thank you also as i said to the best lieutenant governor in the united states, nancy wyman. thank you, nancy. [applause] >> finally, thank you to my wife at the end my three below is, thank you for your love and support. four years ago i joined you in this chamber for the first time as governor. i spoke about how connecticut has always been a leader. how for generations we shake and changed our nation and the world. connecticut and drafted north america's first constitution. we founded the nation's first insurance company. our inventions gave the world many things including the can opener the bicycle and the artificial heart. connecticut has always been a birthplace of innovation and over the past four years we have continued to lead and lead nationally on the biggest issues of our time. we increased the minimum wage, the first in the nation to commit to $10.10 per hour. [applause] >> we passed paid sick leave, first in the nation to do that as well. [applause] >> working with democrats and republicans we created the strongest gun violence prevention law in the nation and tod

[applause] thanks to nancy wyman, we cut him the number of uninsured connecticut citizens in half and became a national model for a new kind of health care system. thank you, nancy. we've built better schools, raised test scores, made college more affordable, and put connecticut on a path toward universal pre-kindergarten. link to that together. [applause] we added more than $500 million to our rainy day fund and responsibly cut our long term debt by $12 billion.we added more than $500 million and finally, because of the decisions we made together over the last four years, our economy is gaining traction. together we've helped private employers create more than 75,000 new jobs. none of these things would have happened if we avoided tough decisions or failed to face our problems. we have led connecticut down a stronger path because we didn't take the easy way out. the question now before us is, what's next? how do we honor our remarkable history and tradition? how do we fulfill our promise for a brighter tomorrow? how do we decide what kind of connecticut we're going to leave our child

thanks to nancy wyman we cut the uninsured in half and became a national model for a new kind of health care system. thank you. we build better schools in raise test scores and make college more affordable to put us on a pass to universal prekindergarten. we did that together. we added more than $500 million to the reidy day fund in a cut long-term debt by $12 billion. and finally because of the decisions we made together over the last four years our economy is gaining traction we help private employers have more than 75,000 new jobs. and aziz would have happened if we fail to face our problems. will lead down a stronger past because we did not take the easy way out so what is next? had three remark -- our tradition to fill or promise for a brighter tomorrow? how do we decide what type of kid netiquette we will leave our children? we do a with coverage to have the tough but necessary debates to push ahead even though it is not easy especially when it is not easy to be prepared not just for the fiscal year but the next half century and in that spirit one of the largest challenges we face

lieutenant governor nancy wyman, small business owners, labor union leaders, and neighbors and friends from the city he loved were all in attendance. senator dodd delivered a stirring eulogy describing his amazing life of service. as senator dodd related, stanley dedicated his life to helping others. after starting his career in his family owned jewelry store, he uncovered his true passion assisting members of his community with any problem any time after intervening in a family -- with a family in crisis. he left the business and after holding a variety of human service and business advocacy positions in norwich and earning citizen of the year and citizen of the decade award in the 1960's went on to work for chris dodd. he ran his constituent service programs beginning in 1974 with dodd's election as second district congressman, the seat i have the honor to hold, and later as state director to senator dodd after his election to the senate in 1980. stanley remained a fixture in connecticut politics known for his consummate dedication to helping constituents get the help they needed. he