win state legislatures. in fact, in 35 states, state legislatures still draw the lines for redistricting, so state legislators hold the pen in redistricting, both the legislative maps and the congressional maps, and that's why there's so much pow thorne line. we also know that the states are our first line of defense against donald trump. with the gridlock that's in washington, with washington just absolutely ground to a stop, the states serve as a firewall against the administration's policies. we obviously will beat donnell trump in 2020. we have to do that. but there's been huge progress in states as we look at the u.s. supreme court where we could lose protections for rowe and protections for roe, for reproductive choice, the states have become a firewall for making sure that choice is protected. the states have started to protect the a. c. a. and some of the mental health and other provisions within the affordable care act. the states have started to make sure that the controversial practice of lgbt con

and having democrats on state legislatures. in fact in 35 states, state legislatures still draw the line for redistricting. legislatures hold the pen in redistricting, both the legislative maps and congressional map. that's why there are so much power on the line. with the gridlock that's in washington with washington just absolutely grounding us out, the state serves is a firewall against the administration policies. we'll beat donald trump in 2020. we have to do that. but, there has been huge progress and states as we look at the u.s. supreme court where we could lose protection for reproduction choice, making sure that choices are protected. states started to protect the aca and some of mental health and other provisions within the affordable care act. the states have started to make sure that the controversial practice of lbgtq version therapy is ended in the state. the state are acting to protect lbgtq americans. states like california and washingt washington, oregon and states across the cry joins the climate accord. in c

but washington needs to see the support from the oklahoma state legislature. to feel confident that this plan is on solid financial footing. today i call on the house and the senate to send to my desk legislation to give certainty that the oklahoma health care authority can use the full 4% of the shop assessment to fund sooner care 2.0 while protecting reimbursements. we must reform t set. let's protect the corpus, yet reallocate funds towards improving the delivery of the rural health care. help me keep oklahoma number one in competing for this new opportunity through the trump administration. [applause] any effort to enact a kleenex pangs of medicaid, to include putting it in the state's constitution, will create significant restrictions. with straight medicaid expansion, oklahoma will be left with the same infect tive and unaccountable programs that has failed to bring us out of the bottom ten ranks chblt the time now is to innovate and to make oklahoma a national leader in delivering of health care. [applause] to make this sustainable, we must also move fo

brandy, please stand and let the legislature thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. what an achievement, brandy. as we continue to work on fixing our prison, an even better investment long term is building a world class public education system. in a few minutes, i'm going to outline my plans on how we're going to continue to make investments towards this goal. but first, i want to once again level with you, the members of the legislature, and certainly the people of alabama. during last year's session, the legislature gave those of alabama an opportunity to help modern our education system in a bold new direction, by having the opportunity for voters to vote on amendment number one, you with will be on the march 3rd primary ballot. but unfortunately, ya'll, we've got an all, we've gotten all too complacent at being at or near the bottom of national education ranking. surely we care about our students. surely we care that they learn and do well and score high. but ask yourself this question. is there any high school in alabama much less any college or university, that

i urges the members of the legislature to helps us make this investment a top priority for alabama's future, our children are counting on us. as i said before, the challenges we face with our public schools can't be blamed on the teachers, administrators or the students. our teachers are vitally important to our students' future. i'm personally living proof of this. growing up in camden, my first grade teacher was mrs. hickey and she was a favorite. she left a lasting impact on my life by creating within me a passion for reading. it was because of her that led me to believe that if a child can learn to read, they can learn to do anything. ladies and gentlemen, miss hickey is one of the reasons i stand here as your governor tonight. teachers in our state deserve to be compensated for their hard work. they help our students to dream to become the next generation of doctors and economic developers and small business owners. tonight i'm proposing a 3% pay raise for all teachers pre-k through community college. while no state in the nation has had more success in recent years of attractin

how important is gender in the oflitical contex a state where almost half thewo legislature aren? >> actually, about 52% of nevada state legislature, makerring them te first in the country to ve a female majority statee. ho so, certainly, nevada has proven to be a leader when it comes to gender equity, gder parity, and the electorate's willingness vote for female candidates. they even have two female unites statators. so, obviously, if history, if past is prologue, gender plys very critical role in nevadare >>ivasan: what is the secret to nevada's success in achieving this sort of gender parity in the legislature? >> a lot of it has to do with candide rruitment, and the fact that traditionally or historically, western states actually do have a hignuher er of women that both run and succeed in higher office there. i also think that it's possible, particularly in w nevadth a

. >> my last state of the state address i asked the legislature to set politics aside so we could work together on the issues facing our state. i said i expected bills to be passed with broad support and in the spirit of bipartisanship. one of the things i'm most proud of, more than 95% of the bills i signed my first year in office had bipartisan support. major accomplishment. (applause) >> people worked together on really important issues. representative ladenbach and others came together to provide access to rural air use to make sure medicaid covers teleservices in wisconsin. >> thanks to senator rainer, shack ner, representative zimmerman and representative rothstock, voters will not be be denied to vote because of a disability. (applause) >> because of other senators good work we signed a bill to train commercial drivers on recognizing and preventing human trafficking in wisconsin. (applause) >> these bills exemplify what we can accomplish when we're focused on what unites us rather than what divides us. i want to thank all of you for this good work. i believe, as i've often said,

the constitution requires me to inform the legislature concerning the condition of the state and recommend measures on the great interests. florida's unemployment rate is near a historic low. we have a aaa credit rating. florida's public university system is ranked number one in the nation. we are ranked one of the top states in the nation for fiscal help. we have no state income tax. [ applause ] now it says the only thing certain in life were debts and taxes. no, i am nwe can say with certa that we won't have an income tax here in the state of florida. [ applause [ applause ] or a debt tax for that matter. last session was productive on a number of front. i want to thank speaker jose for their strong and dedicated leadership. i would also like to recognize our lieutenant governor jeanette nunes who led on key issues ranging from healthcare to aerospace, thank you for your leadership jeanette. and as the president indicated, we are joined here today by a great first lady for the state of florida, my wife casey. casey spear headed her hope for healing initiatives facing floridians in the a

and a number of other members of the legislature who are not here. let me also thank black-a-lack for their band, for their music. let me thank representative thigpin for all the work he does. thank travis washington for his remarks. thank my old friend, gus newport, former mayor of berkeley, california. and thank somebody who has become an increasingly close friend, a wonderful actor, a

the significant percentage of the 56 legislature has never served in this capitol. i want to take a moment to remember what it was to be here before the construction began. when i arrive, there were full of people with energy. visitors would wander the hall and marveling not so much with the architecture but that you are greeted by the people here. this simply does not happen anywhere else. over and over again that's what i heard was the real charm of this place. it was a working capitol. the people's house, it is the way the government should be assessable. when the session started, legislatures would stop by our office to discuss legislation or what they hope to accomplish during the session. the coffee pot was always on. good work came from the comradery that was the hallmark of this capitol. this provides the opportunity to continue the culture. there is a great his ri but it is not a museum. there is promise and progress and moments ahead of finding the passage of the constitution and the recognition of universal suffrage. like past generation in this building,

the legislature rarely moves as did after i got elected. i signed, bill that my wife and i were there at the signing. we had to take separate cars away from the signing. youlled her and i said, know what, a million people are going to be lifted out of result what we just did. people will get a raise. we just quit now, we would have done something really important for the state. years left at that point. we gotten lot down. part, ehad good partners. i worked on both side of the aisle. lot of the things i got done bipartisan in nature. i love to talk about those things. items of those big agenda for this year is overhauling the tax system. you want to have a progressive tax wealthywill people. it has to go before the voters in november. what makes you think that voters will back this? state'smuch of the budgets, so much of the future the state is tied up with this. have very unfair tax system in illinois. statesnly four constitutionally mandated flat income tax. if you think ball the taxes that people pay in every state, artually every one of

not in the legislature, but you could lobby city governments, for example. you have a lot of influence if you're a legislator. that seems not right to me and we ought to get rid of it. i called for that. you might think, gee, we're behind other states. we are, we have to fix that. i called for that and i called to make sure that we have more disclosure, so that, again, you can root out the conflicts of interest. i believe strongly that our legislature, you know, one of the things that i think voters don't pay a lot of attention to is the amount of influence, again, that's being wielded upon all of these elected officials that nobody pays a lot of attention to. i've been very forthright about the fact that, look, these are my-- when i come forward with views on issues, they're my views. i listen to everybody. i like to think that i'm-- everybody likes to think you're right all the time, right? but the truth of the matter is that i'm confident about 90% that i'm right and i'm-- i know enough to think that there's a 10% possibility that i could be wrong. so i'm

to legislature trying to get ratification. at first it was going along swimmingly. a drumroll of approval from three states that rushed to be the first to ratify. they now stand in history together because nobody made it in ahead of others. >> the same thing with the e.r.a. took the votes of two thirds of the house and two thirds of the senate. >> to ratify it. >> no, to get it through congress. that was the congress role. that happened in 1919. to get it ratified by the states took three fourths, so suffrage leaders spent about a year and a half going from legislature to legislature trying to get ratification. at first it was going along swimmingly. a drumroll of approval some five, i think three states rushed to be the first to ratify. they now stand in history together because nobody made it in ahead of others. >> the same thing with the e.r.a. >> they parade through the states and by then there is a groundswell of what we call the anti-suffrage forces that also see this as the big battle of their lifetime. they marshal for

not in the legislature but you can lobby city governments for example. you have a lot of influence if you're a legislator. that seems not write to me and we ought to get rid of it. and i called for that. you might think we are behind other states, we are. we have to fix that, i called for that knife to make sure we have more disclosure so again you can read out the complex of interest. i believe strongly that our legislature, one of the things up voters don't pay a lot of attention to is the amount of influence that is being wielded upon all of these elected officials that nobody pays a lot of attention to. i've been very forthright about the fact -- when i come forward with views on issues, they are my views, i listen to everybody because i like to think -- everybody likes to think you're right all the time. but the truth of the matter is, confidence, about 90% that i might and i know enough to think there's a 10% possibility that i could be wrong. so i'm willing to listen because i want to get it right. that is something that i think people are relying

[laughter] president, speakers and members of the legislature, thank you for your welcome. to the people of wyoming, here and is watching at home, good morning go also secretary of state and buchanan treasurer kurt meyer and superintendent. [applause] together we have addressed all drafting sensible and workable solutions with even the most challenging those facing our state and communities and origins brick i thank you for your work we are honored this morning for veterans of the supreme court chief justic justice, thank you for the wise consideration of perplexing issues in your appropriate application of the law. [applause] and i am pleased to have these chairman of the arapahoe business council with us today and the unfortunate travel conditions prevented karen schneider from being here like you to join me to welcome them to this chamber. [applause] i have enjoyed building our relationship this year i look forward to the progress we will make in the year ahead. our peoples and governments deserve the very best efforts and we will jointly work on that thank you to secret

courtesy of the hawaii state legislature, this is 45 minutes. >> mr. speaker, president kouchi, former governors, distinguished justices of the courts, representatives of our congressional delegation, members of the hawaii state legislature, elected officials, military leaders, honored guests, and all of you who took time this morning to be with us. aloha. >> aloha. >> before i begin my formal remarks, our firstesponders, whether they are police officers, firefighters or lifeguards, take great pride in their professionalism and great satisfaction in knowing that they are serving others and our community. if you ask them, they will tell you to a man and woman that they are just doing their jobs. even when they step into harm's way. but in truth they do so much more, especially when the need for them arises. on sunday a desperate need did arise, and two heroes stepped forward. i would like to take a moment this morning in honor of officers tiffany enriquez and kaulike kalama. chief ballard, please know our thoughts and prayers are with your hpd ohana and

legislature, thank you for your welcome. to the people of wyoming here and those watching at home, good morning. and i also want to welcome secretary of state ed buchanan, auditor christie resines, treasureur kurt meyer and superintendent daily. [ applause ] together we have addressed many tough issues this year, all with workable solutions, even the most challenging of some of the votes facing our faith, communities large and small, and i thank you for your work. we are honored this morning with the presence of supreme court chief justice davis. and justices couch, spock, bloom garden and gray. thank you for your wise consideration of perplexing issues, your appropriate application of the law. [ applause ] and i'm really pleased to have lee spoon hunter, chairman of the northern arapaho business council with us today. unfortunately travel conditions prevented karen snider from being here. i would like you to join me in welcoming them to this chamber. [ applause ] we are friends, and i have enjoyed building our relationship

we all try to get these biggive structure projects and proposals through our legislature. i've never included broadband as part of the definition of that infrastructure. because there's such unmet water, sewer need, schools, bridges. but we need to have to start thinking of it as not only the economic drierch but base infrastructure. local communities like troy or others could also look to some money at the state level as well. >> actually, we have started to include it in our infrastructure plan. you know, we've got a new ten-year comprehensive transportation plan before the legislature right now, and part of that plan includes, as long as -- one, digging, and then lay the fiber. that won't get us the last mile, but it will get us a long way down. >> we have made an investment at the state level and for a small investment. if you leverage private sector funding you can make a difference. i asked for $20 million which allowed me to leverage $120 million. i was able to get 5. we were able to implement 17 projects in iowa, and then we tacked that with usda qualifying. we qua

i have learned something as governor, legislatures change their mind. sometimes it takes more than one year to get a good idea done. asking them to hold hearings this year, do their , getstudy it, look at it smarter, see what they like, see what they don't like, if we don't do it this year, maybe next year. to my mind it's inevitable and we should be smart about it. caitlin: you touched on your proposal for universal pre-k a moment ago, but you also did some interesting innovations when it comes to higher education. i know you promise to provide two-year tuition free community college. you want to make it a permanent program after i believe it sunsets this year. a quick two-part question, one, how do you plan to do that? two, as former chair of the democratic governors association, you know that this is a popular proposal that democrats have embraced, including on the national stage. is this idea of two-year, tuition-free coming to college, is it realistic? gov. raimondo: absolutely. i am embracing it because it works. at the end of the day, this is wha

so i want to challenge this new legislature and the people of louisiana to think boldly, to envision louisiana with a fully diversified economy, a steady reduction in poverty, and an educational system that prepares our people for the jobs and careers that will keep them here at home. even though we've come a long way, we certainly have a lot more work ahead of us. and i'm the very first to acknowledge that challenges remain, because there are still too many people living in poverty without adequate access to the opportunities needed to succeed. you know a great louisianan often said that education is poverty's mortal enemy. she was right. governor kathleen blanco who passed away a few months ago believed firmly in the potential of every child. and while we continue to mourn her loss, we also have a responsibility to carry on her legacy, especially when it comes to her vision for education. we know that education is the key to economic opportunity and that a pathway to prosperity must begin at the earliest stages of life. that is why the highest priority for new investments in educat

we all try to get these biggive structure projects and proposals through our legislature. i've never included broadband as part of the definition of that infrastructure. because there's such unmet water, sewer need, schools, bridges. but we need to have to start thinking of it as not only the economic drierch but base infrastructure. local communities like troy or others could also look to some money at the state level as well. >> actually, we have started to include it in our infrastructure plan. you know, we've got a new ten-year comprehensive transportation plan before the legislature right now, and part of that plan includes, as long as -- one, digging, and then lay the fiber. that won't get us the last mile, but it will get us a long way down. >> we have made an investment at the state level and for a small investment. if you leverage private sector funding you can make a difference. i asked for $20 million which allowed me to leverage $120 million. i was able to get 5. we were able to implement 17 projects in iowa, and then we tacked that with usda qualifying. we qua

i hosted the first volley celebration and observance of the month of roman at the legislature. . . ,,. ,,. ,. ,,. . ,. ,,? ,. . ,. ,. . . ,. . ,. . . ,. . they -- michigan as a hardworking people. they expect results. they deserve to work hard to get things done. they want except excuses and neither will i. i am not here to play games it would. that is why it's time for plan b, and it's not getting monte to fill all the potholes in michigan. for those of you want to keep playing games, i'm going to press on without you. i'm going to use the power of my office to do what i said i was going to do because for me, for michigan, impatience is a virtue. no more waiting around to fix our -- or improve our school district our families. the people of michigan are counting on us and it is time to act and it starts here in this room. tonight speech will be shorter than usual. believe me, the people of michigan don't want more ceremony. they want concrete action and sometimes they just want concrete. . i'll follow up more on a variety of topics including critical issues like drinking water and cl

hogan: the legislature have said they will not bring it up this year. anita: homelessness has been in decline in maryland. do you have any advice for the other to governors in california and oregon suffering with the problem? gov. hogan: it's a tough problem. again, i'm pleased, thank you for saying all these things. almost every question starts with, you know, hiv rates are down, heroin, opioids are down, homelessness is down. the only thing up his employment and jobs and businesses in the economy. [laughter] gov. hogan: but we have been working hard on it. a big part of it is trying to provide opportunities for people, a lot has to do with the drug treatment in the mental -- and the mental health investments. and providing housing opportunities and job training and helping returning citizens that are coming out of being incarcerated. all of those things help. we just did an nga they have are tremendous homelessness problem in california. and san francisco in particular which i got to witness up close and personal. anita: did you talk to him about it?

members of the legislature, justices of the supreme court, the first lady, my wife, jeanette, the first lady of utah, i thank you for your love and support over all these years. lieutenant governor spencer and mrs. cox, thank you for your support and your leadership. and the other constitutional officers that we have with us today and my fellow utahns. i'm grateful to be here and address you this evening. i'd like to welcome our legislator its back to the hill and extend a special welcome to candice and steve who are joining us for their first general legislative session. [ applause ] my advice to them and to all of you is to roll up your sleeves and to get to work, because we have a lot to do in the next 42 days. for those who are keeping score, this is my 11th and my final state of the state address. i give this speech tonight full of renewed hope and optimism for utah's future. i've learned much in my 10 1/2 years as governor. as i reflect on our state successes, i feel humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside all of you and to see the firsthand impact utahns are h

i asked the legislature for $20 million which allows me to -- point $3to get five million. with $6.3 million we were able to implement 17 projects in the state of iowa. with usda that funding that came in. we qualify for four projects. and so with relatively small investments, we have been able to really scale some of these rural areas and provide them the connectivity that they need. we are not going to grow rural iowa without connectivity. it impacts everything will think that we did. i'm back this year asking for another $15 million to continue to leverage not only private sector, but take advantage of the federal funding that is there. they are coming out with more opportunities for states to take advantage of the. >> we had a number of cabinet folks at the breakfast this morning, and one said there may be additional opportunities for federal dollars to either match or either complement. s you wereogan, a talking about ideas of what the federal government can do, those investments in rural infrastructure, if we are going to ever be that country where everybody has an op

most prone to war, therefore the constitution with studied care, the power to declare war in the legislature. we increasingly deferred war powers back to the executive, we abdicated our role as a body that should be deciding with the people when to go to war. the president may have the power to repel an attack, congress has done little to stop increasingly bold arguments that everything is in response to an imminent attack. i will never forget president obama coming to speak to the republican caucus a few years ago and he said they were under imminent attack in the libyan war, benghazi, for goodness sakes, we thought imminent attack was of america, not a foreign city. that is how far we have come the president would say i can do whatever i want if there is in a minute attack on a foreign city. how ludicrous. but given congress's in action it should come as no surprise that administration lawyers increasingly argue that everything is imminent and statutes limiting their authority don't limit their authority but statutes say they can do whatever they want. presidents actually argue article 2 o

you get your legislature to bring you into alignment with the fence. and maybe speaking to that. let me now turn to the other development. the newly announced enforcement policy from the fda with regard to flavored he cigarettes. the first thing i would like you to know is that this new policy is actually fda enforcement policy. it is not a band. and do i mean by that. this most likely would come as a surprise to most people, but the fact is under the federal tobacco control act, every e-cigarette on the marketplace today, is in the market on lawfully. let me repeat that. every e-cigarette in the marketplace today, is there unlawfully because you call them undocumented. license case. because the design of the federal law once the fda asserted authority over this product, if the law says nothing is to be sold until information is been submitted to the fda for their review and approval. none of these products have been approved. what is happening instead is that the fda is using its discretion when it comes to enforcement. to say they aren't going to enforce that law against most o

is a first-term governor who was elected in 2018 after serving more than a decade in the state legislature. she reacted to the president's speech by talking about infrastructure, health care, and wage increases. -- [applause] >> good evening. i am honored to be here and grateful that you are tuning in. i am gretchen witmer, the 49th governor of the great state of michigan. tonight, i am at my daughter's public school. we are here today with families and parents, teachers, and most importantly, students. i want to thank you all for coming, but tonight, i am going to talk to those of you who are watching at home. i would need a lot more than 10 minutes to respond to what the president just said, so instead of talking about what he is saying, i am going to highlight what democrats are doing. after all, you can listen to what someone says, but to know the truth, watch what they do. differentrs are no from americans everywhere. we love our families and want a good life today and a better life tomorrow for our kids. we work hard, and we expect our government to work hard for us as well. we have

consistent with the vision of our founding fathers by requiring express consent from the bicameral legislature and with the conviction the american people who sons and daughters lay down their lives to defend us get a say in the matter president trump wants to make america great again and i stand with him the military-industrialan complex once you make america great again i stand against that making america great britain again would keep the legislative branch out of power. asked what our constitution allows her with the president once we have to support this resolution. >> thank you mr. president i take this time for those that support the joint senate resolution 68 we will be voting on tomorrow the resolution introduced by senator kane i want to acknowledge his long-standing commitment to the united states senate two can't carry out our constitutional responsibilities for the use of military force that is left solely with the congress of the united states we have a responsibility to speak to that authority. in the last congress with senator flake the efforts on the senate foreign relations c

i decided i couldn't wait for the legislature. i did an emergency roule and i thank matt for providing an expert because it was also then immediately challenged in district court. we didn't make it about government versus business. we made it about pediatricians and kids. one of the lines from that opinion was despite statements from officials at the federal level that some regulatory action would be taken to address the youth nicotine crisis none has occurred. the mere existence of flavored vape liquid in the market creates the immediate peril to youth and no other administrative act could remove it from act could remove it from the hands of youth. if anyone wants to see both the rule and the district court. that has great language about the risks and why we as governors need to take action to reach out i would be more than happy to get it to you. >> any comments from our panel? any other governors? questions, comments? i want to say thank you to our extraordinary panelists for joining us this afternoon for their passion and dete

so a lot of this was achievable because you came in and democrats have both in the state legislature and sodas having single potter party rule, does t make for good governance questioning. >> not always. let me be clear, the old will rogers line, i don't belong to an organized party, i'm a democrat. that is true in illinois also. just because we have a democratic house and a democratic senate and a democratic governor, that does not mean were always in agreement on everything. and we need leadership in the states, we have been somewhat directionless and the last two years under my predecessor there was really no compromise, no movement forward for the state. we had two years of a budget crisis. so having a new governor and a new direction for the state, we are really focused on moving the state ahead, trying to solve our physical challenges but also as you mentioned by making some significant changes. in illinois in expanding people's rights and protecting people, lifting up the minimum wage, something very important and the first thing i did as governor . in fact the legislature rud

this gives the american people the best of both worlds the deliberative representative legislature to declare war in a single decisive commander-in-chief to lead troops. it's beneficial while giving the greatest opportunity to protect the freedom and liberty in the system of government. the members unfortunately sometimes are inclined whenever possible. the trend sadly gave momentum under presidents i presidents af representatives and the senate of every conceivable purpose in combination. and now nearly two decades into the multiple war without clear missions or paths to victory it is time for congress to reassert on behalf of constituents the vital constitutional role in american warmaking. before addressing the merits of this particular resolution, let me first spoke to very mistaken assumptions being made about it. first, it is not about president trump to the contrary, it supports president trump in the differential approach one that accepts c the outset but in perpetuity we certainly can't and shouldn't do that without the consent of the american people. and that of their electe

our legislature had to cut the absolute level of state government spending by 10 percent. not the future of growth but literally cut from where we were by 10 percent and the bill passed, the budget bill passed the house of representatives, 147-3. it was because people were forced into practical ways we are in communities and local towns and counties and so forth, to find a way to get it done in a way that keeps

it happened right before i became governor, the previous one was passed by the legislature. the law was not written very well so they had difficulty wording the license and there was concerned about the way it was implemented. it's finally starting to happen and it's getting straightened out. there's some debate back-and-forth in our legislature about the possibility legalization but it doesn't look like that will move forward anytime soon. >> for recreational marijuana? >> yes. >> that will happen that later this year? >> the legislature has said it won't bring that up. >> homelessness has been in decline, do you have any advice for the other to governors in california and oregon suffering with the problem? >> it's a tough problem. again i am pleased, thank you for saying all these things. of course every question hiv, rates are down, heroin opioids are down, homeless is down, only thing up his employment, businesses, jobs, economy. [laughter] we have been really working hard on it, a big part is trying to provide opportunities for people, a lot has to do with the drug trea

and a number of other members of the legislature who are not here.et me also thank black-a-lack for their band, for their music. let me thank representative thigpin for all the work he does. thank travis washington for his remarks. thank my old friend, gus newport, former mayor of berkeley, california. and thank somebody who has become an increasingly close friend, a wonderful actor, a great american, danny glover. and let me thank one of the rising young political stars in this country and that is mayor chokwe lumumba of mississippi. and let me thank one of the greatest rap stars, killer mike. and let me thank senator nina turner. we're here today for two purposes. number one, we are united and understanding that we have got to defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of america. we have to defeat him and we will defeat him. we will defeat him because the american people are sick and tired of a president who is a pathological liar. they are sick and tired of a president who is running a corrupt administration. and i'll give you an e

and from the state legislature, from the house, marvin penn darvis is here with me today. i want to say a couple of things about why we're here. i was next door at the breakfast, they have established an award in my wife's name, late wife, and they decided i should be the first recipient of that award. there is the town of monks corner. we met on the campus march 15th, 60 years ago. i'll always remember that day because that was the first day that i was arrested. and i met her in jail on that day. about 18 months later, we were married. we stayed married for 58 years.

i presented a budget to my legislature a few weeks ago, that's a balanced budget with no broad-based tax increases. i think that's very important, but there's a lot of innovation in it, different ways of doing things. and a lot of investments, right? so at the same time, we have a deficit and i'm committed to not raising taxes, we also need to investigate so that rhode islanders have opportunity. so the budget i've presented calls for a 50% increase in public pre-k classrooms. i believe every four-year-old from rhode island ought to be able to go to pre-k for free. it calls again for two years tuition free community college for every high school graduate. something i started a few years ago that, you know, is massively successful. it calls for big investments in housing. housing is near crisis in rhode island and in many places. prices are housing are going up twice as fast as wages. so, how you do it, where do you find the money? one of our innovations in this budget is around medicaid. medicaid is about a third of rhode island's budget, which is quite similar to most states that to