but one man stands out as a shining example. his name is c.j. huff. dr. huff is a superintendent of the joplin schools. the tornado damaged or destroyed ten of their buildings. joplin high was interest in ruins. c.j. feared that if the schools didn't open on time, families would start to leave town. he was not about to let that happen. so c.j. rallied his forces. parents and teachers, students and civic leaders, carpenters and plumbers and an army of volunteers, in just 54 days they turned an empty department store at a shopping mall into a high-tech high school. not only did all of joplin schools open on time, nearly 95% of the students showed up on that first day. folks that was simply amazing to see. please, stand and welcome an

outstanding leader, dr. c.j. huff. >> public service matters. what we do here matters. but in a world of term limits, skeptics say we can't get much accomplished. in a world of hyperpartisanship, cynics say we can't find common ground.

to them i say, just watch us. whether you're are from a big city or a small town, whether you make your living on the farm or in a lab, whether you're a democrat or a republican or independent or none of the ab e above, we're all missourians first. and here in missouri we're not defined by our differences. we're defined by our shared values. values that give us the strength to face whatever tomorrow brings. with faith and optimism. there's a lot of uncertainty in this life. we can't control the weather. we can't always see what

tomorrow will bring, but one thing is clear. through storms and floods and hard time, the good people of missouri never give up or give in. even in our darkest hour, the spirit will prevail, and when people of good faith and goodwill work together, nothing can stop us. so together we will continue to balance this budget without raising taxes. together we will continue to create more jobs, better schools, and more compassionate communities, and quintin, i pledge to you that we will continue to work together to take that extra step and keep our state moving forward.

>> it's an honor to serve as your governor. i'm grateful for the opportunity you've giving me and for the trust you have placed in me. with your help and god's grace we'll continue to show that strong leadership to move missouri towards brighter days ahead to each and every one of you and all missourian, thank you, and god bless. today on c-span3, watch a

discussion on election issues. topics include voter outreach campaigns and state voter participation efforts. that's hosted by the national association of secretaries of state, live as 1:30 p.m. eastern. with the florida primaries just a day away, republican presidential candidates are on the campaign trail today making their final pitches to the state's voters. this afternoon, c-span will bring you live road to the white house coverage of several campaign rallies, starting at about 2:00 p.m. eastern, it's newt gingrich speaking to supporters in tampa, which is the site of the republican national convention in august. and at 6:10 today, we'll go live to mitt romney's final campaign event in the state. he'll be at rally at the villages retirement community. again, live coverage of both of these events today on c-span. for more resources in the presidential rashgs use c-span's campaign 2012 website. to watch video of the candidates' events in florida,

see what they've said on issues important to you, and read the latest from the candidates, political reporters and people like you from social media sites at cspan.org/campaign2012. new mexico governor susana martinez recently delivered her second state of the state address in san jose, talking about repealing a law allowing illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses and talked about small businesses receiving tax benefits returning home from war. this is about 40 minutes. thank you. lieutenant governor -- lieutenant governor -- senate president -- >> sergeant-at-arms.

[ chanting ] >> please refrain. we appreciate if you would leave the house.

governor martinez, i want to welcome you. >> thank you. thank you. lieutenant governor, senate president pro tem, mr. speaker, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones and new mexico is pulling for you. democratic and republican leaders, esteemed members of the new mexico legislature,

representative nunez, chairman of the independent caucus -- honorable members of the judiciary, tribal governors and lieutenant governors, former governors, members of new mexico's congressional delegation, distinguished guests, the state's first gentleman, my husband. my cousins are here today as well from el paso who told me they didn't fully realize i was governor and said it jokingly, until they saw it on "the view." and all my fellow new mexicans. thank you for the high honor of addressing you this afternoon.

last year when gathered at this time, new mexico was facing the largest structural budget deficit in state history. for years government had overspent, and as federal stimulus dollars dried up, we had holes throughout the budget. the state of our state was one of financial crisis. we faced a tremendous challenge. many said we couldn't get it done. that we could not both balance the budget and still protect our priorities. we had a vigorous debate. some felt we should have raised taxes, despite the sdwloojobs t would have been lost. others felt we needed deep cuts in education and medicaid. i'm proud of the fact that we were able to work together, the legislature and the governor, democrats, republicans.

we came together and found a better way. we protected classroom spending and medicaid, and we did not raise taxes. public officials must never forget that we serve the public. not the other way around. that's why in a time of shared sacrifice i felt it important to lead by example. we eliminated the chefs from the governor's residence. cut salaries there by 55%. it worked out well. chuck even learned how to make more than just baloney sandwiches. and i kept my promise to get rid of the ultimate symbol of waste

and excess. we sold the state's luxury jet. we cut waste across state government, cut cell phones, got rid of non-essential state cars, and the governor's office, we slashed our budget and reverted over a half a million dollars back into the savings account. cabinet secretary salaries were cut by 10% and we dramatically reduced the number of political appointees, and together the governor and the legislature hammered out a budget compromise that reduced spending while protecting priorities and balanced the state budget. new mexicans can be confident that we didn't lose sight of our

priorities along the way. over the past year, school districts throughout the state had to do more with less, but they did it by cutting administrative waste. and increasing the percentage of their funding that goes directly into the classroom. we protected health care for the most vulnerable. expanded child care for working moms. food stamps for the elderly and disabled. school clothes for kids most in need. thinking about the state of the state last year, it gives me great pleasure to report to you today that new mexico's financial house is back in order. we're no longer running a budget deficit. in fact, our historic deficit

has now become a projected $250 million surplus in one year. but a great deal of economic uncertainty persists across the country, across the globe, and too many people are still hurting. we must move cautiously. we cannot go back to the credit card spending that contributed to the financial crisis in the first place. that's why i propose keeping budgets flat for most state agencies, rather than using the surplus to grow government, i propose safeguarding it by using it to make targeted reforms. investments in our future to help struggling students, to make new mexico more competitive with job creating tax reforms, and to maintain a safety net for

our most vulnerable. my budget focuses on -- on these high priorities. increasing state spending by only 3.6%. a rate that tracks with a population and inflation growth in this state. as we continue to do more with less, we must never forget that our budget is a statement about our values. that's why my budget invests $45 million more in medicaid. providing health care for the poor and the disabled. federal medicare cuts are threatening to close nursing homes, leaving patients, parents and grandparents with nowhere to go. we promise to be there and that's why my budget includes $8 million to keep that promise,

and keep those nursing homes open. and exactly half of the new spending, $97 million, is targeted towards improving our local schools. but it's not just throwing more money at the status quo. it's an investment in reform. an investment in initiatives that are designed to get results, and improve student performance. we took some very important first steps in education reform. just last week we announced the preliminary baseline grades for new mexico schools. they will continue to be fine tuned as we work with school districts to finalize the results. by this summer, every school

will receive an official letter grade. an a, b, c, d or f. finally, a school rating system that is uniquely our own. not a one-side-fits-all federal system, but, rather, an honest assessment of how our children are learning and improving. a way to identify struggling schools so we can get them the help that they need. i was encouraged last week to hear teachers, principals and parents saying things like, our school is so close. we're almost there. we can get a higher grade. now we must take the next steps and take on the status quo once again. we know how essential learning to read is for our kids. the children learn to read by the third grade, and then they

read to learn the rest of their lives. when we consider this issue we must consider the kids whose lives it impacts, and what will happen to them if we fail to act. consider the child who just can't learn to read. think about him. his parents love him, but maybe they're working long hours to make ends meet. so they can't read to him much at home. maybe his teacher knows he needs more one-on-one instruction, but there's no after-school tutoring. so the little boy doesn't get the help. but we keep passing him on from one grade to the next. imagine that child in fourth and fifth grade, and on to middle school. now he can read the words, but doesn't really understand it. so he struggles to learn about history, geography, science.

when he can't meet the standards, we don't offer him a hand up. we just lower the bar. sending him to the next grade and sending him a toxic message that he's not capable of making the cut. he's ashamed. he's frustrated. angry. and eventually, he drops out. i encountered many of these kids as a prosecutor. not when they were kids, but when they were living a life of crime as adults. we know that children who can't read by the third grade are four times more likely to drop out, and 80% of our fourth graders, 80%, cannot read proficiently. as president obama's education secretary addressed this issue, talks about new mexico's status quo. he said, if your students keep being allowed to leave the third

grade and fourth grade without being able to read, you're not doing him any favors. he's right. passing children who can't read from one grade to the next is not compassionate. it is morally wrong. are we going to turn a blind eye to the fact that 80% of our fourth grade kearse not read proficiently? are are we going to allow this? if i say the answer is, no, then let's do something about it. why are we passing our children on when they can't read? holding children back is not the goal. the goal is for every child to learn the basics and to identify and help those who struggle

before the third grade. our obligation is to teach our kids to shoot for the stars. we build a child's self-esteem not by convincing them that accepting failure is okay, but by showing them that they can reach any goal. by offering a helping hand when they struggle so they learn to never give up, to persevere and to ultimate triumph and succeed, because every child can learn, regardless of circumstances, and, frankly, it's up to us to help them. and here's how we'll do it. and here's how we'll do it -- my plan this year calls for a $17 million investment in reading reforms. teachers will assess children early on, kindergarten, first

grade, second grade. and those students who are struggling will get immediate help in these early years. more tutoring, more individual attention. we'll put more reading coaches in elementary schools, and while we're on the subject ever reof , let me say that helping our children learn is a responsibility that we all share. as governor, i've read books to kids in over a dozen classrooms this past year, and truth be told, as much as i love hanging out with all of you guys, reading to these kids has been my favorite thing to do as governor. i've gotten really good at sitting crisscross applesauce on the floor with little ones. teachers need parents and family and family members and friends, all of us, to be engaged. we must all accept the responsibility. today i'm encouraging parents,

grandparents, aunts, uncles, to read to their children, and to help, i have a special announcement. that luxury jet cost the state nearly half a million dollar as year to operate. now that we sold it, we can use that money on something else. i'm proposing that we take that same amount of money and buy every new mexico first grader a reading book of their very own. every child will get this book when they leave kindergarten so that every family will have the opportunity to teach their children. every child will have a great book to read over the summer as they prepare for the first grade. as i mentioned, i'm proud of the fact that our education reforms have been embraced, not only by democrats in new mexico, but also by the obama

administration. at the top of that list is a reform to reward our best teachers with higher pay. in evaluating teachers we must measure the progress. their students make in mastering the basics. that doesn't mean, teachers with the most a students get a bonus. it means we must measure and reward progress. it's the progress that counts. the teacher who are takes kids three grades behind and gets them up to grade level has arguably accomplished more than the teacher who has a class full of overachievers. that's why i'm urging you to support a teacher evaluation system that will identify these great heroes in our schools, and reward them accordingly.

there are also several things we can do to raise grade wauation s and prepare our kids for college, by assessing kids in the fourth grade to the tenth grade to catch kids before they fall too far behind. like paying for tenth graders to take the pre-s.a.t., and expanding access to advanced placement classes for low-income students. all of these reforms are important, and i'm willing to work with legislators in both parties to get this passed. these reforms will help our children reach their goals. give them a better shot at success. more opportunities to live a better life than us. but increasing opportunities for our kids is more than just education. we have to make sure that there are jobs for them here in new

mexico when they graduate. last year i promised that we would send a message that new mexico was open for business. and small businesses now know that government is doing a better job at working to facilitate instead of impede job growth, and we saw what can happen when we make ourselves competitive with surrounding states. early last year i came before you to ask that we eliminate the gross receipts tax to level the playing field with texas. i promise that if we did that, union pacific would locate right here in new mexico. we came together in a bipartisan manner and eliminated that tax, and union pacific is now in new mexico creating 3,000 jobs building their new facility and over 600 permanent jobs.

t.e. connectivity is now leaving el paso and moving, creating up to 200 jobs. similar story with alaska structures, which also moved operations here from el paso, and later this week, i'll be continuing my work with governors from mexico to make our state not just texas a key trade corridor into the united states. there's tremendous optimism about the economic development in new mexico, and what we're doing along the border. in fact, a texas newspaper has seen what we've done, and they're worried. so said an editorial.

texas worrying about new mexico stealing their jobs my friends, the more they worry, the better we're doing. we need to keep it that way. lowes announced it is bringing 600 jobs to albuquerque, and we welcome them with open arms. i recently visited general mills as well, which just finished a $100 million expansion creating 60 new and permanent jobs, all while achieving the highest levels of environmental standards. i said last year that i believe we can support the growth of business and protect the environment. we aren't going to help those who play by the rules and punish those who don't. when intel needed an air quality

permit, we held them to a high standard, and when they met those high standards, we got them their permit in less than four months. quicker than ever before. but when corporations broke our environmental law, when they tried to sidestep our safeguards, we went after them, collecting over $3.3 million in fines from utility, energy and oil and gas companies. with sensible, predictable regulations, we can grow our economy and protect our environment. we can do both, and we must do both. we have to do it all, because we are are competing with other states. unfortunately, a recent study ranked new mexico dead last in terms of our competitiveness. dead last.