or caring for the sick and the elderly. i look forward to working with him and with all of you again this session to keep the momentum going for the benefit of everyone who calls our state home. our state just went through end is still going through a tragedy that we never expected. i personally have privately thanked the governor for his work. those of you that were not in attendance, those of you that had not been on the ground in newtown do not understand the feeling of what happened or how the governor led. there are a lot of people we have to thank, and i know the governor will do that, but i have got to personally thank the governor for taking hold the

reins of a very difficult situation and helping with compassion, leadership, and caring, and getting people's lives hopefully back on line again. ladies and gentlemen, i cannot tell you how proud i am to introduce a man who has the compassionate, who understands what vision is, who has no greater love but for the state and for the people in it, our governor, daniel t. malloy. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. we have work to do. thank you. thank you.

[applause] thank you. mr. president, mr. speaker, senator mckinney, representative cafero, lt. governor wyman and my fellow state officials, ladies and gentlemen of the general assembly, honored members of the judiciary, members of the clergy, and all the citizens of our great state who are watching or listening today -- thank you for the honor of inviting me into the people's house to address you. i'd like to offer my sincere congratulations to the newly elected leadership of the democratic and republican caucuses in each chamber, and especially to speaker sharkey and majority leader aresimowicz as they take on their new roles. congratulations as well to the new members of the general assembly who were sworn in earlier today. i look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. as we gather in this historic

chamber, let us always keep in our thoughts the brave men and women of the great state of connecticut serving in our armed forces around the globe. we thank them and our veterans for their service and sacrifice, and we pray for their continued safety. i'd like to recognize my wonderful wife cathy and my sons daniel and sam who join us today. thank you. [applause] as i know is true for so many of you, i could not do my job without the tremendous love and support of my family. finally, we are joined by two of newtown's finest leaders -- first selectwoman pat llodra and school superintendent dr.

janet robinson. it's an honor to have you with us today. [applause] you were tested by unimaginable tragedy, your compassion and

leadership over the past month has been an inspiration to connecticut, and to me personally. it won't surprise you that this speech is very different from the one i first envisioned giving. in the early days of december, i began thinking about what i'd like to say. now, while it's only been a few short weeks on the calendar, we have all walked a very long and very dark road together. what befell newtown is not something we thought possible in any of connecticut's beautiful towns or cities. and yet, in the midst of one of the worst days in our history, we also saw the best of our state. teachers and a therapist that sacrificed their lives protecting students. a principal and school psychologist that ran

selflessly into harm's way. our brave connecticut state police, newtown's local law enforcement, firemen, and others that responded courageously when called upon. sorry. in the aftermath, a selectwoman, a superintendent, and other local officials that have served around-the-clock bringing comfort and stability to newtown. and today, sandy hook's teachers are doing what they do best-- putting the interest of their students first as they return to classrooms, providing stability and continuity that has never been so important and so needed. and then, of course, there are the families. twenty-six families that despite an unimaginable loss have gotten up each and every day since, have been there for one another, and have supported their community as much as that community has supported them.

they have persevered. and in that perseverance, we all find strength. we have lifted one another up and continued on, carrying the spirit of our fallen heroes, our wounded families, and our beautiful lost children. as a state and as a community, we will continue to do everything we can for the families of newtown. but we also must ask ourselves-- what is our responsibility? to those we've lost, to one another, to our children, and to future generations? during this legislative session, we're going to begin to answer those questions together. let us do everything in our power to ensure that connecticut never again suffers such a loss, that we take real steps to make our kids and our communities safer. last week, my administration

announced the formation of the sandy hook advisory commission, comprised of experts in mental health, education, law enforcement, and first response. we may never know what motivated the events at sandy hook elementary, but that won't stop us from working to prevent future tragedy. over the coming months, the commission will come together to make specific, actionable recommendations in the areas of school safety, mental health services, and gun violence prevention. this session, i know there will be others that take action on these issues, and i applaud those efforts. the more resources we can bring to bear on this issue, the better. working together we can and will affect real change. there are some things we know already. we know that we must find ways to better respond to those with mental health needs. as a society, we have an obligation to take action in a meaningful way when a person seeks our help or demonstrates a need for it. we must balance our respect for individual rights with our obligation to provide for the

greater public safety. and when it comes to preventing future acts of violence in our schools, let me say this -- more guns are not the answer. [applause] let me be very, very clear -- freedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher, and security should not mean a guard posted outside every classroom. [applause] that is not who we are in connecticut and that is not who we will allow ourselves to

become. we also know that this conversation must take place nationally. because as long as weapons continue to travel up and down i-895 -- 95, what is 5eu6b8 available for sale in florida have devastating consequences here. today our focus will be first and foremost on protecting connecticut families. now, those conversations won't always be easy. but as your governor, i've learned there is no challenge we face that we can't overcome with the power of our community. together, we have come time and time again we've done it with purpose because we know there is something bigger in this world and more important than who we are as individuals. it is our community. my friends, as we begin this legislative session let us be guided by the devotion to the common good, by faith in each other and by the determination

to work together to make community as strong as it can possibly be in every way. now, looking back over these past 24 months we have faced many challenges. the largest per capita budget deficit in the nation, a struggling economy, a frabtrd public school system, untenable energy costs and natural disasters the likes of which our generation had never seen. and then in december just when we thought the worst had happened, it actually did. the people of connecticut, the communities you represent and all of the -- us in this chamber when tested we met those challenges head on. we did as our forefathers, as our grandparents and parents taught us to do. we decided to focus not on what makes us different but on what makes us the same. our common hue manty.

it is this core strength and that spirit of community that brought us together to accomplish so much on behalf of the people of connecticut. two years ago, we faced a single largest per capita deficit in the nation. it was a problem decade in the making. we knew that getting our fiscal house in order was critical to creating jobs. connecticut employers needed a responsible and predictable partner in state government. we came together and passed a balanced budget. we cut more than we addd in revenue. and even after revenues came in short as they did in 31 states, we know today that our combudget as enacteded fixed more than 90% of the problem and last month democrats and republicans came together to make sure we closed that final gap without raising taxes. now, anyone who tells you that the budget we passed two years ago didn't do its jobs, that it didn't make real change in how we approach our finances is

simply not telling the truth. i know that many of you cast very hard votes to fix those problems. and that is the kind of resolve and leadership that we're we are in fact bringing back to connecticut. we've made other tough decisions along the way. after years of underfunding our pensions, a 4.5 billion payment would have been required in the year 20 32 more than four times what we currently pay. that payment would have been impossible. that is why last year we restruct rd our payments to reverse years of chronic underfunding. we are avoiding our own fiscal cliff and saving connecticut citizens $6 billion over the next 20 years. we didn't kick the can down the road. we picked it up. then through a restructured benefits and pension agreement with our public employees we are saving the state approximately $20 billion. and we made sure that state governments tightened its own

belts as well. we shrank the number of state agencies by more than 25%. we trimmed executive branch employees by more than 1200 positions over the past 2 years including more than a 10% reduction in the number of state managers. as we've done more with less, so have our hard-working state employees. they've adapted and found new ways to continue providing critical services to state residents. we have all had to buckle down and make tough choices. and we're going to have to make more of them in the weeks and months to come. now, recently there has been a national conversation about economic development. about whether it makes any sense to have states competing against one another for jobs. it is a good conversation to have. and it is the right time to have it. but a dialogue on the best way forward cannot be an excuse for standing still. we see too much of that in washington.

i believe, i firmly believe that each one of us in this chamber must approach this session with a core guiding principle. until every person in our state who wants the job can find one, we have more work to do. we cannot stick our hands in the sand or simply hope for the best. not when other states are actively recruiting jobs from every corner of the globe. jobs that can and should come to connecticut. we must compete for er single job. with that mind sest, we've begun to tackle the challenges of economic development in a holistic way in our state. our first five program along with the addition of jackson laboratories has leveraged a $180 million commitment in public funding to drive more than $2 billion in private

investment. that same program made it possible for connecticut to bring two fortune 500 companies to our state. now, the last time that we talked about two fortune 500 companies was in 2006, and that was because they were leaving. on main streets across connecticut the small business express program is giving local employers a chance to expand and create jobs. it was because of this program that beven brothers manufacturing in east hamplen was able to rebuild after a fire ravaged their factory. they purchased new equipment and got their employees back to work because of that program. just a few months ago, i announced the third plank of our economic development strategy, an innovation eco system. the program has one goal, and that is connecting people with good and great ideas with capital investors. twill create new high-skilled jobs, jobs with good wages and

jobs with good benefits in our state of connecticut. now, we're off to a good start but it is only a start. the key is making government an actedive partner rather than a bice stander who watches markets develop elsewhere. by investing in instris, by recruiting companies and by standing with our small businesses and our startups. we are taking steps to make connecticut make sure that connecticut leads again. i am proud that after a long and hard debate, we were able to say with one voice that the status quo was no longer acceptable. that when it comes to public

education, we can't keep doing what we've always done and simply hoped for better results. that our kids can't afford it and our state cannot afford it as well. we worked with an eye towards the future and made an historic investment of nearly 100 million dollars from pre-k to high school focusing on district that is we know are most in need. now, reaching kids early is critical to that success and early childhood education had to be a central portion of our education reform. so we created 1,000 new school readiness opening statewide for youngsters at a time when no one thought that that was possible. that's 1,000 more children that will show up to kinder garten this fall day one ready to learn. we did that together, and we will do more. to combat unacceptable achievement gap, we've begun

transforming underperforming schools through the newly created commissioners network. four schools have already volunteered and are benefiting from intensive intervention, increased instruction time, and improved collaboration among teachers and administrators. i have visited these four schools in bridgeport, hartford, new haven and norwich and each exhibits a new energy and renewed sense of purpose and more schools are lining up to be transformed in the years ahead. of course, reform could not be complete without supporting our teachers. they have dedicated their lives to our children and for the first time in a very long time, we're dedicating new resources for them as well. we know, we know success is possible. we have seen it. with a cooperative effort where every voice is heard, we're going to replicate it in classrooms around our state. the bottom line is that students are going to be better prepared for school today and

for the job market tomorrow. when it came to energy, our state had been a national leader for years. in the worst possible way. we had the highest electric rates in the continental united states. rates that were squeezing the budgets of families and businesses. we came together. we decided we needed a plan to take these problems head on. we realized that our economic energy and environmental energy and economic needs were all related. and that the path we chose would impact our economy in this state for years to come. we consolidated state agencies to better coordinate our energy functions. we strengthened programs promoting renewable power and energy efficiencies. we're leveraging private

capital to deliver renewable energy at a price lower than almost anywhere else in the united states. today we have seen electric rates drop in connecticut by 12% across the board. but we cannot stop now. the comprehensive energy strategy that my administration announced this past october shows us the way forward. together, we will expand cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy choices for consumers. enhancing efficiency programs for all communities at the same time helping to create thousands of new jobs. putting connecticut businesses and consumers in control of their energy future will have a real and immediate impact. you need look no further than modern wood cravert, a locally opened company in plainville that invested in the kind of incentives that our state will promote they're seeing more than a $35,000 savings per year in energy costs.

or you could look at woodbridge where amty high school will have a budget savings of $120,000 more than the salary of two teachers after the town made a conversion to natural gas. high energy prices, struggling schools, a broken budget, a sluggish economy, all problems that every person in this room knew that we were facing two years ago and we have faced them together. one challenge we didn't see coming, in 2011 connecticut was rocked by the worst winter in our history. two storms packing a one-two punch the likes of which we hadn't seen in our state in more than 25 years, tropical storm iran and -- irene and the

emergency response system should have been addressed years the not decades ago. it was a wakeup call and we woke up. we put in place new procedures to better c50rd nate emergency response infrastructure. we commissioned a two-storm panel to investigate exactly what went wrong and to determine what needed 20 be done to prevent unacceptable power and communications disruption. the panel led directly to the passage of tough new laws, laws that hold connecticut utility companies accountable for how they respond to emergencies. and we created a new energy microgrid program to increase energy reliability in critical areas. now, these weren't quick fixes or window dressing. they were the result of saying that we had had enough and it was time for us to do more. what does it all mean for connecticut residents? we know that we will again feel the brunt of bad weather. but we can tell our citizens

that the state is more prepared for future challenges. that their families will be safer when a disaster strikes. and that the odds of anyone -- anyone having to needlessly suffer through prolonged power outages have been greatly diminished. when hurricane sandy struck we saw the results of the work that we had done together. while we can never entirely prevent damage or power outages, the response was in fact better and faster. once again, we saw a problem and together we worked to address it. if these past two years have proven anything, it is that we have the ability to rally around a common good and a common goal. we have done it in a way that just doesn't seem possible these days in some places and

certainly not in washington, d.c. in december at the same time the leadership from each of your caucuses was meeting with my team for long hours, night after night, to develop a mitigation plan, our national budget was being driven to and then off a fiscal cliff. while we've worked to manage our state's finances, national inaction hangs like a dark cloud over our state budget. for the many connecticut families with someone working in our defense industry, washington's inability to 50d dress problems on a reasonable deadline is causing sleepless nights and it is unnecessary. and earlier this month, while many families and small businesses were still working to recover from hurricane sandy, the gears once again ground to a halt slowing the process of getting aid to those who needed it most. and that is unacceptable. now, i say this not to demean any of our colleagues in

washington. but in the hope that we will better appreciate what we have accomplished here in connecticut. two years ago, you first welcomed me into this chamber. i spoke then about the challenges we faced and about the opportunities we knew were within our grasp. i spoke about who we are as a community. about the ingenuity, the resolve, and the resilience that has defined connecticut for centuries, about eli whitney and prudence crandle, and harriett beacher stow. about a history of overcoming challenges together. my friends, that is still who we are today. we have come a long way in twoyears and we've done it together as a government, as a community, as a state. so in 2013, let us honor one another. let us honor our renewed community and let us honor those we've lost. we have a great deal of work to

do. but if history is any judge, we will rise to the occasion. when a called upon we will answer as we have done time and time again. as one people, one community, and one connecticut. so as we begin our work, which will take many months to complete, may god bless each and every one of you. may god bless the great state of connecticut. and may god bless the united states of america. thank you.

>> next, new jersey governor chris christie giving his third annual state of the state speech. he focused on hurricane sandy recovery efforts and called on congress for more disaster relief to aid victims of the hurricane. the 112th congress approved $9.7 billion in flood insurance aid before they adjourned and the new congress is expected to vote on an additional $51 billion hurricane sandy relief package next week. from trenton, this is 45 from trenton, this is 45 minutes.