Transcripts For CSPAN2 Missouri Governor Delivers The State

CSPAN2 Missouri Governor Delivers The State Of The State Address July 11, 2024

Desk its good to be back here today. Lieutenant governor want to thank you, sender shots, statewide elected officials and the state legislators that are here today. It is an honor to stand before you today as they 57th governor of the great state of missouri. Some point in our lives many of us have probably been reminded of the importance of considering the past when making decisions for the future. It also seems fitting that such a historic milestone, missouris bicentennial celebration, coincides with these challenges. Missouri is seen difficult days in the past 200 years from the civil war and the Great Depression womens suffrage, civil rights, through it all missouri has prevailed . [applause] we had just experienced a chaotic and on precedented series most of ministrations heavily 60 days to prepare the First Six Months of the administration were hectic to say the least we are faced with quick decisions on a 30 billion state budget and nearly 150 of legislation that same summer, and when crime was escalating. The following year, missouri experiences historic flooding that impacted communities across the state for months on end. Turn is less destruction in communities throughout missouri. In Violent Crime in the metro areas continue to escalate leading challenges with a worldwide pandemic has caused many deaths and much sickness. Left thousands of missourians out of work for years to come the first cases identified in january march, our menstruation was fully engaged and immediately on the ground in st. Louis since that time we have nonstop to take a balanced approach, fight the virus and keep missourians as safe as possible. We pulled together our entire cabinet in every state agency to coordinate our statewide response. We convened weekly calls for ten straight months with community leaders, and medical experts. We waved nearly 600 statutes and regulations to provide more flexibility and safety for missourians. We went from testing only a few thousand people each week to over 800,000 a week. We are leading state in developing the dashboard of missouri data. Weight loss they show me strong Recovery Plan to support businesses and communities. With 520 million in care saxophone to local jurisdictions within ten days. [applause] we helped secure over 11 billion in lowinterest loans for missouris Small Businesses to the sba. We mobilize the Missouri National guard to assist with response efforts and construct an alternative care site and 11 days in the st. Louis region. We delivered from dessa fear to hospitals across the state at all hours of the night and brought in additional healthcare staff to further expand hospital capacity. We receive National Recognition for our partnership with google on the ppe marketplace. Her own state supply weve shipped over 22 million gallons, 18 million gloves, 8 million surgical masks, 5,000,095 masks and 1 million face shields to frontline healthcare providers. We were one of the first states in the nation to submit our covid19 vaccine plan. And have now administered nearly 400,000 doses to missourians. [applause] [applause] the bottom line is that we have been working day in and day out to fight covid19 will also dealing with civil unrest , Violent Crime, and a difficult budget. As i look to the next four years, i believe it is important to not only remember the challenges but also the many great accomplishments that we have had. For instance, we were still able to attract and expand businesses across missouri, including a censured federal services in st. Louis, julie inc. , amazon and republic, kawasaki in maryville Tyler Pipe Company and Armstrong World Industries in marshville. Burns and macdonald in kansas city, bowing in st. Charles, ford motor country for total investment of over 1 billion and nearly 10,000 new jobs. [applause] all of these announcements highlight missouris competitive business climate. Since 2018, missouri has jumped from the 21st to the 11th among site selectors. This is thanks in large part to the success of our Workforce Development programs. The missouri one start for example nearly 100,000 missourians have received training through partnerships with over 400 companies. Since launching the new revamped program, businesses have invested approximate 2. 5 billion in missouri. Our sales Grant Program is also been a huge success. Helping us fund critical projects like the Nursing Program expansions at missouri western and st. Louis Community College ranking Technical College also announced a new 7. 5 million advance manufactured training szilagyi in missouri, in partnership with blinken County School district. A great example of what we can accomplish when they work together. [applause] in addition to Workforce Development, we also continue to move forward on Critical Infrastructure projects. In just over one year, over 100 have been repaired or replaced through our focus on bridges program. 250 ridges across the state at a remarkable value to our citizens. [applause] construction is now complete on a major levy and northwest missouri to help ease future flooding along the missouri river. Another Great Partnership between local communities, State Governments, and the United States army corps of engineers. Construction also continues on the East Locust Creek reservoir and we continue to move forward with another port bridge along i70 and the it seven interstate project in north county st. Louis. And a new overpass in west plains. Although covid19 has had an overwhelming impact on the economy weve made progress in a short amount of time but in fact missouris among the top tier of states and the total economic recovery with a 71 of jobs recovered. We are among the lowest unemployment rates in the country. We have again reached number two in the United States for apprenticeship programs. [applause] time and time again, our administration has address the challenges of our community and our state head on. Rather than leaving them for another day, another administration, or another generation. Over the past two and half years we have offered bold solutions. And we have gotten results. But results arent just about numbers on the bottom line. Theyre also about improving lives, creating opportunities and keeping families safe. I sometimes joke about my gray hair. But to be very honest, gray hair was on from thick or thin, upanddown, success and failure. In the last challenge i have left as governor of the state is how i can make missouri a better place, a better place to raise a family. A better place to find a job. A better place to open a business. A better place for our children and grandchildren to achieve the american dream. [applause] it is important that we continue to follow through on key investments and Workforce Development and infrastructure. We must also continue finding ways to strengthen Public Safety, improve healthcare, and make State Government more accountable. in august i had the opportunity to visit unleashing potential in st. Louis. In Early Childhood education of children ages six weeks to five years old. Joining us today is president and ceo darlene soul and director of Early Childhood education denise carter. Throughout, 19 these ladies worked extremely hard to adapt to the challenges and stay the course, never losing focus on what matters most, are children of our state, they are true champions of Early Childhood education and we are proud to recognize them today would miss soul in ms. Carter please stand to be recognized. [applause] to help strengthen the Early Childhood system we are excited proposed of the consolidation of several different programs and divisions across three state agencies into one new office, the office of childhood. This new office will not only help streamline the operation of several state programs but also allow us to place a bigger focus on Early Childhood development, critical component to the future success of missourians for the generations to come. In addition to Early Childhood we will also continue to invest in k12 education. It goes without saying that this past year has been especially hard on students, parents, teachers and administrators. These challenges were not just social and emotional but also financial which is why we are once again proposing to fully funding the foundation formula. [applause] another key component for schools moving forward will be assessing the impact Virtual Learning has had on our students. Though we may not understand the impacts for some time. It is important that we test and adjust education accordingly to help all students succeed. Speaking of strengthening education we must also continue to increase opportunity for job training at the high school level. Career ready 101 is a Program Designed to help prepare High School Students for the workforce. This year i am calling for the expansion of career ready 101 to all 57 existing Career Centers around the state. This program also help students prepare for the work keys assessment. A Program Recognized by hundreds of missouri employers and over 100 counties. This credential is an important stepping stone for students who are not immediately collegebound but have the knowledge and skills to fill high demand jobs. This year our goal is to offer 12000 new High School Students opportunity to receive the work keys certification and by the end of my term i want to see all 114 missouri counties become Certified Work ready communities. [applause] were collegebound students. The a scholarship is a popular and widely used program and during covid19 we saw a bigger demand, that is why i am calling for an increase of more than 13 million for a scholarships. [applause] another program that is becoming increasingly popular as a Fasttrack Program proposed by our administration to help working age under employed adults advance their skills and careers. We are very proud that nearly 80 of the fast track Scholarship Recipients are women. And nearly 50 are firstgeneration college students, today. [applause] today we are happy to have two fasttrack participants here. Mallory fox and Breanna Tyler both ms. Fox and ms. Tyler are pursuing degrees in nursing through the Fasttrack Program. We are very proud of these ladies for their commitment to achieving their goals and bettering their future with mrse stand to be recognized. [applause] these ladies are two of the many missourians whose lives have been changed through fasttrack. We are excited to continue the program this year in addition to these programs. We have also made Great Strides in expanding high demand job training. I applaud the legislators for embracing these much needed investments across the state. This year we will seek to enhance his future with a 21 milliondollar investment across 15 new programs. On top of this we are proposing five grants to start new healthcare associate programs at Community Colleges in missouri. 2020 highlighted the critical need for Skilled Healthcare workers and we want to meet this need educating and training our missouri workforce. Another Important Group of our future workforce is the men and women who served missouri and state employees. Fortunately our state workforce is one of the least competitive in terms of attracting future Public Servants. We must make changes. Once again i am asking the legislature to fund a pay increase for state employees. [applause] i have always said you cannot emphasize Workforce Development without infrastructure. They go handinhand and we must continue to invest in both in order to succeed. Now more than ever we must capitalize on missouri strategic location in the center of the nation and build on the opportunity to become a powerful logistic hub not only for the midwest in the United States but for all of north america. [applause] we are very excited about the new shipping technology that could create record or straight through missouri and into the heart of our country. This is why we are calling for a 6. 3 Million Investment in shovelready projects at missouris established ports. [applause] on top of this, we are also seeking 25 million to fulfill the Transportation Cost Share Program we established to help communities complete other important infrastructure projects. [applause] when we talk about infrastructure we most often think about our transportation system, equally important is access to highspeed broadband. We have made Great Strides in the past few years and i appreciate the legislatures commitment to broadband expansion. However, 2020 exposed many digital gaps, highlighting the importance of incurring highspeed internet in all areas of missouri. Which is why this year i am once again asking for a 5 milliondollar investment to expand and improve Broadband Services across our state. [applause] over the years missouri has also fallen behind in the maintenance of hundreds of millions of dollars in state assets, facilities and buildings. All critical parts of our input structure. These are all paid with taxpayer dollars. And neglecting these commitments only increase cost for the future generations and future legislators. This is why i am asking for a onetime expenditure of 100 million to clear the backlog of maintenance projects from every part of the state. Also important to missouris infrastructure system is our state parks and conservation areas. Unfortunately this is another area where maintenance and rehabilitation have been neglected for decades. So this year we are seeking approval for the department of Natural Resources to complete and fish structure projects at 22 state parks. Speaking of infrastructure. We are proud that missouris department of transportation continues to move critical projects forward despite the challenges of the past year. All told nearly 550 projects took place across the state, the injected approximately 1 billion back into missouri Construction Industry and economy. On top of this we recently allocated 83 million to conservative financial management. These funds will be used for transportation infrastructure needs including caution projects with lowvolume roads, the backbone of her agriculture economy. [applause] it is also worth mentioning that when every state in the nation was feeling the financial strain of covid19. We went back and sharpened our pistols and put our aaa bonding rating to work for our state. By refinancing and consolidating existing debt we saved missouri taxpayers approximately 22 million. [applause] in addition, are responsible planning and management will allow us to supplement the department of labors Unemployment Trust fund and prevent a tax increase on all employers this year. [applause] speaking of employers i hope the first piece of legislation to hit my desk this year is a clean covid19 Liability Protection bill. [applause] missouri businesses, manufacturers, healthcare providers, schools, churches and many other entities across the state did not hesitate to step up and help their communities in the fight against covid19. None of these groups should be penta lysed for their efforts to help, they must be able to continue serving the public without risk of unnecessary claims and i look forward to working with the house and the senate to get this done. In addition to covid19 liability. Wayfair must also be addressed. I hope the house and the senate will consider legislation to address the unfair advantage online retailers have over Small Businesses in missouri. I am a strong supporter of lower taxes. In fact i have signed several tax cuts into law. However, our Small Businesses especially in smaller communities are getting crushed right now because they cannot compete with huge online retailers. We must level the Playing Field and consider ways to responsibly invest in those revenues and provide new opportunities for our state. [applause] another very important step we must take is increasing our financial stability. Given the financial challenges of the past year, i hope the legislature understands how critically important a Cash Operating Expense fund is for the future of our state. I am proud of the discipline the legislature has shown in protecting the 100 million we have set aside in all of our proposed budgets. But we cannot look at this on a yearbyyear basis. In order

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