of ourselves, help our neighbors as south dakota celebrates 125 years of statehood we can be proud we are strong because we have not forgotten those values. what is the status of our state today? the status of the code is strong and the best is yet to come. let's work hard this year. [applause] [applause]

how the u.s. may be perceiving this and is

proceeding the threats from the games. i had the advantage of being in the government during several olympics and the beijing olympics to coordinate u.s. security and potential response to threats. it is fair to say not from an alarmist standpoint but an objective standpoint given everything we heard and everything we know that these are the most dangerous olympic games since 9/11 given both a threat environment and given all of the opportunities various groups gordon laid out have in terms of this game. let me lay out how the u.s. might view this and why i suggested the most dangerous context of the olympic games since 9/11. in the first instance the u.s.

used the terrorist threat as serious, that is defined by the intent of the groups that could threaten the games, the capability of those groups and the opportunity. let me go through that simply and quickly because that is how the intelligence community and the policy community thinks about and categorizes threats and in this context makes very clear why it is that the u.s. is concerned with threats. first you have the declared intent of groups to disrupt the olympics. it is clear, from the senior most readership of the various groups, the caucusus emirates in particular, doku umarov, significant and important the july of 2013 statement is not just a call for attacks from the games and massive disruption but the lifting of the moratorium on attacks on civilian targets

which is in essence a call to arms and an opening of the targets around the sochi olympics and not just the venues but also the transportation hubs and other venues that are potentially vulnerable and the site of soft targets. in terms of capabilities we have obviously seen over the last decade the ability of a variety of groups to hit not just in the caucusus but in the russian heartland with not just efficiency but great devastation. we saw this in boca grande -- l --bulgagrad and the description in the report is you have these groups that are not only motivated and have the intent but have practiced the capabilities and mastered a variety of vectors to attack. that is to say these are groups

that don't just specify, these the groups that can plan a variety of ways to attack secured site and unsecured sites. you have seen this with singular suicide bombers, coordinated attacks, truck bombs and bus bombs and the use of multiple militants in targeted assaults and you have seen their willingness and ability over the course of the last decade to attack all sorts of venues that are vulnerable, transportation hubs, metro attacks and the rail line attacks, you have seen a tax on schools, security, police stations, hospitals, so these are groups that not only have the intent demonstrated capability to attack

..

applause ] [[ applause ] >> welcome governor martinez. we are pleased to have you here. good afternoon. lieutenant governor; senate president pro tempore; mr. speaker; democratic and republican leaders; esteemed members of the new mexico legislature; honorable members of the judiciary; former new mexico governors; tribal

governors; senator udall; representative lujan-grisham; representative lujan; distinguished guests; the state's first gentleman, my husband, chuck franco; my step-son, carlo; my dear sister, lettie martinez; and, my fellow new mexicans. it is an honor to join you for the annual state of the state address and open this legislative session, where i believe our focus must be on two of the most pressing issues - jobs and education.

[ applause ] but first, let's turn our thoughts to the community of roswell. as we recall last week's tragic school shooting, let's pray for nathaniel, who's struggling with serious injuries, and for his parents, who are showing such strength. and when i saw kendal last week, after having been through such horror she was in great pain but couldn't wait to see her best friend, set to arrive at the hospital any minute. the parents, teachers, and community members pulled together and turned to faith over fear. i have some very special guests with me today - john masterson, the soccer coach and social studies teacher, whom we have come to know as a true hero. when hundreds of kids needed someone's help, his courage was

on display in that gymnasium, and his humility has been on display since. kevin hayes, a security guard, provided help and care to nathaniel despite having been injured himself in the shooting. no human being is gifted with the knowledge of why such tragedy occurs. but, we are thankful that in the face of it, people like both of you display the courage required to help all of us get through. thank you both so very much. [ applause ]

today, i am proud to report that the fiscal position of state government remains strong and steady. by working together over the past three years, not only did we close the largest structural deficit in state history, we are looking at our third straight year of budget surpluses. [ applause ] we've doubled the size of our state savings account, and we did it all without raising taxes. [ applause ] republicans and democrats can be proud of our firm fiscal footing. it is a far cry from where we were just three years ago.

we completely overhauled a near-bankrupt unemployment insurance system. we reformed our state pension funds, resolving a $12 billion dollar shortfall while ensuring that state workers, police officers, teachers, and others will have the retirement support they deserve. education spending now exceeds pre-recession levels, with more accountability. not only have we not raised taxes on families and businesses, we have cut taxes 19 different times. less than one year ago, in a display of tremendous bipartisanship, we passed the most significant tax reform in a generation and sent the loudest

message yet that new mexico is striving to be a business-friendly state. that message is critically important in a global economy. we all know that businesses have choices, and they will locate and grow where they are treated fairly. in 2011, ernst and young rated us third worst in our region for manufacturing. after our tax reforms, they came with another ranking just last week. now, new mexico is the best in the west.

but, more than words of praise, our reforms have helped create and protect jobs. look at the economic development along the border. by eliminating the tax on locomotive fuel early on, union pacific came to new mexico. then we eliminated the double and triple taxation of many goods and services. last session, we reduced the business tax rate to make us more competitive with our neighbors and to encourage manufacturing. southwest steel coil, from california, has added nearly 40 jobs in new mexico, citing these reforms. omega trucking, a woman and minority-owned business, also added more jobs. that area developed because we first made our state competitive with texas, and attracted union pacific.

then, last session, we made new mexico more competitive with our other neighbors. when we talk about our tax reforms, some only think of large corporations. don't get me wrong, we want those jobs too, but our tax reforms are critical across the board to businesses large and small. let me give you an example. sparkle maintenance is a janitorial business. it was started 50 years ago in new mexico around a kitchen table, the way so many small businesses start. today, it employs 400 workers. one of the owners, carlo lucero, recently approached secretary barela. he praised the state's tax reforms because his customers - the companies he contracts with - have told him that our tax reforms have kept them in new mexico. i asked carlo to join us today, and a very special lady. carlo's mother, eleanor, co-founded the company with her husband around that kitchen

table. i wanted to recognize them, so we all remember the impact our reforms have on local small businesses. congratulations on all that your family business has achieved. we're doing better fighting the headwinds from washington, but i'm the first to say that we have a lot of work left to do. being able to compete is not a destination, it's a process. washington remains a mess. the federal government remains deeply in debt, forcing federal budget cuts. partisanship still rules the day, and the national economy is sluggish.

we cannot bank on that changing, we cannot bank on that changing, not anytime soon. we can, and we should, fight to protect the important work done by our labs and bases, but we should fight equally hard for a more diverse economy. seize upon the uniqueness of our seize upon the uniqueness of our state, the diversity of our people, our resources, and our backgrounds, to grow the private sector in every corner of new mexico. diversity - it's what sets us apart from every other state in the nation, and our economy should be no different. our charge this session is to build an economy as diverse as the state we are proud to call home. growing a diverse economy starts by helping small businesses, the

mom-and-pop shops. that's why we created the office of business advocacy: to help small businesses cut through the red tape. it has now helped save or create over 2,000 new mexico jobs in all sorts of different industries and in towns large and small. we invested in the mainstreet program, helping 100 small businesses get off the ground, and putting over 500 new mexicans to work. we invested over $2 million around the state to help rural industrial centers with infrastructure costs. just look in las vegas at two small businesses - one is a meat processing facility called martinez and sons. it is a family-owned business that our program helped grow. we also helped inter-galactica,

a bakery, expand with a small capital grant. these small businesses might not seem like a big deal to some, but they matter to that community. and, they matter to our economy, because 64 percent of new jobs are created by small businesses. we must build on these efforts-- not worry about whether they are democrat ideas or republican ideas. that's why i support democratic senate president mary kay papen's bill to create an online one-stop shop, a central location for small businesses where they can get permits and other assistance. there is more help we can provide. companies large and small must have access to a skilled workforce. that is why i am proposing that we make the job training

incentive program permanent, so we can better partner with businesses hiring new workers, [ applause ] paying a large portion of their salaries while being trained. in the last year, we have also announced 10 new early college high schools. by their nature, these schools are designed to produce employable workers - high school students, who intern with local businesses, graduate with a diploma, job-ready certificates, and an associate's degree. for those who want to go to college - they're only two years away from a degree. but college isn't for everyone. for those who want to go to work instead, they're ready and they already know the local industries. so let's fund a second round of early college high schools to

create a workforce for local small businesses. that's what supporting a diverse economy is all about. starting a business and creating jobs involves risk. successful economies embrace new ideas and encourage risk-takers. new mexico should be a technology jobs leader, a haven for innovation, a place where the best and brightest come to bring their products to the market. here's how i propose we do it. to increase the pipeline of innovation, $7.5 million to help our universities attract the best professors and researchers in the world. two million dollars so universities and labs can take their ground-breaking projects

to the marketplace. expand the angel investment credit to help start-ups get the capital they need to get off the ground. provide greater incentives for every new technology job created in new mexico. this plan will help make new mexico a technology jobs leader. in addition to helping start-ups, now is the time to create new jobs within our health care industry - diverse jobs of all types, in urban and rural areas. we can hire more workers and improve access to quality health care for more new mexicans. i wasn't a supporter of obamacare. but under its mandate we had a choice whether to expand medicaid using federal funds.

we chose to expand medicaid because it was the right thing to do for new mexico. [ applause ] now, we have a responsibility and duty to expand our primary care workforce to meet these new demands. today, in 32 of 33 counties, we don't have enough health care workers, and that's before we attempt to add up to 205,000 more people to medicaid. we have taken some strong first steps toward creating more jobs in the health care industry, like training and educating more nurses by instituting a common statewide nursing curriculum. credits will transfer seamlessly between every college or

university, and students can now earn bachelor's level nursing degrees in their own community. thank you to the nursing consortium - represented today by debra brady, jenny landen, nisa bruce, and terry keller. more nurses in rural areas. you helped make it happen. [ applause ] i'm also proposing aggressive initiatives to increase the number of primary care providers - of all types - all over new mexico.

we'll help repay student loans - doubling our commitment, particularly for those who agree to serve in rural areas. this will create up to 720 new health care workers this decade - nurses, dentists, physicians, and others, in areas that are too often underserved. expand tele-medicine, connecting rural-area providers and patients with a physician or specialist. train more doctors and nurse practitioners here at home. cut the red tape to attract more nurse practitioners. under this plan, any nurse practitioner in the country who wants to come to new mexico will be licensed and ready to provide quality health care in five days quality health care in five days or less. you see, building a health care workforce is about embracing the uniqueness of our state and hiring the right kind of practitioners to meet the diverse needs of each of our communities. just as a strong workforce is the lifeblood of an economy, infrastructure serves as an economy's foundation. sadly, new mexico's water

infrastructure is in a state of crisis. as governor, i have seen first-hand the effects of our devastating drought. water supplies have run dry in towns like magdalena. we've seen the one-two punch of wildfires, followed by floods, destroying watersheds and threatening communities. we cannot control the duration or intensity of the drought we face. but we can control our response to it. if we invest in water infrastructure in a way that benefits each of our unique local economies, we will not only create jobs in the short-run, but also set the stage for long-term economic growth. we've seen it work. the border area is growing dramatically, in part, because

we invested in water infrastructure and allowed santa teresa to serve more businesses. now their industrial park is booming. building and repairing our water infrastructure has never been more important. everyone agrees on this. that's why i'm asking that we invest 60 percent of our capital dollars on critical water projects throughout new mexico. these capital dollars are not my dollars, or the legislature's dollars. these tax dollars belong to the people of new mexico, and they should be invested where they need help the most. water projects should be on the top of the list. [ applause ]

but i've been clear from day one: the most significant way to improve our economy in the long-run is improving education, ensuring children can read at an early age and that they graduate from high school with the skills they need to succeed in life. i haven't been shy about investing in education. education spending is now above pre-recession levels, the highest in state history. my budget calls for $100 million more. but money alone isn't the answer. we should expect a return on our education dollars, and that return should be student achievement - our kids reading at a higher level, our students graduating at a higher rate. [ applause ]

money should go directly to supporting struggling students, increasing parental involvement, developing and rewarding successful teachers, and turning failing schools around - not simply funneling all of our education dollars toward the bureaucracy. it begins with making sure that every child is able to learn to read. we doubled funding for pre-k, went from serving 4,600 students to almost 8,000. i am proposing another expansion this year. [ applause ] we've expanded k-3 plus and made it permanent, giving 11,000 struggling kids extra help over the summer. under my budget, we would spend $15.5 million on the tools our

teachers need to identify struggling readers early on, and get them help to bring them up to speed. the interventions are in place. what isn't in place is a law essentially saying that we refuse to set our children up for failure in school and in life. every new mexico 3rd grader who can't read and gets passed along anyway is four times more likely to drop out. that's not an opinion; it's a fact. those who drop-out are more prone to end up on the wrong side of the law, struggle to find work, and have a hard time providing for a family. we shouldn't set kids up for a future like that. kids need help early on, in kindergarten, first and second

grades. we're giving them that help right now. but if a child can't read by the end of the third grade, it's far more compassionate to give them an extra year of help to catch up -- [ applause ] -- rather than simply passing them on and setting them up for limited opportunities in life. new mexicans know the right choice, and members of both parties in this legislature have embraced the right approach before. let's not play games. let's finally end social promotion and ensure that every new mexico child can be read by the end of the third grade.

[ applause ] getting money directly into the classroom also means providing our schools with updated textbooks. everywhere i travel, i hear about it. under my budget, we increase funding for kids' textbooks by $9 million - a 43 percent increase. [ applause ] teachers throughout the state also pull me aside and talk to me about the importance of parents being more involved and engaged in their students' education. i couldn't agree more. a lot of parents want to be better partners, but may not know how. some parents need help. that's why we've trained over 5,000 parents in fun, evening workshops at schools across the state.

they're called: "readers raise the roof"; it's where we teach parents how to teach their kids to read. it's why last summer we encouraged our kids to take part in reading challenges all over the state. it's why we give every first grader a reading book of their own to take home and read with their family, because we need to encourage parental involvement. and it's why i'm proposing the expansion of parent portals - websites where parents are able to monitor their child's homework, grades, and attendance on a daily basis. it improves parent/teacher communication. it's easier for a mom to ask her child, "do you have homework?" and already know the answer. or, "i hear you're having a hard time in math let me see if i can help.

" beyond increasing parental involvement, we can do even more to support and champion teachers in new mexico. i saw all sorts of a's next to my son's name and i was looking forward to talking to him and telling him how proud i was. and then i looked closer and realized what those a's meant. apparently those a's were not letter grades. hey were absences. needle needlessto say we had a talk that day. but beyond increasing that we can do more. it's an honorable profession. next to their parents, the adults children see most in life are their teachers. if a teacher can get the best

out of their students, get them to read well and improve, they arm their students with the best opportunity to succeed. we should support our teachers with additional pay; by rewarding and recognizing effective teachers, and it is time that we raise the minimum salary for starting teachers by 10 percent. [ applause ] we should support our teachers with advancement opportunities like being able to become a principal in two years instead of six. we should support our teachers by providing help and training. in the past three years, we have trained over 6,000 teachers and school leaders, offering academies for teachers in

struggling schools. under my budget, we expand that training. i am also pledging $8.5 million to improve how we educate students aspiring to be teachers at our colleges and universities, so that they're even better prepared to enter the classroom. [ applause ] and, we should support our teachers by providing them with thorough and fair evaluations. help them identify areas where they can improve, and finally recognize and honor their successes. our previous system was not a real evaluation at all; 99 percent were rated at the same level - "meets competency. the president's education secretary singled it out and called it a broken system.

even before we made our improvements, an albuquerque school had already taken a similar approach, factoring student progress into their evaluation process. sure, it was controversial at first, but it worked. i am pleased to welcome the principal of albuquerque institute for mathematics and science (aims), kathy sandoval-snider, and two teachers - brianna logan and jerry delmore. the fact that i'm evaluated now. i can wear it as a badge of honor, saying, 'look, i accomplished it. '" these evaluations help teachers improve. aims is a blue ribbon school today. kathy says it wouldn't have happened without these reforms. and this year, they're expecting a near 100 percent graduation rate.

thank you for all that you do. [ applause ] when we invest in reform, when we set a high bar and keep it there, we have seen what is possible. across the state, third graders showed modest improvement in reading, which is positive, but in those districts that were piloting our reading reforms, using reading coaches and other interventions, the third graders in those schools saw test scores increase by more than twice as much. that shows the reading reforms are working.

last year, we saw our graduation rate rise from 63 percent to 70 percent - a significant increase. think about what that means. that's more than 1,300 hispanic students receiving diplomas in new mexico, who would've been dropouts one year earlier, moving us from 42nd in the nation to 31st. that's nearly 250 more native american students receiving diplomas, moving us from 37th in the nation to 29th. fifty-nine additional african-american students, taking us from 40th to 25th. more than 650 additional english-language learners, taking us from 28th to 15th. and almost 1,300 more low-income

and almost 1,300 more low-income students receiving diplomas, who would've been dropouts one year earlier, taking us from near last to 39th. [ applause ] you see, each new diploma isn't just one more piece of paper. it's a ticket to a more successful life. we're raising the bar, and our students, teachers, and schools are meeting it. it's high time that we acknowledge and embrace that accountability in education works. am i satisfied with small increases in third grade reading, or with a graduation rate that still shows three in 10 high school students failing to receive a diploma? absolutely not; nowhere near satisfied. but it shows the important progress we can make when we choose to change, when we choose

to reform, when we choose to invest in helping our struggling students read, and when we better prepare our high school students for college or the workforce. so, let's continue to choose reform over the status quo. [ applause ] of course, when companies look to expand in new mexico, or perhaps relocate here, there are a number of other factors they consider - quality of life concerns. they look at public safety, for example. over my 28-year career, i've seen times when new mexico has chosen to lead in this area. one of the most difficult cases i ever prosecuted involved the i ever prosecuted involved the death of katie sepich, a young woman whose brutal murder has led to dna collection laws being enacted throughout the country.

armed by the amazing strength of katie's parents, dave and jayann, new mexico chose to be a national leader in this effort. in 2011, we strengthened katie's law to include dna collection for all felony arrests. and in what was an incredibly important moment for our state, the united states supreme court upheld the constitutionality of dna collection this past june. dave and jayann - i've heard you talk about how hard the last eight years have been harder than you ever expected. your journey required a step of faith. you took that step, and your work has saved the lives of young men and women all over the country.

it has also saved other mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, from feeling the loss that i know you felt, because i was with you when you lost katie. katie would be so proud of you, and the state of new mexico is proud of you as well. thank you for all that you do. [ applause ] there is so much additional work to be done to protect children from harm. eight months ago, i put together a child abuse working group and asked them to identify loopholes

and deficiencies in our child abuse laws. now it's time to make some common-sense changes. one example: if a child is enticed over the internet for sex, it's a felony. if the same enticement takes place in person, it's a misdemeanor. if a child is abused intentionally and killed at the age of 11 years and 364 days old, the killer gets life in prison. but if a child is a day older, the killer can be out of prison in about 15 years for committing the same crime. there are other changes we need to make, like requiring oversight of facilities where children are placed in residential care and ensuring parents attend counseling after abuse allegations. i'm also asking that new mexico join eight other states in passing erin's law, which would

require that all children receive age-appropriate education on how to recognize, avoid, and report abuse, arming them with information that could potentially save their lives. but perhaps the most important clarification we should make relates to who is responsible for reporting child abuse. as a career prosecutor, specializing in child abuse cases, it has always been well-understood that anyone who sees a child being abused must report it, or face criminal penalties. in fact, not only did i prosecute baby brianna's killers, i prosecuted her uncle and grandmother as well. they knew what was happening. they saw it, but they did nothing about it.

we can't just place this reporting requirement on professionals like social workers, teachers, or coaches. baby brianna never interacted with any of these people. she was too young to be in school and was never taken to the doctor. she was just five months old. so, aside from her family, who was going to see her abuse and stop it? i'm highly disappointed by the recent state court of appeals decision saying our law isn't crystal clear on this subject. well, if it wasn't crystal clear before, it's time to leave no doubt; we must enact legislation to make it clear that child abuse must be reported by anyone who knows or suspects that it is taking place. [ applause ] keeping our children and families safe also requires cracking down on repeat dwi offenders. offenders should receive more

jail time, and dwi convictions should count when felony offenders are being sentenced for other crimes. and any person who gives their car to someone they know does not have a license because of a dwi conviction should face real punishment. while we're on the subject of public safety, i'm once again asking this legislature to repeal the dangerous law that gives driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. [ applause ] we've seen several fraud operations busted recently. just last year, an elaborate scheme was uncovered in eastern new mexico - where hundreds of driver's licenses were sold to

illegal immigrants. the ringleader bragged that he made $30,000 a month. i've put forward a strong compromise to repeal this law and still allow driving privileges for dreamers. it's time to act. the legislature should do what the overwhelming majority of new mexicans are demanding - repeal this dangerous law. [ applause ] in addition to asking whether the state is safe, businesses often want to know - will they be given a fair shake by those in government? not special treatment, just a fair shake. we've taken some important steps, but can do even more.

just as i've prohibited my appointees from lobbying the legislature or the administration after leaving their posts, the same two-year ban should apply to members of the legislature as well. and, in addition, it's time to require those convicted of corruption to be immediately removed from public office. [ applause ] and they should be prohibited from unloading their campaign funds into any place other than donating it to new mexico's general fund. [ applause ] before i close, it's always the right time to honor and support those who fought so hard to protect our freedom - our veterans. earlier this year, i started a pilot program where we hired a crew of veterans who had

recently returned from combat to serve as firefighters. they became well-trained and battled summer blazes in pecos, kingston, and jemez, as well as fires in california and oregon when other states needed our help, showing tremendous skill and unparalleled work ethic. i'd like to introduce two of those brave soldiers, and now, trained firefighters - husband and wife, brian and tessa filip. [ applause ]

thank you for your service, and in honor of it, i propose that we make the "returning heroes" firefighting program permanent. as we continue to provide free mental health services to returning veterans and their families, we must never forget that honoring veterans who are no longer with us is one of the most sacred responsibilities society shares. it's time to start building local veterans cemeteries throughout new mexico, of the highest standard. that way, families of our veterans no longer have to travel great distances to visit the gravesites of their loved ones. for $600,000, we can build three or four new cemeteries in areas that have large populations of unserved veterans. we'd be the first state to adopt this unique approach to a long-standing problem. it is the least we can do, given all they have done for us.

[ applause ] with great challenges come great opportunities. to seize these opportunities, we must come together - republicans and democrats, the legislature and the governor. i know we can do it, because we have in the past, on very big issues. we came together to close the largest structural deficit in state history, and came together to completely revamp our unemployment insurance system. we came together on education reform, school grading to increase accountability, and making k-3 plus permanent to give struggling kids the help they need. this session we need to do more on education, tackle early childhood literacy, and reform our lottery scholarship to

sustain it in the immediate future, and to protect it for the long run. on tax reform, all sides compromised, and we achieved a great deal for the people of new mexico. we cut the business tax rate by 22 percent, closed loopholes, and enhanced film incentives for television series filmed in the state. this session is a short session - only 30 days. let's put the most pressing issues first - education reform and helping create a diverse and helping create a diverse economy that's less dependent on washington, d.c. while we won't agree on everything, and there will certainly be spirited debates, i am committed to working with you to find common ground, just like we have in the past, because the people of new mexico deserve

nothing less. thank you. god bless you all, and god bless the state of new mexico. [ applause ] >> a local santafe noted that much of the applause came from her own party. common ground might be hard to

find on martinez agenda especially on issues that have been fought in previous sessions. pat quin delivering his state of the state address in springfield. he took over in 2009 and was later elected to a full term in 2010 becoming the state's 44th governor. [ applause ]

>> mr. governor, please proceed. >> president cullerton, speaker madigan, leader radogno, leader durkin, lieutenant governor simon, attorney general madigan, secretary white, comptroller topinka, treasurer rutherford, members of the general assembly, and distinguished guests: good afternoon. i'd like to begin by recognizing two public servants who gave their full measure of devotion to all of us on monday night. illinois tollway worker vincent petrella lost his life doing his job. vincent was struck and killed on i-88 while helping a truck driver in distress. he served with the tollway for 13 years.

he leaves his wife sandra and two young children behind. and we ask god to bless his immortal soul. illinois state police trooper douglas balder was with vincent that night. at this hour, trooper balder is battling for his life at loyola university medical center in maywood. we thank him for his ethic of service and we pray for his recovery. please join me in a moment of silence and prayer for vincent petrella and trooper douglas balder. brblth [moment of silence] in illinois we honor our heroes and we're grateful for their service. i'd like to welcome two more illinois heroes, sergeant brent adkins and sergeant benjamin griest of the illinois national guard.

shortly after midnight on monday, january 6, they answered the call. multiple semis had jack-knifed and caused a pile-up on i-57 and i-70 near effingham. the drifts were so thick and the snow falling so hard that even our snowplows could not clear the way and more than 400 motorists were stranded in wind chills of thirty below. sergeant adkins and sergeant griest traveled from the national guard armory in mattoon through arctic conditions in the middle of the night with their wrecker in tow -- a military vehicle that can lift more than 10 tons. they cleared the road and rescued hundreds of people. thank you sergeants, for getting the job done.

just weeks earlier, many of our communities were devastated by deadly tornadoes. eight people lost their lives and 2,265 lost their homes. six-year old brevin hunter, of washington, illinois, was one who lost his home.

brevin warned his mom to seek cover in their family's basement just moments before the tornado decimated their home. he saved her life. brevin and his family are here today. way to go, brevin. today and every day, we all belong to brookport, gifford, new minden, diamond and washington. emergencies test the preparedness and resilience of our government and our people.

and we have been well tested. in the last five years, illinois has been through 11 natural disasters. we've watched droughts plague our farmers -- the backbone of our economy. we saw last april's pervasive flooding in 49 counties. we remember the tragic tornado in harrisburg just two years ago. extreme weather is a reality with devastating effects and it demands our constant readiness. and each and every time, our state workers, our service members, and our first-responders have gotten the job done. now, natural disasters were not all that we managed in the past five years. some disasters were of the man-made variety. exactly five years ago this day, i was sworn in as governor, at illinois' darkest moment. we were facing an unprecedented triple crisis of government corruption, economic collapse, and financial instability.

we had one former governor in jail and another on the way to jail. our economy had plunged into the worst recession since the great depression, brought to its knees by greedy and corrupt financiers. and our financial house was on fire, set ablaze by decades of mismanagement and an utter lack of willingness to make the tough calls. hardworking people in illinois lost their jobs, their homes and their faith in those they had entrusted with their votes. it was a perfect storm, and it left destruction in its path. we all knew that repairing the damage that had been done over decades would not happen overnight. but over the past five years, we've rebuilt one hard step at a time. and we've been getting the job done. illinois is making a comeback.

first, we restored integrity to state government, passing a strong new ethics code, campaign finance reform and a new constitutional amendment to allow voters to recall any governor guilty of corruption. when i took the oath of office,

state government hadn't properly invested in our infrastructure in 10 years. within 10 weeks, we passed the largest construction program in illinois history. so far, we've built and repaired 7,595 miles of road, 1,311 bridges and 978 schools. five years ago illinois did not guarantee equal rights to all couples. our state did not even provide civil unions. today we embrace full marriage equality -- it's the law of the land. and unlike our predecessors, we've made the tough calls to balance the budget. we cut more than one billion dollars in state spending. we overhauled our medicaid program to save taxpayers over two billion dollars. and even as we took hard steps to return illinois to sound financial footing, we did it with compassion, preserving the safety net to protect the most vulnerable. we also accomplished comprehensive pension reform, something no governor or legislature had been able to do. previous governors and legislators from both parties created the pension crisis. they did not make the required payments into the pension funds. there was no fiscal accountability. and it led to a culture of instability shaking the confidence of taxpayers and businesses. resolving illinois' pension

crisis was the tallest task of all. but together, we got the job done. since i took office, we have paid the full pension payment every year. we passed a historic pension reform law for new employees in 2010. ...