There are new efforts that i will call on the legislature to adopt. However we should make our First Priority implementing the reforms we have already passed. I recently released opportunity mississippi which is my Strategic Plan for the state. In that document i outlined benchmarks for education works reforms. College and Career Readiness among High School Students has become the centerpiece of change and advancement. We must aim to reduce our High School Dropout rate a 10 by 2017. If properly implemented, the other reforms we have enacted will help us achieve this goal. Through the third grade gate we should also work to document a 20 increase in literacy attainment for the third thirdgrade students by 2017. I call on the legislature to work toward providing enough funding for this essential program to establish a ratio of one reading coach, one for every nine teachers, one reading coach for every nine teachers in our highest need classrooms. I have long been an advocate for increasing teacher salary and i believe we should pay good teachers well. In the last session i requested and you approved funding for a Pilot Program to establish a merit pay system. My Strategic Plan calls for implementing merit pay in at least 70 of mississippis School Districts by 2018. It is my hope that revenue will be sufficient to increase the current merit pay appropriation by a substantial amount and fasttrack a Pilot Program to get raises to teachers sooner. By fiscal year 2015 executive budget, like my previous budgets, has also requested that the legislature fully fund the national boardcertified teacher program. A tremendous program for mississippi teachers. Achieving this status can mean a four, im sorry as 6000dollar raids for a teacher. Some 3500 teachers in mississippi are ward certified. We are doing an excellent job of encouraging teachers to pursue certification i want to see mississippi increase its number of boardcertified teachers 25 by 2018. The bill and Melinda Gates foundation has recognized mississippis efforts in this arena and has awarded our state a grant of 350,000 to help sub ward teaching students who wish to pursue ward certification at the outset of their careers. This program should help mississippi recruit another 1000 teachers for ward certification in just the next few years. All of this will translate into a greater number of highly qualified teachers in mississippis classrooms, which means Better Outcomes for students. Finally i asked the legislature to grant the request to my executive budget recommendation to provide 1. 5 million to conduct a Pilot Program to examine the use of the a. C. T. As the High School Exit exam in lieu of other assessments. This pilot will cover the cost of the a. C. T. For every High School Junior in mississippi in the Upcoming School year. This program on not only allow us to obtain a more accurate measure of of student achievement, it will benefit students by providing them with access to a test that has practical use in their lives, use as a College Entrance exam. It will also save us money because mississippis Current Group of High School Assessments costs more than 4 million per year. Let us make this commonsense change now and get on with preparing our children for the success in the world world and stop teaching for the tests. [applause] our third objective for success should be for every mississippi and to be born into a mature two parent family. Our Healthy Teens for a better Mississippi Program has conducted Community Meetings and seminars all across the state. We have involved schools, churches, families, Health Care Professionals and most importantly teens in Community Discussions regarding decisionmaking and healthy behavior. We have started making a difference. According to the annual report for the Mississippi State department of health, our states teen pregnancy rate has dropped by 10. 3 . [applause] i believe we have also done an admirable job in protecting our children both born and unborn. By strengthening the Child Protection act and by requiring that abortion is obtained admitting privileges at local hospitals we are protecting womens health. The let me be clear, on this unfortunate day of roe v. Wade my goal is to end abortion in mississippi. [applause] now i continue to believe this is the right time and place to stand for our beliefs, our faith, our families and our nation. To strengthen our resolve i have asked that we take a bold step. And country. I have called on senator Michael Watson to introduce legislation that would change the wording of the great seal of the stated as a tzipi to nations motto. With your help, the seal of the state of mississippi will from this session forward reflect the simple yet profound words, in god we trust. [applause] [applause] thank you. As their fourth guiding principle this administration is pledged to make certain every tax dollar is put to proper and legal use. Since the budget reforms of the mid1990s many of us have supported a performancebased budgeting system that allocates resources based on results. I applaud appropriations chairman buck clark and Herb Frierson for taking steps to move our state or word any more accountable budgeting model. A change in this arena is not easy and i thank you the legislature for your leadership. Let this be the year we show the taxpayers our commitment to performancebased budgeting that rewards success and reduces wasteful spending. In my First Executive budget, i called on the legislature to reinstate the 2 satisfied and appropriate only 90 8 of available revenue. Again i applaud you for heeding the call. Your discipline has helped put more than 109 million into the Rainy Day Fund. [applause] thank you. However we can do better. As revenue collections increase, and they will, we must take this opportunity to refill the Rainy Day Fund to prepare for the future. If we leave the balance of our state savings account untouched and again adhere to the 98 rule, we can bring the Rainy Day Funds to nearly half of its statutory limit. As Lieutenant Governor i worked hard in 2008 to fill the Rainy Day Fund and was criticized by some at the time for doing so. That decision to save when we could proved crucial when we were hit by the Great Recession. Although we were forced to cut budgets those savings help desk from cutting as deeply as we would have otherwise been worse to do. Let us take that prudent position wants more and fill the Rainy Day Fund for the difficult days that could lie ahead. [applause] now i need not emphasize the importance of reducing our dependency on onetime revenue for recurring expenses. I commend the Lieutenant Governor and a speaker for, and their Leadership Teams for working with me to stop this practice. They have done a remarkable job and im confident that we can end this practice this year. As i have shown in my executive budget recommendation we can adequately Fund Government and have no onetime funding for ongoing expenditures. The taxpayers can be confident in your leadership towards this goal. This era i have asked that we add a fifth objective to our vision for the state. We must build a future where every mississippi and will be safe in his or her person and property. The foremost duty of the government is to ensure Public Safety. Seven months ago governmental leadership and stakeholders with the help of the pew Research Team produced a results driven report from corrections and criminal justice. This task force issued a comprehensive set of policy recommendations that i believe will be instrumental to reforming our criminal justice system. That task force bipartisan effort shows what we can accomplish when we are not only tough but also smart about crime. The former Deputy Sheriff and state auditor dealt with many criminals behind bars and had no regrets about doing so in necessary pear family has experienced a Violent Crime that resulted in the loss of a loved one. Ive attended funerals and memorials of slain officers and witness firsthand the pain of the mothers and the wives and families. I have no sympathy for violent criminals and i believe that any modification to the correctional system should put the victims first. [applause] they plan to expand the creation of such things as veteran treatment courts. Veterans courts to aid our servicemen and weapon who have made mistakes to get back on track. I believe leo are veterans of special attention because they more than most have earned a Second Chance for their country. As you know i have long been an advocate of drug courts and i hope you will follow the guidance in my budget recommendation and fully fund this effort. These courts provide a valuable service that helps get mississipians on the right path again. To combat serious crime in our state i have asked that you fund a Violent Crime strike force to impose a state federal and local Law Enforcement at officers these elite forces will respond to specific crime areas and hit gangs in drug dealers where they live. [applause] if you will give Law Enforcement the authority and the resources they need, they will get the job done. [applause] your Mississippi Department of Public Safety has done a remarkable job this year. With us tonight in the gallery as i find it apple ample of the selfless bravery of our troopers. Trooper first class kerpen stewart was recognized in 2012 as trooper of the year. While off duty and traveling to alabama troopers steward came upon a fiery crash. Despite the risk to himself troopers steward pulled the driver from his vehicle, extinguish the fire that was engulfing him and saved a mans life. A 20 year veteran of the United States army trooper stewart is just one example of the dedication of the fine men and women of our Highway Patrol. Trooper, thank you for your service and your sacrifice. [applause] [applause] the men and women who wear the blue and gray of the mississippi Highway Patrol remain the best of the best that they now need your help. The last Trooper School added 51 officers to a patrol that remains nearly 150 below its necessary number. This shortage puts not only the motoring public lives at risk but also those of our troopers. Now let me assure you, without more troopers on the road, people will die. Please help us fund a Trooper School this year. [applause] of all the things that make mississippi great, perhaps none is more valuable than our ability to persevere and achieve great things together. Mississipians as a whole are without a doubt the most resilient, the most passionate and the most capable people in the nation. Time and time again history proves that when we fix our focus on a goal be at repairing the damage brought by natural disasters are launching an entire new industry we are bold enough to do whatever it takes to achieve success. As governor i am honored and thankful for the opportunity to chart the course in some small way forward for hours eight. Our hard work is already yielding rewards and we are equipping ourselves with the tools to take advantage of the next opportunities that will surely come our way. I thank all of you for your help and your discernment. Even your opposition makes us better as we consider every new idea under the intensity of your gaze. But in the end, in the end it is the moving forward that keeps us together. It is the challenge of achieving the peoples will now and for the future. Before we leave tonight, i want to ask you one more thing. I want to ask that you join me in remembering the men and women of our Armed Forces Project every our National Guard for defending the freedoms that allow us to gather freely together here in this place. [applause] [applause] thank you for your hard work. Together we can do great things. God bless each of you, god bless mississippi and god bless the United States of america. [applause] now to Honolulu Hawaii for the state of the state address from democratic governor Neil Abercrombie of the states seventh governor having been elected in 2010 after serving nine years in the u. S. House. His address is half an hour. [applause] [applause] thank you everybody. You are very kind. Thank you very much. You are very kind. I felt like jay leno saying hello to jimmy kimmel. Thank you very much but before i begin can we have a big hand for our congressional delegation that are smart enough to be here rather than a shinki and where its snowing afoot right now. [applause] madam president , mr. Speaker, members of the Hawaii State Legislature former governors, distinguished justices of the courts mayors representatives congressional delegations and other elected officials, honored guest family and friends, aloha. As we began our session i asked that we set aside our political preoccupations for a moment and reflect on the privilege we have to serve in the responsibility to look to horizons beyond their own concerns. I asked that we begin today with a moment of silence to honor hawaii National Guard sergeant drew scobee who died earlier this month in afghanistan. He was 25 years old. He leaves behind his wife and his 4yearold son and another child yet to be born. Our hearts and best thoughts are with his family during this time. On march 25, the legislature will hold its joint session for the wide medal of honor ceremony to recognize Fallen Soldiers with hawaii ties. I think everyone here want to work for the day when we have no more fallen to recognize for their ultimate sacrifice, no more families to consult for their loss. Until that day i asked for us to join in a moment of silence and reflection in honor of sergeant scobee and his family. If those that are able to rise would do so and at the time may we have a moment of silence. On behalf of sergeant scobee and his family. Thank you very much. When i entered office we issued a call for a new day in hawaii. We presented and implemented a plan that has guided this administration and our state over the last three years through very difficult times. We faced hard choices and had to make tough decisions. Im grateful for this legislatures collaboration as we navigated through these troubled waters. The question before us then is what direction shall we now set our sights . Where do we see our hawaii, our people, our islands, our businesses in the future . To enter the core question we need to look no further than our island values. We must be trustees with a duty not just in the present but to the longterm future of our islands. We must be stewards with a responsibility to protect their identity are precious human and Natural Resources to become more selfsufficient. For three years we have strategically manage our resources into her chair sacrifices, made fiscally prudent decisions and have seen our economy regularly improved. This has resulted in a general fund balance of 844 million for fiscal year 2013 and historically unprecedented figure that represents a turnaround of more than 1 billion since 2010. I want to extend my appreciation to all of you in this legislature for helping to make some of those tough decisions in our Public Sector employees who made stuff sacrifices and the people and businesses of hawaii hugh faith and patience made this effort possible. Im able to report to you today our state governments financial house now stands on solid ground ground solid ground. [applause] we are entering a new phase. The administrations supplemental budget does not rely on any new taxes or fees. On the contrary, as you will see i believe we may be able to reduce taxes in key areas. We have the resources to deliver services to the people of hawaii while living within our means. And what is most important my administrations budget philosophy insurers are budget is sustainable. Our Financial Plan accommodates any fluctuations in revenue projections in the years to come. We are stabilizing future costs and expenditures. We are concluding collective Bargaining Agreement several of which are for multiple years. We have taken affirmative action in addressing our states unfunded liabilities for medical benefits for retirees and pensions, salvaging both from fiscal disaster. We are committed to strengthening the finances of