earlier today, officials charged with preparing for and respond to seasonal flu testified before a house, energy, and house subcommittee. watch it tonight at 8:00, here on c-span. senate primetime, democrats of speaking with the victims of gun violence, including the recent shooting in parkland. that is at 8:00 eastern on c-span two. wolfe delivered his annual budget address. billionnted a $32.9 budget for fiscal year 2019 and urged the legislature to pass a severance tax on the natural gas industry. he outlined his legislative priorities, which include education, workforce development, and combating the opioid crisis. at the start of the address, he congratulated the philadelphia eagles for winning their first super bowl. [applause] >> thank you very much.

members of the assembly and invited guests and most importantly my fellow pennsylvanians. [cheers and applause]

gov. wolf: before i begin, i want to take a moment to congratulate the philadelphia eagles, the city of philadelphia, and all of us in pennsylvania. i know that we are sometimes split between parties and eagles and steelers. we are all fans of pennsylvania and the eagles, and their devoted fans deserve this moment and we should all be happy to share it. we now have seven super bowl rings in pennsylvania. [applause] gov. wolf: that is truly something we can be proud of. fly, eagles, fly. [applause] gov. wolf: just like so many of us have pride in the eagles, the story of the commonwealth of pennsylvania has always been a story about pride. we have always been proud of the

work we do. proud of the industries we have built, proud of the communities we grow up in and raise our kids in. proud of the traditions we passed down through the generations. by the time i took this office three years ago, the economy had changed and the commonwealth was headed in the wrong direction. when i stood outside this building on that tuesday afternoon and took the oath of office as governor, i talked about what made our commonwealth a place we are all so proud to be from, a place where we built things, a place where you can find work that puts food on the table and allows you to save up for college or retirement, a place you can watch your kids grow up and find jobs of their own and start a business and sign the other side of a paycheck. i believed then as i believe now that the people of pennsylvania have what it takes to restore those values and build our prosperity. what was standing in our way was

not our work ethic but our spirit, but al kind of little paralysis. politicians cannot find a way to make the tough decisions we would need to get back on track. i promised that i would challenge that status quo. that is what i have tried to do for the last three years. sometimes it has meant challenging the legislature to step out of its comfort zone. sometimes i've been forced to move forward on my own. we still have work to do. taking on the status quo in harrisburg, we have already begun to write a new story for our commonwealth. it is not a story about a past we will never get back, it is a story about a brighter future we can all build together if we can get the political will to do it. today, i'm here to challenge you to join me in writing the next chapter of that pennsylvania story.

where else could that story of pennsylvania's future begin than in our schools? long before i was a governor, i was a parent and i knew that nothing was more important than being able to send your child to a great school, to get that child a great education. as a business owner, i knew there was nothing more important than being able to find qualified employees. i knew we could not bring back our economy until we brought back our public education system. i knew that businesses would not invest in pennsylvania until pennsylvania invested in schools. that is why the first thing i did when i got to harrisburg was to draw a line in the sand on education. over the last three years, we have invested in our schools and reversed a billion dollars in cuts that were made under the previous administration, cuts that have led to larger class sizes, layoffs of educators, cuts to programs like full-day kindergartners and we have already begun to see these investments pay off. today, we have nearly 100,000 students enrolled in full-day kindergarten.

we have increased the number of kids able to attend prekindergarten by half. our high school graduation rate is more than 86%, making us the national leader. we are second in the nation in stem education. we have increased the number of career and technical education students earning industry recognized certificates by nearly 33%, preparing them for the jobs our employers are trying to fill right now. rebuilding our schools is the beginning of rebuilding our economy, but it is just the beginning. for three years, we have been working to create more jobs that pay in every corner of our state. since i took office, pennsylvania has gained nearly 180,000 jobs. we led our year, region in job growth. the workforce development partnerships we have forged are

on pace to train thousands of workers for jobs that are sitting open right now. over the last three years, we've repaired or rebuilt 1600 bridges and more than 18,000 miles of roadways, and over the next decade we are going to invest $2 billion more in rebuilding roads and highways and bridges across our commonwealth, so people can get to work and our products to get to market. -- products can get to market. it is for these reasons i think a company like amazon is considering philadelphia or pittsburgh as a location for its second headquarters. businesses do not invest in states that do not invest in education. we are doing all of these things and i am hopeful that amazon will come here and build here and expand here. [applause]

gov. wolf: meanwhile, we've got rid of burdensome taxes and cut red tape that made it harder to open small businesses and streamlined the services we offer so our government can be an ally, not an obstacle for entrepreneurs looking to get started in pennsylvania. in fact, this week, we followed through on a promise i made last year by launching a one stop shop for businesses and business owners. there is a lot more to do, from expanding access to the internet to every corner of the commonwealth to a new workforce program that will consolidate our workforce development efforts into yet another one-stop shop. speaking of our workforce, in this year's budget, i am proposing another major step forward, a significant investment in career and technical education to help make pennsylvania a better place to

learn and work and do business. [applause] gov. wolf: developing a workforce that can compete and win in the 21st century economy is the single best way to help pennsylvania businesses grow and attract new businesses to our commonwealth. it is also the single best thing we can do to help more of our people find jobs, not just tomorrow, but today. these are not jobs. these are careers. everything from welding and machining to coding and advanced manufacturing careers that can sustain families and enrich communities. these careers are not reserved for people with four year degrees. anyone in our state that is willing to put in an honest days work deserves a shot to make a good living, and by investing in these programs, we can give them a chance to gain the skills they need to do it.

at lcr systems in norristown, there is a man named michael rosenberg. he is here today. where are you? that you are. -- there you are. stand up. [applause] gov. wolf: thank you for being here. he works on a manufacturing line and services a major contractor. eight years ago, he would never have expected to be in that high-level position. he did not have a college degree and he was working in the plant as a janitor. rights, michael? michael was a great employee, a smart guy, who took the work he did to heart no matter what it was. he wanted to do more than just collect a paycheck. he wanted to build a career making things in pennsylvania. thanks to a workforce training program through the department of community and economic development, he was able to get additional training in montgomery county community college. with his skills, he was able to

move up to the assembly floor and then he got promoted again to the machine shop. here is a guy who ran no formal -- who had no formal experience in machine shop work until he got this additional training. now he is head of the entire machine shop. he is a role model to his fellow employees. he is making more money, making an even greater contribution, not just to his family and his employer, but to the community. there should be a place in pennsylvania's future for people like michael. there should be a place in pennsylvania's future for anyone willing to work hard to make a better life. i hope you're ready to work with me to make that happen. [applause] gov. wolf: i am hopeful because over the last three years we have begun to see progress in changing the way things work. i am also aware that sometimes progress does not come without an occasional push.

when i took office i knew i had to set a new tone in harrisburg and that is why i banned anyone in my administration from taking gifts from lobbyists. i got rid of pay to play contracting. i refuse to take a salary or a pension. the people of pennsylvania had a right to expect much more from their government. even though they elected a democratic governor and a republican legislature, they expected to find ways for all of us to work together and deliver results. it is -- it has always been -- [applause] gov. wolf: thank you. it has always been and it always will be my privilege to work -- my preference to work with the legislature and when we found ways to do that we've been able to get a lot of things done for the people of pennsylvania. that is how we expanded our response to the opioid crisis, arming law enforcement with the tools they need to fight this epidemic, and helping thousands of people struggle with addiction to get access to

treatment that could save their lives. working together, we reduced the prison population by lowering pennsylvania's crime rates. that is great. [applause] gov. wolf: yeah. despite this, our cities still face issues of violence. we need to work together to make our cities and communities safer so violence is never an obstacle to opportunity. working together is how we enacted a fair funding formula in our education system that takes politics out of the school funding decision and make sure your zip code does not determine what kind of education you can get. [applause] gov. wolf: working together is how we solved one of the thorniest problems in harrisburg, reforming our pension system in a way that is

fair to our workers and taxpayers so we can stop wasting so much money on wall street fees, meet our obligations and start paying down our debt. that is how we finally made medical marijuana available so patient and state can get access to medication they need to live without pain. [applause] gov. wolf: that is how at long last we reformed our liquor system. when some of the legislature have not mustered up the political will to work with me, i have no problem doing it on my own, whether it is expanding , cutting our uninsured rate -- [applause] gov. wolf: and cutting our uninsured rates to the lowest it has ever been, expanding opportunities for seniors to stay in their homes while they can get the care they need as they age, or or streamlining agencies of state government. i have done things on my own to help the people of pennsylvania. harrisburg works better and

pennsylvania works better when we all work together. when it comes to this year's budget, working together should be easier than in years past. after decades of neglect and years of crisis, we have finally begun to tame the fiscal beast epic haunts harrisburg. no one here neutral minding that harrisburg's chronic inability to deal with that crisis has the visible symbol of the state's government. i am proud we've begun to change that story. some of the work i've been able to do is in the governor's office. i was able to cut $2 billion by streamlining our bureaucracy, saving pennsylvanians another $700 million by cracking down on fraud and abuse. some of the work we've been able to do like making pension payments and reforming our criminal justice system and lowering health care costs. because we have begun to take a new approach to our budget, i can come before you today with a budget that makes the

investments we need to continue our progress without any tax increase on pennsylvania [applause] i am going to keep doing whatever i can do to keep streamlining costs and there is so much we can do to increase our future. that leads into the severance tax. pennsylvania's lucky enough to have extensive gas resources but we're the only ones without it severance tax. texas, louisiana, they are bring theillions for -- from oil and gas industry.

they are building schools and roads. for failing to put in place of this commonsense tax, we are just paying the other state's taxes. we're paying for alaska's schools or texas's roads. i do not remember getting a thank you note either of the taxpayers in texas or alaska. pennsylvania is blowing both of these states out of the water when it comes to production but bypassing a severance tax, we can bring billions into our own coffers. ask all companies to pay their fair share for extracting pennsylvania's viable resources and we can build a brighter resources andble we can build a brighter future. [applause] this is only hard if we choose to make it hard. this as rich as our

not done? done? is this not political courage is in short suppy. the oil and gas industry is strong. --political courage is in short supply. today i am challenging you to do the right thing and pass a severance tax this year so we can keep making investments they grow our economy and make progress on the issues pennsylvanians care about. after all, the pennsylvania we are also proud of, the placer we can work hard and earn a good living and watch your kids find

opportunity of their own --that was not magically bestowed upon us. was built by generations of people who did hard things together. now it is our turn. our turn to make the tough decisions with courage and fiction. --conviction. to inspire new technologies and innovate new industries. it is our job to build a stronger and healthier economy and a safer set of cities. it is our turn to finish writing the next chapter in the story of this great commonwealth. i have never been more proud to be a pennsylvanian. i've never been more confident for our people and more hopeful for our future. if you feel the same way, consider this proposal an invitation in joining me to build the future together. thank you very much. >> thank you for being here.

[applause] [applause] 0 announcer: earlier today, officials charged with preparing for seasonal flu testified before in energy and commerce subcommittee. also in primetime, senate democrats speaking with victims of gun violence including a recent shooting at parkland, --parkland, florida. announcer: our podcast, c-span's

the weekly takes you behind the headlines to explain in depth one significant news story shaping the conversation in washington and around the country. you'll hear from policymakers providing background in context. y onlinean's the weekl anytime at c-span.org. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy benefit washington, d.c. amd --and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider.

announcer: president trump signed two proclamations to at thetariffs on steel white house. saidessman chad brady exempting canada and mexico is a good first step and i urge the white house to go further to narrow the tariffs so they hit the intended target so they do not hit u.s. families. here is the president. he was joined by workers from the steel and aluminum industry. [inaudible]