these buildings down will hear all of us soon. >> c-span's newest book, the presidents, noted historians rank america's best and worst -- f challenges they faced in the legacies they had left behind. the presidents will be on shelves april 23. you can preorder your copy today. ents.n.org/thepresid pennsylvania governor tom wolf delivers his 2019 budget address. he talks about how to make government services more

efficient and calls for increased investment in education and workforce training programs. this is about 30 minutes. [applause] gov. wolf: thank you, everybody.

good morning. lieutenant governor federman, speaker, president, leader cutler, members of the general assembly, invited guests, friends, and family, and especially my wife frances. [applause] gov. wolf: and of course my fellow pennsylvanians, this is my fifth budget address.

for the last four years, sitting to my left was karen coast. and,as a trusted advisor, mother, sister, daughter, and respected member of our community. for the same four years, i would look out into this chamber and yearichael brian, this they are not with us. let us all remember their lasting impact, commitment to service, and carry forward in their memory. [applause] gov. wolf: three weeks ago, i had the honor of taking the oath of office for another term as governor. i spoke of a commonwealth on a come back, pennsylvania on a path to a more functional

government, the more prosperous economy, and a brighter future for our children. the people of our commonwealth have proven that despite the challenges we face, pennsylvania remains a place where the of its history, where people can find good work, strong communities, and opportunity for their children. in harrisburg emma we have proven that despite our differences, we remain capable of doing what washington doesn't seem able to do. serve the public interest. factst never forget the that not one but two noble experiments were launched here. first there was william penn's holy experiment. second, the rounders launched their own experiment in self-government. both of these are perpetual experiments. when we renew commitment to

these experiments, we honor our history and those founders. we show our constituents that whether they voted for us or not, we are making these experiments work right here. now we have a chance to show that good faith once again. proposing and debating this budget, we get to the heart of our perpetual experiment in self-government. we show the founders and our constituents that we can govern ourselves. let me cut to the chase. taxes.l asks for no new [applause]

gov. wolf: at the same time, this budget proposes to do a number of things aimed at improving the lives of our citizens. the people of pennsylvania have made substantial sacrifices in recent years to help our state get off the mat. we now have a chance to continue making important new investments on their behalf, investments in our schools, investments to make sure more pennsylvanians of all ages have real choices when it comes to health care decisions, continued investments to reinforce our commitment to the battle against the opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of so many of our neighbors, investments to support our armors and agricultural producers so they can continue to sustain our rural communities. in the coming weeks, we will have the chance to discuss,

debate, and negotiate the details of this budget. i'm going to ask your partnership in ensuring that this important work continues, and we maintain our commitment to advancing this experiment in self-government. strived toration has run this government ethically and more efficiently so it is worthy of the public trust and cable or the dancing the public -- of advancing the public interest. we have gotten rid of facilities, leases that we don't use or need while consolidating commonwealth operations within the capitol complex. we have made the procurement process smarter and more efficient. we will continue to look for ways to streamline government so we can invest in the things that matter most to pennsylvanians

while serving them better. i want to focus on the most significant element of this budget proposal, a conference a plan for preparing pennsylvanians to compete and win in our rapidly changing economy, a plan to create a new generation of prosperity in our commonwealth by creating the strongest workforce in the nation. the credit for our economic success has always belonged to the people of pennsylvania, the innovators who new ideas into new industries, the business leaders who built great companies large and small, and the working women and men who toil in the fields and minds and factories and classrooms and cubicles. pennsylvanianson known names like carnegie and westinghouse. the power of our work ethic and the importance of individual

responsibility, that is who we are. governmentground, has been there working on our behalf, building canals and highways so manufacturers could get their goods to market, protecting the integrity of the marketplace, and helping to unlock the potential offered by our abundant resources. in the end, however, are most important economic resource has always been our people. it has always been workers that have propelled our prosperity. that is why we have always made sure to invest in public schools, universities, and training centers. the path to prosperity begins with an educated workforce. that is as true today as it has always been. while that principle remains intact, a lot about our economy has changed. new businesses, new industries, new technology, new competition.

with all that, we have found the need for new skills. over the last four years, pennsylvania has created more than 12,000 new businesses and more than 239,000 new jobs. we have begun to match an advance beyond our neighbors. now it is time for us to pull ahead. today, i present a comprehensive grow our economy by continuing to invest in our workforce. this plan calls on contributions from the business community, workers,ons, education and parents. from birth to retirement. a package ofg policies called the statewide workforce education and accountability program. it is the next step we can take together to build on all the work we have done over the past

four years. consider just how far we have already come. we have made pennsylvania a leader in computer science education by establishing a workforce development initiative that invests in stem education programs. we have increased the number of career and technical education students learning industry recognized credentials by 34%. we have increased the number of credentials earned by those students by 27%. we have provided high school students options to demonstrate graduation readiness as alternatives to standardized testing. increased registration and 800 apprenticeship programs and 17,000 active apprenticeships and have assisted 3000 companies in trading more than 145,000 --

training more than 145,000 employees to develop new skills. when amazon made its decision to locate its second headquarters somewhere other than pennsylvania, decided workforce cited workforce concerns. across the commonwealth, we have workers aging out of our workforce. instances, the workforce does not have the skills to replace them. we cannot let our governments response to this problem be handcuffed by habit. we need to continue to break down silos. we need to inject our efforts with common purpose, and we need to make sure that as leaders we

are providing direction and giving peace to our workforce the moment efforts. that is why we are going to do something different. starting immediately, we're going to put together a keystone economic development and workforce command center. agency secretaries are going to meet each week with plans in hand and sit together to ensure no workforce effort falls through some crack in state government. if the department of community and economic development knows that a company needs 20 level -- welders, and there is a welding program, we are going to connect them. we also need to hear from businesses and labor, not just when they are upset and not just when we tour the facility. we need to hear from them constantly. we need to know when there is a problem so we can fix it right away. if a labor union is having trouble establishing a training

program because of antiquated procedures, we need to fix it. we need to get those workers trained and into the workforce. if a business cannot hire a worker because of out of date regulation, we need to know that so we can take action. if medical professionals are concerned about a licensing backlog, they need receptive ears in state government. thank you. we are also not going to try to solve every problem work force problem on our own. a public-private partnership that empowers businesses to address the skills gap from end and their encourages them to share their best practices. government does not have a monopoly on good ideas for addressing these challenges, but foran serve as an incubator

the best ones and a partner for putting them into action. the command center is going to be led by the secretaries of the departments of community, labor, industry, and state. three departments that have the largest impact. we are going to bring in outside forces. down -- and rick going bloomingdale will be key task force members. they will be joined by tony generaleo and auditor eugene dipasquale, who have both worked on these issues. we need to do more. we need policies that start at the very beginning and end with every pennsylvanian receiving an excellent education and the

opportunity to land a good job. last year, i convened a ready to start task force, charging it with finding ways to improve the lives of children under three. i know that no no new parent looks at their baby and sees a spreadsheet. success begins long before they ever see the classroom. why this new program includes funding for home visits to support vulnerable pregnant women, new mothers, and at risk infants. it promotes healthy relationships in safe and stable home environments. they are proven at preventing adverse childhood experiences to

lift families out of poverty and into good jobs. we are to have programs like this working here in pennsylvania. home to one of only eight programs in the entire country that help single mothers that are struggling economically to complete a college degree. the program provides counseling, housing, and other services to help mothers get into the workforce. we plan to replicate this job training program all across the commonwealth. leverage funds to improve our so we can gettem more children into high-quality support systems and help more parents make their way into the workforce. pennsylvania's children deserve every opportunity to succeed when they enter our public school system. they deserve to enter a public school system that is not just adequate but world-class.

fundingg $1 billion in to our schools was an important first step. now we need to go further. we must continue to increase funding for education, starting with pre-k and culminating at the end of the students journey. that is not all. it is time to lower the age of compulsory attendance to age six, bringing our commonwealth into line with the vast majority of other states in this country. [applause] gov. wolf: and we should consider going even further with a careful study of the costs and benefits of universal, free, full-day kindergarten for every five-year-old in pennsylvania. [applause]

gov. wolf: meanwhile, we should increase the minimum dropout age to 18 and partner with school districts to keep our graduation rate rising. of course, no governor, a for aator can do more child than a teacher can. my program empowers teachers to do even more through a program called teacher works that provides them with workplace experience in pennsylvania businesses so they can better understand the needs of pennsylvania employers. if we are going to empower the next generation of pennsylvanians for the jobs of the future, we are going to be asking more of those teachers, including more training and accountability. theyers on the other hand, just want safe schools to work in. they want support from their

administrative staff, and they want a fair wage for the work they do. that is not asking a lot. the law governing teacher pay has not been updated in pennsylvania since the 1980's. our classroom teachers have been given the short end of the stick. i don't think anyone in harrisburg would say we should not value the contributions are educators have made over the last 30 years, and i don't think anyone would disagree that they have a critical role to play in securing our prosperity. yet our government has failed to address this injustice. that has to end now. my plan increases to pay floor for teachers to $45,000 a year. this is a real investment in our future. it is an investment that the state will make. it is included in the budget. this is a fully funded mandate. [applause]

gov. wolf: we are also going to retain theting to very best educational professionals, not just in well-funded suburban schools, but in every community, every zip code of our commonwealth. this could be a game changer for our schools, especially in our communities that are struggling retain the and next generation of educators. most districts that cannot afford to pay their teachers and more are located in the heart of rural pennsylvania. it is time to invest in educators in those areas today to prepare the kids in the school districts for the competitive world of tomorrow. we're going to work to recruit students who are looking for the next step in their education. our commonwealth is blessed with a terrific system of colleges

and universities. say communityuld colleges. we all know our post secondary institutions are laboratories for innovation. they are also launch pads for job creators and the skilled workers that will fill those jobs. that is why my plan creates a new grant program for students who graduate from a pennsylvania community college with an associates degree or other industry recognized credential and stay in pennsylvania to start their careers. willing to put your newly acquired skills to work in our commonwealth, the least we can do is help you avoid carrying around a crushing burden of stood at that. -- student debt. [applause] if you are a parent that wants to trade up to a job that can sustain your family, my job includes a parent pathway

initiative designed to help you get the education you need while you prepare your own kids for success. my workforce program is not just about the jobs of tomorrow. it is about the jobs of today. launched awe comprehensive new initiative focused on stem skills, apprenticeships, career counseling, and public-private partnerships. now is a great time to acquire new skills. we want to make that opportunity available to every single pennsylvanian. as part of the pa smart initiative, we launched a new website that consolidates workforce resources and information for pennsylvanians who want to get the training and education to enter the workforce or expand their skills. it is similar to the business one-stop shop we built last year and are still improving upon.

we need conference of digital portals for businesses and workers that get them all the information they need in one place and that breaks down agency barriers. this year, i am proposing $10 million in new funding for pa smart so we can fill more advanced manufacturing positions , help more nontraditional students obtain the education they need, and create better jobs with better wages for more workers. this also includes funding for veterans to get the training they need to continue their contributions to our commonwealth. [applause] better, thaten funding is transferable, meaning veterans can use it to help their children get a college degree or career credential as well. it is a g.i. bill for pennsylvania. we cannot comprehensively

address our workforce involvement system without fixing -- development system without fixing our criminal justice system. [applause] gov. wolf: tens of thousands of pennsylvanians are shut out of our workforce, or they are underemployed because of mistakes they made in their past. families are being denied providers. employers are being denied skilled workers. we have already past clean slate legislation right here. we need to go farther. we need to make our criminal justice system more equitable and fair while helping people who have made amends enter the workforce.

even as we work on this budget, we also have to improve reentry programs and make it easier for those who have done their time to succeed in the workforce and their daily lives. our challenge demands and all hands on deck approach. asksbudget proposal itself business leaders, educators, students, workers to address the challenge of renewing our prosperity for another generation. in my inaugural address, i asked us to do our best right here in harrisburg, to do two things, first to ensure the interests of all pennsylvanians are reflected in the policies we pursue. second, to show the world that pennsylvanians know how to make representative democracy work. this budget is the embodiment of that noble effort. taxes, no new new burdens on our citizens, while

increasing dramatically our investments in the public goods that will make life better for all pennsylvanians. this budget recognizes that government should not try to do everything. we have a long-held faith in our tradition of limited government and individual responsibility. it also recognizes government should not do nothing either. the public goods government invests in should make the lives of our citizens better. although goods -- public goods give pennsylvanian citizens the skills they need to thrive in our 21st century economy. public goods that connect them to each other. public goods that keep our air and water clean. that is what this budget aims to do. it invests in workforce readiness and our early childhood education system, our schools, community colleges,

apprenticeship programs. pennsylvanians of all ages have real choices when it comes to their health care. it continues to prioritize the fight against the opioid epidemic that has destroyed the lives of so many of our friends and neighbors. -- budgethis by proclaims that we do not invest in the sterile politics of insult and anger. while the rest of this country and the world descends into divisive and unproductive shouting, we are showing everyone else in the heart of democracy how democracy is supposed to work. this is our challenge. anothert just about yet annual budget. it is about our democracy. let us show the world along with the rest of our country that

right here in pennsylvania we are making this experiment work. we are rededicating ourselves to this noble experiment in democratic self-government. them in the way we tackle the challenge of preparing our commonwealth for a brighter future, starting with this budget. this and no less than this is our task. this is also our privilege. may god bless us in this task, and may god bless the commonwealth of pennsylvania. thank you. [applause]

>> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, presidential historian douglas frankie discusses presidential relations with congress. independent institute senior fellow discusses president trump's use of executive power in the border will debate and how presidents have used executive power in the past. be sure to watch "washington eastern" live at 7:00 this morning. join the discussion. this week, at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, we will look at the political careers of four congressional leaders. using video from the c-span archives and analysis by congressional reporters. tonight, we will look at senator

mcconnell's career. on tuesday, it is speaker nancy pelosi. on wednesday, house minority leader kevin mccarthy. on thursday, we wrap up the week with senate minority leader charles schumer. watch this week, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the c-span bus recently traveled to texas, asking folks, what does it mean to the american? isto me, someone who american is someone who has pride in this country and loves it no matter what because it is not perfect, but it is the greatest place to be. when i think of an american can i think of someone who always helps those in need and tries their best to be the best they can. i think of the military and all the people who have given their sacrifice,e

everything, to protect the rights of those in the country. i have had family in the military. i am also going into the military. i have enlisted in the u.s. marine corps. i think it is a great way to serve this country. >> i have been asked what it means to be an american. what i want to say is it means to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. it is a land of opportunity. only in america can you come from nothing and be something. only in america can you be a uprecropper's son and end elvis presley. that is what it is. it is a land of opportunity. we are all given the opportunity to go to school. that is one of our greatest opportunities, our free public education in america. i think what it means to be an

american is to grow up in the world where you have the opportunity to be anything you want to be. >> what it means to me to be an american is that in america we have the freedom to choose where we live, education, what kind of career we like to pursue, and most of all the privilege to have the freedom to select our leaders, both national and local. having been a city councilman for six years, i know what it means to be a servant of the people and to work for the people in my city. >> when i think of an american, i think of someone who does the right thing, who defends the rights, defends their family, and family is a big part of being an american. we are all in this together. whenever i see someone, i try to help them as much as i can.

of as anhat i think american. i think of the military. i think of all the sacrifices that come along for being an american. american, i an think of someone who does the right thing. is, what is it like to be an american? it is freedom. we say freedom, and people just don't realize the freedoms we have. i have visited many countries throughout the world, and i see how our freedom means a lot. let's be honest, for me to be in front of the camera giving my own opinion is freedom. lots of countries you can't do that. when i was a kid, my grandfather fought in world war ii. he would never talk about the war. one time he did. what he shared with me i will never forget. i remember how tears came out of

his eyes. he fought for freedom. his tears showed a lot of passion in what he did to fight for our country. >> voices from the road on c-span. ♪ >> this week on "q&a," monica norton, deputy editor from the washington post talks about james baldwin's "if beale street could talk," and the impact the book had on her as a teenager. brian: monica norton of the "washington post," you wrote a column back in december with the headline i devoured james baldwin's "if beale street could talk," when i was 13. it changed my life. how?