It is my great pleasure to engineers our great partner and great governor, needle amount. Ned lamont mister president. Mister speaker. Senator frazzano roy. Representative claridas or should i say collectors butler. This is one thing of which we all strongly approve. My fellow state officials, members of the general, essentially Lieutenant Governor bisowitz, emily, lindsay, ana guests, and people of the great state of connecticut. Thank you again for trusting me in this office and inviting me back into the hole and the room where it happens. And thanks to our partnership, the state of our state is strong and its getting stronger. applause but we are just Getting Started. We have a long way to go. A year ago i promised that we would Work Together to ensure that connecticuts future would no longer be defined by a fiscal crisis. We made a down payment on that promise bypassing on on time on asleep balanced budget. That showed we could live within our means and hold the line on taxes. We also boosted our states rainy day fund. To a record level of would protect key services, protect the most vulnerable residents, and protect our taxpayers through the next economic storm. In our and our efforts have made a difference for people. They provided predictability those counting on it most. I heard from school principals, i heard from superintendents, city and town leaders, businessmen, families, all saying, thank you, i know what i can expect, we can plan accordingly. But three years ago, just three years ago the Credit Rating agencies downgraded our state. You may remember that headline in the wall street journal, quote, whats the matter with connecticut . Well today the wall street journal has a very different headline. Their tone in the last editorial was, quote, the maybe now the state has dug a ddos hole and maybe it now to stop digging. Its not perfect but now we are making progress, arent we . applause the rating agencies and investors, they upgraded our outlook for connecticut for the first time in 18 years from neutral to positive and as treasurer wouldnt would tell you that is sending us tens of millions of dollars in inaudible and by the way, Economic Growth picked up big time in our state last year, bigtime. And that means businesses and young families are not giving connecticut a second look. They are talking about connecticut. And we are responding. For a while in connecticut it wasnt just democrats and republicans who werent talking. It was a State Government that wasnt connecting, it wasnt connecting with our business leaders, it wasnt connecting with labor leaders are with educators or those who were talking to the hospitals. We had a failure to communicate. So first of all, i thought we needed to reset our relationship with the business community. So in the last year i personally visited about 100 Different Companies from our states largest employer, life inaudible which now has over 12,000 employees working, the most in 30 years. applause the most in 30 years applause and they committed to hiring over 18,000 over the next ten years, 18,000. I also visited a lot of smugglers startups like the little House Brewery in chester. There are over 100 craft breweries going in this state. And yes. You ought to come on one of those visits someday. applause look, i come out of the business world, i tell you all love moving from the boardroom to the shop floor to the brew club. I love getting to know these businesses. I get to know their employees, what they proudly built every day, and what it takes to keep them here in connecticut so they call connecticut home. Look, our commissioners are also reaching out every day to ask, what can we do to help . And im so proud of our cabinet. It is applause its not only the most diverse in the States History when it comes to gender and race but talk about Public Private partnership and provides the expertise for leaders in the private in Public Sector they come from hartford washington d. C. Washington state my motto has always been higher rate people and give them the freedom to make it happen in and that is what we are doing. applause tim david in the department of economic develop it brought together more than 400 Investors Developers and municipal leaders that launch opportunity zones. Com opportunity zones. Com thousands of people thousands of professionals have taken look at areas of the state that has been left for too long ready to invest in our state again where is katie katie he department of energy and Environmental Protection there you are thank you you are making it easier to take a site and transform it into a new business and 95 of those complex decisions are now taking place in less than 90 days less than 90 days and all the while maintaining the various highest Environmental Standards and there is vanessa of the department of children and families, vanessa, where is vanessa . applause she rose to the ranks dedicated her entire career for children and thank you for your work to get us out of that degree of try a new and this litigation thank you for what you are doing. applause how about josh he still is gonna roll out a onestop process for all of our businesses that otherwise wouldve had to individually video the secretary of state site, the alphabet soup of different departments we have now you visit one side and you get registered and you are ready to go. applause i promised last year that we would be spending more time online and we are just Getting Started, josh is also helping the plan for that tsunami of retirements over the next few years which he sees as an opportunity to show their government can do more with less, we are already centralizing Computer Services and personnel to provide Better Services across State Government in 20 less just a couple of years ago, talk about changing perceptions, Bloomberg News just recognize connecticut as the fourth most innovative economy in the country applause i dont applaud for, this we can do better than that, lets go applause here in hartford i saw the Capital Region is home to companies that constantly originate, thats a Global Digital company that has already hired about 600 connecticut employees, and how about 600 right here in the last couple of years, right here, how about galaxy solutions, a pioneer in i. T. Analytics attics, he is bringing hundreds of jobs to hartford and helping to jump start this next in personalized medicine, tim are you here, tim ryan, thank you for calling connecticut, home thank you for calling hartford home. applause and thanks for your conviction and this is a great place to do business, now it is just a short train right away, yale new haven hospitals breaking ground stateoftheart neuroscience enter that is going to transform medicine, commercial developers connecting downtown and offering modern lab and space at a fraction of the cost in boston and new york, that means that our students and companies can achieve their dreams right here, new haven is exploding with opportunity, Building Permits that are more than double the last year and 2020 will be the biggest fear yet, atlanta where is justin . applause right down the street, over guilford, syria lounge opener jonathan has created butterfly iq, it has all the preliminary approvals right now, to turn into a professional grade imaging device making Health Care Affordable across the state and around the world, and jonathan i know you grew up in candidate but thanks for growing to connecticut, thanks for everything you are doing. Their martin remember, the Worlds Largest financing trade, no longer, World Wrestling entertaining is turning it into the Worlds LargestDigital Production studio in the world i was told about 6000 billion dollars another Development Going on, lets go all right connecticut youve got our mojo back but that only matters if we have an economy for everyone starting with a vibrant growing middle class, so neither connecticut northern middle class number one unless we are preparing everybody of the next generation to get the job done, and revamp Governors Council has developed one of the most ambitious workforces in the country led by my friend garrett, and the biggest employers and, small and includes educators, nonprofit state agencies and our unions to make sure the connecticut maintains the best trading plane in the nation, look i have said it many times, connecticut has always had the best trade, most productive best educated workforce in the world, it is getting more competitive out there so we have to fight to keep up. We have the best workforce in the world, you know why . We have the best teachers in the world. applause and our budget is made the largest investment in education, and by the way that takes some of the burden off property tax but also it provides teachers with the sources they need to teach everything, everything from laser welding, computer coating, to ensure that our kids get their opportunity at the starting line of, life we have worked with local philanthropist to establish the partnership with connecticut, focus on disengaged in this kinetic connected kids, young adults, anything we can to keep them back on track, we cant afford to lose anybody, we love you, and we are gonna fight to make sure that you get that opportunity, look i come out of the entrepreneurial world where you can raise money internet good idea into a business, well the partnership will provide funding for teachers and not for profits, to turn their best ideas in tomorrow hopes for their students, we have already had hundreds of responses to our first request for information and we are just Getting Started by half of those kids. The i guess some are out there is commissioner of education, there you are applause look you and i have prioritized, half the kids in our state of our teachers are teachers of color, and we made sure to put more plaque and hispanic teachers should be there. And with the historically black colleges and becoming a teacher i want those kids to look up and say they can do it to. applause and it doesnt stop in high school, more and more jobs require post secondary training, and more to make Higher Education more affordable so no student gives up his or her dream because they cant afford the cost, so starting this year yukon will eliminate tuition for all students of families earning less than 50,000 dollars a year. The applause a Community College will be debt free for all recent high school gadding graduates. inaudible agrees with that where is well how skull . applause by the way more employers are playing down or eastern loan if you take a job with them so that makes staying in connecticut worthwhile uconn, will haskell so reducing the cost of education is just one way we are making connecticut more affordable for middle class families. We made it easier for seniors to stay in the state thanks to you by reducing taxes on Social Security and pension income. applause and weve provided veterans and volunteer First Responders more Property Tax Relief thanks to you. applause and helped Small Business with the move and business and the tax. applause and weve held the line on fees to make it easier for a plumber or electrician or the trace who we so desperately need you to stay here in connecticut against and expand here in connecticut. Were making it easier for you as well. And i will say it again. Connecticut, we adopted americas best 15 dollar minimum wage law. The nations best. applause it has already helped lift thousands of families out of poverty. Right now as of october one a number of families got a 35 dollar a week raise. Thats what it meant, a 35 dollar a week raise. It lets him pay off the utility bill or just gives you a little more time to spend with your kids. Maybe one shift lest. In the next five years, that law will help lift more than half 1 million connecticut workers out of poverty. applause primarily women, people of color. So they received their fair share of a growing economy. You know that for the first time in american history, i think, we have more women than men in the u. S. Workforce. More women than men working. applause get to work, guys so we have to do more to make sure our workforce works for them. And that starts with the executive branch. Im going to say wheres Lieutenant Governor wysiewicz . Were doing it for the statement that connecticut now they have to do it to. And you will be better for. It applause and thats why together we also adopted a bold new paid family and medical leave program. Bold move that means no one in connecticut will have to choose between a job they love and a sick child. applause this makes it easier for people to work, makes it easier for more young families who are inaudible and its the right thing to do. applause and weve also in terms of making it easy for people to work we maintained and expanded access for affordable day care with care for kids, so that more middle income families can afford quality childcare. applause that means money back in the pockets of hardworking families the rodriguez. Jennifer, richard. You just told me the story about how youve been taking that small rage to get a little more overtime you would have lost all the benefits of care for kids and you wouldve lost money doing it and instead we made it easier for middle class families to afford it so such a beautiful daughter you know will have a great place, a safe place, where your hundred. Thank you. On which makes a difference. applause that 50 dollar increase for you would have made a big difference in terms of what you had to do and it would have cost you thousands in affordable day care. All right, weve done a lot and we have a lot more to do. Having the best work force and the best workplaces doesnt matter unless you can actually get to work. applause to many people are wasting time in their commute, getting to work late, leaving two home to early, not seeing their families. And i dont see an elephant in the room. But we also know and i think we all know this that if we dont speed up our economy is going to continue to slow down. And i think republicans and democrats alike agree the scope of the job that weve got to do inaudible is how we got much we gotta spend two investing in order to get the job done. I also know that its a subject of some discussion how we pay for it. All right, ill cut to the chase. The democrats have a plan that includes a user fee on the big tractor trailer trucks out to most of the damage on a bridge is. The republicans have a plan that would redirect and direct money from the rainy day fund. Youve got to plans on the table. Here in the room where it happens, that means make it happen by casting a vote and making up your mind and getting us going. applause and we can do it now but may i have a show of hands . Dont worry, birdie laughs well get this done soon enough i want to say also in terms of jobs that one of the real proposals weve got in this upcoming session is redesign the stakes Economic Incentive Program to focus on new good paying jobs and in growing sectors with a special emphasis on those communities which have been getting left behind. And this is a change. Because some of the best investments we can make as a state are in companies that are already here. Rather than rely on those risky upfront grants for out of state companies, we are going to we are going to provide performance based incentives, Rewarding Companies as they add on jobs right here. Its going to save us hundreds of millions of dollars in binding and a lot less risk to our taxpayers. It gives folks incentives to grind instantly expand right here in the state of connecticut. applause all right, its great if youve got that job. You just have to be able to find a home that you can afford. So my the ministration is going to support those communities that choose to welcome transitory did development to provide family with access to good homes, near good jobs and good schools, to make sure that our teachers and our firemen and our child care providers can afford to live in the communities they serve. Families also need to be able to better afford health care. Look. Connecticut has some of the very best doctors and hospitals in the world