rashida tlaib, she previously served three terms in the state house. congresswoman e lisa slotkin of michigan's 8th district served in a variety of roles in the pentagon in the obama administration culminating as assistant defense secretary for security affairs. prior to that she worked on the u.s. intelligence committee including spending time in iraq with jobs in the cia, the national security council and the state department. and representative haley stevens started her career working for the obama administration's auto industry bailout and she worked her way to small and mid-sized manufacturers to adopt digital manufacturing weapons including creating job training programs. her colleagues elected her as one of the two co-presidents of the freshman class. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. >> vermont governor phil scott began his second term with a

half-hour address to lawmakers in montpelier. he told the vermont house and senate that the state's biggest problem is a shrinking population. governor scott laid out his goals of attracting more people to live and work in vermont by improving job opportunities, housing and education. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. please. [ inaudible ]

>> the chamber will please come to order. [ inaudible ] >> for the record. how about those red sox, huh? [ applause ] mr. president, madam speaker, mr. chief justice, members of the general assembly, distinguished guests and fellow vermonters, i want to begin by thanking the people of vermont for the opportunity to serve as governors and for their trust and support as we carry out the work ahead. it is the greatest honor of my life. i also want to thank my wife diana, my two daughters, erica and rachel, my mom and my entire

family for their support and love. i couldn't do this without you. [ applause ] >> this is the second time i've had the privilege of addressing you as you open the biennial session. each time we've gone about our work against the backdrop of the national political environment that has the work of the entire process. unfortunately, that still exists today as too many valued political points over approximately see solutions. social media still overflows with negativity and hate and politics as a whole still seems to divide us more than it brings us together. i truly believe that in vermont, we can set a standard, others across the nation can aspire to and others can look to as a

better way to go about the work of the people and when the work gets difficult, when tensions build which they will, when divisions seem too deep to overcome, when we need to be reminded that there's still good in the world look no further than the people of vermont. [ applause ] >> we saw the good. we sheltered and fed their neighbors as floodwaters forced them from their homes in the depth of winter. the good lives in the young girls and boys, and amanda pelky was half way around the world in south korea. when she was born hockey was a game for boys. 25 years later we welcomed amanda home an olympic gold

medalist. the good is in the pride helpeds of us felt on a cold day in november to celebrate the return of the goddess of agriculture and the incredible work of two vermont artists, jerry williams and chris miller whose craftsmanship will stand for generations on top of this beautiful building. [ applause ] >> the good is in sarah meyers, the owner of leonardo's pizza in burlington. giving the opportunity to get back to work knowing full well the road may be rough, but believing in the person and the journey in seeing past the stigma, and the good is found in the perry family whose combined 120 years of dedication and service in the navy was

recognized in a shipyard in connecticut as the uss vermont was christened. four sons, three grandsons and a daughter-in-law all following in the footsteps of the former representative from richford, capta captain al perry. we saw the good running in two political opponents, lucy rogers and zack mayo, a democrat and a republican debating the issues and then sitting together to play a musical duet proving to the nation there is a better way. every day we see the good in our service men and women in our first responders, our teachers and nurses and our coaches, scout leaders, mentors and all those who serve others without expectation of praise and often too little recognition. the good is in this chamber. it's here because it lives in each and every one of our

communities. the places we come from and the people we go home to. it's in our schools and churches, our businesses and farms and our forest trails and town halls. the good, the courage to show a better path is the same courage that allows those that came before us, to carve our way of life in the mountains and rocky hillside pastures. the good is in our hearts. it's in our minds, and it's who we've always been. today more than ever it's who america needs us to be and to meet the challenges ahead, to best serve vermonters, it's who we have to be. [ applause ]

>> our focus remains in what we're working for and what we're working towards. to do that we must face the economic realities that exist across the state in all 251 towns, cities and villages and the impact our policies have on each of them. we must look for common ground instead of highlighting or exploiting our differences, you can sense this incompromise not as a weakness, but as a strength, and if we can, our work, our actions, and our results will inspire and renew faith in government and give hope to every community. together, we can work toward a more prosperous future for our state and our people where families and every town are moving the economic ladder with a good paying job and a way of life they can afford. where all kids get a quality

education for the same opportunity to achieve their full potential and where we do all we can to provide for our neighbors who need us most when they need us most and aer ha ve and economic growth with every corner of the state and policies that benefit all vermonters. this can be our legacy. [ applause ] we can achieve this vision, but it requires us to recognize the obstacles in our way. i know some may be tired of hearing me talk about our demographics or given up and believed we can do to change them, while others may not feel a sense of urgency because their own community hasn't been impacted as dramatically as other, but you don't have to take my word for it.

just ask moody's who recently downgraded our bond rating in part due to our lack of population growth of working-age vermonters. these facts and this problem can no longer be ignored. just take our labor force as an example. since 2009 our labor force has declined by about 15,000. 15,000 fewer people working or looking for work. 15,000 fewer vermonters available for jobs. we know businesses are trying to fill right now. 15,000 fewer potential income taxpayers. these losses have been felt across the state, but have had the greatest impact outside of chatham county. since their peak employment, washington and frank llin counts have seen the labor force decline.

by the same measure, addison has seen the reduction of nearly 5% and grand isle and orleans have lost around six. bennington memorial have seen the string by 12% and wings are 12 and caldonia, 14, and essex is down by 20%. this demographic reality is perhaps most apparent in our school. it's like the canary in the mine shaft and there are public schools when are now educating about 30,000 fewer k through 12 students than we were in 1997. that's an average loss of three students a day for over 20 years and that trend continues. there's not a single county that hasn't been affected. since 2004 which wasn't all that long ago, franklin county's enrollment has shrunk by 3.5%

and is doing the best by far. memorial and orange counties have seen declines of 12%. enrollment has dropped by over 16 in kaledonia county and 17% in orleans and nearly 9 in washington. in bennington and grand isle has declined by 21% and addison, butler and windsor have lost a quarter of their students in 14 years, and in essex they're educating 42% fewer kids. these declines are for children and this is happening on our watch. these trends not only mean fewer of the workforce in school, but fewer customers and businesses, great pairs for utilities and few are available for the volunteer fire department and others who support the needs of our communities and fewer to

share the cost of state government. the ongoing needs in areas like transportation, building maintenance, public safety and human services, but there are other needs, as well. we have a moral obligation to protect our seniors and kids and treat those impacted by mental illness or addiction and we're committed to restoring our lakes and rivers which will cost vermonters $1 billion over the next 20 years and we must keep the promises we made to our teachers, that have the cost in full. the debt we owe today is almost $4 billion and it continues to grow by tens of millions each year, but let's be clear. a deal's a deal. each of these commitments are important, but our stagnant pop lagd is threatening every

service we deliver. every program we administer and every investment we hope to make. even the most optimistic among us must recognize what this means. without a different approach, our current revenues won't support our obligations and our wants or even our needs. on the campaign trail, a burlington business owner told me we don't need more taxes. we need more taxpayers. [ applause ] >> the solution is really that simple, but the path to a better outcome redires our best ideas and our best work and real change and that's what we signed up for and what's expected of each of us.

vermonters selected me and many of you to ensure we don't ask them to shoulder any more of the tax burden. they're doing their part. it's time for us to do ours. [ applause ] despite these challenges, we have so much to offer and so much to be hopeful for. we're one of the safest, healthiest states in the country. we have a good education system which i believe we can make the very best, and we have a culture and lifestyle that's second to none. these things offer a great quality of life which is among the best recruit chment tools w can ask for. we know it's not enough. so this session, let's focus strengthening the assets to keep and attract more working families with an eye on

reversing our population trends. let's grow the economy to support jobs and oregonganic gr because if we want people to move here and stay we must make it more affordable. this is how we rise above the challenges ahead of us and improve the lives of vermonters and chart a new course for our future. first, let's work to reinforce the things that make vermont such a great place to live. the health of our citizens and environment and the strength and safety of our communities. vermont has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the nation. we rank among the top states of the health of our women and children and the health providers and physical activity. we are also among the best in the country with low instances of violent crime, obesity and infi

infant mortality. many of you in this room as well as our predecessors have contributed to this success, but vermont is still struggling with the high cost of insurance especially those in our state marketplace. that's why i'll propose health insurance reform focus on increasing affordability for vermonters and specifically young people as we work to retain and attract more of them. during the campaign i talked about a paid family leave plan, balancing the value of this benefit with vermonters' ability to pay. in the coming weeks i'll roll out that concept. i truly believe it puts us on a path to a goal we all share without raising a new tax. we can also build on our role to protect our environment, communities and kids. we rank high when it comes to air quality, but we can do more to lower emissions in our state so i'll propose using settlement

funds to help vermonters purchase electric vehicles, and my budget will propose a long term funding source for our water quality initiative using existing revenues and a model to put this money to work on the ground. this fall we learned from the department of health that some students may be exposed to lead and drinking water in our schools. here is an area we agree on. to work back quickly to protect our kids. in order to do that, my budget will invest in lead testing in schools statewide and if you work with me in budget adjustments, we'll have every school tested within a year. [ applause ] success, we'll continue to transport the system going from

good to the very best in the country. supporting and educating every child from cradle to career. many of us here today have heard countless debates about education and far too often it's been about something other than the kids themselves, from taxpayers to teachers, old districts and new districts and rates and rebates, this has created a fear of change that's hand cut with the status quo and distracted from the single most important purpose of our schools, educating our kids. we must have the courage to make the conversation about giving every child the best possible chance at a good future and the truth is not all of them are getting equal opportunity. here is just one example of what students are facing. i want to be clear, these are real middle schools in vermont.

i'm going to call them school a and school b. students at each are taught language arts, math, science and social studies, but school a has advanced math like algebra 1. school b does not. school a has 20 sections of art. school b has one. school a offers multiple french classes. school b doesn't have any foreign languages. school a has band, chorus, music, health education, advancing consumer sciences. school b doesn't offer a single one of these. you might be surprised to hear that these are schools from opposite ends of the state. these two middle schools feed into the very same high school. this is not the case. it's happening across vermont so we must continue to address the

inequalities that exist. i've heard you, and believe me, i recognize a change of this magnitude takes time, but in the near-term, i believe the best opportunity for progress is in early care and learning to give all kids, regardless of their background, a strong foundation. we've taken important steps. let's build on it this year by working together to give every child an equal chance at success. last fall i identified the new revenue source to put toward these initiatives which i'll detail in my budget address. if we can work together on a high quality child care system that's affordable and accessible along with a stronger education system we can set vermont apart from other states as a destination for families. we can and will debate on policy and that's okay, but let's focus

on the merits of our ideas. >> let's not resort to scare tactics and it's all our kids an, call shot at success that puts their interests above special interests and build them hands down the best education system in the country. [ applause ]interests and build down the best education system in the country. [ applause ] >> next, we must ensure businesses compete around the rooj region because we can put all our ideas on the table to attract young people and support working families and if we don't have jobs none of it will matter. path 250 was built to address a rapidly growing state.

at that time it was an oversight to deal with the population expansion brought on by the baby boom and the interstate highway system, but those circumstances no longer exist. that's why i'll propose reforms to modernize 250 in a way that expands growth in our struggling downtown while continuing to protect the environment because we can and must do both. this proposal. [ applause ] >> this proposal builds on the work together to modernize the regulation and support the development of affordable housing in our downtowns and growth centers. this year we can do even more to build stronger communities by updating 250 and encourage more compact developments while preserving our working lands and rural character.

we also know that broadband are crucial to parts that are currently underserved or not connected at all. i'm sure most realize this isn't the cure-all to our economic challenges, but as we seek to attract more people to live and work in vermont we must continue to expand access this session i'll put forward a package of reforms and my budget will include investment to do just that. as i travel the state i see places struggling to survive, many are a shadow of what they used to be. we reached a point where too many are not growing, and whether you are here from greensboro and island pond, riflburg, springfield or new port or any one of the proud community that write economic history and now face tough times, know this. i'm eager to work with each of

you to develop policies to revitalize all 14 counties and to ensure that hope and opportunity exists not only in burlington, but in bennington, berkshire, barton and all 251 towns across our state. [ applause ] >> finally, we need to do a better job leveraging the assets and a great place to visit, work and live. consider this, in 2017 the top towns for millennial homebuyers were not new york city, boston

or san francisco. they were willis and north dakota, athens ohio and aberdeen south dakota. millennials appear willing to put affordability and quality of life over the conveniences and attractions of our biggest cities when buying a home. i believe vermont can offer what they're looking for and in many instances we already do. the week we do in the areas of housing and education and downtown development and workforce training while striving to make vermont more affordable were positive steps forward, but we must do more. we know that affordable housing is a huge barrier to recruiting young workers. i hear it every day from employees and employers. last term we worked together to create more vermonters can afford. let's build on that progress by focusing on existing stock, and

my budget will propose a package focused on growing the housing supply by revitalizing properties by investing in existing neighborhoods. these are steps in the right direction, but it's not enough to simply offer things that appeal to young people and working families. bee have to do a better job telling our story and use it to aggressively recruit new vermonters. even if you believe vermont is perfect. it's clear we aren't doing enough to persuade people to move and stay here. last year thanks totino straightive thinking from the legislature, we launched a program offering incentives to move workers who move here, just passing the law gave international media attention and as a result, nearly 3,000 people inquired about the program. this showed us a couple of things. first, publicity works and

second, people do have an interest in moving here, but sometimes just need a reason to take that first step. that's why my budget will propose a labor force expansion package that target those likely to move in a regional, approach to close the deal. i hope you'll join me in supporting this effort because investing to grow our workforce is one of the most -- one of the single most important things we can do for our economy and to reduce the tax burden on those here now. this fall i visited employers at west charleston. my team heard they had success recruiting young workers to relocate here and we wanted to learn more. i asked them why they chose vermont. most said they liked the sense of community we offer.

many also thought it was a good place to raise a family while some came for outdoor recreation. while there someone shared that precision composites in lyndonville wasn't having any trouble filling positions, even engineers. now that got my attention because just the week before, and they said they were looking to hire 25 engineers and were struggling to do so. what was the secret in the northeast kingdom? they put a help wanted ad in a mountain biking magazine. the point is we know people want to come here and we need to identify and reach those who do. collectively, we have a lot of good ideas. so let's act on them together. let's build the best education system in the country and nurture a business climate that keeps increased with good job so

we can better compete throughout the states. let's have workers and families to have revenue to best serve the vermonters already here. let's support policies and make investments that will work toward these goals and do so without digging further into the pockets of vermonters because it builds the future we want for our kids and their kids. we must ensure vermont is affordable. [ applause ] >> while the challenges are great, when we work together we can do great things. over the last two years our record speaks to for itself. to improve efficiency, we merged the departments of liquor and lottery. a longstanding goal of

legislators around this room and we did the same in creating the agency of digital services which has saved taxpayers about 4 million since its creation. with your leadership we supported foster parents and crime victims, strengthened consumer protections and are working to make prescription drugs more affordable. we modernized to expand the drug treatment professionals and make it easier for members of the military and to the civilian workforce. when actions in washington put access to health care in jeopardy, speaker johnson, senator ashe, republican matter leaders from both houses and i stood with senators leahy and sanders and congressmen to protect medicaid funding. where else but vermont would you see such a politically diverse group join together to defend access to health care?

and for two years we didn't raise a single tax of the fund. we also helped statewide taxes, and passed by local voters. we removed the tax on social security for low and middle-income vermonters and worked to revitalize downtowns and villages throughout the state. we made the single largest investment in housing the state had ever seen as well as the 70% increase in water funding and opened a treatment center to help eliminate long wait lists statewide allowing more vermonters to start on a path of recovery. we did all this and so much more by working together. it wasn't always easy or comfortable, but hard work, good work is rarely either of these things and we need more of it.

because the solutions we seek and the political environment. in which history placed us, above all else we put true public servants. since announcing he retirement in 200 5shgs senator jim jeffords said in no other job you have both the freedom and obligation to solve problems on a daily bases, solve problem and help people. a simple reminder of why we're here as partisanship and division have eroded the trust many have in our democracy, as conflict captures headlines and far more often than the good work we've done to strengthen vermont and reports in the disagreements overshadow all

that we agree on and the progress we've made working together. let's solve problem and help people. that's our job. it's our responsibility. it's what our naeshs who elected us expect. it's what the challenges that we're here to confront demand of us and most importantly, it's what they deserve. as we open this new biennium as the hope and promise of a new year, let's commit to this work, put aside our differences to work together to come together to solve problems and help people each and every day. thank you very much. [ applause ]

[ applause ] >> this afternoon we'll have live coverage with house republican leadership member, female political experts and former campaign staffers. they'll be speaking at the launch event for representative elise stefanik's political action committee to elect republican women at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. this marks the supreme court decision legalizing abortion roe v. wade and the annual march for life rally protesting the decision is this friday here in washington. we'll have live coverage at noon eastern on c-span. on saturday advocates for women's rights will march in washington and we'll have that

live starting at 1:30 on saturday also on c-span. the c-span cities tour, exploring the american story. this weekend we take you to independence missouri, home to marry and bess truman. saturday on book tv we'll explain the roots of independence and why it is one of america's great westward trails. >> downtown is the great place to be if you're outfitting for the trails and we have several blacksmith shops there and several places where you can get horses and outfitting general stores and you needed flour and anything you needed out west you would get it here. you can expect a big, buzzing community downtown. >> on sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv, a tour of president truman's historic sites including a visit to his home and his library. watch the c-span city's tour of independence missouri, saturday at noon eastern on c-span2's

book tv and sunday on american history tv on c-span tv. working with our cable affiliates as we explore the american story. for the first time in the state's history, iowa voters elected women to the u.s. house of representatives last november, both are democrats and both defeated republican incumbents. congresswoman sendy axeney earned her, in ba from kellogg's school of management before working under three iowa governors. she and her husband currently own a digital design firm in the des moines area. voters in iowa's first district, ab abby finkenauer. she previously served in the house of representatives. illinois elected two, all democrats and two of whom defeated incumbents and sean represents the 6th district and he's a biochemical engineer of

two clean energy firms earlier in his career. >> congresswoman, lauren underwood represents ilno's 14th district and she was senior adviser at the department of health and human services during the health administration. she has masters degrees in murse nursing and public health and representative jesus garcia goes by chuy was elected in illinois's 4th district and his politics go back to the 1980s and he's worked as cook county commissioner and on the chicago city council and he was also the executive director of the local development corporation. new congress, new leaders, watch it all on c-span. here in washington, d.c., president trump's state of the union address may be postponed. house speaker nancy pelosi asked the president to delay his speech until after the government shutdownens ends or

submit it in writing. they're inviting the president to give his address in the chamber instead and the government shutdown is now in its 27th day, six days longer than any previous shutdown. t the shutdown continues over border wall funding. day 27. you were part of a piece that the washington examiner wrote. vote on the wall and bend the shutdown. what are you proposing? is basically a compromise that i think it's simple in my own mind and a pretty common sense compromise for democrats and republicans is to fund the border wall construction the president is asking for in exchange for a deal on daca of some sort.