us to expand family care, our long-term care program for seniors all across the state. [ applause ] >> still other states used budget tricks. i didn't want to pass that on to my sons and their generation. i wanted our kids and grand kids to grow new a wisconsin that's at least as great as the one we inherited. [ applause ] with that in mind, we balanced a

$3.6 billion budget deficit with long-term structural reforms. we thought more about the next generation than we did about the next election. and isn't that what you elected us to do? [ applause ]

the ability to create good jobs went up faster than any state in the country last year. we went from years of being ranked in the bottom ten to break into the top half of states to do business and hire people. because employers appreciate that we took our fiscal problems seriously and we addressed them with real solutions. another important pledge i made was not to raise your taxes. that's even more important in a tough economy. many of us believe that the $3 billion tax increase imposed a few years ago act which you wouldly led to the massive job losses in 2010. in contrast, we enacted a budget in 2011 that lored the overall tax burden in wisconsin.

[ applause ] so for the five years prior to last year, the average school tax levy increased $220 million per year. our reforms led to the first decrease in the school property tax levy in six years. the total school tax levy actually wept down by more than $47 million. [ applause ]

that means real money in the hands of real people, people like pam petrie of rice lake. she saw her property tax bill go down by more than $100 this year. i had a great time talking to her on the phone today. she's absolutely thrilled with this. or gail griswald was surprised to see her tax bill go down, too. we heard that frf a bridge she plays bridge with. our tax reform helps thousands like them all across the state. still, there's more to be done to protect the taxpayers of wisconsin. last year, i pointed the bipartisan commission on waste, fraud and abuse. the 34eb membmembers of that pad in their final report early this month, and in it, they

identified over $400 million in savings for the taxpayers. we've already implemented some of the recommendations for this report and to date, these reforms have saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. that's a great start. but identifying waste isn't enough. we need to eliminate it. to that end, i'm announcing the waste, fraud and abuse elimination task force, charged with responsibility to follow through on that report. because i respect the hard-working people of wisconsin, i will continue to be a good steward of the taxpayer dollars. >> liar! [ shouting ] [ applause ]

>> eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is a top priority of my administration. now, just as important as saving money, our reforms help government work well in places where it does have a legitimate role, like education. as governor, i travel the state and see great schools all the time. and as the father of two sons who go to a public school here in wisconsin, i'm reminded of that importance each and every day. i want to ensure -- i want to improve our schools and ensure that every kid, every kid, no matter what zip code they come from, every kid has access to a great education.

fortunately we can have great schools and protect taxpayers at the same time. we just have to spend our money more wisely. for example, before our reforms, school districts often had to buy their health insurance from just one company which cost them millions of dollars. now they canned by it out, and that is saving school districts millions of dollars across the state. for example, places like the heartland lakeside school district saved nearly $700,000 just by switching insurance providers. in north fondulac, they were

able to save over $300,000. that's money that can go directly into the classroom. >> not only after an english received the award, she was laid off. why? under the old collective bargaining system, she was one of the first to be laid off because she was one of the last ones to be hired. didn't matter that she was one of the best teachers in the state. to correct problems like that, our reforms now allow local school districts to staff based on merit and pay based on performance.

>> think about that. that means we can bring our best and our brightest in classrooms and we can keep them there. two years ago, i spoke to the convention of school board members and administrators and laid out my plan. as a candidate for governor, i told them the system needed to be reformed and that we should empower local officials who are elected at the local level to make the decisions about their schools. and that's exactly what our reforms do. the best reminder of that came from the words of a superintendent of a small school district who said to me, now i get to go back to my office and focus on christmas luck instead

-- curriculum instead of on grievances.urriculum instead of on grievances. that's exactly what all this hard work is for, to allow our schools as well as our state and local governments to work better for the people we serve. [ applause ] >> tonight, i want to thank the many teachers and public. [ applause ]

>> we're glad wisconsin avoided the massive layoffses of government employee experienced in other states. now, looking ahead, there is much more to be done to improve our education system. no skill is as fundamental to student achievement as the ability to read. something profound happens when a student passes from third grade to fourth grade. from kindergarten to third grade, students spend the bulk of their time learning to read. but by fourth grade, our kids must be equipped with proficient reading skills so they're no longer learning to read, but reading to learn. [ shouting ] >> that's why i was pleased to be joined by tony evers to put together a read to leave task

force, which was a diverse group of educators, reading specialists, parents and others from across the state to create a plan for improving the reading skills of our students. in addition to thanking dr. evers, i also want to commend representative olsen and representative jason fields, as well as each of the other task force members for working together on read to lead. >> wisconsin used to lead the nation in fourth-grade reading assessment. but by the time i took office, we sunk to the middle of the pack. we can all agree that we can and should do better. as part of our read to lead plan, we propose swift action to get our students back on top when it comes to reading.

we will find screeners to assess every child entering kindergarten so we know the reading levels of each of our students to help plans to help them read at grade level. we require childcare providers to put a new focus on reading skills and new train on early childhood development. and we will implement a more rigorous exam for elementary programs patterned off the highly successful program in massachusetts. and finally, we'll create a read to lead development council to raise support for reading programs all across wisconsin. a study last april showed that students are four times more likely to drop out of school if they're not reading at grade level by the time they lead third grade. and they're 13 times more likely if you include poverty as an additional factor. it is our duty to help all of our kids learn to read early so they don't ever have to feel that learning isn't for them.

dr. evers and i have been working with a diverse group of individuals to develop a plan to let parent, teachers and communities know which schools are performing well, so we can replicate their success, and also we need to know which schools are failing so we can help them. ultimately, educators, parents and even employers will be able to look at the scores of schools and school districts all across the state every school that receives public funds, be it a traditional public school, a charter school or even a choice school, every school will be rated by a fair, objective and transparent system.

we are proud of the work done by this design team and i want to again thank dr. eves and his staff for their incredible leadership and collaboration on this important project. thank you. [ applause ] tonight, i've discussed our challenges, our progress and our vision for success as we seek to create a climate for more jobs, a fiscally sound state government and an education system that works well for all of our children. now i'm asking each of you in all parts of wisconsin to help us move our state forward. over the last year, we demonstrated our commitment to improve the climate for business here in wisconsin. tonight, i'm asking small business owners from across the state to consider hiring at least one more employee in the coming year. imagine how many more people we

could get working if we all pitched in together. to continue to improve our fiscal standings so our kids inherit a state without massive deficit, i ask each of you to offer ideas how we can eliminate waste, fraud and abuse at our website, bestpracticeswi.gov. imagine how much better we can make our government work if we share good ideas and suggestions. and to improve the educational opportunities for all of our kids. i'm asking each of you to join with me and people all across the state and become a reading mentor. now, last week, i started reading with a third grader in milwaukee. [ applause ] i read to her about science and marine life under water. she read to me out of her book about the adventures of edgar and ellen and we did a reading exercise on the computer. it was a lot of fun and i was

both impressed and inspired. imagine how many kids we could inspire to be great leaders if we all reach out to our local schools. in closing, let me leave you with one final thought. years ago, when i had the honor of serving the good people in this chamber, i learned a valuable lesson -- don't personalize your differences. over the year, i passed that on to many others with a simple reminder, your opponent today may be our ally tomorrow. the people i've met traveling the state over the past year seem to respect their fellow citizen -- you don't care [ shouting ] >> there are people with plenty of different opinions on politics, business, religion, sports, on just about anything in the state. >> what i foubut what i found i parts of the state is a sense of

respect. most of the people in the state care not only for their family and friends, but for the well being of their neighbors and of their fellow citizens. that's the spirit of wisconsin. i've seen it in the faces of volunteers who show up to help after tornadoes in places like merrill or lacrosse. and i've always seen it in the face of our men and women in uniform like the men and women from the 724th. [ applause ] moving forward, i believe that spirit of wisconsin will help us improve the state of our

economy, the state of our budget, the state of oour schools and most importantly, i believe the spirit of wisconsin will help us all improve the lives of each and every citizen in our great state. now is the time for action. now is the time to get our state working again. now is the time to move wisconsin forward. [ applause ]