>> one other dimension, they were using language that was different versions of their agreement would have not just the right to sue you for leaving a negative review, but they also said that the $480 that you pay for this fiber product that we are cleaning will give you dramatic weight loss, that price is actually a subsidize discounted price, and really the full price is $1500. and if you breach the contract, including a negative review, we can immediately charge you the balance of the full price and the commission alleged that that was deceptive straight up, without having to get into the fairness doctrine. basically, they would take that

fineprint, and they would put that into a notice you got along with some instructions that she would receive in the package with your product when it arrived saying that if you leave a negative review, you will be charged this full price. in terms of the iceberg problem, we would probably have a difficult time counting who would see that piece of paper and decide game over right there, even if the product did not work for them as we believe it did not. that is just another dimension that needs to be on the table in terms of what we're looking at in terms of how clever lawyers can try to come up with for ways to work around straight up prohibition. miranda: any last thoughts, before we could take questions from the audience? >> i just want to reinforce, this bill is a little bill.

this bill is not trying to change the economy or anything like that. but is it crucial piece of the overall market mechanism. going back to george's concerns about abusive anti-consumer clauses. one of the ways we can combat those is by letting the court of public opinion decide. allowing consumers to express their experience is with the businesses. make sure not only can we fight against bad products but we can also fight against abusive terms that are used with good products. this bill really becomes a foundation for the entire ecosystem to make sure that we can hold businesses accountable for their poor choices. the category of truthful negative information is a most imperiled type of speech or content anywhere. it is so easy for that information to be suppressed or bullied or never proffered in the first place. this bill is really about trying to stake out a little more

ground to give breathing room for this endangered type of content. >> i agree with you. i would say two final thoughts. it is easy to think that this is a little, or that consumer reviews are not important a type of speech. this is a very studied sector right now with business. it is new in the last 10 or 15 years. it is really emerging. a study by the consumer last year indicated that 70% of americans now consult consumer reviews before making purchasing decisions. from our area travel, it is much higher. 90% of people looking at these reviews. this is real-world impact and real world dollars that people are trying to spend efficiently. you do not want your family

vacation ruined. it is important. the other thing i would say, this bill is really important, it is excellent. the anti-slap bill as well. while they have the same and objective of ensuring that the speech is enabled to be out there and for people to evaluate it and read it and process it as they want to, they attack different methods that the bad actors take to stifle that speech. this really is not a situation where if one passes the other should die. the two of them work together very well to protect consumers and the entire marketplace of information. >> i'm just going to put in a plug for if you are a consumer, or you know somebody who has encountered a clause like this, and you have encountered suppression of your ability to

leave a review, go to ftc.gov fill out an online complaint. we do not act on every complaint, but having a database of people living their stories and telling us about problems they have with businesses is really critical. ftc.gov for that as well as numerous consumer business education tools that you can help empower yourself. >> i would say three things. first, when brad mentioned the consumerist, that is us. that is one of our publications. we are actively engaged. secondly, i would say that looking at this not from the perspective of somebody who wants to write a review, puts somebody who wants to buy something who has been vetted and tested in the marketplace,

if you do not want every single purchase you make to be a crapshoot, it is important that word-of-mouth be able to spread without restriction. this bill will really help do that. the third thing that i would say, just about the slap suit bill, i would just repeat that there is an important concept there that needs to be distilled. i am not sure if in its current form it is ready yet. but that is something we want to work with others on. miranda: i think we had a question over here. >> usually cannot go on a trip and by a cup of coffee without consulting a review site. this is a very narrowly tailored approach.

by expanding the attack is a little dangerous group of people on the other side say that there is no recourse for a business. if someone gives me a slanderous attack and what do i do? could you address more on the defamation and what is on the books today for business recourse? examples as we of a society have fun contract provisions avoid against public policy? >> let me focus on your first point, which is so what about businesses that are being injured by consumers who are out to get them? it could be that they are unhappy, it could be that they are jilted lovers, trying to cause harm. that is a totally separate issue than the bills we have been

discussing today because what we're discussing today would eliminate restrictions on consumers being able to share their views. it does not mean that they can say anything they ever want. then we go back toward default set of loss that apply when people share their views, and people have to be accountable for their words. we have laws like the defamation on the books today. those laws that are not perfect, like any laws. we have seen many examples for consumers have overstated the situation, sometimes maliciously, and been found to held accountable for that. if i'm a business owner, bringing a defamation lawsuit, i am not ecstatic about that. but the contractual suppression of the review in the first place is completely separate from it. you could imagine a company trying to say do not leave the

defammatory reviews, it does not say anything that the law does not already restrict. that is the only possible thing that is in a prospective contract that would have been legitimate. it would've been prevented by this bill. the defamation and other laws that exist to help businesses when there is the subject of an attack on line give a counterbalance. i cannot stress enough, we do see those cases, but far more often what i see is the business going and saying that was defamatory, but really it was not and using the threat of driving content off the internet. for every legitimate case of defamation we have dozens or hundreds of cases where content is being driven off because it was defamatory but the threat was enough to drive it away. anti-slap a super helpful for that. anti-slap is an iceberg problem. it only addresses the cases was

-- once they have gone to court. but the way it goes in practice is that a business sense a friend anymore letter that says i'm going to see you and i'm going to take everything you own because you have defamed me. at that point, the person receiving that letter has one of two choices. they say bring it, anti-slap laws will protect me, or they say i've not going to jeopardize my house, this is a single review. i am not making any money on this, i do not have a stake in this game to bet my financial future, i do not want to spend years torn up by some lawyer in depositions and mounds of papers. that content is just coming off. the problem with anti-slap laws is not that they are not a good solution, they are great solution but they are an incomplete solution. the real rubber meets the road is when people get those negative letters, and they act on them without taking into court. anti-slap gives them a little

anti-slap gives them a little more comfort. that is a separate problem we need to address. miranda: question in the back. >> hello, i am a local blogger about events. i know this sounds a little superflous. but 20 years ago we did not have the internet or legal reforms forms were people could comment on anything. i know that there is an option for the public, if there is a low rating for a comment, whether it is defamatory, inaccurate for whatever reason, people can vote is down and it will be suppressed, are not necessarily be seen as visibly as the other comments. do you ever get into defamatory situations where you are defending or criticizing or going after someone who wrote something that could be considered harmful to the general public, or onerous and

some very negative way? >> it is fair to say, every internet, or intermediary platform has their own approach. some have filters of what is visible and what is not visible. trip advisor works in a black and white approach to a review meets all of our guidelines, we will publish them. if we do not see the meteor guidelines, we will not publish them. if we look at them again and they did not meet the guidelines, they will be taken down. they will be chronological, not by how accurate is the general populace think this is. there are many sorting choices. when you're operating in scale, which the big companies are, you certainly cannot read every few

with human eyes as they come in, and even less likely you cannot fact check them. what you need to do is set up guidelines you expect everybody, reviewers and businesses to play by. we stringently monitor and police those. you have a review that does not hit the defamatory threshold, so the defamation suit is not in play, but it is a very negative review. there is a lot in there, it is aggressive. much like with political speech, i would represent the the answer to that aggressive speech that you do not like is not to take away. answer it with good speech that you do like and allow those that are looking at it to evaluate it, just as you would in a debate when you are making

decisions on things. you look at both sides and you decide who you trust. if that review that you read is totally contradictory from the six before it and the six after it, but that is someone that you are not quite put a lot of weight in. that is what we see from users on our site all the time. the average person is not looking at one review, which business owners are so sure. this one review will kill my business. but every empirical study says that the average user is going to look at roughly 12 reviews. that one, if it is going to the standout, is going to totally be put aside. thans for this great panel. i would like to flip this around a little bit. i've seen reports of companies that exist that businesses hire to write good reviews about them. is there a role for either the trade commission or congress to

play in addressing this problem that these businesses exist to write false good reviews? eric: the commission has taken action against companies, there has been one more recently that there are cases in which companies have manipulated reviews in some ways by paying for positive reviews in which there is no disclosure where people were compensated for the reviews. the general stance is laid out in guidelines that have been issued help businesses about endorsements and talking specifically about any sort of compensated endorsement.

if someone has used the product in their talking about the real experience they are just not disclosing that they were paid to leave that either view, that would be one set of facts. versus if someone has not used at all, they're just being paid to make up something. that is deceptive and an entirely different level. it would not -- it would be something that would fall under the commission's existing authority. there is probably going to be evolution in the marketplace as well. we will have to see how well we are able to keep up with that. it is sometimes difficult to detect when that is happening just by the very nature of the problem. that is a challenge, but i think from a legal standpoint if consumers do not understand that that review is basically being compensated, or that the review is being made up, your wallet to

well into section five deception territory. >> the new york attorney general took under advisement a big project on these companies. based on laws that were already on the books on deceptive trade practices and fraud and things of the sort. you're right, it is a whole separate section. the one thing that i would say from a purely commercial point of view is that obviously we would love any and all support we can get from law enforcement in going after these very legitimate bad actors that are harming consumers. those reviews are a breach of our terms of service. you can claim fraud and consumer deception claims against them. but a platform like ours, and

any platform that is -- that does not have a stake in the game, not write a review of the product i'm selling, but just compare the other companies, we do not care. all we want is an accurate review. the first time you decide to go down there and it is a totally different experience than you had, you will never come back to us again. you have lost your trust. it can fall part very quickly. the opposite is very true often because the understand of recipe of the reviews is important. we have lots of automated systems in the back checking things. we have a team of people around the world that are doing sting

operations, to really go after them and take them down from an angle we can to fix consumers. marketplace reality is going to encourage platforms to do it. but absolutely, there is -- we will take all the help we can get in that fight. miranda: any last questions? think you for coming. panelists for coming up the internet has brought a lot of these issues to light. the cases that came out are some of the things that really raise awareness of on the health for what is have to be done in congress to protect consumers. i encourage you to follow karl's recommendation to let the commission know if you have experienced any of these to push this forward. keep on the lookout for additional briefings at the internet caucus advisory committee.

you will hear about a lot more issues related to the internet and economy and what we are currently facing. thank you everyone. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] trump will, donald hold a campaign rally in new hampshire. you can watch the live coverage starting at 11:30 eastern time. >> booker t said to him, we have college state kids covered here.

it is the kids in the elementary schools that are suffering. african-american kids are getting poorer education. it is separate and not equal. >> sunday night on q and a, a documentary filmmaker talks about her latest film about julius rosenwald and his partnership with booker t. washington to build schools and childrencation to s in rural america. >> he puts together these houses with what we just use the houses? the best thing booker t. washington said was, no. do with teske gi, i want the communities to build it. first, six schools were built. into 5000 it morphed schools all over the south

including maryland. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. in his annual state of the state address, new york governor an agendamo outlined including spending on transportation, the minimum ine, and improvements education. this is 1.5 hours from albany. pleasure to call the legislature to order. in our five years, we have accomplished much. after many bad years, the arrows are finally pointing in the right direction. ultimately about results, and you delivered. you made this state a better state, and that's what government is all about, and congratulations to each and every one of you.

but with all that we've done, we are not immune to the problems vexing our nation, crumbling infrastructure, slow economic recovery, the unambiguous reality that climate change threatens the very way of life, a growing specter of terrorism, homelessness and ever widening gap between the wealthy and everyone else. political polarization, and government gridlock, all challenging issues to be sure, but thanks to the people in this room, we have a government that is built to lead. these problems may have confounded other states in the federal government, but i know new york must and can address them. the state of the state, my friends, is strong, and today i am proud to report to the 239th legislature that we stand stronger than at any point in recent history.

the empire state is poised to grow and to lead. while our challenges are daunting, because of what this body has accomplished in the past, it should all give us great hope for the future. as president clinton liked to say, we brought arithmetic to our government. we limited the state's new spending to less than 2% a year. we passed a 2% property tax cap that has brought welcome relief to the citizens of our state, and we have cut income, corporate and estate taxes, in total, we have reduced the tax burden on new yorkers $114 billion. why is that important? because reducing taxes is part of our strategy to create jobs and when you're creating jobs,

you're creating opportunity, and you're creating hope, and you're creating progress, and it is working here in this state of new york. unemployment is down from 8% to 4.8%, and today, new york state has more private sector jobs than ever before in the history of the state of new york, 7.9 million jobs. for montauk to niagara falls, the new york economy is on the rebound. our economic success was matched with an common partner, namely unprecedented social progress. in the past, our government offered a sophie's choice. it embraced either fiscal responsibility or social progress, one or the other. we said we could do both. we said we could bring fiscal

responsibility to the state, and we could also be the nation's progressive leader, a beacon for social justice and fairness, and we did it, and we were right to do it, and we were right when we showed this nation true leadership and we passed marriage equality. and we were right, we were right when we stood up for the women of this state, and we passed the women's equality act. and we were right when we passed the most aggressive law stopping sexual violence on college campuses in the nation. and we were right when we stopped fingerprinting for food, and we were right when we led the way on climate change, and we were right when we stopped discrimination based on sexual

identity, and we were right, we were right when we passed common sense gun safety laws, and now new york has the smartest laws in the nation. and remember this. since sandy hook, when we passed our gun control law, we have had fewer gun deaths in the state of new york, thanks to your good work. that is leadership. >> you're wrong! >> fiscally responsible democrats. >> campaign for fiscal -- you were wrong. you were wrong! when you gutted out -- >> okay assemblyman, let me finish and then you'll have your turn. okay. okay, everybody sees you. and everybody heard you. have a seat, assemblyman. that's leadership.

fiscally responsible democrats -- >> it's not fair -- >> okay assemblyman. [ inaudible comments ] >> all right, assemblyman, sit down. all right. everybody heard you. everybody heard you, assemblyman. >> don't believe -- >> fiscally responsible democrats, people said were impossible. >> $4 million for -- >> socially progressive republicans, people said they were impossible. >> say it! >> these legislators acted responsibly, and we reached compromise, and we showed that that can happen, and we didn't listen to the zealots and we didn't listen to the extremists, and we didn't listen to the naysayers. we governed. we came together!

we refused to be intimidated. we refused to be shouted down! we said we are new yorkers first! and we're going to come together and we're going to kick the extremists to the side and we're taking this state forward on what's good for the state of new york! and just because you yell doesn't mean you're right! [ cheers and applause ] and just because you stand, doesn't mean you're correct! that's what this legislature is all about! now, going forward, we must continue our laser focus on reinvigorating the state's economy, because that is the engine that pulls the train. and remember, my friends, when you're helping the economy, you're helping everyone, because the best social program is still a job. we chartered a new path and it's

working. new yorkers on the move, and we have just begun building forward starts with maintaining our fiscal sxlin. i will submit a $145 billion budget that spends an additional 1.7% less than a 2% spending limit. to stimulate economic -- [ applause ] to stimulate economic growth, i propose a tax cut for small businesses, because that is the engine that is driving the economy. 97% of all businesses in new york, fewer than 100 people, that's 3.4 million employees working in small businesses. i propose a $300 million tax cut that will reduce the rate from

6.5 to 4%, plus a 15% income exemption for partnerships in s corporations. that's a tax reduction for 1 million small companies, and another clear signal that new york is open for business. at the same time, we will continue to reduce the mandates and their cost to the locality. the largest mandate is the medicaid program. three years ago we capped the increase in cost to the locality. localities are now held harmless. since then, the state has assumed approximately $3 billion in costs from the counties. i believe the state should continue to cap the growth and assume the cost as long as the local government adheres to our

2% cap. remember, remember, my friends, the property tax is the killer tax in this state. and it has been for a long time. it's nothing new. listen to what fdr said, and i quote, "the public is at last coming to realize that the increase in real estate taxes is due wholly to the increase in the cost of local and not state government. these taxes on real estate are too high. local government has, in most communities, been guilty of great waste and duplication." the cost of the waste, the inefficiency, of our 10,500 local governments is still this state's financial albatross, and that is what is driving up the cost.

consolidation, shared services, local efficiencies must be a top priority, and we must encourage those choices by framing the true economic realities for local governments. local governments must be sustainable from a financial point of view. that is the clear economic truth, and that's what we have to work towards. controlling spending and reducing taxes will continue our growth, but we can do even more. our state's founding fathers and founding mothers early vision and daring was really breathtaking. their boldness in constructing our transportation and infrastructure made this state the success it is today. the tallest buildings, the longest bridges, the deepest tunnels, they never said quit. now it's our turn, my friends.

we must provide the vision and the daring for the next generation to continue to grow in size and strength, we must develop a new interconnected plan system of mass transportation, roads and bridges and airports for the next 100 years. we can and we will. i proposed the new york built to lead program. it's a development initiative that would make governor rockefeller jealous, a $100 billion investment in transformative projects statewide. all experts are unanimous that investment today in the infrastructure of tomorrow creates jobs and builds economic strength. in washington, both sides agree. however, like so many issues, washington just can't get it done. in new york, we can, and we will.

our new tappan zee is an exciting symbol of what we can accomplish, a bridge that other administrations couldn't even begin is now moving forward. it's rising from the hudson like our aspiration is rising for this state. let's take a moment and recognize some of the daring men and women who are working on the tappan zee bridge in the winter, when it's cold, under dangerous circumstances, and are doing a they're here today. we'll ask them to stand and show them our appreciation. [ cheers and applause ] the new york built to lead

program will begin by ensuring new york remains an international destination at the cutting edge of air travel. downstate new york, we will build a new airport to replace the outdated laguardia airport, not rebuilding what was, but building a whole new state-of-the-art airport. it will be the first new airport in the united states in over 20 years, and new york will lead the way again. this year we will also present a new vision for the current maze of terminals at kennedy airport and we will also continue our development of republican steward airports. i also propose this year a $6 million addition to the budget to build a custom center to make macarthur airport on long island a real international hub once

and for all. this will reduce the air demands on laguardia and kennedy. it will also reduce traffic and increase the economic activity on long island. but mass transit is the key for our new new york. if our regions are going to grow, it's going to be through mass transit. we must move more commuters faster and with less damage to the environment. record $26 billion investment in the mta buying 1400 new subway cars, 3100 new buses will reinvent the commuting experience. likewise, 5.6 million invested in the long island railroad and 3 billion invested in metro north will improve the system's comfort, safety and reliability. our $20 billion gateway

partnership, a project long overdue, is now a reality. it is a coordinated effort among the federal government, new jersey and new york. it will build a new rail tunnel, the first one in 100 years, and it will speed commuters from the west. from the ooets, the commute from long island to new york city is one of the worst commutes in the nation. i -- [ applause ] why would awe plaud for one of the worst commutes in the nation? [ laughter ] i thought it was senator flanagan for a moment. we need to add a third track to the long island rails system so we can expedite commuters and promote intraisland transit.

the mass transportation access point in new york city is penn station. penn station is grossly overcapacity and underperforming. penn, in a word, is miserable. amtrak owns it. it is un-new york, it is unwelcoming and it is unacceptable. if vice president biden was critical of laguardia airport, we're only lucky he didn't take a train and end at penn. i can only imagine what he would have said. well, we're not going to give him the chance. we're going to build a new penn moynihan complex finally. new york state did a great thing in 1986, when it opened the

jacob jared's convention center which attracted thousands and thousands of tourists to new york, but it's no longer competitive for many of the big shows. it's too small, and the configuration is not conducive to the exhibitions of today. we will add 1 million square feet to the convention center and remove thousands of trucks and their diesel fumes that currently line up along manhattan's west side. it's going to be a boon to the economy, a benefit to the environment. it's going to be self-financed by the jared center. that's what i call a win/win/win. now, upstate new york must remain an economic priority. the cold truth is that this state government shortchanged upstate new york for many years and that was short-sighted.

not only are we one new york family, but we are one new york balance sheet, and upstate growth means a stronger economy for all. i propose -- [ applause ] i propose a record $20 billion economic development program to grow the momentum in upstate new york. one of the heavy costs for upstate businesses and citizens are the tolls that we impose on the new york state through-way. now as you know, the new york state through-way was paid off in 1996, but the tolls have continued. i propose we set aside $1 billion of our settlement funds as a reserve fund to maintain and improve the through-way

system. it will also allow us to freeze tolls for all users until 2020. [ applause ] we can also cut tolls by half for all frequent users and, listen to this, eliminate all tolls for our agriculture sector, which has been struggling for many, many years. this will show upstate business and citizens that we are on their side. we owe it to them, let's do it, and let's do it this year. upstate roads and bridges, broadband and other infrastructure must be upgraded also. i propose the largest roads and

bridges investment in history, a $22 billion five-year investment, achieving parity with down state new york. i also propose $250 million necessary to assist local governments in rebuilding their water and sewer infrastructure. it's not fancy, but it's necessary. the regional councils are producing dividends. today there are more than 4,000 economic development projects under way thanks to their work. i propose another round of regional economic development councils, our sixth for $750 million to keep the momentum going. our radc partnerships have

created or retained 165,000 jobs. let's give them a round of applause. [ applause ] the i love new york tourism campaigns have been a phenomenal success. we've invested $181 million in tourism over the past five years. that 181 million has seen tourism spending increase $8.5 billion. and the total impact is now over $100 billion in tourism. i want to add another 10% to that budget for a total of $50 million, because what we've learned is, when people see upstate new york, they love upstate new york, so we just have to keep them coming and the

i love new york campaign is a way to do that. this year, we will continue our part by holding the adirondack challenge, and we will add the catskill challenge, to which you are all invited. i hope you all can make it. leader flanagan appears physically fit and he is legendary for being fast on his feet, i mean running, but we don't yet know how can he handle the rough water, i mean rafting. we will soon find out, because i'm sure the leader is going to come to both the adirondack and the catstill challenge. mr. leader. [ cheers and applause ]

now speaker carl heastie grew up near a river, so he is the odds-on favorite to win. i understand the speaker is wagering 2:1 odds on his victory. that's assembly confidence for you. for those of you wondering what river the speaker grew up next to, of course the legendary bronx river. our paradigm of entrepreneurial government is the way of the future. the regions of this nation that excel will be the most functional, creative public/private sector partnerships, and new york is already leading the way. we began in 2011 with our partnership to stimulate dairy production through our greek yogurt industry expansion, and it has worked. we now produce more greek yogurt than greece, believe it or not.

and our dairy industry is booming because the yogurt companies are consuming all the milk that we can produce. it's been a great victory, and an important lesson, and besides having some cows suffering from sore udders, it's been a great, great success. we can also, we can also toast our wine and beer initiatives. the number of wineries has increased four-fold, breweries have increased six-fold. distilleries and cider i-s seven-fold. we have' made it easier for these businesses to grow and do business by revising some of our laws, but we have to do even more. we have to overhaul the prohibition era sla laws that are way overdue, and are an obstacle to growth, and we have to do it this year.

this year i propose two new entrepreneurial partnerships that we are excited about. first deals with the field of agriculture and food. as you know, agriculture is a critical part of our economy. as you also know, there is a growing health concern among consumers about the food we eat. what is in it and how it was grown. there is a burgeoning market around healthy food. however, consumer confidence is lacking. many of the labels that are on those products are virtually meaningless, and they have no standard and they have no legal definition, labels like all natural or no anti-biotics actually have no legal definition. much of our "organic" produce comes from overseas. so consumer skepticism is

justified. to reassuring informed consumers and provide an opportunity for new york farms, we will initiate the first program to certify the bona fides of natural products. the departments of health and agriculture will define what are now vague standards and conduct inspections to certify those standards are being met. so labels like "all natural," will mean something, "no pesticides" will mean something, "hormone free" will actually mean something. the attorney general will police the program so consumers will know when they buy that product, they're getting exactly what that product says it is. we are going to call it the new york certified high quality

program. it will be voluntary for our farmers to participate, but we will advertise this program and its products nationwide, and we think there is a significant marketing asset for the firms that participate. it's an exciting opportunity. it can help grow our farms, better products for the consumers. it's exactly what we need. let's give a, take a moment and give a thanks to commissioner ball, dr. zucker and attorney general eric schneiderman who have worked up this exciting initiative. [ applause ] second partnership, the problem of climate change is timely being recognized by most world leaders, anyway. here in new york, we have already been actively working to address it. now, new york state is a business and environmental opportunity. let's become the international

capital for clean and green energy products. we've already attracted -- [ applause ] we have already attracted some of the largest solar manufacturers on the planet to new york state. we've already attracted some of the biggest research and development firms on the planet to new york state. i now propose a $15 million clean energy opportunity training program so suny and our community colleges can train the workers with solar technology and installation. i believe this is the economy of tomorrow, and while we're developing the business plan, we can also employ it in the state of new york and i propose

installing solar in over 150,000 homes and businesses and converting suny facilities to renewable energy by the year 2020. question do it, and we should. my friends, climate change, this is the path for the future to ensure that the planet has a future. let new york lead the way once again on this important topic. we all realize that all of these new economic opportunities demand a world class education. more and more education is everything, if you're going to get ahead and do well in this economy. i believe in the promise of education, and its potential to serve as a doorway to opportunity, for generations of new yorkers, education has been the ladder to climb out of

poverty. today the need for that ladder is greater than it's ever been. to open the door of opportunity even wider and provide the highest quality public education, my budget investors $6.9 billion in suny and cuny. i also proposed -- [ applause ] i also proposed extending our highly successful suny and cuny 2020 rational tuition and challenged grant program. our goal, make our public higher education system the envy of the country. i know we can, with chairman mccall, and chancellor zemfir, that is exactly what we're going to do, and we thank them for their leadership.

likewise, we will not rest until our k to 12 system is the best in the nation. last year, we made dramatic changes. we reduced testing. we increased parental participation, and empowered local districts. these reforms were essential, because we saw that parents were losing faith in the system. roughly 20% of our students opted out of exams, and in some districts, it was as high as 90% opted out. simply put, the education system fails without parental trust, period. our goal was to restore that trust, and we said we would correct the state education department's common core curriculum implementation mistakes, and testing regiment. time has shown this was the right decision. we urge sed to do it right this time and we are all if pully available to assist and monitor

in this effort. it is also essential that our school districts have the necessary funds to do the job. i propose for this two-year cycle a $2.1 billion increase to $25 billion, the highest total spending on education in the history of the state of new york, period. with that funding increase, i want to do two things. first, once and for all, let's end the gap elimination adjustment. second, let's transform every failing school in the state of new york into a community

school. our charter schools and public schools and serve some of our neediest students. more than 100,000 of them all across the state. charters are an important option for parents and communities with failing schools, and provide education laboratories. on average, charters are half the cost of public schools. they're an important component of the system, and we continue to encourage their development in this budget. we're also working to attract and keep the best public school teach teachers, many of whom work very hard under very difficult circumstances. many teachers, even go into their own pocket to pay for food and supplies for the students in their classroom. what a beautiful sign of dedication, but they shouldn't have to bear the cost.

they deserve our encouragement, our support, our gratitude, and i propose a $200 tax credit to reimburse teachers for their expenses. they more than deserve it. protecting our environment is a top priority. the native american proverb is true, we don't inherit the land from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children. one of the most effective programs to make our state cleaner and greener is the environmental protection fund. i propose raising the environmental protection fund to the highest level in history, $300 million. we previously set a goal that 50% of new york's energy must

come from renewables by 2030. this year it's no longer a goal. it is now a requirement, and it makes new york the nation's leader in the fight against climate change, and that's something we should all be proud of. finally, we will eliminate all use of coal in new york state by 2020. we will help the few remaining coal plants transition, but we must clean our air and protect our health, and that must be our first priority. when it comes to public safety, we have much work to do. in addition to what's now called extreme weather and the new

normal, i'm sad to say that in many ways, we have a new normal to confront, and that is the widening threat of terrorism. san bernardino, california, rochester, new york, it can be anywhere usa, any time. the internet has opened a portal of hate. what was at one time largely confined to the middle east can arrive here now the click of a mouse. we must be diligent. i propose $40 million to fund the permanent deployment of more new york state troopers and national guard at key target areas across this state, because public safety must be our priority. the state police and the

national guard do an excellent job. they are out there when no one wants to be out there. they're there when we have to rebuild floods. they're there to keep us safe. we are blessed to have them. i'd ask them to stand and let's give them a sign of our appreciation. [ applause ] ,; last year, i asked former nypd commissioner ray kelly to do a security audit and tell us the best way to defend ourselves and our state counterterrorism

operations. ray kelly recommends moving the state's counterterrorism operations to the new york state police to improve intelligence sharing and reduce response time. i believe that recommendation makes sense. i'm going to recommend it in this budget and i want to thank ray kelly very much for his service. terrorist attacks no longer mean just airplanes and buildings. more and more attacks include heavily armored individuals, active shooters, and shopping malls, and even churches. to ensure our state police have the right equipment to respond to these situations, i propose $4 million to provide every on-duty uniform state trooper with better weapons, body armor, and tactical helmets. they give up their all for us, they deserve our support.

let's give them the tools they need. [ cheers and applause ] we are also joined today by the new york state troopers who conducted an around the clock search for the escapees of dannemore. it was a truly, truly difficult feat and difficult terrain, that went on day after day, week after week. the climax of the event was a truly heroic event, where a single trooper confronted one of the escapees, and it was just that trooper and that escapee, a stone's throw from the canada border, and the new york state trooper stepped up in the finest tradition of the new york state

police. his name is sergeant jay cook, and he's here today, and we ask him to rise and let's give him a round of applause. [ cheers and applause ] washington, d.c., still can't agree on the use of intelligence information concerning terrorists when it comes to gun background checks. now, this gridlock is not funny, and it literally endangers our safety. i believe it's reckless and irresponsible not to share information about possible terrorists who are living or operating within our borders.

new yorkers are concerned and rightfully so. new yorkers have a history of being a target of terrorist attacks. don't tie one hand behind our back. give us the access to the information, because we have a right to defend ourselves in this state. the state's role as the progressive capital of the nation, is important to me, and i'm sure to every person in this room. government's ability to evolve and grow is essential. everything is changing faster than ever before. government must progress to stay relevant, not to mention lead. hubert humphrey said, and i quote, "the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly,

and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the disabled." this state was one of the first in the nation to start universal pre-k in 1966, believe it or not. over 60% of our communities now participate. we must work to bring that number to 100% of our communities. in 2013, this legislature took the next step and expanded to full day pre-k, offering it to local governments across the state, including new york city. i propose an $800 million in total funding, so we can once again partner with our local communities and once again pay 100% of the cost, because our children deserve the best.

new york's economy is growing, to be sure, but we must also ensure that the bright sunlight of economic opportunity reaches those who have been left in the shadows for too long. we already have the highest mwbe goal in the nation, 30%, which is about $2 billion in economic opportunity for minority and women-owned businesses. but we can do better. our current goal only applies to our direct state contracts, not local government contracts. compounding the omission is the fact that many local governments don't even have an mwbe requirement, or if they do, the goal is anemic at best. this must end now.

i propose that our mwbe goals also apply to local government contracts funded by state dollars. this could triple our new york, our new york opportunity for minority women-owned business, and it will lead the nation once again. for all our economic success, there are still pockets of poverty that persist. the greatest feast has the most guests at the table. our rochester anti-poverty initiative shows great promise. deputy leader joe morelli has been doing a great jock and i'd like to recognize him for his service. [ cheers and applause ] i am proposing $25 million to expand that initiative to the ten cities in upstate new york with the highest poverty rate.

let us commit ourselves to the principle that in our great state, no child should have to worry about where his or her next meal is coming from. no child should live in poverty. i was proud last year to appoint the attorney general of special prosecutor in cases where a police officer kills an unarmed civili civilian. it was a national precedent. the appointment of an unbiased qualified individual has helped restore trust in our system, and it literally helped end demonstrations in our streets. i urge you to pass a law making this reform permanent.

assemblyman keith wright has advocated for such a law for over a decade. it is an historic achievement and it should not be left to my executive order. make it yours. make it permanent. passxo? the bill. [ applause ] and let's all give the he were to general a round of applause for his great work. [ applause ] one of our nation's greatest challenges is stopping the cycle of incarceration. this nation incarcerates people more than any industrialized nation on the globe. over 2.2 million people are in prison in this country.

we are better at building and equipping a prison cell than a classroom. we are quicker to find a 16-year-old a jail cell than a job interview, and that is just wrong. new york state is going the other way. i am proud to be the governor who has closed more prisons than any governor in the history of the state of new york. we have the most aggressive re-entry program in the country. we have a new conditional pardon program for youthful offenders. we are working to end warehousing in prisons, and moving towards educating and rehabilitating as an operating mantra for our corrections

system. we all agree, we all agree that public safety is paramount, but we can also all agree that it is madness to spend over $50,000 a year for a prison cell while ignoring the wisdom of early intervention taken starts from the very beginning. it starts in the classroom. and let's finally recognize the past flaw in our approach to education in poor districts. schools in poor communities, not only face an education challenge, they face many, many other burdens that other schools in other communities don't face. they face the issue of poverty. they face the issue of one parent households. they face the issue of

afterschool problems, nutrition issues, crime issues, violence issues. let's invest in the right help early on, so we are not paying for problems later on. let's make a big change. let's make a big difference. let's help thousands of children. let's do it this year. let's dedicate $100 million to transform every failing school into a comprehensive, wholistic, full-service community school, and change the basic education system of this state, and stop the cycle of incarceration and paying for problems rather than stopping problems at an early age.

[ cheers and applause ] we must also provide an alternative to the street corner. young minority males have an unemployment rate of over 40%. they need hope and opportunity. they need a light at the end of the tunnel. now, we pioneered a new approach that has been working for a few years, where providing job vouchers for private sector employers, that provide a job and job training. it is working. just go to the bronx and talk to borough president diaz and you can feel on the street where the unemployment rate has come down, and young people have jobs, and

have hope, and crime is down. let's build on that, and let's invest another $55 million to provide opportunities to another 10,000 young men and women, and keep them on the right course. and we must go further on our social, racial and economic justice agenda. economic anxiety for working families hangs in the air like a thick, stifling fog. this month's 560,000 families live in poverty, and millions of low wage workers in this state are forced to choose between paying rent and buying food for their families. there is an unhealthy income

inequality gap that is only growing. i say, lift up the poor, and the working families of this state, and pay a real decent wage that honors fdr's original intent, and promise. [ cheers and applause ] we can raise the minimum wage to 15. and we can show this nation what

real economic justice means. now my proposal to go to $15 is reasonable. it is phased in over an amount of time to allow the economy to grow and to adjust while we expand the number of people participating in that success. it's only fair and only right, listen to this, if the minimum wage in the '70s had been indexed to the rate of inflat n inflation, you know where it would be? my proposal today at $15 an hour. what that means, what that means is that the minimum wage since the '70s has not kept pace. what that means is you've had 45 years of economic injustice where the poor were getting poorer, while everyone else was moving up, and that's not

america's way, because that's not fair. now, some argue against this proposal and they say that it's government interference in the private sector economy. all right? government interference in the private sector economy. that argument is the height of hypocrisy. listen to this. companies that pay the minimum wage, like a mcdonald's, have full time workers who are still below the poverty level. since they're below the poverty level, they still qualify for welfare and food stamps. that costs taxpayers on average $6,800 per worker.

so mcdonald's is paying $18,000, and then we are paying $6,800 to subsidize that worker. it is a subsidy for mcdonald's. it subsidizes their payroll by 40%. it's corporate welfare at its worst! [ cheers and applause ] i have not heard, i have not heard the opponents stand up and say, stop the mcdonald's subsidy, stop the burger king subsidy, stop the small business subsidy! in new york state, we spent $700 million a year subsidizing workers just to burger king and mcdonald's, $700 million a year. explain that to your constituents. i say it's time to get out of

the hamburger business, pay people a decent wage, raise it to $15, join me in the fight. it's what this state needs. [ cheers and applause ] we can get it done! we won't stop until we get it done! let them defend mcdonald's and the corporate subsidies to the big corporations with your money! we also, my friends, have a true human crisis. that is a litmus test for society's compassion and government's competence. there has been a recent explosion in the number of homeless people living on our streets, and it is a human tragedy. now, to me, this is personal. i spent my life starting in my 20s, working to help the homeless, literally building

shelters and running them. and it touches me deeply, and i know i'm not alone. new yorkers are troubled by the homeless problem. why? because we are a caring, loving people. we are joined today by joey resto, who was in the news this week for literally giving his shirt off his back and the hat off his head to a shirtless, shivering, homeless man in the subway. let's give joey resto a big round of applause. [ cheers and applause ] for being a good samaritan he is. is that you? [ cheers and applause ] raise your hand, joey. raise your hand. there he is. [ cheers and applause ]

this is new york. this is new york. and we are new yorkers, and we will not allow people to dwell in the gutter like garbage. it hurts all of us. you can see it on people's faces. every time we walk by a homeless person, most of us can't even bear to look. we can't bear to make eye contact. we pretend that we don't see them. why? because we don't want them to see us. because it diminishes us to walk past a brother and sister sitting on the sidewalk and doing nothing. it's as if every time we walk by a homeless person, we leave a

piece of our soul on that curb. this is not who we are as a people. it's not our values as a society. it's not what we were taught. it's not how we live, and it's not what we're going to do as a government. we are better than this. now, we have made significant progress on the problem before, and working together, we can do it again. i believe our people will support the funding necessary to help protect and support their brothers and sisters. that's why in this budget i propose a record $20 billion over the next five years. this proposal includes $10

billion for 100,000 permanent affordable units. it also includes $10 billion for 6,000 new supported beds over five years, 1,000 emergency shelter beds, and other homeless services. and the plan goes further. over 15 years, we will be funding a record 20,000 supportive housing beds. and we will continue to fund 44,000 supportive units, and 77,000 shelter beds. that's $28 billion over 15 years. new yorkers have a big heart, but new yorkers are also smart, and society's compassion must be matched with government

competence. each jurisdiction requesting or requiring homeless assistance from the state will be asked to design a strategic plan we call the continuum of care, which assesses the size and needs of each subgroup within the homeless population, and identifies exactly what they need. we implemented this system nationwide at the department of housing and urban development, and it was a great success. it is also well established that many of our shelters are unsanitary and unsafe. people have been attacked and victimized in some shelters. and some would rather stay outside in the frigid cold than risk entering, and they are right to do it. over this past year, the state has recorded 2,500 health and safety violations in shelters across the state. this suffering has gone on for a long time. adding insult to injury,

taxpayers fund over $1 billion for a dysfunctional statewide shelter system. it's just unacceptable. it is imperative that we improve the conditions of the shelters, and restore the public's trust in the system. we need a true independent review, inspection, and action plan from objective experts to go forward. remember, your state officials, and this is a state constitutional responsibility, the state's obligation to the needy goes beyond empty guarantees and is intended to be a social obligation, and we will honor it. we have developed a strategy and a plan. comptroller thomas dinapoli will audit shelters statewide, and we thank him very much. tom? [ applause ]

comptroller scott stringer will review and inspect the new york city shelter system, and we thank him very much, comptroller stringer. [ applause ] buffalo comptroller mark schroeder will do the same with the buffalo shelter system. mark schroeder, where are you? [ applause ] there he is. mark is way in the back of the room on his way out, he's going to start the inspections now as a matter of fact. [ laughter ] to the extent these gentlemen need additional personnel, we will provide it from the state. buffalo and new york city, because those are our two largest shelter systems, they will do on-site inspections and they will review operating and financial protocols. thereafter, shelters that they

find to be unsafe or dangerous will either immediately add local police protection or they will be closed. shelters which they find is unsanitary or otherwise unfit will be subject to contract cancellation, operator replacement, immediate remediation or closure. if an operator's management problem is systemic, a receiver will be appointed to run that system. there are many qualified not-for-profits that are capable of running good operations, and many of the current shelters are well run, but we need to know which are well run and which aren't, and we need to do something about those that aren't well run immediately, and that's exactly what this system will do. in addition, we will require all social service districts, municipalities, social service workers, and police departments

to operate in full compliance with new york state laws and regulations, or they will be subject to state sanctions. we've developed this approach in cooperation with our local partners across the state, and we will be working with them to facilitate the three comptrollers' efforts. i want to thank all our local leaders, but i especially want to thank mayor de blasio and mayor brown for their cooperation. they've been working very hard -- [ applause ] this is a priority for them, and with this partnership with the state, and with the assistance of the comptrollers, we'll have an objective review, we'll have resources to make the changes we need to make, and we can say to the public of this state, everything that can be done we are doing. so i want to thank them once

again for their help. well, we have -- [ applause ] well, we have done much in new york to be proud of, there is still a threshold issue which must be addressed. we have proven competence and we've proven we can make government work, but recent acts have undermined the public's trust in government. public trust is essential for government to function at the level we need. i have a number of recommendations that will be in the budget that i believe will help restore the public trust. the original constitutional view of a part-time legislature dates back to the colonial charter and our first state constitution in 1777. now, back then, legislators returned to their farms to tend crops after working in the legislature. but that doesn't happen today. today legislators work at law

firms or businesses that pose real or potential conflicts. i propose we adopt a congressional system of limiting outside income for legislators. it's proven. it's cleaner, and it's a more effective model that the people of this nation have confidence in, and i believe you should accept the same. [ applause ] for years, we have discussed and i have proposed closing the llc loophole. the time for discussion and debate has passed. it is time for action. i call on the legislation to close the llc loophole. it is imperative. pass it, and i will sign it the very same day. in our current campaign finance system, people without funds are

virtually uncompetitive. public campaign financing can help level the playing field particularly for those seeking to enter. we should encourage new participation in our democracy. i will again propose public financing of campaigns, long-term, this is healthier for our democracy and healthier for our government, and you should pass public campaign financing this year. senator valski is right, our lobbying law is too circumvented and must be reformed. it can be improved. people who work to procure state contracts currently don't register as lobbyists. they should. political consultants who advise elected officials while also representing clients before the

government do not currently register as lobbyists either and they should also. i'm going to send thaw bill and that's a bill that you should sign. it is perverse that taxpayer's money would support officials found guilty of committing a crime against the taxpayer. we must take state pensions from those convicted of a crime related to their government servi service. anything else shows disrespect for the rule of law and for the taxpayer. the freedom of information law is a central component of public integrity and disclosure, yet the legislature has exempted themselves. it is indefensible especially in this context for you to say you

believe in the freedom of information law and for you to sign bills reforming the freedom of information law but excluding yourself. let's make the statement to the taxpayers and citizens of this state that you get it that you pass the foyle bill, include yourself, i will sign it the very same day. it has been 50 years since we had a constitutional convention. all too often we had a public opinion not effective in albany, a constitutional convention that is properly held with independent non-elected official delegates could make real change and reengage the public. we need a citizen government relation reboot. this is the time to do it and

the constitutional convention could be the vehicle to do it. the key to reforming our government is engaging people in the democratic process. we already know government is of the people, by the people, for the people, so why do we make it so difficult for the people to participate? voter registration should be a presumption, not a hurdle. let's flip the paradigm and automatically enroll voters when they get a driver's license, they can always opt out. [ applause ] these ethics reforms are important, especially considering the context of the past year. we have to remember the people we serve and that it's our

responsibility to give them the government they deserve, and remember the stronger the citizen trust, the stronger the government's ability. we have a big agenda. we want to do big things. we need to restore the trust to do it. now, my friends, in closing, there are two other issues that i would like to speak to, and these are lessons that i learned the hard way, but may be an opportunity for me and the state to learn and grow. 2015 was a tough year on many levels. it was an ugly year on many levels. for me, there were also personal hardships in 2015. just about this time a year ago, we lost my father. he was in this room many a time.

he was at this podium many a time, and many of the people in this room knew him very well. he had been failing during the holiday season, and i was trying to fortify him against the indignities of bodily failure. my father was a very proud, dignified man, and the end of his life was very difficult for him to handle, and i kept trying to give him reasons to hang on and to fight and to motivate him, and i would say it's thanksgiving, you have to be there for thanksgiving, and then i would say it's my birthday, early december, and then i'd say, christmas, pop, you have to be there for christmas, and then i said, january 1st is my

inauguration, and i need you there for the inauguration, and he said "no, you don't." i said, "oh, no, i need you to help me write this speech." he said, "no you don't." that was a losing argument. [ laughter ] so he said, "okay, i will be here for your inauguration," and i looked him right in the eye, and i said "do you promise me?" and he said, "i promise you, i will be here for your inauguration." my father never in his life broke a promise to me. the day of my inauguration, january 1st, i went by his apartment to see him, went down to the freedom tower, lower manhattan to get sworn in. we had talked about the speech before. he heard the speech over

telephone back in his apartment. i then got on a plane, went to buffalo, and lieutenant governor and i were doing a second swearing in, in buffalo, because kathy hochel is from buffalo, and i was giving the speech in buffalo and in the back of the room i saw the state police major take a phone call, which was unusual, and i saw him starting to walk down the main aisle of the hall, and i knew at that minute exactly what had happened, and life is such a precious gift, and i have kicked myself every day that i didn't spend more time with my father at that end period. i could have. i'm lucky. i could have taken off work.

i could have cut days in half. i could have spent more time with him. it was my mistake, and a mistake i blame myself for every day. but there are many people in this state who don't have the choice. parent is dying, a child is sick, they can't take off work. their employer says, if you don't come, you're fired. if you don't come, you don't get paid. >> that's right. [ applause ] >> people have children. and mothers run the risk of losing their job if they stay home with their child. out of 185 countries, the united states is one of just three that does not have paid maternity leave.

the others are surinam and papua, new guinea. this is not where new york should be. we should have a paid leave program, paid by employees who can get 12 weeks

up, she was crying. "what happened?" she got the results from the

screening and one word changed our lives, "cancer." that started weeks and weeks and days of a torturous long road of tears and pain that i can't even begin to articulate. sandy was great. you know how they say you can tell a person's mettle in tough times, and when the heat is on. she got stronger. she got braver. she didn't complain. she had a double mastectomy, went through that, was recovering at home, and all she was thinking about is, how do i take this experience and use the energy to help others? how do i take the negative and how do i make it a positive? and i just want her to know that

she was such an inspiration to me, because that strength and that love for community is everything we talk about, what you did. [ applause ] now, since sandy's operation, and she talked about it, and word got out about it, since her operation, three women who work with me in their 30s and 40s came to me and said "i heard

what happened with sandy. i went and got a screening," three women, all three had breast cancer. and they would never have gone but for sandy. i now ask women who are in the target age group, do you go for screenings? "well, it's hard." "i can't. my insurance, the kids, work, family --" early detection is the best treatment. early detection is the best treatment. [ applause ] i want to propose a $90 million program in the state of new york where we have the most aggressive, best breast screening operation in this country, mobile units to get to

women, longer hours for clinics, weekend hours for clinics, dfs making sure insurance companies are willing to pay for the screenings. these are our wives, our daughters, our sisters. let's stand up and say new york is the place, one out of five women will suffer from breast cancer, we're going to get that number down in new york because we're going to do what we need to do to save lives, because these are our women, and the best thing we can do is to save the lives of new yorkers. in closing, my friends, there is no doubt that this is an ambitious agenda.

what else did you think i was going to give to you? but we need the agenda. now is the moment to maximize the progress that we have made, and we have made progress all across this state on every level. and now is the time to double down. also, this nation has real problems that we haven't seen before, and with the gridlock in washington, i'm not going to rely on them to solve them. new york has a legacy of leading. we're going to have to act to protect ourselves and to protect our own people. >> that's right. >> so yes, it is an ambitious agenda, and yes, it is going to be a challenge, but i know you, and i know what you're capable of, and i've seen what you can

do, and i have no doubt that you are going to rise to this challenge. you took a $10 billion deficit, you made it a $5 billion surplus. you took a legislature that couldn't function, you did five budgets in a row. you took the worst partisanship gridlock, and you came together and you put your politics aside. i believe senator flanagan and assemblyman heastie are not going to operate as democrats and republicans. they're not going to be partisans, they're not going to be zealots. they're going to act first as new yorkers and do what's right for the state of new york. [ applause ] and i know who we are in our dna. we are new yorkers. >> yes! >> there's nothing we can't do as new yorkers. we never say quit. we never say no.

that's who made us. that's who brought us. we came from people who came from distant lands. they got in little boats, they went across oceans. they didn't know where they were going but they were going for opportunity. they were daring. they were gutsy. they were strong. that's the blood in your veins! we're the people who survived 9/11! we say you knock us down, we get up twice as strong! [ applause ] that's who we are! and our strength, our strength is insurmountable, because it is a strength rooted in our principles. that's what drives our ambition and conviction. it's our beliefs and it is our values. it's what we stand for. that makes us unbeatable. and that's why you can't knock us down, because we're going to keep getting up, because we are

new york, and we are new yorkers and we are the empire state, and what we stand for, we will never give up on. we stand for freedom. we stand for democracy. we stand for being united against terrorism. we stand for the spirit of community that says you can't discriminate against anyone in our state on the basis of race or color or creed. we stand for unity that we are one at the end of the day. we are upstate and we are downstate, but we are one state. we are gay and we are straight, but we are one state. we are black, we are brown, but we are one state, and that unity and those principles and those convictions and that honor of public service is going to rise to the surface again this year. we will meet these challenges,

and we will make this state a better state, and we will show this nation how to lead. they elected you to lead. let's lead, together. thank you and god bless you. [ cheers and applause ] >> the watson governor delivered his date of the state address on tuesday. he talked about reducing the gender wage gap, improving mental health services and get control here to this is happen our -- this is happen our. >> mr. president mr. president, mr. speaker in madam chief justice, a distinguished justices of the court, officials and

members assert -- members of the washington leadership -- legislature government officials and fellow washingtonians, it is in order to stay in here once again to talk about the great state of washington. i do consider it a tremendous privilege as governor of the most innovative, most forward thinking and the most dynamic state in the nation. [applause] and i could not do this job without the incredible support of the people who are a constant reminder why everything we do here matters. my family, my son's ear and grandchildren. thank you.

[applause] since we last met we have celebrated some big moments in the state of washington. a lot like to begin to take a moment to highlight some of these. we witnessed a new milestone of space exploration and. remember those photos of pluto we saw last year? we know how that spacecraft got there. nine years ago propulsion engineers in washington were working on those rockets. now we're at the forefront of companies like space x the bring the future of space travel to our state specializing in landing rockets it is exciting that

these companies recognize the greatest aerospace workers in the world are found right here in the state of washington. [applause] we saluted accomplishments of amazing educators, a science teacher from clark county. she was named the nobel educator of the world. a prestigious national honor given to whenever a total outstanding, hard-working teachers please join me to welcome her.

[applause] we also celebrated the oldest registered nurse who was still practicing in 90 years of age if you want to be inspired or get tired go down two-seater making her rounds were she has been there 70 years. [applause] we have also had some sad moments over the past year in for me one of those when we said goodbye to the

university president one of rebels trusted advisers to played the key role to shave my administration i know we all miss him but his legacy will golan in the medical school to carry his name. ag for accepting my invitation. [applause] we also lost a member of the of washington state national guard in afghanistan last week staff sergeant mcclure and talk. thoughts and prayers are

with his family especially his wife did his infant son. please join me in a moment of silence to honor his sacrifice and service thank you. one year ago i stood here to say a was time to reinvest in their cells in in in our future and our children's future. to do these things we knew then you have to work in a bipartisan way. be honest that isn't always easy but i am happy to say we did exactly that.

like transportation in the fall of 2014 i did not give up and working with the house and the senate with republicans and democrats in business and labor together repast a $16 billion package, the largest angriest package in the history of the state of washington. [applause] we also authorized another $15 billion for light rail expansion not only will this help with congestion but this package supports 200,000 jobs across the

state will formally be kicking off these projects celebrating the projects funded in we couldn't get this done because we could work together. speaking of investments talk about the most important investment we can make. our children. last year we pledge an additional 2.3 billion dollars of early learning in cater 12 and higher education funding on a bipartisan basis. since 2013, education funding in our state has increased by 35%. [applause] i believe it is altogether

fitting and proper to take a moment to recognize this incredible investment. we should be proud that we have made the largest dollar amount invested in education in the history of the state of washington. this is a significant achievement. [applause] at the same time, no one should believe we are done. we have more work to do and i will talk about that in a moment. we have taken major steps to have a major impact in the lives of our children nearly 7,000 more children have access to high-quality yearly education over the past three years and provided funding for every child to have all day kindergarten. this was some of my highest

priorities because they are a critical opportunity that come up only once in the life of a child. of all the things we do i believe this has the most impact in our community and do the most to close the opportunity gap. in our state, every single child deserves a great education. [applause] in kindergarten through third grade classrooms because we know a high-quality teacher is the single important asset we provide funding for more opportunities especially for new teachers and we are able to provide