Christie delivered his final state of the state address in trenton. The focus of his speech centered on combating drug addiction. This is one hour and 15 minutes. Drug addiction. This is 1 15. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. President , mr. Speaker, honorable members of the supreme court, members of the state legislature and my cabinet, former governors, family and friends, this is the seventh time that ive had the honor to step before this legislature and the people of new jersey to perform one of my duties as governor. Article v, section 1, paragraph 12 of our constitution creates the requirement for the governor to report on the state of the state. As the one person independently elected by all New Jerseyans to State Government, the governor is the only person truly able to give this report. For me, service to the people of this state has been my central responsibility every day of my life for the last 15 years. First as United States attorney and now as governor. As i enter my eighth year as governor, it is my honor and privilege to report on the state of the state that i call home for me and for my family. The state of the state is good. Having boldly dealt with so many of the longterm problems we inherited in 2010, having an economy which continues to grow, and now ready to use 2017 to confront problems that still need solving. I stand here today prepared to give every ounce of energy i have to make 2017 a year where we solve more big problems for the citizens of new jersey. So lets start with the central issues of our economy. Since we entered office seven years ago in the depths of the recession, new jersey has created 278,000 new private sector jobs. We now have had seven consecutive years of private sector job growth, and all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession have now been recovered by the people of the state of new jersey. [ applause ] at the same time, we have kept our promise to reverse the outlandish growth of government, which was created in the decade before our arrival. We have eliminated more than 10,000 government jobs at the state and 21,000 more government jobs at county and local government level through the effective property tax cap. That is 31,000 government jobs eliminated in just seven years. We promised a smaller government, recall ladies and gentlemen we have delivered it. [ applause ] and let me remind you that in State Government all of this was done without layoffs. It was done with fiscal with the peoples money. Rose 15 in 2016. Home sales are growing and new jersey is growing with it. As a result look at what happened to Unemployment Rate at 9. 8 , now 5 . Nearly cut in half. 445,000 new jerseyian out of world seven years, 50 fewer are unemployed today. While the prognosticators, the glass is fully, much fuller as reenter 2017 and all of us should be proud of the work we have done to make it so for them. [ applause ] we have restored responsibility budgeting back to new jersey government. Think about this. Discretionary spending it 2. 3 billion less in actual dollars today than it was nine years ago. Heres what that means. Nearly every additional dollar we have collected in taxes, this administration has dedicated to deal with our historic problems. Pension payments, Health Insurance premium and debt service. We make 1. 9 billion pension payment in state history. That will bring our total payments to the penning system to 6. 3 billion and that is twice as much has governor wit man, mcgrief vi and co sign combined. This administration has been far and away by the numbers the most generous to the Pension System in the last 23 years and we are proud to have stepped up to our responsibility. [ applause ] now despite the fact we have not been able to pay every penny after reforms, those reforms have been working. Supreme court supported our reform despite failed assault on the reform. We have been more to return sovereignty. All of us together. Theres more to do. I will present more ideas to finish the job when i present you with the 2018 budget next month. Until then, we should acknowledge and be proud of the fact that we have passed reform that safe Pension System 120 billion over 30 years and that we have doubled the states contribution to the system during our term in the last 16 years before we arrived. Thats progress. And there will be more to come in february. Finally, 2017 will be the first year since 1996 that new jersey citizens will see broadbased tax cuts. [ applause ] thats right for the first time in over 20 years new jersey will see taxes go down this year. This was a partisan fight for six years. As my republican colleague and i regularly called for tax cuts. Democrats colleague said no. I want to thank my friend for standing strong so the tax cut could become a reality in year seven. For the democratic friends i thank you too for making 2017 new jersey can get tax relief, its tax relief we can be proud of. 2017 our sales tax will be cut for the first time in decades. Better news, its go be cut again on january 1 of 2018, 520 billion in relief for nnl who pays sales tax. Every new jerseyian living here today. In 2017 the work rk poor will get assistance to raise families. When we entered office, it was 25 . 2015 we increase it to 30 of the last year we increased it again effective january 1, to 0 35 . We should be proud we have lepile helping families who are already helping themselves. [ applause ] 2017 is going to be better year for seniors on fixed incomes. Were going to exclude Retirement Income for seniors. In four years they will be able to make 100,000 in Retirement Incomes and pay no taxes at all. This help them stay in the state. Once they stay live better live. This rewards seniors who have planned responsibility for their retirement. 2017 the debt tax has been put on life support, by 2018 it would be officially dead itself. [ applause ] you heard the stories people flee state in senior years because we tax them to death while they live here to add to the burden we tax them again more than any other state after they die. People will now be able to choose new jersey rather than other 49 states in the union in the senior years because we will stop smoking. [ not speaking right now ] lets take a moment to have some silent prior for my friend and new jersey pastor carter. Think of joe to make sure he comes through it okay. [ silent prayer ] new jersey state tax has risen from 675,000 exclusion to 2 million exclusion. New jersey will no longer have estate tax at all. This Game Changing for economy, families and Small Businesses they want to pass on to their families. In 2017, our veterans will be honor for their service by the tax code. New jersey veterans discharge will get personal exemption from state income tax. Republicans and democrats coming together to lower tax in all in 2017. It took seven years to get it done we should be proud that taxpayer get to keep more of own money in 017 than they did in 2016. [ applause ] now as people sit and listen to state of the state speech. They wonder how many of the goals get accomplished. Good question. Lets review the goals we set in 2016 in this speech what we were able to accomplish in the years since. 2016, i called on legislature to find debt tax we did it together. In 2016, we many of us did, that our cities need even more service from Charter Schools providing extraordinary opportunities to student and families for Brighter Future thats why thousands of families are still unwaiting list in our major cities to get into a quality charter school. Its not a political decision by them. It is decision based upon the quality of the life for their children and their as per rations for their future. We promised to loosen regulation in the speech last year that are choking growth of the charrer schools. Last year they advance schools in new jersey by allowing them to be inno native. 2016, we promise 100 million increase in funding for Mental Health and Substance Abuse treatment. We exceed promise by added 127 million to increase access to most vulnerable in our state. In 2016 we promise to open certified drug abruce Treatment Center. This spring 696 bed facility will hope and every inmate who enters it will receive First Class Drug and alcohol abuse treatment before they leave prison and go back on the street to recovery their life. [ applause ] in 2016, we spoke about our successful Recovery Coach Program and in 2015 we had operating in five counties. We promised more than double that in 2016 to 11 counts. Whats the program to remind you the programs puts counselors into hospital emergency room to help people began road to recovery that gives them greater chance from the minute they get ready to leave from the emergency room. We promised greater recovering addicts to claim their lives recovery coaches are doing just that in emergency room. Those were the five promises of the 2016 state of the state speeches. We delivered on each of them. We might do what we say were going to do. Listen to the speech and the people in new jersey should listen also. You know, there are so many issues that i can talk about today and look back on with pride. But so many future issues that i can talk about today and look to with a sense of urgency. There are so many stories from the last year that i can relate to you today in this speech with a true sense of wonder. But im not going to do that today. For that, i have to wait for the book. [ laughter ] [ applause ] wait and wait and wait. But seriously, im not going to do it today because our state faces are crisis which is more urgent to the families than any issue we can confront a kris sis which is destroying families ripping the fabric of our state apart, it is the crisis of drug addict. On december 21 we held vigil on the steps of this Historic Building over 750 people from state attend to show share sol dart and concern for fellow citizens. In the group that night was pam, she is an employee of the state department of education. Pam has been a drug awareness and prevention advocate for years. For her, her reasons are personal. Her son has batted addict since he was 16 years old. During his period of sobriety. He was amazing. He volunteered his time, running support groups for fellow ad dik, at the same time he thrived at successful jobs. In they fought his addiction with him as a family. Pam came to the vigil on december 21st to rejoice in her sons ten and a half months of uninterrupted sobriety. [ applause ] she came to celebrate the gifts that she said that sobriety brought to her son and letter family. To days later erelaps and he was found dead at 23 years old from a heroin overdose. Today mary pat and i extend our deepest sympathy for her loss. Today, what im doing today, is for people like pam, together we will save lives and honor the lives of those we lost like her dear son carlos through the pain of her loss, pam has the strength and the courage just weeks later to be here today with her husband. We owe her our sympathy but we owe her our gratitude for her commitment to this cause and to those who suffer from it in new jersey. Thank you, pam. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen of new jersey, this is the face of the epidemic of addition that is ravaging our state and its people. Its ravaging our entire country. Few people want to talk about it. They want to pretend its islated to one class. We want to jail those who have this disease. We want to close our eyes and hope this passes by our own home. If we just hope and pray hard enough to make it so. Well, hoping and praying alone will not make it better, arresting jailing stigmatizing the victims will not make it better. Our friends are dying. Our neighbors are dying. Our co workers are dying. Our children are dying. Every day in numbers we can no longer afford to ignore. I am the leader of this state. I have been the leader of this state for the last 2,546 days and ill be its lead r for the next 373 days. I have been committed to this every day of my governor ship. Today i say to each every one of you, i need you to join me and feel the same sense of urgency to save lives now. [ applause ] let me be clear to every new jersey and all 21 of our counties drug addiction is a disease, it is not a moral failing. It is a disease that can be treated. By treating the disease with the methods we know, and treating its victims with understanding and compassion, we have a chance to save lives. Never forget, each of those lives are an individual gift from god. There can be not calling more clear no matter your faith than the calling to save lives. We have taken some steps over the last number of years we have made progress, but it is not enough. I can tell you that by reading the growing statistics i can see it. By watching the growing cost to the budget. I can feel it by looking into the eyes of too many loved ones who lost someone so close and dear that you can actually see their hearts breaking. Beyond the human cost, which is inkal couble. Theres a cost in every life in new jersey. This is a effecting our education system. Children coming to school high cannot learn. You came to this chamber because you came about improves the health care system. Great. Its affecting the health care system. Its putting a cost on the stm which we will not be able to bear. You came because you care about law and order and safety in the street. There is affecting how we fight crime. Police are in danger every day. Citizens at risk on the street and roads as drug addiction causes behavior that Law Enforcement cannot handle. You care about economy and the jobs is thats what brought you here, its effecting the Financial Security of every person it touches. Jobs lost, savings wasted, potential ruined. All by culture of addiction. None of that adds to the economy, just stals it. Lets say you came because you care most about your family. Let me tell you this, only through the grace of god has it not touched youre family already. You are among the lucky ones and your luck could run out at any moment. This administration has done more than an on history of the addiction of the were proud of it. Its not enough. We have to do more. Drug overdose in new jerseyesslated by 22 between 2014 and 15. Deathesslated. Theres 30 increase in heroin deaths over the Previous Year and triple number caused by oipo oipoid fen tinnal. 600 people lost their lives in 2015. 1,600. Whats that mean. Let give you perspective. For 2015 those 1,600 is 4 times more number of murder in nnl. Four times the number of murder and three times more the number of People Killed in automobile accidents in the state. For the same year. For the first time in 2015. Deaths heroin overdose alone surpassed deaths in the United States by firearm homicides. Just heroin. The fatality in 2015 would have been greater when you factor lived that were saved after receiving nar cane which made it available in every county. [ applause ] we provided training for Law Enforcement met on how to use it to save peoples lives. Has it worked . We had ten thousand nar can deployments in 2016 alone. Thats ten thousand lives that could have been lost without nar can. Add that to the 1,600 victims who did not make it, that means we could have lost more than ten thousand lives without our aggressive action on nar can. Its unthinkable. But likely to have happened if redid not act boldly. There are the countless lives of those addicted. They have not been captured by addiction but we know its there. We need to reach out before its too late. According to the surge general american dies every 19 minute from overdose, every 19 minutes. While were in this chamber, three americans will die of on overdose in the next hour and the next hour and the next hour. Nearly 50,000 people died in 204 across the country of a Drug Overdose in that same report the surge general tells us that the age of first use of alcohol, were any other elicit drug vast vastly increases the rate of addiction. The earlier you try any elicit drug, the greater the risk of addiction to other drugs. I want advocates of legalizing marijuana to listen to the numbers. If if you try any drug by the age of 13, you have a 70 chance according to the surge general of doefrling addiction to another drug within 7 years. Try an elicit drug at age of 13, seven out of ten will be addicted to another drug by the time they are 20. I hope and pray this will give pause to those pushing ahead to legalize another drug for tax revenue or falsely says it will cause no harm. The statistics prove you wrong, dead wrong. [ applause ] 1 in 12 High School Senior report they use vie ka din. They report they use oxycontin. 467,000 children between 12 and 17 use prescription pain medication. 12 and 17. A 168,000 are addicted to pain medication. The prescribing rate as doubled in the last 13 years. The drug leads to abuse of heroin. These are just numbers. Go behind the numbers, think about it. These are real people. Think about the 17yearold captain of the High School Football team who hurts his knee and gets oxycontin. Tli think about the 19yearold who gets 30 per sets for the removal of wisdom tooth. I didnt come to idea the problem, i want to layout plan to fight the fight more aggressively. Theres nothing more porn important i can do than it. Lets work to save lives together and start together today. [ applause ] lets deal with the basics. We need to make treatment easier to locate and accessible to individuals and families when they are in the middle of crisis. Today, our administration can launching a hot line to make it easier to access treatment. The website will put addiction information in one place and help eliminate question where do i go. Who do i turn to . Its going to enhance public awareness, provide insurance guidance, idea location Rehab Facility for children and adult, share information for those who enter recovery. It will include updates and list private and nonprofit contact information. One website, one phone number, to help