ago. it has made this united states the most prosperous nation the world has known. in the mid 1840s and '50s, during the irish potato famine, many of fled to the united states. hoping for survival across the ocean. in the galleys of the ships that sailed from the ports in england and ireland in places like dublin and cork, the irish government posted bulletins with the heading "advice to irish immigrants." the posters read, "in the united states wealth is not idolized but there is no degradation connected with labor." youth may follow any occupation without being looked down upon and he may rationally expect to

raise himself in the world by his labor. over 100 years ago, this man, that same promise of america led my grandfather to come to ellis island and massachusetts to pursue his dreams and opportunities. that, to me typifies the america and virginia we all believe in. that's the america that we are blessed to call home. over the next 60 days, our job is to enact policies to ensure this remains a robust commonwealth of opportunity where any man or any woman of any race or any creed, from any beginning and any place, will always have the opportunity to raise themselves up in the world by their god-given talents and their labor. [ applause ]

>> so working together, i kno will do that. so thank you all for your work together this session and may session and may god continue to shower his blessings on this great commonwealth of virginia. thank you. our coverage of the state of state addresses continues with delaware governor jack markell. some of the issues he covers during his remarks include economic development, government accountability and improving education. this comes to us courtesy of

whyy tv in wilmington. from the state capitol in dover this is about 45 minutes. >> thank you. governor you're popular. governor welcome to the joint session. we look forward to your address, sir. >> thank you. lieutenant governor den and president pro tem, speaker gilligan members of the 146th general assembly other elected

officials, members of the judiciary, members of the cabinet, our employees, carla, and the people of delaware in my previous reports on the state of the state i spoke to you of turbulent seas and winter blizzard blizzards. and these images captured the moment as we fought through the worst economic downturn since the great depression. and this economic storm posed particular challenges for delaware industries upon which we had depended for decades, like financial services, and automotive manufacturing. but it made landfall in every corner of our nation. and while delaware was not alone in facing this storm, the way we responded was unique. the politics of blame and division the rhetoric of

distrust and the partisan warfare witnessed elsewhere never found a home in our state. instead, we pulled together and we prepared for the future. and leaning on speaker gilligan's 40 years of experience. the leadership of both parties in this general assembly worked with us and we made tough decisions to balance our budgets while still making investments necessary to keep moving forward. we cut where it was possible and we invested where it was important, to create jobs to improve schools and to build infrastructure. and at a moment when washington,

d.c. stands for deadlock and dysfunction, delaware's strength resides in the capacity of its people, even in challenging times, to work with common purpose. to choose perseverance in place of pettiness and partisanship. as our economy recovers albeit more slowly than any would like, we've got to resist the temptation to rest, satisfied with the status quo. as thomas friedman and michael mandelbonn write in their book the best win in the turn when there are big shifts in the marketplace, when others are overwhelmed and in disarray. they put distance between themselves and their competitors. and as tempting as it might seem, to take this moment to pause and catch our breath this

is not the time to stand still. this is the time for delaware to leap ahead. to lead. now, the capacity to build on existing strengths and to adapt successfully to change is the quality that distincts companies that surged to the head of the pack from those that languish. dupont today is a science company. not the same chemical company it was 20 years ago, or the gunpowder company it was 200 years ago. w.l. gore and astrazeneca and ilc, and our financial services companies have all evolved to keep up with changing markets and technologies. consider amazon. which is soon to be one of our larger employers. it's become an all-purpose

online retailer by leverages the distribution capability that it originally developed to deliver books. our employers are changing. capitalizing on their strengths and thinking about tomorrow. and to lead to be the place where these companies grow delaware must be ready to do the same. we must be ready to win in the turns. now, in delaware our economy directly benefits from our leading employers. thanks to your financial support of the strategic fund, we have attracted and retained significant employers. pbf energy, sallie mae, baltimore air coil miller metal, bloom energy, mount air farms and capital one. we've got to continue these efforts and remain nimble and opportunistic and aggressive when large employers present job

opportunities. that's why i'll again recommend significant funding for the strategic fund next year. but 20to do more than just keep pace, to keep distance from ourselves and our competitors we've got to look beyond at direct benefits our larger employers provide. we must capitalize on their presence to build our competitive edge. we already have terrific small businesses. but we aspire to see more created and to see them grow quickly. and to accomplish that we must nurture the small businesses and the new companies that will thrive in the hospitable soil that our world-class work force create around them. now following up on the recent imagine delaware news form, we're finding new ways to support entrepreneurs. over the last months we have

studied best practices at entrepreneurial support centers around the country in places as far away as silicon valley and as nearby as the science center in delaware. the best tend to have a few things in common. flexible incubator spaces, wrap around services like free or discounted legal and accounting assistance. educational opportunities for potential entrepreneurs and investors. and outstanding opportunities for collaboration. and working with representatives lavell and brian short, and groups like first aid innovation innovation, we'll apply what we have learned to further support emerging start-ups and growing companies in delaware. not every company that uses these resources will be successful. and it will take those that succeed time to achieve results. our goal though is not to capture a headline tomorrow,

it's to facilitate the creation of jobs for a generation. now, while nurturing the businesses of the future, we must focus on growing our small businesses today. small businesses need access to credit and will utilize the federal small business credit initiative to help more credit worthy businesses get the loans that they need to expand and to create jobs. we're also pleased to be first state to announce a partnership with facebook, and this partnership will help our small businesses fully engage the powerful use of social media, to market their products and their services. and we've got to put ourselves in the shoes of those who create jobs. we've got to understand the industries in our state better than any other state. we've got to be more committed to the success of the businesses in our state than any other state and we have most of the ingredients that his bes are looking for. good schools and institutions of higher education.

reasonable taxes. a high quality work force. a wonderful quality of life. and the responsive government. companies considering expansion or investment also value great infrastructure. so whether they're accessing just in time supplies, moving products to market or transporting employees between home and office, we want them to know that they'll find they need in see fert and not bang alohr. we made the decision together to invest $40 million to further support the roads and bridges and we've created the delaware infrastructure fund has already paid off with amazon's decision to expand here. that's also why we invested in $10 million in the port of wilmington. and in the coming months we'll consider opportunities for a public/private partnership to expand and modernize the port. significantly increasing our capacity to handle global trade.

and doing so will not only protect those jobs currently at the port but it will also sow the seeds of future growth as we leap ahead. now, when companies decide to invest their next dollar in delaware it's not just the quality of our roads and our bridges and the port that they care about. they want to know that our air and our water are clean. and that our communities offer the parks and the recreational trails that make life for their employees and their families healthy and rewarding. you talk with business leaders on a regular basis and it quickly becomes apparent, quality of life matters deeply to them because it matters to their work force and overlook it and your state is likely to get overlooked. now, our focus on quality of life is proving that economic development and environmental

protection are compatible goals. this focus resulted in nrg transforming the indian river power plant from one of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the country into one of the cleanest. and it's leading to the conversion of the energy center in dover from coal, to cleaner burning natural gas. all the while creating hundreds of construction jobs in the process. cal pine has converted the edge moor plant in wilmington to coal to natural gas and taken together, these and other improvements are modernizing our energy fleet and reducing air pollution in a way that equates to taking 450,000 cars off the road. now, our efforts to promote a

high quality of life are not limited to reducing pollution from our power plants. we seek opportunities to connect delawareans and visitors to all the history and natural beauty that the first state has to offer. through an innovative public/private relationship, we're helping a company rebound from bankruptcy and retaining its mill town roots. our bay shore initiative is enhancing the spectacular coastal region. and boosting the economy by restoring critical wildlife habitat and improving access for world-class hunting and fishing and kayaking and hiking. but one of the best ways that we can improve our quality of life and promote healthy lifestyles at the same time is to make our state more walkable and bikable. and in the next year working with representative keely and senator venables, we will launch the first state trails and

pathways plan and i'm proposing that we dedicate the $13 million to build miles of new and enhanced trails throughout our state for every delawarean to enjoy. and building on the strong foundation of existing trails and greenways already in place we can make delaware one of the most walkable and bikable states in the country. now, employers looking to create jobs also care about the availability and the cost of electricity. now, that's why we've reduced the utility tax last spring. and while we've provided incentives for businesses to invest in energy saving technology. we need to continue to promote energy saving investments. but when i talk with business leaders about investing in delaware i sometimes hear concerns about municipal power

rates. and the lack of any choice in competition to hold down prices. now, let me be clear i have been approached by a number of businesses which because they're located in the service area of a municipal power system they're required to procure their electricity from those municipalities at rates that are uncompetitive with those charged elsewhere in delaware and importantly uncompetitive with other parts of the country where they have similar facilities. now, i'm sensitive to the revenue needs of our municipalities. but if these businesses leave our state, these jobs may well be lost forever. expressed to me by senator simpson and representative dan short, we need to work together to meet the expectations of companies choosing to doed by here, that the rates they'll be

charged for municipal power generation will be fair and competitive. and i'm ready to begin that conversation with our municipalities. now, creating jobs must remain our number one priority. and this is particularly true when it comes to our returning veterans. i was privileged to visit recently with our troops in kuwait and afghanistan. around -- and we have with us today sergeant bruce stephens of dover and senior airman jason dercheck of wilmington. both of them served admirably in

afghanistan. and the first thanks that we owe all of our veterans when they come home is the chance to partake in the abundance of opportunity that they make possible for the rest of us. their mission puts them in harm's way. their morale is high, their skills are exceptional. let's work together to ensure that they have the opportunity to put those skills to work when they come home. you know, we ensure that state employees who serve are able to return to their jobs. but we should be and we are going farther. thanks to the advocacy of representative jakes and others we have added representation of veteran owned delaware businesses to our supplier diversify council, to ensure that they have a fair opportunity to compete for state

business. and one of our biggest private sector employers, jp morgan chase is leading in this area hiring thousands of returning veterans and providing incentives for the vendors to do the same. and to encourage others to follow their lead, we will propose expanding tax credits to delaware businesses that hire veterans. now, the biggest driver for a business when deciding where to locate and where to expand is the quality of the work force. that's how it will determine whether the business becomes an innovation leader orhind in the creative dust of its competitors. the late steve jobs put it bluntly, he said apple employs

700,000 factor workers in china because it can't find the 30,000 engineers in the u.s. that it needs on site at its plans. we need to do something about that. and this is why when the history of our time here is written, the determined push that we're making to push student achievement will be the biggest game changer of all. because we have come together parents and teachers administrators, private employers, foundations, public officials to develop and implement a carefully crafted plan that aims high and puts children first we have been recognized as a national leader in education, winning the nationwide race to the top competition. and together we're making great strides. we have established high standards to ensure that we are

being honest with our children about what they need to learn, to succeed in the global economy. we have put in place an improved assessment system so parents and teachers can track student progress and identify when students risk falling behind. we're supporting the teachers with resources that help them raise student achievement and we're moving forward to evaluate our teachers in part on the basis of the progress that their students make. now, in today's global knowledge economy, those who are not pushing forward are falling behind. and for delaware to maintain its position of leadership, it is absolutely vital that we keep pressing ahead and i thank senators se cola and representative skoally for their leadership in this area.

now, i realize there are those who are uncomfortable with the changes that are being made, and that not all these changes will work exactly as intended on day one. we will learn from our mistakes and we will continue to maintain an open dialogue to improve. but even if you believe that what we did in the past was sufficient for those times, it will not be sufficient going forward. around the world, young people are working hard in schools that are dramatically improving and if we stop our own efforts now it will be to the detriment of our kids and their future. so pressing ahead means implementing without additional delay our performance appraisal system. which this focus on student progress. now, these implementation plans have benefited considerably from the advice of hundreds of delaware teachers and we are grateful to them for their help.

this is a challenging process. and it is one that must succeed. now, as a parent, and as somebody who has visited dozens and dozens of our state schools i want to ensure that our changes help our children, not only to score well on tests but also to develop a love for learning that will inspire nations in their creativity. this is a difficult balance. but it's one that's already being achieved in many classrooms throughout the state. and one that we should work together to expand. and because i have visited all of those schools and talked with principals and teachers and other school staff, i know firsthand that there are truly great things going on in delaware's classrooms.

but we need to do a better job of getting the word out. and howard weinberger, the state delaware association, has asked me to join with him and his association and the business community to let the people of our state know how many great things are going on in delaware schools, and that is an invitation that i'm excited to accept. pressing ahead also means moves forward with our world language expansion initiative. our students have got to master world languages to work with and compete effectively against workers around the world. now, we've already made completion of a world language a graduation requirement. over the next five years we are going to create partial

immersion programs where students will spend half the school day learning in another language. and finally, pressing ahead means acknowledging what research has clearly established. raising student achievement begins before children enter kindergarten. now, i have heard this message from hundreds of teachers. children receiving quality early care and education are more likely to be successful in school and in life. and investments that promise high yields get my attention, and in the realm of public policy there is no higher yield investment than this one. so last spring we joined together to make some of the

most significant investments in early child education in our state's history. and as it turns out those investments are paying dividends sooner than we expected. the judges of the national race to the top early learning challenge noted our commitment and they rewarded us with significant additional federal funds. now, here's our plan. first, the professionals who care for our children will have the proper training. second the early child care facilities where our children spend their days will have the best teaching and learning tools. third, the successes and challenges of centers will be closely monitored to ensure continual improvement. that's our formula for success. and we expect to raise the percentage of high-need children in quality-rated programs from 20% to nearly 80% over the next

four years. and to let us know where our kids stand when they start school, we will introduce a new kindergarten assessment and i thank dsea and our kindergarten teachers for their work with us on this initiative. now companies that don't invest wisely wither away and perish. to succeed, we invest in our business supporting infrastructure, our quality of our life, our children and our work force. we're only going to be able to make those necessary investments if we govern responsibly. and this requires a state government that's innovative, efficient and transparent. governments that are open and transparent are more likely to

manage taxpayer resources responsibly, and that's why we launched the i found a cheaper website to make it easy for state employees to report when our contracts don't offer the best value to taxpayers. that's why we are making it easier for all delawareans to access information about their government. when citizens want information, they should get answers, not bureaucratic barriers. and thanks to the legislation passed by this general assembly, and an executive order that i signed a few months ago, quote you have come to the wrong place will no longer be an acceptable answer to request for public records from the executive branch of government. i urge our counties and our towns and school districts to join us