[applause] good evening. Good evening. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much mr. Lieutenant governor for the kind introduction and as you and the speaker continued to offer me for our great state for the people i will always consider myself fortunate to have served with both you and your respected members. My favorite mississippi and is seated right behind me over the past six years she has devoted herself to including the lives of all citizens and in particular our children and for 41 years lovingly and patiently put up with me. Ladies and gentlemen the first lady my wonderful wife, deborah 17. [applause] and to the members of the house and senate and other elected officials thank you for your attendance i do not take your attention for granted thank you for allowing me to stand in our beautiful capital to highlight all we have achieved with my continued vision of how to achieve Greater Heights together. And i realize that to those watching and listening sometimes there are two mississippis occupying the same time and space. Those critics would have you believe those people that are suffering looking for problems as if there was a reward even if i am mildly agitated i remember Theodore Roosevelt who said it isnt the critic that counts not how the strong man stumbles or the doer of good o deeds but the credit belongs to the man and the woman in the arena. So for those in the cynical claimant and where a review turns into an investigation l studying any source that labels that blasted across the front page. Fortunately the other withssippi is filled progress with caring and hard working people of all races andal ages who try everyday to make this wonderful state a better place to live to raise our children. Many of these dedicated mississippians are in this Chamber Tonight serving your state as a citizen legislator and a leader in your community most of you have busy careers of a family with all the responsibilities that accompany lives as a Public Servant and each of you believe a in his or her own way to make a i difference that i can assure you that we still have much work to do but there are so many accomplishments to be celebrated and to be proud of. Twice last year the Unemployment Rate felt fell and was 4. 8 in november the lowest since they began to be recorded in 1979 b17. [applause] i believe every mississippian deserves equal opportunity for a good job. And im working hard to make this belief a reality. Ronald reagan once said the best social program is not a job thats a program we have been very successful in expanding and in the past mississippians had people looking for jobs but today we have more than 40000 jobs looking for people. Since we began this expansion we have added more than 60000 jobs and billions of dollars of foreign to mistake investment i am also encouraged to report existing industry continues to grow for example adding 660 new jobs to the 1400 members already working in advanced manufacturing at our Distribution Centers adding in olive branch this is a Corporate Investment of 33. 4 million. [applause] and i can assure you milwaukee tools makes the best power tools and they are made in america and perfected in mississippi. [applause] i am honored in the two have in the gallery tonight from greenwood mississippi my friend jack. Where are you . [applause]st currently 70 of the United States navy combat Service Vessels protecting americas interest in the high seas are made in pascagoula mississippi. With the expansion and the reopening of the north shore this facility is scheduled to open late next year and will ultimately employ 2500 mississippians. It was identified as a Top Economic Development project for 2016, and led to another milestone, area attempt magazine awarded mississippi our first gold shovel for excellence in Economic Development. Because of these and many other successes, mississippi now ranks in the top ten states in the nation for Economic Development opportunities. [applause] working together, we have also made it easier for entrepreneurs to pursue the American Dream, ridding our occupational, licensing system of red tape that, for too long, happenings wedding of the redtape or licensing that served as nothing more than a barrier to market entry. Other states are just now moving to adopt our plan and has become known across the unitedpl states simply as the mississippi model. As for other recommendations to reduce more government regulations to release the independent spirit to make mississippi the most job friendly city in america. [applause] and how sincerely grateful we are for your approval last session with your approval we bolstered public states by putting more Highway Patrol officers on the road i will ask for another Trooper School this year to meet the enforcement needs to save lives on the highways and if we accomplish this we could have more troopers on the road by next year than any time in the history of the mississippi Highway Patrol. [applause] like most other states we are struggling with an Opioid Epidemic and in december 2016i issued an executive order creating the governors opioid and harrowing and heroine task force to address the problem. Those positions of a pharmacist and medical professionals coming to gather to attack the killers taking the lives of over 200 mississippiansus in the last 12 months. I am proud to say the recommendations and resulting actions of the task force were swift and courageous. The solution was not easy nor popular. But fortunately i have an extremely competent director at the Mississippi Bureau of narcotics who is courageous and compassionate. They have done an outstanding job and i am proud to have that commissionermm and the director of the Mississippi Bureau of narcotics with us here tonight thank you for your work. [applause] and at the risk of affecting status among the coworkers in the media, i will take this opportunity to recognize a reporter who has done an outstanding job to inform us of those horrific events over the opioid criminal activity. And shining a light on the consequences of this behavior standing as an example of the journalist who has made a difference. Thank you. [applause] our educational system is far from perfect but clearly better than it has ever been before. The first time in mississippi history more than 90 of third graders have passed their reading exam at High School Graduation rate has risen aboveti 80 . [applause] more than 100 million for teacher pay raises into the election of local superintendentsnt and all has become a reality of Charter SchoolsEarly Learning and School Choice all exist today because of the difficult decisions made by many of you here tonight. But still we have far too many failing schools and students lag behind their counterparts behind the nation the reasons are systemic related to a variety of conditions like poverty or abuse and neglect and lack of leadership. To address these issues we have the governor early state Advisory Council composed of state and National Experts of Child Welfare and Mental Health the council has become the central Meeting Place for stakeholders it is the new blueprint for managing a spectrum of problems and to find solutions. Working with the Mississippi Department of Human Services where childcare workers will receive training from daycare centers. Remember most of our children will spend an average of 12000 hours of their most formative years in childcare or in a custodial environment. Also providing help with healthcare and workforce training and additional Educational Opportunities for parents and families. Our next generation of leaders are in a childcare facility we are looking to make sure they have the skills needed to succeed. You should know 97 million per year onou federally funded daycare through the department of Human Services and 199 million of federal funds on headstart across the state jobs for mississippi graduates is another 3. 4 million last year 800,000 of the total came from the general fund. Much of the remainder was raised from private donations from corporations such as at t. I will ask you to return funding for jobs in 2016 at those levels to increase Graduation Rates to the national b average to build our workforce. Over 90 of the students graduate and 80 find jobs or go on to Higher Education they represent more than 300 million of investment that is rarely, if ever reported. And to maximize the use of these private and federal funds for every taxpayer dollar. [applause] it should be no surprise to anyone i am a strong supporter of the Adequate Funding formula to serve as a roadmap to thess success for every child in mississippis Public Schools that should not be a political prop for a failure to support education. It hasnt worked in the past and will not work this year. [applause] by the way most of us want more than an adequate Education System in mississippi. We want a great one. [applause] thank you. We want a great one. [applause] what i am certain of that greatness is not possible without every classroom having the right teacher we must do all in our power continuing to fund at the highest level nationally Board Certified teachers with every instance to produce results we have so many Great Teachers across the state and you are very proud of them all. [applause] i will ask you again to expand School Choice offering special needs scholarships i continue that they have sending to the school of their choice so thank you again for creating the Child Protection services nothing that we do is more important i am forever grateful to the Supreme Court justice for assuming leadership of thehe agency i will remind you jesus admonished the disciples the little children comehe unto me. I will implore you as the children now come unto all off us. Community colleges are the center of for force Development Thousands of mississippians have skills to allow them to get a good job to live the American Dream right here in mississippi. And to bridge those skills gap little doubt employers consider the educated workforce their top priority to meet the demand to emphasize training for these needs with a Furniture Academy in northeast mississippi and those started in jackson and columbus in Community Colleges to continue work to provide steel and labor needed with the aerospace industries. With your help we have invested millions of dollars from the revenue generated by savings in the Unemployment Compensation fund due to record growth and unemployment. It is a great resource to expand existing ones but we must do more. Ill ask you to create the Scholarship Fund for more opportunity for Mississippi College students in community College Students who qualify for targeted workforce and training. We must increase the workforce and do it now b17. [applause] working together we have built a new worldclass medical school at the Mississippi Medical Center to train those so desperately needed in the state of medical professionals hbecause of your help we are on our way to achieve our goal to have 1000 new positions economic drivers are a reality physicians today are responsible for more than 51000 jobs with a total economic output of 8 billion annually. In our Childrens Hospital has announced 180 milliondollar expansion the medical core door b to establish coming from the medical mall specialty centerst and Device Manufacturers located across the river. The leadership of the first lady Medical Center and department of human c services we will begin construction on a longterm uni unit. [applause] this center will offer a homelike treatment for those medically fragile children now living there. A life altering experience for those patients and their families if there is ever a mission of mercy we can achieve it is this home for the childre children. [applause] we have an additional opportunity i believe real potential exists for the Public Safety headquarters with a good location near the state crime lab the current bill located in the heart of the court or constructed in the 70s and is in deplorable condition. A new medical Conference Center will be constructed in itsn place would be the gateway of the medical core door. Medical city rising out of the tiny words of Harrison County complete with a new Pharmacy School and a Simulation Center with the National Obesity and Diabetes Research center as a result of a partnership between William Perry university and to the Cleveland Clinic one of the top rated medical entities in the world. For this partnership to fighth obesity and with the help of the Cleveland Clinic this is the fight i expect to win. [applause] but even with all this progress the population continues to lag behind the nation many of these are of our own making with a tendency to be our own worst enemy with Substance Abuse and sexuallytransmitted diseases and obesity we must face the uncomfortable fact to take the necessary steps while encouraging them for preventative healthcare. Those healthcare choices have resulted in time or talent he rates in the treatment of more disabling illnesses as costs continue to increase straining the federal budget frankly we have spent far too many years believing medicaid is unlimited and should be unquestioned and we must change that way of thinking. Also positive healthcare outcomes be the first responsibility of medicaid recipients. [applause] patients and providers and managedcare companies should realize the new normal will exist our goal is to prevent healthcare from being worse and to get the medicaid patients well. [applause] but that workforce requirement for ablebodied Adults Center for medicare and medicaid services. This is not a punitive action aimed attd recipients it actually helps the population reap the rewards of a good job to receive healthcare coverage from their employer recently i passed the department of Human Services and medicaid to identify needs for beneficiariesor in a more proactive and effective manner and contemplated moving the eligibility to dhs that is done in 46 other states. However with the change of leadership i believe it is prudent such to delay a transfer without a review of benefits to providers and beneficiaries can be completed. He the current leadership can create a seamless surface to be implemented. We must not only manage medicaid for two days needs but future demand for those in extended care facilities should not be told we cannot continue to fund their very existence. If we manage the system properly to eliminate waste fraud and abuse we can assure life forquality of those truly in need. Those two claim the medicaid technical amendments act will make all the difference of an effective and Sustainable Medicaid Program for years to come. [applause] i am honored to report mississippi has completed an amazing celebration of the bicentennial, a record 23 Million People visited mississippi. [applause] hundreds of events took place across thehe state including musi music, arts and Educational Opportunities the grand finale of this onceinalifetime celebration was the opening of the museum of mississippi t history in the Civil Rights Museum. I am thankful to the president of the United States of america who came to jackson mississippi to honor the opening of ourhe great museum. [applause] 20Million People watch the president s remarks that day at the Civil Rights Museum and the entire world was watching his mississippi told our own story that i was proud of the state of my birth as a kind and gentle soul with that inspiring speech on that cold and snowy day that remarkable event mi