Peoples house. Also i have the privilege today of introducing newlyelected Supreme Court justice to this chamber and to the idaho judiciary. Congratulations. [applause] the new year also brings key departures from our executive branch of government. Im sure youll join me in wishing godspeed goodness new National Responsibility for two eventful and successful years as the director of the department of corrections. We are also accusing sam haas and welldeserved retirement from the office of aging. And kelli pearsons experience and leadership will be missed with his recent retirement as minister of the department of building. I extend my best wishes to each and every one of them. [applause] finally this will be the last legislative session for armstrong as director of the department of health and welfare his stalwart and tireless leadership has set a High Standard for whoever takes on the difficult and often thankless responsibility next. He will be retiring in june and he will be leaving big shoes to fill. Dick i wish you godspeed. [applause] ladies and gentlemen it is my high honor and privilege to report to you today that the state of idaho is resurging and in fact gaining National Reputation among the states for our stability and our strength. Our finances are secure. Revenues exceeding expectations. Economic growth is outpacing the overall growth of government and our own operations are more tunes. An efficient than they have ever been. More of our people are at work today than at any time in idahos history and wages are rising slowly but surely along with employer demand for more skilled workers. Leading that demand is among our most serious challenges that we are facing. I know that you share my commitment to finding practical based Solutions Rather than waiting for a National Governments dysfunction to be turned around. So as we honor the spirit of independence and selfdetermination i can testify to you today that our citizens are energized and engaged in growing our economy and improving our communities caring for our families and neighbors but most importantly preparing our youth for a rapidly changing world. Seldom has the future seemed hopeful or as uncertain as it is today or that any State Government it is beyond any State Government to bring our National Government into order. It is our responsibility and our duty as elected leaders to preserve and protect the framework of opportunity that the people of idaho need in order to competently pursue their dreams and freely express their scent that duty. Thats why such a large share of the budget recommendations you have before you continue addressing our fiveyear plan for moving idaho Public Schools as well as efforts to create a seamless Sustainable Education and Training System extending from kindergarten through career for every idaho citizen. My budget recommendations are about more than fulfilling our shared commitments and implementing our task force recommendation. They are more than just about living up to our constitutional responsibilities. They are even more than providing for the Skilled Workforce that our employers need. Ultimately my Education Funding proposals are about doing the right thing. For the next generation of idahoans and laying the foundation for their retirement and adjustments in a dynamic global marketplace. [applause] so allow me to briefly outline some of the most crucial parts of this next round of investments. My first and most significant recommendation is for an ongoing allocation of 58 million implementing the crew latter pay model for public schoolteachers. [applause] along with a 75 million that we invest in that effort during the past two years this new and larger tranche will keep us on track in reaching our fiveyear funding goal for attracting and retaining more of the best and brightest educators available. Im also calling for an ongoing investment of 2. 5 million a year for leadership training of principals in lowperforming schools and another 2. 5 million to train School Administrators on idaho teacher about a wish and framework and process. As we work to improve the competitiveness of idaho teacher pay it is critical that we have a cell at asis for rewarding excellence. Looking beyond the recent challenges that we have experience with teacher evaluations this training will help ensure the School Administrators can thoroughly and meaningfully assess teacher effectiveness and help guide their professional growth. [applause] another of my k12 budget conditions is for 50 million to help School Districts cover the cost of higher healthinsurance premiums for for their employees. That will help them avoid having to back fill those costs in discretionary funds that we only recently reinstalled in the wake of the Great Recession. Our Task Force Recommendations call for investing a total of 60 million a year in Classroom Technology statewide. We have allocated 18 million so far so now im asking for 10 million a year more starting in fiscal year 2018 making achieving our remaining Technology Funding goals more manageable. There is also an ongoing 6 million request in my executive budget for improving professional development and the opportunities therein. The idea is to ensure teachers regularly share lesson plans and instructional resources to collaborate with each other and learn from one anothers what works and what works best in the classroom. My funding recommendations additionally include another 5 million for expanding and improving college and career counseling in high schools. Based upon our Rising College enrollment rates that kind of investment is helping more students, parents and educators determine the most appropriate for enabling young people to go on to Higher Education or career Technical Training and certification. I am also urging you to continue supporting the s. T. E. M. Action center and its groundbreaking Computer Science initiative. They already are having a Significant Impact on thousands of educators and tens of thousands of students that the demand is there to expand their reach and to help ensure that every idaho student and teacher gets the chance to embrace s. T. E. M. Fields and the tremendous growth and Career Opportunities they provide. Thank you, bob. [applause] proficiency in science, Technology Engineering and math form an increasingly essential link between k12 and Career Readiness. S. T. E. M. Education is critical to developing those skills most in demand in todays workplace. Sometimes the challenges and complexities of life interrupted our best plans for pursuing our own Career Opportunities including our good intentions to complete a College Degree within a four or five year span. My budget recommendation once again for 2018 includes funding for an adult scholarship. It will provide incentives for those with some College Credits who have been away from school for at least three years to return to the classroom to finish. Its an important part of our status in reaching the ambitious goal of ensuring that at least 60 of idahoans between the ages of 25 and 34 have College Degrees or certification by 2020. In pursuit of the that goal and recommended the transfer of 35 million in building plans for Higher Education, education throughout the state. That includes 10 million for the career Material Science Center at Boise State University that includes 10 million for the university of idaho to build the fund for radical cultural environment or the cafe in dollars. Includes 10 million for louis parks because to construct a building adjacent to the proposed new Lewiston High School ct facility and finally 5 million toward remodeling the kaytal Life Sciences building at idaho State University campus. Let me call your attention now and encourage your support for an effort to make Postsecondary Education in Eastern Idaho more affordable for students, more competitive for businesses and more attractive to employers needs. [applause] im thinking of course [applause] i am speaking of course of the campaign to turn the Eastern Idaho Technical College in idaho falls into a fullfledged Community College. Establishing a college in Eastern Idaho will spur Economic Growth and complete a conference of statewide system of Affordable Community College Options along with the Northern Idaho Community College. The college of Southern Idaho in the college of this completes the cycle. This body has already put aside 5 million for startup costs. Now the people of Bonneville County must decide whether to invest in their own future by dancing plans to provide better opportunities for students and families and to those looking to improve their Career Readiness and for businesses looking to locate or expand. After seeing the difference cluster night it was made after seeing how quickly cwi has grown to meet pentup demand for new Education Opportunities and after seeing the overwhelming positive response from employers the college of Eastern Idaho campaign has my full and enthusiastic support. [applause] for those of you in gaining county is support your consideration of the college of westerners effort to expand its campus and built the new campus here in boise. Cwis bursting at the seams with enrollment of 20,000 students just eight years after opening for 1200 students. Employers to provide jobs and tax revenue here in the valley are relying on your help to meet that need. My other Higher Education Budget Priorities continue to reflect a career emphasis. They focus on work Worst Development and expanding programs in four years attritions and Community College is. That support such in demand career fields and energy Computer Science and health care professionals. That includes 2. 4 million request to expand the Residency Program and the graduate medical education needed to address our chronic shortage of Health Care Providers especially in idahos more rural areas. [applause] as many of you know i have you no idaho ranks near the bottom nationally in the number of doctors and medical residents percapita. A significant percentage of our physicians are approaching retirement age but we also know theres a better than average chance that when aspiring physicians do their residencies in idaho they will stay in idaho to practice. Thats why im grateful for the work of the Stakeholder Group developing a plan for increasing solutions to idaho positions shortage. That includes significant leveraging our quest for expanding Residency Programs with federal funds. A genuinely historic element towards making health care more accessible for a idahoans is the college of boston traffic medicine. Idahos First Medical School is being developed on the idaho State University Health Sciences campus in meridian with construction to begin early this year. It plans to have its first class of students in 2018. It has secured 78 new residency positions for graduates at hospitals throughout the region with more on the way. I also embrace the opportunity welcoming this Important Institution to idaho. [applause] i also want to offer my thanks and congratulations to the commanding leaders responsible for making our Behavior Health Crisis Center program such a tremendous success. A third of our Community Facilities opened about a month ago. Already joins sites operating idaho falls and it provides accessible and if alternative to jails or emergency room visits are those struggling with Mental Health or Substance Abuse issues. They are providing significant savings on Law Enforcement responses and hospital costs that already have been critical part of the system of care. Might budget recognition for its 1. 5 million to cover the remaining cost of standing up to the twin falls and boise. Once again these are investments that can save our communities millions of dollars a year on costs of Emergency Services that mean less stress. To continue improving her statewide Central Health system im also requesting 10. 3 million to build an adolescent Mental Health facility and treasure valley. It would also cover the cost of remodeling a unit at state hospitals south a secure Mental Health facility. Now lets talk for a minute about Spending Priorities and living within the peoples means its no surprise that we all want tax relief. For some its a top priority in this legislative session but i would remind you together we have reduced the burden to citizens on taxes during this tenure and in fact since 2010 about 1 billion. We will soon have legislation before you to reduce the tax base rate for Unemployment Insurance paid by idaho employers pay 6. 2 this year. Thats 46 million in tax relief the coming year alone and 150 million over the next three years. [applause] im as committed as ever to limiting the size and scope of our State Government and we should continue to make many of the efficiencies realized during the Great Recession is part of our standard operation but i also understand the cost of failing to invest prudently and substantially in our future so i will not entertain anything that undermines her commitment to meeting the essential State Government functions and at the top of that list is their investment including education and Career Readiness in idaho. [applause] we are not alone in their effort to build and improve idahos workforce. From Stem Education to advance research we have a Strong Partner in the Idaho National laboratory. It was great to hear recently that a 1. 6 billion stateoftheart facility for handling spent fuels from the navys Nuclear Warships be built there. Now we are working with inl to strengthen the capability of far colleges and universities by carl operating on one of our most complex challenges, addressing the growing threat of Cyber Attacks like the one against the fish in mind licensing system last year. You will soon be seeing the product of Cybersecurity Task force led by Lieutenant Governor lu and i ask you to take his findings seriously because make no mistake we got off lucky last time. Cyber crime in cyber warfare are very real and growing threats. The next hack in idaho could target more Critical Infrastructure including our electrical grid. Industrial control systems military equipment or even our own personal they inl is a the leader in cybersecurity and our partnerships there has three universities to be on the cuttingedge of addressing the challenge. Work is underway to expand the joint cyber lab that i proposed needed funding last year. We can do more to protect herself and secure our future. Now im encouraging the legislature to express its support for an even more substantial step toward idaho leadership in Cyber Security secret computing and new technologies. The state board of education and the Idaho National lab and our universities are working to finance and build two worldclass Research Facilities near the center for advanced Energy Studies in idaho falls. The cyber core of the Collaborative Computing Center will be financed and owned by the state but paid for by inl three lease payments. Those payments would continue for decades long after the building has paid off providing another revenue stream for Higher Education. But this initiative will pay dividends far beyond our budget trader will hope to address our Workforce Needs by growing a Talent Pipeline for inl and related idahoans and perhaps most importantly it will enable some of idahos best and brightest students to find highpaying Career Opportunities right here at home. [applause] folks we all aspire to be more selfreliant. We strive in their personal lives as well as in the operation of our State Government. Two federal edicts in recent years have been more true said more damaging to our selfdetermination than the Affordable Care at. There is broad agreement in this body with incomes too high to qualify for obamacare subsidies but too low to afford the coverage on their own. Just as clearly there is as clearly there is full support force expanding medicaid. I understand that it would mean subordinating her idaho priorities two federal dollars and neither National Government or taxpayers can afford it. Beyond continuing to seek elusive answers to the policy questions we have been asking for years we now have the option waiting to see what the Trump Administration and congress will do with obamacare. Waiting by itself is seldom a solution. Instead while we wait i would encourage you to seek ways to make idaho less dependent on the state. That includes continued to build up a partnership to encourage parker plays innovation that address her idaho goals in improving Health Care Accessibility and affordability. However i believe waiting in this case is not entirely in exercise kicking in oversized can down the road. I mentioned earlier better immediate future is marred by hope and uncertainty. Nowhere is that dichotomy more striking than in the upcoming change of leadership in washington d. C. While few people know just what to expect from president elect to or his cabinet i am far more hopeful than anxious about the promise of a new and better day in relationships within the federal government and the states. [applause] dealing with obamacare should be only the start. This is uncharted territory. Theres no history or precedent from which to draw a path forward. But i for one look forward to the years ahead to see renewal of a National Commitment to the principles of federalism of which our system of government is founded. For years now in we in the west have been frustrated by the increasing imposition of federal governments will honor livelihoods and the quality of our lives. Regulatory bureaucracy and interests have become practiced at reaching far beyond the letter of such laws as the clean air act, clean water act endangered species act to essentially notify the common sense stewardship that states and local jurisdictions. I am optimistic president elect trump and his team will work to ensure that meaningful reforms are implemented to keep such agencies as the epa Forest Service the u. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in check. Their focus has shifted to working more cooperatively with states to develop National Policies that are flexible enough to accommodate needs and realities. [applause] i recently provided the new frustration with detail that buys on improving issues such as protecting the state and their habitat. And developing needed Energy Infrastructure like a gateway west transmission project in Southern Idaho. I hope this my advice wont fall on deaf ears because idaho has an exemplary record of managing and protecting our own natural resources. Our own citizens and communities have the knowhow to ensure the lands and resources are responsibly used in the longterm recreational opportunities that they can provide. Im not advocating for states to take over more than 60 of the federal government that we should continue to expand on the efforts we have made so far to realize the potential of such idaho valleys values in local Stewardship Initiative to improve water sustainability is a great example of how id cope can do well caring for our needs without punitive federal oversight. Simply put states need the opportunity to be bold and equal partners in decisions that affect the land water wildlife and other resources within our borders. [applause] states must be able to be the architect. We in idaho are making great use of those rare pretend these where we are a collaboration with the state is actively encouraged. A good example the Good Neighbor authority granted under this 2014 farm bill invites idaho to a scale of water restoration on federal forests. Under agreements reached through the Program Idaho is playing a more active role in improving the health of art intermingle timberlands. Thats reducing fuel and the threat to communities and watersheds from catastrophic wildfires while creating more jobs and economic edifice for our own citizens. Im not recommending, so i am recommending the allocation of 250,000 for additional funds to to and thanks to your support to Fire Protection program has been growing in popularity and impact. Their eight groups organize so far throughout Southern Idaho. The lm Program Provides training and equipment for local ranchers and other landowners to offer that help to stop the fires before in the past year about 250 idaho ranchers provide Fire Suppression resistance on 7. 7 million acres federal state and private lands. As a fringe benefit leading letting idaho protect the land from which they draw their livelihood also serves to protect the sage grouse from habitat destroying wealth are the single biggest threat to their survival. Folks federalism can work only when it involves willing partners. This past election has provided us with a window of opportunity to make broader and better collaboration between the federal and State Governments. Voters have expressed a government that works here in boise but also in washington d. C. They are tired of representation that seems more concerned with the next election and the next generation. When government reflects their highest operations aspirations understands that officials as well as states must have the tools on the freedom to rise up and need their own best potential. [applause] in the recent National Elections but people are still in charge. Not the news media, not even the political party. Im proud that idaho is voted to support real substantial change in National Government and against governmentrun business as usual. Now its up to us to work for idaho. Now its time to recognize differences that we may have good policies and personalities and priorities do not mean differences in principles. More than ever we now have the opportunity and responsibility to help secure her idahos future. So good luck, thank you for your talents and your willingness to serve. My door is always open and i look forward to hearing your conscientious constructive work during this first regular session of the 64th idaho and legislature. May god continue to bless idaho and the United States of america. Thank you. [applause] we take you live to the museum in washington where former Vice President joe biden is receiving the 2017 congressional Patriot Award from the bipartisan policy center. The award presentation is part of the bipartisan policy centers
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