Students from lowincome families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. Comcast supports cspan as a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a frontrow seat to democracy. , at the next minnesota democratic Governor Tim Walz touted his administrations focus and investment in education while delivering a state of the state address. He also discussed protecting Reproductive Health care rights and ivf. Rebuilding the states Water Infrastructure and responsible gun ownership. The covetous address runs just over 20 minutes. The governors address. Thank you all and good evening. Chaplin, thank youl for the beautiful words and please one round of applause for the Owatonna High School choir. Incredible. [applause] madam speaker and members of the minnesota house of representatives, that a majority leader and members of the minnesota senate, madam chief justice, distinguished members of the Minnesota Supreme Court and chief judges siegal. My fellow constitutional officers, members of my staff, cabinet and the administration, governor dayton, wonderful to see you both. [applause] distinguish tribal leaders, members of the Minnesota National guard, chaplain mark patrick, superintendent, principal, staff and faculty at Owatonna High School and especially students of Owatonna High School. [applause] Lieutenant Governor flanagan and minnesota second gentleman tom weber. [applause]e] minnesotas first lady, gwen walls. [applause] thank you. Honored guest in my fellow minnesotans, maybe its the smell of that freshly sharpened pencil comedy is a site of those desks all lined up in the rose committed the sound of nervous youthful chatter filling the hallways but whatever it is, if your teacher nothing and i mean nothing beats the first day of school. Take it from me, for many yeas of our lives we celebrated new years day not in january but in early fall. When the doors open back up and the kids came back from summer break. The first day of school is all about hope. Its all about opportunity and its all about endless possibility. Thats never been more true than here in owatonna last fall when the doors open on this dutiful new building, at 317,000 square foot stateoftheart symbol of this curious commitment to its children. [applause] imagine when he walked to the door the first time as a student, the whole world opens up in front of you. The classrooms here are gorgeous. Theyre full of Natural Light and modern technology. As you explore you find that only the wood, the metal in the engine shop come when next generation equipment, nursing lab, a full commercial kitchen and soo much more. Because this building is a factory. And what it manufactures is futures. You can see when you walked in here the curb appeal is undeniable. But this building wasnt built for looks for the first of school. It was built for the last when a student walks out of here the last time as a graduating senior, they could have taken in a pocket. I think it to a good paying career that they can feel excited about pursuing. Theyll go on to be Construction Managers and firefighters, farmers, welders, and cardiac surgeons. Im not only will have the foundation to pursue any life they can dream of, many of them will have advanced credentials that gives him a leg up on that journey. Think about how many young people who walk out those dh spring full of passion and purpose, and ready to make a contribution to this community, the state and this world. Ready to work and build and grow, ready to make the state of our state Even Stronger than it is today. [applause] i came to thank all of you for coming tonight to celebrate this Magnificent School and discuss the work that were doing to improve the lives of children across minnesota. But also what people remember just how many things had to go right for the station to become a reality. Everybody in this town knows the back story. The old high school, while beautiful and historic was 100 years old. People in this committee havent talked aboutki replacing it for decades. But it wasnt until a few years ago that the leaders and the public and private sectors came together and decided it was time to stop talking and time to start building. Federated insurance, a cornerstone of owatonna since the early 20th century, alleged a major investment, not just for the good of the community which they care deeply about but a good of the future workforce. Other companies joined in, offering not just money but equipment and expertise. Owatonna voters overwhelmingly approved a bindingng referendum, and finally this committee was ready to take the plunge and act to put some shovels in the ground. That small window of opportunity, that brief moment when the stars aligned produce a Community Institution that you are in today that will stand for decades and will impact tens of thousands of children. [applause] meaning in this room know that most of the time politics is incremental, frustrating, and sometimes when blocked altogether. But every once in what you get an opportunity to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. It happened here in owatonna in 2019. And after half a century of waiting it happened again in st. [applause] i couldnt be more proud of the rkwork weve done together in ts window of opportunity to improve education inside the walls of the school, and in every School Across the state. We have given our children a Brighter Future by making the largest investment in public p education in our states history. Weve increased teacher pay and doubled down on her efforts to recruit teachers for more diverse backgrounds. We have expanded access to Mental Health resources, social workers, nurses and chemical dependency counselors. Weve invested making sure every student can read at grade level. Weve expanded special education and career and Technical Education as part of our commitment that says every Minnesota Student should receive a worldclass education regardless of where they live or where they go to school. [applause] we are working to make minnesota the best state and country for a kid equip and our work extends far beyond the walls of the school. Weve expanded access to prek and affordable childcare. We have made a billion [applause] weve made 1 billion investment in Affordable Housing so this children and films have a place to call home. [applause] weve established 310 College Education so but has opportunity to pursue their dream. [applause] weve made it easier to balance career and family by making paid family and medical leave the law of the land. [applause] and we want anyone to feel welcome and we make minnesota a more welcoming place my outline things like conversion therapy for lgbtq youth and putting in place new protections for transminnesotans so they can live their best life. [applause] weve invested together hundreds of millions of dollars to bring competitive, highpaying jobs to minnesota to expand our economy with an eye toward Sustainable Green Energy future. Weve expanded [applause] weve expanded the right to collectively bargain and what is because minnesota always has been and always will be a labor state. [cheers and applause] and we collectively have lived up to ourr responsibility to hr by cutting taxes for our seniors. Weve invested 300 million in Public Safety for communities across the state to fight crime and improve emergency services. And we struck a blow against Climate Change putting minnesota on a path to 100 clean energy by 2040 and leading the nation. [applause] we expanded Voting Rights to make it easier for people to vote, thanks to the leadership of sector simon secretary simon. [applause] and weve announced plans to stop medical debt from ruining peoples credit and lies, i cut that enters right back to zero because of the leadership of the attorney general. [applause] and we put food on the table for struggling families by passing a new Child Tax Credit that is estimated to cut childhood poverty in minnesota i onethird and baking minnesota the state with the lowest childhood poverty rate in theil u. S. [applause] looked, and speaking of putting food on the table, specially in this place, we are reducing real results from a grantmaking commitment to providing Free School Breakfast and lunch toid all ofh our children. [applause] the data shows her 2 more kids are eating breakfast, 11 more kids are eating lunch at school and before. Truly illustrate the scope of the problem that were trying to tackle. That means students it might have had an empty stomach now go into the classroom full and ready to learn. [applause] now yet for some reason, some, and i will say this, especially from other states, rolled her eyes when we talk with of collectively working to educate and feed our children. They say its not the role of the government to pay her on all the foodar and all the education on this. Certainly not. But instead of working to solve those problems they are spending their time andd energy and ther political capitalic picking figs with Beer Companies and librarians. Look, speaking on behalf of minnesota,a, were happy to have people move here. Were happy to private Sector Investment dollars here, and were happy to have brilliant young people moving ine from other states. But we are not going to take is a radical ideas that make it more difficult for someone to live the life that they are choosing to live. That is [applause] that is especially true where we are seeing across the country choosing to interfere with peoples families. We saw it recently with a bunch of judges down in alabama, ruled that a frozen embryo holds the same right as a human being. As a direct result of that decision fertility clinics closed across the state putting men andn women only wishing to have a t family with nowhere to turn. Some of you heard me say this, and i heard people come up and say we have heard you talk about this before, thats because your own personal decisions about your family are no ones business but your own. [applause] but i will say this pic if youve never personally gone through the help of infertility, i guarantee you someone you know has. I know when quinn and i were having trouble getting pregnant, the anxiety, the frustration would have blotted out the sun. All we want with something that seems so simple, to have that child. What those judges did was a direct attack on our family. It wasn the direct attack on my children. Gwen and i will not forget it. Nor will we forgive it. And neither will thousands across the state. [applause] when roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the door was wide open a for this type of attacks on personal decisions and personal families. That attack has been here and its up to us to make sure we stop it. Thats why here in minnesota the Legislature Took action after roe v. Wade fell, writing protection for reproductive freedom into a state laws and making sure that people not politicians can make their own reproductive choices, including ivf. [applause] you have my pledge as long as im governor ivf will continue to be a lifeline to folk for families just like mine so they, too, can celebrate the beautiful families that each and every one of us so dearly want. So meanwhile, why they fight these fights, were going to keep the building. Were going to keep the building to sam is, were going to keep building khmers, keep building more roads and bridges, going to keepke building more Career Pathways and more schools and were going to be building more opportunities for our kids, their kids, and for generations to come. [applause] and ill say part of that good work includes following up on all of the incredible work that this legislature did. Things like building a new state agency focused on children, youth, and families to be more efficient in implementing programs. [applause] we need to stand up paydown and medical leave andnd we need to make sure that our adult use cannabis works to make sure that we expunge those prosecutions that shouldve never been there in the first place, making sure adults can make their own choices. And that work [applause] and i want to thank the people who dohe that work, the state employs are working around the clock to make sure that minnesotans can take advantage of this legislators positive vision for minnesota. So thank you to the state workers. [applause] that work will include building on on a foundation for more success. On just recently we reached an agreement ont an next set a budget targets, i do what you think our legislative leaders for the cooperation, dedication and working together. Earlier this year Lieutenant Governor and i announced a major new infrastructure plan, something all that always have had about our support, and the vicious effort to invest in things that make our communityts strong, clean water, safe streets, affordableus housing. [applause] this plan maken sure every community has safe streets. While a file that crime has declined in minneapolisst. Paul and across the state, theyre still much work to do. Were putting real funding behind his name including expanding the capacity for the bureau of criminal apprehension and planning for the construction of a new Minnesota State patrol headquarters. [applause] this plan also make sure we are continuing to invest to make sure every minnesotan has a safe and affordable place to call home. We are Backing Development of multifamily housing so that seniors, families, and anyone facing homelessness can find a place to be. We want to update the minneapolis Veterans Home to better serve those who have served us. [applause] this plan that is before the legislature make sure thesu wee investing in clean water every minnesotan has access to. We want to invest in grants and lowinterest loans to replace lead pipes and move the socalled forever chemicals from Drinking Water across the state. [applause] and being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars we want to make sure that every building thats owned by the taxpayer is in good repair. Buildings like the ones at Minnesota State and the university are in need of renovation and upkeep, and our infrastructure plan has sunday to make it happen. And the good news is all of that work will be done by union labor. [applause] these might not be that flashy but these arey, the initiatives and make an enormous difference in real peoples lives across the state. And theres no reason we cant get them done this session. Theres a reason that both parties cant be part of getting done. I know youre not going to agree on everything. Safe streets . We can agree on. Clean water . We can agree on. Affordable housing . We can agree on. Some ask you to join me and not just at the ribboncutting but in the work to get it done in the first place. [applause] one less thing i like to talk about when you into space. I walk around the halls at some of you out but got a chance to see this magnificent facility. I walked around the halls and a kind of put myself in the shoes of a student walking in there for the first time. I want those kids to feel hopeful. I want them to feel inspired. I want them to feel cared for. Which they are. But theres one thing that i want no kid to feel, the one thing that no child a in any buildingng should feel, is afra. When you come into high school, you should be worried about pop quizzes and prom dates, not mass shootings. Thats what has government ive made it a point to move towards responsible gun ownership and take the nra on on this issue. [applause] last you implemented two pieces of legislation that are long overdue. Red flags and strengthen background checks. And make no mistake about it, this keeps guns out of the wrong hands and saves lives. Tonight im urging the legislature together to join me andch our schools and our communities to make them just aa little bit safer by strengthening the requirements for an safe storaged of firears and asking our newest reported lost or stolen firearms, and increasing the criminal penalties for straw purchases. These are bipartisan ideas that we should be able to get done making a difference in safety in minnesota. [applause] again, im not naive. It can be a dangerous world. We were reminded of that earlier when three of our aim is First Responders lost their lives at the hands of a man who should i never had a gun. We know that we cant legislate against every act of violence, but surely we can do more. Ask your neighbors to store those guns safely, to report them is or stolen is a simple step that can save lives and its high time minnesota take that simple step. [applause] in school choice, look, if minnesotans want to look at the record of accomplishment andin keep sending us back to saint paul, it wouldnt mind that one bit. We have a lot ofof work yet to o but this window of opportunity isis still open. We needti to keep working to get the progress done. But i like all of you know the Public Service is not a a prominent privilege for any one party nor any one person. Long we have been in office, there was a first day on the job. My guess is it looked a lot like the first day of school, a bit of nervousness, little bit of excitement, cannot find the bathrooms, who you have lunch with. All of you know it is what it was. The truth is each of us will have a last day in office too. We will leave a little bit older, some a lot older, maybe a bit grayer, but hopefully all of us little wiser. We walk out the doors of the capital the last time, we will get that opportunity to