Speaker vos, speaker pro dem, majority leader fitzgerald, minority leader schilling, minority leader hence, Supreme Court justices, constitutional officers, tribal leaders, members of the cabinet, members of the legislature, distinguished guests and most importantly, fellow citizens of wisconsin, it is an honor to come before you this afternoon to report on the state of our great state. Before we start, i want to recognize my wife and our two sons matt and alex. Last year as you might remember, my wife joined me at this podium to talk about her Ground Breaking work called fostering futures. She and her team continue their efforts with tribal counsels, county governments, nonprofits, colleges and universities and employers from across wisconsin. Our state agencies have been trained and how to incorporate trauma and form care into the daily routines. She brought together group of first spouses and staff to wisconsin to talk about this important work and she went to washington to get the federal government more involved in this area. I want to thank you for your leadership, leadership that will change the lives of children, adults, and families all officer wisconsin. Next to my wife is Major GeneralDonald Dunbar who is the general of the 10,000 strong men and women of the Wisconsin National guard. Thank you for your service, general dunbar. And next to him this is a great treat this year, next to him is Major General mark anderson. It was my privilege to administer the oath earlier this month to our second two star general. What an honor for wisconsin. Congratulations, general anderson. Under september general dunbar, thomas safer and i had the opportunity to visit members of the 115th fighter wing from right here in madison. While they were deployed in an air base in south korea. Commanding officer bart ru is with us who i actually had the chance to fly in with an f16 years ago, he and 255 airmen were deployed to one of the most intense spots in the world. South korea. Now while we were there, i met the commander of the seventh air force, lieutenant journal thomas bergson. Hes a 1981 graduate of Wisconsin Rapids high school. He told me of the incredible skill of our airmen and women and as if that wasnt enough, the commander of the 115th colonel Eric Peterson and many of the remarkable men and women of the Wisconsin National guard join me last month as we announced that wisconsin had been selected the host the brand new f35a lightning two fighter jets right here at truex field. Out of all the states in america, we had the number one location. Im looking forward to hearing the f35s say off. You know what . Thats the sound of freedom. Congratulations to these outstanding men and women, many of whom are with us here today. Today im proud to declare that the state of our state well, its historically strong. In wisconsin, employment is at historic highs and unemployment is at historic lows. We invested more actual dollars into schools than ever before in our history. The state property tax is gone. Wisconsin received a bond rating upgrade from three National Agencies. Our Health Care Systems are ranked number one in the nation for quality. And we announced the Largest Economic Development in state history. It has been an amazing year, a historic year. We are getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. As mentioned, more people are employed in wisconsin than ever before in the history of our state. And just last week, the department of Workforce Development announced that the Unemployment Rate had dropped to 3 . The only other time it was that low was in may, june, july of 1999 whether Tommy Thompson was our governor. Things were pretty good back then. Theyre pretty good now. And theyre only going to get better. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. Students in our schools have some of the highest act scores and some of the best Graduation Rates in the country. And we just invested more actual dollars in k12 education than ever before. An extra 200 for every student in every school in every part of our state this year and another 204 increase for every student on top of that next year. Our children deserve a great education that prepares them for college, careers, and real life. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. To make college affordable, we flows university of wisconsin tuition for all undergraduates from our state for six years in a row. Were partnering with Financial Institutions to help graduates refinance Student Loans and Financial Assistance for students in need. Thats at an all time high making Higher Education possible for thousands of students at colleges and universities across the state. We are getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. We were able to make record investments in education and reducing the burden on taxpayers. The nonpartisan legislative bureau, property and income taxes will be lower in 2018 than they were in 2010. And we eliminated, thaerlts ri, we eliminated the state property tax. 100 of the taxpayers in our state saw 100 percent reduction in the state property tax bills. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. Health care systems in our state ranked number one in the nation for quality. According to the agency for Health Care Research and quality. Plus plus everyone living in poverty is now covered under badger care for the first time in the history of the state. And according to the u. S. Census bureau, the percentage of people with access to Health Coverage in wisconsin is now one of the best in the nation. We are getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. Were one of the top states for milk, corn, soy beans, beef, apples, cherries, vegetables. Im just getting hungry thinking about that. Agriculture is a big part of our economy and for our farm families. Its more than that. Its a way of life. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. We offer benefits for our veterans and the next state offers 21. Our veterans can attend College Tuition free and we expanded eligibility so more of our veterans spouses and families can too. And u. S. News and World Reports our veterans homes are among the best in the country. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. More people working than ever before. Unemployment at historic lows. More help for our colleges and universities. Lower taxes, Quality Health care, growing agriculture in industry, taking care of our veterans. Yeah. Were getting things done. Were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin. As you might recall, that wasnt always the case. Eight years ago, things were much different. The state was headed in the wrong direction. Instead of going forward, state was going backwards. Eight years ago in january of 2010, the Unemployment Rate was 9. 2 . Today the Unemployment Rate is down to 3 . That is well below the National Rate of 4. 1 and as i mentioned before, it is tied for the lowest Unemployment Rate in the history of wisconsin. In fact, more people are working in wisconsin than ever before. People like brooke and cliff and sarah from ibutton Link Technology in white water. Brooke, cliff, and sarah became employed through our wisconsin fast forward working Training Program during the past year. Eight years ago the State Government created a 3. 6 billion budget deficit. The previous governor and legislature raided the patient compensation funneled. They even missed a payment for resiprocity. Today the state ended the last fiscal year with a more than half a billion dollar surplus and the nonpartisan legislative bureau just predicted that we will end the current budget with an even larger surplus than first projected. Our pension is fully funneleded. Wisconsins long term outstanding debt is one of the lowest. One of the best in the nation. Were paying off our obligations faster than we take on debt. And three National Agencies upgraded our bond rating this past year. For moodies that, is the First Time Since 1973. For fitch crawl, its the first time ever. Thats historic. This is yet more proof that our Financial Management is working. We invested more than 6 billion into the Transportation System in our recent state budget which brings our total investment to 24 billion over eight years. Thats 3 billion more than what former governor jim doyle spent on transportation over the same period of time. You heard that right. We invested 3 billion more in transportation than jim doyle did during the same amount of time. In our budget, the increase wez gave to local governments fixed roads, repair bridges and fill potholes. And the largest in 20 years. We also put large amounts in the state highway rehab and thanks to the diligent work of secretary dave ross and his team who found savings, were able to move up projects like interstate 3990 and wisconsin 441 while still keeping Major Projects on ver own yo road on time. Projects like highway 18, highway 45, highway 16, and highway 172 in brown county. Eight years ago according to the nonpartisan fiscal bureau, the previous governor actually cut, thats right, cut funding for schools and local governments. I remember it well. I was a county official at the time. And the state did not give us the tools to deal with the reduction in state aid. Many local leaders either had to lay off workers or cut services. Today we made the largest investment of actual dollars into k12 education in history. And increase of 200 for every student in every school in every part of the state this year and another 204 increase on top of that next year. Plus, we gave schools extra resources to cover transportation costs, to add Mental Health services and to put new technology in the classroom. And the reforms we passed years ago have saved School Districts local and State Governments more than 5 billion and counting according to an independent review. Most importantly, they allow School Leaders to staff based on merit and pay based on performance. That means they can put the best and brightest in the classroom and pay them to be there. Putting more money into schools is g but making sure it goes into improving the quality of education for students and classrooms, well, thats priceless. Im proud to say that that is what were doing right here in wisconsin. Eight years ago there were only 1,611 youth apprenticeship students in wisconsin. Today the number of youth apprenticeship students doubled as has Financial Support from the state. State funding for High Technology workshops called fab labs doubled in the past budget. We are giving our students a head start on outstanding careers. Eight years ago tuition went up for College Students in the university of wisconsin system. In fact, during the decade before our freeze, uw tuition went up a whopping 118 . Today, today we froze tuition for all undergraduates from wisconsin for six years in a row. We did that to make college for affordable for students and working families. Now the Nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the average student saved more than 6,300 over four years thanks to the freeze. That is real money. Eight years ago there were actually People Living in poverty who are on a waiting list for access to Health Coverage under badger care. Today for the first time in the history of the state, everyone living in poverty is covered under badger care. Because of our unique wisconsin based solution, we had, according to the Kaiser Family foundation, no gap in coverage. We rank as one of the top states in the nation for access to Health Care Coverage according to the u. S. Census bureau. Hard to believe, there were 4,000 people with disabilities including both children and adults who were on walting lists for Long Term Care services. Plus many counties were not included in the Long Term Care programs. This year we are expanding family care and iras to every part of the state to provide Long Term Care options for Senior Citizens and people with disabilities to allow them to live as independently as possible. Today im happy to report to you that by the end of this year we will eliminate wait lists for children who need Long Term Care services in every county in the state. Was lists means children like 14yearold malik finally gets the support that they need. Malik lives with Cerebral Palsy and has limb itted mobility. After two years on the list, today he gets in home therapy. He has a mod ified bathroom that gives him more independence and his family gets much needed respite services. His mother says all this has been a game changer. Malik and his mother are here with us tonight. Nick was able to return to his wife of 70 years thanks to the services and equipment he receives under family care. Helen says the woman that comes to the apartment to help with the daily task her visiting angel. Ending wait lists also helps people like melissa, melissa was born with a disorder that affected her development and she landed a dream job but she doesnt drive and transportation was an issue. Through her Long Term Care services in the iris program, melissa gets help with transportation and other home Care Services which is helped improve her life. Youre around here somewhere. People like malik, nick and melissa shouldnt have to put their lives on hold to get the help they need to be independent and live their best lives. These are Success Stories. Im glad these services will be available all over the state. Wisconsin has been recognized as a National Leader on helping people with disabilities enter the workforce. Today according to the annual disability statistics, we rank in the top 10 states for hiring people with disabilities. Thats good news for people like partly cloudious. He was one of the first interns in plo jekt sear in project search. He was hired full time by the hospital. Project search is a program that helps High School Age students with disabilities prepared to enter the workforce. I love going to their graduations. Its one of the most inspirational things you can do. The success rate for project search in wisconsin is 88 which makes it one of the best in the entire country. Whether School Starts in the fall, there will be 27 sites across the state of wisconsin. Eight years ago governor doyle closed all eight of the Visitor Centers around the state. Today weve seen a 35 increase in the Economic Impact of tourism. Our marketing focus not on a slogan but on the fun, thats right, the fun that people have in wisconsin. We partnered with local convention and viltors bureaus and chambers of commerce to open Visitor Centers all across the state. Check out travelwisconsin. Com for more details. Is that, good stephanie . She like it more if i repeated it. Travelwisconsin. Com. Eight years ago the State Government did not have any state funded Grant Programs for the expansion of broadband infrastructure. Today we do. And in this last budget, we invested 41. 5 million. Increase of over 35 million to connect communities across the state to high Speed Internet connections as well as give schools access to the latest technology and training. Our goal is to connect every part of the state of wisconsin over the next two years. In 2007, the Economic Impact of agriculture was estimated at 59. 2 billion by uw extension. Today, a report by that same uw extension estimates that agriculture has an 88 billion impact on the wisconsin economy. Yeah lower property and agriculture taxes, limits on frivolous lawsuits and expanded export opportunities will help our family farmers continue to grow in 2018 and beyond. Eight years ago, taxes were going up. The decade before we took office, property taxes alone went up 27 . I remember it back then. People were telling me about how they felt, that they were being taxed out of their homes. Today, today both property and income taxes are actually lower than they were in 2010. Property taxes on a medium value home are estimated to be more than 100 lower in 2018 than they were eight years before. And think about this. If the previous trend continued from before i took office, the estimated property tax bills on a typical home in wisconsin would be 612 higher than they were this year. There is no state property tax. We cut income taxes. A typical family will have saved 1,400 since 2010. The overall state burden in wisconsin. Once one of the highest in the country is now below the national average. Based on data from the u. S. Census bureau, it is the lowest it has been in more than 50 years. 50 years. Through the end of this budget, the cumulative impact of our safrlgs of the Hardworking Taxpayers of wisconsin will exceed 8 billion. Thats right, 8 billion. Only two other states in the entire country have reduced their tax burden more than we have since 2011. 6 eight years ago according to chief executive magazine, wisconsin ranked 41st for business. Some of the state was consistently in the bottom 10 for places to do business in. Today, for the first time in the history of the survey, wisconsin ranks in the top 10 states for business. Thats why global businesses like foxco flchlt are coming to wisconsin. It is why fleetfarm is expand, generac is growing, u. S. Venture is expanding, quicktrip is building, great lakes Cheese Companies are adding jobs. Ameiquip is growing. Imark molding is adding jobs in woodville and oshkosk is expanding well, of course in, oshkosk. You tlik . You like that . Theres a joke in there but im going to take a pass. Thanks to the many employees of the companies that are here with us tonight. Aeven y and you know what . Were just getting started. Foxcon will begin construction this year on a 10 billion campus. There will require some 10,000 construction workers from all over the state. Earth movers from Hoffman Construction out of Black River Falls are starting work on the infrastructure for this major project. Families, workers and companies from across the state will benefit from one of the Largest Economic Development projects in the history of america. Once operational, foxcon will spend roughly 1. 4 billion a year with wisconsin businesses. Now to putd that in perspective, oshkosk corporation, one of our great wisconsin employers, a company that just won the coolest thing made in wisconsin contest. They spend about 300 million each year with wisconsin based companies. Foxcon will spend more than four times as much. Thats a big deal. If youre a Small Business that would like to be part of the foxcon team, i invite you to sign up on the website. Wisupplychainmarketplace. Com. Most importantly, foxcom will be one more reason to keep our graduates here in the state. Young people like amber who is a student at gateway technical college, joey and tim who attend madison college, and eric who is a student at foxvalley technical college. They, they and many others like them all have plans to be a part of the 13,000 people working on the foxcon team. Thank you for being such a visible reminder of the employers that are growing here in the state of wisconsin. Eight years ago, thing fwhortz good in our state. There were double digit tax increases, billion dollar job loss. State aid to schools and local governments were cut with no tools provided. Uw tuition was continued to go out faster than inflation. And wisconsin consistently ranked in the bottom ten states for businesses. We dont want to go back to the days. That would be a giant step backwards. Thankfully, many of us in this chamber, many of us in this chamber today had the courage to make some tough decisions. The results from those tough decisions helped turn our state around. These results now allow us to invest record amounts into our schools and to other priorities while still making wisconsin more affordable for the Hardworking Taxpayers of this state. Now, now we need to keep moving wisconsin forward. So today i am laying out an ambitious agenda for 2018 to keep us headed in the right direction. First, to ensure that every child, every child across this state has access to a great education, were going to find additional ways to put more resources into the classroom. A good school equals a great life. And we have some of the best schools in the country. We will build off of our historic investments. Looking ahead, we need to continue to help rule schools help keep more money in the classroom. Many of the schools have unique needs in the transportation. I want to ensure Educational Excellence everywhere. With that in mind, we have a plan that will increase sparse ti aid and a plan to help out low revenue School Districts. Tonight i want to personally tlafrpg the cochair of the joint finance committee for his leadership as well as senator howard markline and representative jeff mersal for working together on this. And today i call on the members of the state legislature to pass this plan. Second, we need to grow the number of opportunities for our young people to pursue great careers right here in our state. Together we developed a plan with the Wisconsin Technical College system. The university of wisconsin system. And with private colleges and university as cross wisconsin. With all the knew jobs created in our state, we must have enough graduates with the skills to fill the careers. Today i propose that we use the 20 million designated in act 58 to establish a new Wisconsin Career Creator Program on campuses all over the state. You remember years ago we had brain drain. That was really a problem. Now, now with all the exciting new jobs and developments, there are many, many more reasons to keep our graduates in wisconsin. Now thats what i call brain gain. We love the fact that our sons matt and amex work fwht state. We know how nice it is to have family close to home. We want that for other families as well. We increased opportunities for people with physical and intellectual disabilities nin te workforce and we had a major increase in funding for Vocational Training and were aggressively working to get veterans into the workforce. Still, we need to increase the number of potential employees in the state. With more people working than ever before, we cannot afford to have anyone in the sidelines. Therefore, as the third point in our ambitious agenda, i propose we expand our wisconsin works for everyone welfare reforms. Since we started requiring employment and worker training, more than 25,000 people have gained employment. People like thomas from Stephens Point and charlotte from baloy. Thomas had been working a series of seasonal jobs with our Training Program, he now has a permanent job with matt excel at Stephens Point and the great part is he says its his dream job. Charlotte had health irn use that forced her out of a job. Through our program, she got the help she needed and hired almost immediately to work in registration at the health system. These are just a few of the Success Stories of the more than 25,000 people who are in the workforce because of our work to transition more people from government dependents to independence, true independence through the dignity of work. Still, we need more individuals in the workforce. Each week we typically have 80,000 to 100,000 job openings on our state website jobcenterwisconsin. Com. In fact that, phone must be opportunity ring right there. With that in mind, im calling a special session to pass our common sense welfare reform plan. We want ablebodied working age adults to work at least 30 hours a week or to enroll in job training to get assistance in our state. We want to expand welfare reform statewide and we want to ensure that everyone getting public assistance can pass a drug test. If someone fails, we set aside resources to get them into rehabilitation. Because we understand that if we get them healthy, we can find a job for anyone in the state. We also propose putting asset limits on public assistance so people dont get welfare checks while Hardworking Taxpayers like you have to pay the bills. While many are upset with the inadilt i inability to get things done in wisconsin, geertiwere getting positive things done for the people in wisconsin. I want to thank speaker robin vos and senator chris for leading on this issue and working with us on welfare reform. Now some maybe even in capitol will complain no our reforms are about making it harder to govern assistance. The truth is our reforms are about making it easier to get a job. For those who are able, we will enable them to find meaningful work. We want to help people pursue careers, to support themselves and their families. Public assistance should be more like a trampoline and less like a hammock. Just like Tommy Thompson did in the 1990s whether unemployment was low and times were good, we are moving people from welfare into the workforce. I want to as the members of the legislature here to pass our Small Business plan to help even more employers grow across the state. The first step is reducing cost, lower taxes, streamlining regulations and reducing frivolous lawsuits all part of the plan. There is still more being done in the session on he ending welfare on unemployment fraud and in lawsuit reform. Lets get it done. The next step for Small Business is preparing the workforce. Our plans include investments in schools, apprenticeships, Higher Education and worker training. Another step for Small Businesses is removing barriers to work, the plan includes ending benefit cliffs to encourage more people to work, take more hours and advance into higher wage jobs. It also includes work requirements in screening we just talked about for drug use for Welfare Benefits as well as adding new populations to the workforce. The final step of our plan for Small Business is to help attract new talent. I ask for your assistance, the assistance of this legislature as we seek to attract to wisconsin several key groups of potential employees. Transitioning veterans and families, graduates of Wisconsin Colleges and universities, and the millennials from across the midwest. For more details on our Small Business plan, please visit our website, walker. Wi. Gov. Were committed to helping Small Businesses grow in every part of wisconsin. We recently made major announcement in terms of investments into our ethic chambers of commerce to help Small Businesses in the state. We continue to partner with local chambers, with county Economic Development and with regional Economic Development organizations to grow Small Businesses. And to ensure that there are more Small Businesses that succeed in the rural parts of our state, i propose, i propose today that we create a rural Economic Development fund of 50 million per year. This fund will support the development of new businesses and the expansion of Small Businesses in rural areas. It can assist in training more people to fill the positions being created by employers in rural areas. Many of the Small Businesses in our Rural Communities support and dpenepend on our farm famil. To keep our dairy farms, i propose a plan that will create a family farm funneled. This fund will provide scholarships to encourage students to take advantage of agriculturerelated studies at a Wisconsin Technical College or at the university of Wisconsin College of agriculture. We believe that will help them begin a rewarding career in farming. Our plan will also help farmers deal with the cost of ensuring that their farming practitions preserve clean water in rural areas. We also recognize that farmers are facing challenges with low commodity prices. Thats why earlier today i signed an executive order to ag day that expands resources for farmers to reach new markets across the country and around the world. We also need to do more to connect people and businesses in rural areas to high Speed Internet connections. As mentioned, we made a major new investment in Broadband Access grants for communities. And in teach grants for schools and students. But we can do more. Thats why im calling on the federal Communications Commission to finalize rules and increasing access to Broadband Internet by advancing Television WhiteSpace Technology. White Space Technology is the un used spectrum between broadcast television stations and it can deliver high Speed Internet to underserved areas of wisconsin. Each of these items will help grow Small Businesses here in this wisconsin. Therefore, i ask for the members of this legislature to act on these items that require legislative approval before the end of the session. Our agenda includes our work to reform State Government to make it more infective, efficient and accountable. We will continue to challenge the status quo. With that in mind, were pushing a major reform of the criminal Justice System for serious juvenile offenders. Over the past year, we worked with county officials, members of the judiciary, policy experts and law makers from both political parties. We looked at best practices and states like missouri and elsewhere to see how to reform the system here in wisconsin. Thank you to secretary John Litscher and secretary Linda Seemeyer for their work in that incredible teams. Our reform plan will create six smaller facilities spread throughout the state. Locations for five of the sites will be determined by collaborating 72 counties since their sent to state facilities from individual counties. The other facility is right here as part of the nationally recognized program forMental Health treatment. The complex and Lincoln County would be converted to a medium security adult prison. Likely focus on alcohol and drug abuse treatment. The Additional Space would also help limit the amount of money that the department of corrections has to pay for contract beds outside of the system. Now the department of corrections has made many changes over the past few years to improve safety and treatment. These include additional positions, increased compensation, changes in medicine distribution, and more security cameras. The change that im talking about today, however, are much larger than that. And they are really about long term reform of the system. Today i ask the members of the state legislature to act on this plan by the end of the session. I particularly want to thank evan goykee for his work on these reforms. Much of his plan much of our plan parallels his work. He is amending portions to include our addition ofMental Health and trauma care. Lets Work Together. Lets work with the counties to pass this plan quickly so we can plof forward with real reform in the system. Now just like families all across the state have had to do over the past eight or nine years, we had to make some tough decisions. You no he what . They paid off. Our reforms are working. The economy is growing. Wisconsin as a sizable surplus. As promised, when we have a surplus, we will give it back to you, the Hardworking Taxpayers. You see, there is your reform dividend. You deserve it. First i had a phone now i have kids. How i do get to compete with all that . Come on up, guys. So today i proposed that we create a Child Tax Credit here in the state of wisconsin. So were going to create a new wisconsin Child Tax Credit. Families across the state will receive 100 for every child under 18 living at home. A couple hundred dollars more in the Family Budget could really make a difference. Particularly whether getting ready for the next school year. It could be a new pair of shoes, i wanter coat, activity fees at school, or maybe a copay at the doctor or dentist office. We know sometimes wisconsin families face challenges whether making ends meet. And this new Child Tax Credit, well, we think it can lep. Today im joined by families from all over wisconsin who will benefit from our Child Tax Credit. So today i ask you, the members of the state legislature, to pass our plan so that by the time these kids and all the others like them across the state begin school there fall, their parents will receive a check in the mail box. I had two. I can only imagine what its like to have all of these kids together, right . The final part of our anl bismb agenda is providing stability in health care. Our citizens are crying out for a Stable Health care system. Washington failed to act. So it is time for us to lead in wisconsin. That is why today i propose the creation of a healthcare stability plan. Most people receive their Health Care Coverage from their employer. Premium increases for the majority of employerbased plans were fairly modest this past year at about 5 . The biggest concern i hear about as i travel the state is from those who are worried about preexisting conditions. With this in mind, i propose that we enact a law in wisconsin that will guarantee coverage of preexisting conditions. [ cheers and applause ] now, this part is serious. That way someone who has cancer or another serious disease or ailment will not have to worry about obtaining or keeping coverage. The members of the state assembly have already moved forward on this process. Now i ask the members of the state senate to do the same. This will provide comfort and stability for people all across wisconsin. For our Senior Citizens, people like my parents who are watching at home. Hi, mom. Most receive their Health Care Coverage through medicare. While this is a federal and not a state program, we can provide certainty and stability for those who depend on senior care. In the past, there has been plenty of debate about whether this should be a federal or State Government responsibility. Its clear that the people want it at the state level. Therefore, im officially seeking a permanent waiver for the state of wisconsin to provide senior care. [ cheers and applause ] since it was approved in 2002, the state has asked to an extension of senior care four times. It is time to make this a permanent and stable program. And for the small number of people who seek coverage through the individual market and not through their employer or through medicaid or medicare, i propose that the state provide assistance to keep those premiums from making Health Care Coverage unreachable for many of our fellow citizens. Under the obama under obamacare, the socalled Affordable Care act, premiums for people in the individual market are going up an average of 36 this year. Some are seeing much larger premium increases. For example, christine from brown county saw her premiums go up by, get this, almost 2,000 a month. A month. Thats about 120 increase. That is unsustainable and unacceptable. Thankfully, our Health Care Stability plan will help keep premiums at a reasonable level here in wisconsin. This is a marketdriven approach to bring stability to health care in wisconsin. Just as we did years ago, when we found a unique way to cover everyone living in poverty for the first time in wisconsin history, we have a unique way to help drive down premiums. And, you know what, this is not a republican or a democrat issue, it is a wisconsin issue. We listened to the people and created a wisconsin solution. As Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said in the past, the Affordable Care act is no longer affordable. Instead of seeking to put thousands of more people on to government assistance through the obamacare expansion, our plan helps drive down premiums to make Health Insurance plans more affordable and we believe it will lead to more choices for consumers across the state. Our Health Care Stability plan is the wisconsin way to provide stability and peace of mind for our citizens. Along with coverage and General Health care needs, we must continue to find new ways to fight the opioid and illegal drug addiction crisis in this state. Since i have been governor, its been my honor to have signed 28 pieces of legislation with broad bipartisan support, so thanks to you all. 28 pieces of legislation into law dealing with this challenge. I particularly want [ applause ] thanks again to representative nigren for putting together such a broadbased coalition to fight this epidemic and for joining with our outstanding Lieutenant Governor rebecca clayfish as the cochair of our commission. We signed two executive orders regarding this last friday, and today i ask you to pass the latest recommendation from this panel of experts. We know that if we get people treatment, or better yet keep them from addiction in the first place, it will not only create a healthier wisconsin, but a happier one, too, and that will help us build the workforce we need to keep moving wisconsin forward. Sadly, as so many of us know, this is this is one of those issues that knows no boundaries. Rich or poor. Big city or small town. Republican or democrat. These are the issues that people want us to Work Together on. Issues like pushing for more ways to help our schools improve student success. Growing numbers of opportunities for our young people to pursue great careers that will keep them here in our state. Expanding our wisconsin works for everyone welfare reforms. Helping Small Businesses grow across the state. Continuing to reform our government. Creating a new Child Tax Credit to help working families and providing stability in health care. These issues are the seven common sense principles of our ambitious agenda for 2018. You see, were getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin, but there is still more work to be done. So today i ask you, members of the wisconsin state legislature, to move forward on these important issues. As i said before, these are not republican or democrat issues, these are just wisconsin issues. Plus, i know that we can Work Together. Many at home might be surprised to hear this, but more than 90 of the bills that i have signed into law were passed with more than just republican votes. Let me repeat that so you heard that right. More than 90 of the laws that ive signed as governor had more than just votes from republican lawmakers. I say that because i know that we can Work Together to get things done because weve done it in the past and you can do it again this year. And i ask you, the people of wisconsin watching us at home, on tv, on the internet, wherever youre looking at it, i ask you to talk to your lawmakers and ask for rapid action on this administrations agenda for 2018. Im confident that you will because ive seen you do positive things all over the state. See, one of my great joys as your governing is traveling the state of wisconsin and visiting with so many wonderful citizens. I love to see the people of wisconsin. Through our visits i see how proud you are. I see how proud you are of your families, of your homes, of your work. I see how proud you are of your Small Businesses and your farms. I see how proud you are of your schools and churches and places of worship. I see how proud you are of your communities and as i travel the state, i see how proud you are of our state. We are wisconsin proud. [ cheers and applause ] today i want you to know that im proud to be your governor. Im proud of the work that weve done here. Im proud of the progress that weve made together. Im proud that we are getting positive things done for the people of wisconsin, but, you know what, were not done yet. So lets get going. Lets get working together. Lets get moving wisconsin forward. Thank you. May god bless you. May god bless the great state of wisconsin. May god bless our Service Members across the world and may god continue to bless the United States of america. [ cheers and applause ] the head of the Congressional Budget Office testifies about Health Care Costs and taxes this week. Thats next on cspan 3. Then qatars foreign minister discusses tensions in the middle east. Later, well hear from hawaii and alaskas governors. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up friday morning, max steyer of the partnership for Public Service talks about the federal workforce under the trump administration