Multiple Railroad Tracks give him the of multiple Railroad Tracks give him the opportunity. Tonight at 8 00 eastern on cspans q a. Now, vermont Governor Scott delivers his annual state of the state address. This is about 35 minutes. It is not my distinct honor to present to you the governor of the state of vermont. [applause] gov. Scott thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, mr. President , mr. Chief justice, members of the general assembly, distinguished guests, since 1778, vermont is bound by a common oath to open up the legislative session. Families and businesses traveled over rugged mountain gaps and rugged valley roads to come together and solve problems to shape the future. The work of those that came before for the greater share and influence. Through our courage and conviction, vermont has pushed forward in progress when it seemed unachievable. We have been the example, set the tone and helped usher positive change into our nation for the need when the need for change was essential. My friends, we have reached that time again. History has placed us together in a difficult moment for our state and country. Here at home, we must address economic and Population Trends that diminish our ability to sustain what we have and invest more in our priorities. Nationally, we have faced political divisions and polarization so deep and broad, it seems to shape the very foundation of our republic. The challenges we face are great, but none greater than perceiving the work ahead of us. What it means to truly serve the people. [applause] gov. Scott these are not small issues. The path forward requires each one of us to Work Together, pulling in the same direction towards our shared goals. When we do, our people, our communities and our values will carry us forward because the state of the state is very strong. [applause] gov. Scott make no mistake. We are expected to follow through on our promises. Call for balance moderation is clear and we cannot let them down. A year ago, i sat at this podium and laid out my vision for marmont vermont that was honest about the challenges we faced and the need for courage to confront them head on. I vowed to always put vermont first and to put myself in their shoes and boots, to better understand what they are going through. I pledged to work with legislature to create Better Outcomes for our children and families, to reform State Government by listening to frontline employees using their ideas to more efficiently meet the needs of those we serve. To do it all while allowing working vermont to keep more of what they earn. [applause] gov. Scott together, we elected to try to resort the fundamentals required to invest in our future. Imagine a future with classrooms that are actually full of kids, where more students go to college and are trained in a trade and have an opportunity to live and work in vermont. A future with vibrant communities, a thriving economy and every village, town and city, where vermonters can retire after a lifetime of labor. A future where the economy is growing faster than the cost of living and our state is more affordable each year for families and businesses. Growing faster than the cost of where we have a cleaner environment and safer neighborhoods, with fewer suffering from addiction, where we never struggle to meet our obligation to protect the most honorable. It is my vision for vermont. Even if we do not agree on what policies will get us there, i know we share these goals for our state. [applause] gov. Scott here is the blunt reality. We must first restore our economic and Fiscal Foundation to ensure that we have the funding needed to achieve our aspirations for vermont. Early in my career, working construction, i learned that when you find yourself in a hole and have a problem, the first and you do is to stop digging. I am proud to report that last year, we stopped digging. We passed a budget that invested in our future and economy without raising a single tax or fee. [applause] Governor Scott we closed a budget gap of more than 60 million and limited budget growth to just over 1 while wages grew at about 2 . This means for the first time in recent history the State Government actually helped people keep more of what they earned, but this is not the time to return to the spending policies of the past. In three weeks, ill present a budget that continues our transition to a strategic and resultsbased approach, one first championed in this very chamber. It will once again be tied to a growth rate calculation based on real data, reflecting growth in wages and the economy, not predictions that have fallen short for too often. Ill call for continued fiscal discipline because vermonters still cannot afford higher taxes or fees. And i, along with my administration and members of the legislature, stand ready to prevent taxes and fees from increasing again this year. [applause] Governor Scott and just so im clear, that includes statewide property tax rates. [applause] Governor Scott having fiscal discipline means facing facts. We know our School Population is shrinking. Weve lost nearly 30,000 students in the last 20 years. Yet Staffing Levels and costs continue to rise. Special property taxes continue to overburden families and businesses. Today, we spend 1. 6 billion to educate 76,000 students. These children are our future engineers, educators, and technicians, our future leaders, parents, and citizens. Think about it. If i came to you with a check every year for 1. 6 billion and asked you to educate the same number of students, i dare say that our system would look much different than it does today. It would be much stronger, more nimble, and responsive to every child. It would be the envy of our nation and one of the best Economic Development tools we could ever have. [applause] Governor Scott if we Work Together to transform our k through 12 system based on the needs of our kids and not nostalgia, we can invest much more in early learning, Technical Education, Work Force Readiness training, and Higher Education without raising the price tag on vermonters. We made some progress towards this cradle to career vision last year, increasing investments in our Childcare Financial Assistance Program by 2. 5 million and the Vermont State College system by 3 million. In our work to lower costs while protecting programs for our kids, we reach an agreement to return 13 million to taxpayers through Health Care Premium savings. [applause] Governor Scott this year, we have an even more urgent need to act, and i look forward to working with you to find solutions because if we dont, we face a significant statewide property tax increase. We cannot let this happen. Vermonters cant afford it. The state cannot sustain it, and i will not accept it. [applause] Governor Scott vermont has so much to offer, from innovative entrepreneurs and the hardest working people in america to a quality of life thats unrivaled. We frequently rank as the safest, happiest, and healthiest. We offer the best local food, beer, and maple syrup in the world, and we are known for commitment to justice, equal rights. [applause] Governor Scott as younger generations place more value on social responsibility, health, and community, these ideals should make us a top choice for young families, but unfortunately that alone hasnt been enough. This is exactly why i focused on affordability is so critical to our work. Last years budget milestone was an important step, but our cost of living from utilities to housing to taxes remain among the highest in the nation. So despite our many benefits, these costs deter young people from moving or staying here and encourage older vermonters to leave for a more affordable retirement elsewhere. In fact, according to irs data from 2013 to 2016, 2,000 more tax filers moved out of state than moved in. This alone represents 150 million in adjusted gross income leaving our state. I know many of us have seen this in our own families. We have children, grandchildren, siblings, or Close Friends who grew up here, moved out of state and may even want to return home, but theyve settled for a more affordable life elsewhere. Were also seeing workers age out of the labor force faster than we can replace them. Here are a few facts to consider. Out of the labor force faster we have 23,000 fewer people under the age of 20 than we did in the year 2000. We now have nearly 30,000 more over the age of 65 than we did in that same year. There are 30,000 fewer people between the ages of 25 and 45 than we had ten years ago. Ours is the second oldest population in the country. If we do nothing, well soon be number one. And think about this, outside of Chittenden County we are three to four years having just one worker for every retiree being a dependent of the state. This has got to stop. Its simply unsustainable. [applause] Governor Scott reversing these trends should be the top priority of every elected official regardless of party or political beliefs. These arent just numbers. The human and Economic Impact is real. This fall i visited mack molding, a Manufacturing Company in arlington, a great business with a strong work force, but in order to compete on a global scale, it needs to hire about 50 people to keep up with demand. And they are not alone. We hear from businesses around the state. L. E. D. Dynamics in randolph wants to hire 40. Chroma technology in bellis falls is looking for 20 in the next two years. Nsa industries will put on 50 tomorrow if they could. And global foundries in Essex Junction is hiring nearly 100. This is great news. These are great jobs, but we need the people to fill them. Whether employees are needed for business to grow or just to keep its doors open is a common theme here. We need more workers. We cannot afford to ignore this any longer. [applause] Governor Scott these trends also shift the tax burden onto fewer and fewer people, seemingly leaving us with few choices. Cut programs we value or raise taxes. There is a third option. We can come together and focus our efforts to growing our working age population. If we do this, we can expand our tax base. We can put kids back in our schools, help our businesses innovate and grow, and we can protect and make more of the public investments in the areas we value. Theres nothing wrong with wanting government to invest in programs that enhance the lives of vermonters, but the fact is, until were able to increase the size of our work force and grow the economy, we will not have the revenue to meet current or future demands. My administration is developing and a work force Expansion Plan that looks at how we educate and place our students, train and retrain to create more opportunities, and how we recruit families and graduating students to live and work here. A good place to start is in recruiting from a pool of talented committed workers already here in our state. Our National Guard and retired fulltime service members. The vermont National Guard has nearly 3,500 members here in the state, a third of whom arent vermonters, so when they leave the guard, they leave vermont. Additionally, young people in our region signing up for Service Often do so in other states because they offer more and better benefits. These are the men and women who bravely serve our country and communities. They have valuable skills that benefit our employers and economy. They can help us grow our work force and put kids back in our schools. Thats why im proposing a package to level the Playing Field by offering Tuition Free College in vermont for those who commit to serve in our National Guard. [applause] Governor Scott in addition, when a veteran is looking to transition from fulltime service to the work force, were going to make sure they receive credit for the skills they learned while in uniform by working with the secretary of state to expedite professional licensing. And if we want to compete with other states, we must make vermont more affordable for retired veterans. [applause] Governor Scott heres the best part which is why ill propose to remove the income tax on military pensions. [applause] Governor Scott access to postsecondary training and retraining is important to all vermonters. My budget address will outline a plan to expand adult Technical Education and other proposals to better serve the current needs of workers in our businesses, but we also must do more to reach workers, specifically younger workers and entrepreneurs who currently live elsewhere, who would like to live and raise their family in the safest and Healthiest State in the country. Thats why in my budget address ill propose a bold Sophisticated Campaign to identify and persuade working age individuals, families, and entrepreneurs to relocate to vermont. This program will use state of the art targeting to direct outreach to individuals and businesses to increase the number of workers, and with a selfsustaining funding model with measurable results, the return on investment will be tracked and reported to me and to the legislature. Building on our Work Force Development initiatives, we must also continue to invest in a strong economy. Last year, we made the single largest investment in history with a housing bond which leveraged more to increase availability and decent Affordable Homes for our work force. This will result in over 600 Additional Units with more than 100 under construction this year. They will employ 1,000 vermonters, attract new workers to the state, and generate 10 million in new wages. As well we invest in our communities, supporting 22 projects in our downtowns and village centers. My budget will propose continued investment in both of these areas. We also eckxpanded the number of tax financing by six. With this economic tool, communities like bennington, springfield and newport can now drive much needed development in parts of the state that need it the most. Looking ahead, we must continue to help startups grow and businesses thrive so they can increase wages, create new jobs, and help generate revenue organically. Thats why in my budget i will propose flexible ways to support Small Businesses and other pro to help startups grow and Growth Initiatives and investments. But we must ensure the impacts are felt in all corners of our state. For far too long success has been counted in broad terms. In statistics that fail to consider geography. Across our state proud communities and the people who call them home have yet to benefit from economic recovery. I grew up in berry. Im proud of my hometown. And wouldnt be standing here today if it werent for the positive influence of the people and our sensitive community. Unfortunately its harder and harder for some communities to maintain their unique identity as Economic Opportunities become more difficult to find outside of burlington. From the community and border to the shores of the connecticut river, from richford, small towns and Regional Economic centers that help build our state are stuck in an Economic Cycle they did not create. And as a result, far too many of our neighbors find themselves in a place they can no longer afford. The time has come to make this session, their session. [applause] we must consider the effects of our actions that have on every county, city and town. Imagine how it must seem to a family who is struggling to get by who cant afford to pay their property bill to turn on the news and hear that marijuana debate was ranked vermonts number one news story of 2017. I talk to people every day about the biggest issues they face in their daily lives and their hopes for the future. They need us to understand their struggles. And consider them as we prioritize limited time we have here in montpelier to make a difference. [applause] i can tell you this. Vermonters know our challenges because they live them. They also know that with a steady approach and a willingness to change course, the solutions will come. But theyre eager for us to do more and faster. I look forward to working with you on Economic Development proposals aimed at expanding growth to all 14 counties. So all families, all kids feel the hope of a Bright Future in vermont, whether theyre from burlington or brunswick, whether they want to be an engineer or run the family farm. Montpelier must help every person and every county succeed and thrive. [applause] our commitment to improving the future extends far beyond work in this building. Its also about providing good service and good government. Over the last year we listened to our front line state employees and their ideas are working to make government more effi