Radio. This coverage comes to you from wcve Public Television in richmond. Greetings to those of you who may be joining us from whtj, Public Television in charlotte charlottesville, or other parts of the state. Address, we will go to the republican responses. All of that coming up in the next hour from your local Public Television station. The governor will lay out his legislative priorities for the 60day session of the General Assembly. He is sure to make the case for twoyear budget budget, the only one who can claim credit for. In that are over 1 billion in investments for public invests education. The sergeant of arms will announced terry mcauliffe. The joint assembly will come to order. Sergeant at arms . Mr. President , his excellency, the governor of the commonwealth of virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe thank you. [applause] as speaker of the house of delegates and president of the joint assembly, its my pleasure to present to you his excellency, the governor of the commonwealth of virginia, the auliffe. E terrance r. Mc gov. Mcauliffe thank you. Thank you. Is virginia not the greatest state in america . Lieutenant governor northam, attorney general herring, speaker howell, leader norman, men and women of the General Assembly, distinguished guests, citizens of virginia, thank you for inviting me here tonight. A special thanks to my wife dorothy for all she is doing every day for virginias children and her familys. Her families. [applause] i married well. I also want to take a moment to thank the 575 great virginians in the National Guard who tonight are away from their families deployed in the uae, cuba, kuwait and elsewhere around the globe, and thank them for everything they do to keep us safe. They are represented by our tag Major General williams who is with us here tonight. [applause] finally, i welcome the new members of the General Assembly. As you begin your legislative session, i look forward to working with all of you. When i stood before you one year ago, we were preparing to close a 2. 4 billion shortfall. We were coping with the drag that federal cuts were placing on our economy and bracing for the potential of tougher sequestration cuts. Was speaking to the pain of seven broken ribs and a punctured lung. This evening, i am happy to tell you that things are looking up. Our work to build a new virginia economy is paying off. We can breathe more freely thanks to a period of relative calm in washington, and i am happy to say that five of my ribs are now healed, and i am certainly breathing easier than i did last year. Secretary rick brown often says that virginias leaders are on their best behavior in a budget crisis, and he has in a few. His point last year. When our finances turned ugly, we went to work. Ourufted out, protecting schools from cuts and keeping our Development Plans on track. We did not agree on everything, but we put partisan balance aside to get the job done. Since then, i have seen many of you at Ground Breaking ceremonies for new businesses and factories and is all across the commonwealth. Each time, i handed you a shovel and read, lets get to work. This evening, lets get those shovels out and continue working together,s our futures can improve for every virginia resident. Last year, we worked to protect and expand our investments in priorities that contribute directly to our goal of a stronger economy. We also agreed on the need to reform programs that were failing. Those principles should continue to guide our work through this year. Thate introduced a budget is structurally and fiscally sound. We must maintain that balance the budget while making strategic investments. Even as our economy improves and revenue increases, our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars remains the same, and so does the significant power that we in this room have to make a real difference in the lives of the people who sent us here to represent them. We can change lives by giving the High School Student who is uncertain about his future the training he needs to get a great job in Cyber Security. We can change lives by helping the Small Business owner making the connections that she needs to sell to customers in china, india, and cuba. Speaking of cuba, mr. President mr. Speaker, i have a present for you. [applause] now theres a few more where those came from, if you know what im saying. We will negotiate that later in the session. We can change lives by giving a mom with diabetes the medical care she needs to stay healthy and to be there for her children. Those positive changes are at the heart of the work that we have undertaken together to build a new virginia economy so all citizens have the opportunity to maximize their godgiven potential. [applause] henry ford once said, it has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste. I know from my own career in business that you cannot take opportunities for granted. If you pass one up, you may not get another chance. The same is true for leading this great commonwealth. The reprieve we have received from sequestration cuts is our chance to lay a Solid Foundation for the type of economy we will need when those cuts return in full force in two years. If we Work Together over the next 60 days, we can expand Economic Opportunity to virginians in every corner of the commonwealth, from every walk of life, and we can show the world yet again that here in virginia, we do not back down from a challenge. We do not let petty partisan squabbles stand in the way of progress that our families deserve. [applause] tonight, i am here to tell you that the state of our commonwealth is strong. By working together the next 60 days, we can make it even stronger. This evening, that is the vision that defines my message to you. Let us Work Together to get things done. Lets Work Together to build jobs and a new virginia economy. Lets Work Together to transform our education to meet the demands of our future. Lets Work Together to make virginia more attractive to businesses and trading partners all over the globe. Lets Work Together to make a difference in the lives of the friends and neighbors we came here to serve. Just look back at what we have accomplished together as a commonwealth and reflect on the lives we have changed along the way. One virginian at a time, day after day. 88,400 new jobs created. Veterans with a safe, warm place to call home. 100,000 students [applause] 100,000 students now attending schools that offer free meals to everyone, and the progress we are making together is a clear indication that we are on the right path to meeting those challenges in the beginning of a new chapter of opportunity and prosperity. Think about our accomplishments over the past two years. 561 new Economic Development projects. 9. 27 billion in new Capital Investment. [applause] the lowest Unemployment Rate of anys in the southeast of the United States of america. An increase in the average to 941,ge from 878 and now, more than 3,848,000 jobs in virginia, the largest number in the history of the commonwealth of virginia. Our state revenues are growing stronger every single day in everything from personal income tax, sales tax, to housing sales. I want you to know that i did i a Powerball Ticket did buy a Powerball Ticket. When i win tonight, we are going increase in million to our general fund. [applause] as we have grown our economy overall, we have also sharpened our Competitive Edge in highgrowth Industries LikeCyber Security and bile lifesciences. Last month, virginia beat out 46 other states for a new air force Cyber Operations squadron to be located at Langley Air Force base, and tomorrow, i will be in Northern Virginia to cut the ribbon on visas new stateoftheart cyber fusion center. This will lead the country in Threat Detection and command and control operations for the Worlds Largest payment network, and i am proud to say that virginia beat out colorado and texas for that honor. [applause] here in virginia, we have steadily accelerated our push to increase exports of all virginia products and services to Global Markets everywhere. Why . Customers worlds live outside the United States of america. 81 of all Global Economic growth will occur outside the u. S. Between now and 2020. We have visited those markets, opening up india to virginiagrown apples in the first time, and we have worked to lift the vans on poultry in oman and kuwait. This week, we received our first order ever for two cartons of poultry that will be sent to oman. We travel to cuba, and i am proud to announce we have forged a deal between virginias port and cuba. 182 of those businesses have traveled overseas to make personal connections with customers and new opportunities. With us tonight is vanessa christie, Vice President of the virginiabased company prevail in its prevalence with more than 100 employees. Vanessa is a United States navy combat veteran who spent the majority of her active duty flying and instructing the f14 tomcat. Her company has provided Flight Service training to the pentagon and nato, but now, she is moving into international markets. In the first your participation in our valet program, vanessa has joined our trade missions to the u. K. , canada, and mexico, and she has already six return business trips scheduled to these international markets. This is a defense contractor who is diversifying and creating jobs. I want to thank vanessa for being here tonight and thank her for what she is doing to grow jobs in virginia, and most importantly, thanking her for her service to our great country. [applause] we have also worked together to strengthen virginias agriculture exports. Last year, we exported a record 3. 35 billion in ad products ag products, which move this up to the number two spot on the east coast, leapfrogging North Carolina and putting georgia squarely in our site. To move ahead to meet my goal of making virginia the number one ag exporting state on the east coast. Our successes in global trade are at the center of the important work we are doing to build a new economy, and they are a clear example of the benefits that happen when we all Work Together. I want to thank the support of delegate landis and senate hanger for all the great work they have done on Economic Development funding for us. [applause] steve, i hope i didnt hurt you in the caucus. [laughter] theres another career gone. The great work weve done together, working on grants, gives us the opportunity and tools we need to open up new markets and businesses to make sure we can reach producers all over the commonwealth. I am pleased to see there is bipartisan backing of the 38. 9 million in our budget to partner with still virginia as it fosters regional collaboration among businesses, government, and education leaders to help us achieve our shared economic goals. These are not partisan successes. These are virginias successes. I believe that we are just warming up. As we ship to virginia products all over the globe, we are making progress in strengthening our Energy Economy and diversifying our fuel mix at home. In acently announced historic 80megawatt solar facility that will power Amazon Web Services data center in Northern Virginia. This will be the largest solar facility in the midatlantic and secondlargest on the entire east coast. It will more than quadruple the amount of solar currently installed in the commonwealth. We are also doing our part to power up the Solar Industry in virginia with our goal to purchase a thing percent of electricity needed to run state of electricity needed to run State Government in the next few years. Friends, that is a 100fold increase in solar capacity in virginia. [applause] we will make virginia more Energy Independent and stimulate growth by expanding our use of renewable energy. Recently, we met with the leaders of microsoft, google, and amazon, and they made it clear to me that they will only do business and create jobs in state that can provide them with Renewable Power to generate their operations. Renewable offers an opportunity communitiesur rural to rebuild our manufacturing actor, so that every Single Solar Panel or wind turbine we nstalled has a big stamp on it made in virginia. [applause] i am proud of what we have achieved working together the past two years to build our economy, and in the budget i presented to you in december takes more aggressive steps to build on our momentum. Ourrding to an analysis, 2. 43 billion bond package alone will be a major boost our economy. 3. 5 billion in Economic Impact through 2021 from construction expenditures. More than 19,000 new jobs primarily in constructionrelated industries, and the largest Capital Investment in research in our history, with an emphasis on emerging sectors like bioscience. More than 850 million in bonds are designated for our universities, and 214 million for our Community Colleges, to strengthen and expand stem and workforce programs. In addition to significant Capital Investments in research and development, the twoyear budget before you provides more than 1 billion in new funds all across all levels of education. [applause] we had proposed a significant infusion of resources into our Public Schools, including 139 million to fund 2500 additional instructional positions. We will take virginias investment in Public Education to 6. 8 billion in fiscal year 2018, the largest level in the commonwealths history. [applause] this does not mean that we should invest tax dollars in education for the sake of it. We should invest in smart, innovative programs to get results for the students, the communities, and businesses we serve. We have already made a great start. North am anovernor his team worked closely with us to win a 17. 5 million grant from the United States department of education to provide highquality prekindergarten classes for 13,000 children. We began reforming our standards of learning by eliminating five sol tests. We made the Testing Process better without watering down the standards we set for our schools and students. My team worked closely with leaders in this room, like senator john miller, to oversee these important standards we ser schools and reforms, and the results speak for themselves. Listen to this. Fivepoint gains in reading and math rates. Improvements in writing, science, and history. In mathpoint increase pass rates among African American students, and a sixpoint gain in reading, and today, 1414 of our Public Schools are now fully accredited, a 10point increase from the prior year. [applause] now is not the time to let up. Let us use these 60 days to strengthen our investment in education, further our standards in learning, and make every classroom a place where students are being prepared to lead in the 21st century. [applause] i can usually count on lionel. We can start by using new studentgies to evaluate learning without subjecting them solixour so sixhour tests. I know every member of the General Assembly has heard from parents. If we Work Together to provide the necessary resources, by the spring of 2017, we can reduce the time most students spend thang sol tests by more two hours through computeradaptive testing. As important as it is to reduce and shorten tests, it is a small piece of the work we must do to build the Education System we need to lead in the global economy. Virginia students hold the key to innovation , entrepreneurship, and economic growth. What we put into our schools tomorrow will be what we get out of our economy 10, 20, 50 years from tonight. You cannot build an economy for 2050 with a 1950s approach to education. [applause] this year, i have proposed legislation to begin a fundamental change in virginias approach to high school education. We will put greater emphasis on handson learning, internships, Early College courses, industry credentials, rather than classroom seat time. Our high schools were designed during the Industrial Revolution to prepare workers with the basic information and skills needed for the job