Eastern, sights and sounds from inside the ballroom before festivities begin. Watch the white house correspondents dinner, live, saturday, april 27, on the c span networks. Democrat wes moore has been governor of maryland for just over a year. He gave a state of the state address in annapolis, where he shared his vision for the future of education, job creation, and Reproductive Health care. Governor moore is the first black governor of maryland. s speech is about 45 minutes. Madame speaker. Mr. President. Lieutenant governor. Members of the general assembly. Members of our congressional delegation. Colleagues in state and local government, and my fellow marylanders. One minute year ago, we began our Work Together. We knew that we, while we had boundless opportunities in this state, and we had blending potential in this state, we also knew that we were leaving too much potential on the table. One year later, we still have work to do. We learned a lot of lessons. Some hard lessons. But solving big problems does not happen overnight. But lets be clear. A change is happening. Today, the state of our state it is strong. Weve announced the creation of nearly 40,000 new jobs, many of them in communities that have been historically left behind. We have the lowest Unemployment Rate in the country for the fifth month in a row. Crime is down across the state and homicides in Baltimore City are the lowest they have been in nine years. And communities communities that have been underestimated and undervalued now have an important seat at the table in the halls of power. So im proud. Im proud of what we are doing. But most importantly, im proud of how we are doing it. The executive and the legislature are working together again. And it feels good. We choose to sweat the details of governing. Knowing that our constituents deserve nothing less. And by moving in partnership, we have helped to make life easier for the people that we are here to serve. We have launched a full frontal assault on Child Poverty that will lift a combined 160,000 children up the wrong on the economic ladder. We have returned still and snap benefits to our most honorable, to thousands of marylanders that are living paycheck to paycheck. We protected 5000 maryland children who are at risk of having their medic age medicaid coverage taken away. Weve worked with farmers in waterman to get healthy meals to food deserts. We have positioned maryland to meet our climate goals and lead in the cleanup of the chesapeake bay. Importantly, we got together, and we got some big stuff done. The truth is, these are not just our wins. These are marilyns winds. Now, i know i talk a lot about partnership. The state received a nickel for every time i said the word partnership, we would have all of our budget issues solved. Right, senator . But lets be clear. Partnership is not the goal. Fulfilling the promise of maryland is the goal. Ownership is how we will get there. For too long, we have watched how the executive would pick fights with the legislature in the media, instead of showing real leadership and engagement in the state house. So we have decided so we have decided we are going to move differently. Our state is going to be better because of it. The challenges will be shared. The setbacks will be shared. But the victories . They will be shared, too. We cant agree on everything, and we wont. The truth is, it would be weird if we did. But we can, and we will Work Together to achieve common goals. And i want to talk about some of those shared goals today. Tomorrow, our administration will unveil our plan to guide our Work Together. Tomorrow, we will unveil our state plan, and it is the first estate plan that this state has had in nearly a decade. It doesnt just set the agenda for the next three months. It will chart the course that we will take for the next three years. And our state plan is about more than just aspirational targets. The plan that we are going to lay out, it will layout specific, actionable, realistic, and measurable goals. We built these priorities by listening to the people who sent us here in the first place. Our constituents. Last year, we went to your districts with you. We toured in an electric vehicle in hagerstown. We sat down with students in glen burnie to talk about gun violence. We went to see tractors at the eastern shore. By the way, some of the instructors are pretty bad. And we grouped together in Washington County after the tragic and unconscionable killing of andrew wilkinson. We traveled with all of you to all 24 jurisdictions in the state of maryland, and we listened to the people, together. Our state plan is not a reflection of my aspirations. Its not a reflection of our aspirations. It is a reflection of theirs. Today, i want to talk about what we heard. First, we heard that the people of our state want to make maryland safer. Public safety remains this administrations top priority, and that will not change. Work, where they worship and where they go to school and hate has no home in the state of we will protect marylanders where they live, where they work, where they worship, and where they go to school. Hate has no home in the state of maryland. [applause] if you talk to people in our neighborhoods they will tell you this is not a discussion that can happen in absolutes. But if you talk to people in our neighborhoods, they will tell you this isnt a discussion that can happen in absolutes. That we need to move beyond the simplicity of how pundits talk about Public Safety, and move toward a complexity of how people experience Public Safety. Because the truth is is that the sound of a police siren does have a different page depending on the neighborhood you grew up in. I felt handcuffs on my wrists when i was 11 years old because our community was over policed and we knew it. However, we also wanted to feel protected from Violent Crime at home and in our communities. People shouldnt have to choose between feeling safe in their skin and feeling safe in their communities. Support law enfort or do you want to build stronger yet, these are the kinds s of false choices that dominate the Public Safety debate. Do you support Law Enforcement, or do you want to build stronger neighborhoods . Do you want to hold criminals accountable or do you want to focus on rehabilitation . We are told to pick a side. Oftentimes, by people who, frankly, do not have an interest in solving the problem. And so to break these false choices, we need everybody at the table. Our administration will continue the approach to Public Safety. We will listen to Law Enforcement and we will listen to the communities they protect. We will listen to state attorneys and to the public defenders. We will listen to elected leaders and we will listen to local advocates. We are up against a new challenge. We need to come up with the new solutions. Our state is facing a record of high vacancies in Public Safety jobs. We need to address them. And we will. With legislation that we have introduced. Marylanders are seeking justice for victims of crime. More accountability for people who break the law, and that her rehabilitation for our children. We must answer them. And we will. By working in partnership with the general assembly. Neighborhoods are calling for us to get these illegal guns off of our streets and out of our neighborhoods. And for bringing consequences to those who do not hear us loud enough. [applause] and we must hear them. And we and for bringing consequences to those who do not hear us loud enough. And we must hear them. And we have. And im proud that maryland will be the first state to answer the call by President Biden to launch a statewide center for firearm violence prevention, and we will deal with this issue. Safer i say this to you, we heard so for the people who have said to us, that we need to make maryland safer, i say this to you. Weve heard you. And we are moving. Second, weve heard that people want us to make maryland more affordable. In 2022, maryland was ranked as the seventh most expensive state to live in. We are not proud of that. But ill tell you what. That also tells a story. Its a story of the entrepreneur in cumberland. With a bold idea to create a new business, but who doesnt have the money to make rent this month, let alone start a company. Its a story of the mom in leonardtown who works multiple jobs just to put food on the table. This year, we will address two big items, not just in the budget of every family in the state, but on the mind of every family in the state. Housing and childcare. Most marylanders and rental probably put a third of their monthly paycheck towards rent. Many can no longer afford to live in their home in the same neighborhood that they grew up most marylanders in rental properties put a third of their monthly paycheck toward rent. Many can no longer afford to live in the home in the same neighborhood that they grew up in. Our state faces a problem of supply and demand. Prices go up because we do not have enough homes. So building more homes will help to bring prices down. I have introduced three housing bills to address that in this session. We will create new financial tools to drive development and redevelopment in communities that need it the most. We will stand up for renters and we will build new pathways to Home Ownership and wealth creation. We will stand up for renters and confront the harsh truth that maryland has the highest eviction filing rates in america. We will cut government red tape that makes it harder to build quality housing. We must and we will protect our farmland and our wild habitats. And we need to make sure that we are also incentivizing housing in places where we should build. Guys, this is about lives and livelihood. We need to make it easier for people to live here, to stay here, and to retire here. And to that end, we have assembled the most comprehensive housing package that any Maryland Administration has introduced in years. And we will Work Together to get it done. But making life easier for working families it doesnt end with housing. Last month, the comptroller released a report outlining the affordability problems in our state that families are facing every day. The report highlighted that as the cost of childcare increases, overall female employment decreases by 5 . And that is why our proposed budget includes the single largest investment for funding of childcare in marilyns history. That investment is going to support 45000 maryland children this year. We can make these in childcare and housing that investment is going to support 45,000 maryland children this year. And we can make these investments in childcare and housing without raising taxes on marylanders. There are leaders in this chamber who have always fought for Kitchen Table issues. I know because i get to partner with someone who has used her lifework for 2 1 2 decades to make this real. Speaker adrian johnson. Because of his jones, maryland leads the nation in making prescription drugs more affordable. Because of speaker jones, maryland leads the nation in making prescription drugs more affordable. Healthcare is more affore two. Because of speaker jones, Reproductive Healthcare isnt just a right for maryland women and families, Reproductive Healthcare is more affordable, too. My friend, thank you for your leadership. Select the people who said that we need to make maryland more affordable, all the people who came up to us and said we need the state to be more affordable, i want them to hear me clear, too. We have heard you. And we are moving. Third, we heard that people want us to make maryland more competitive. Last year, we got marylands economy moving. We secured federal investments in the Frederick Douglass tunnel project. We have ensured that the new fbi headquarters will be located in prince georges county. We have kept the orioles in baltimore for decades to come. Weve delivered over 1. 4 billion to small and minority owned businesses through the board of public works. Undersed households to narrow the digital divide. We provided more than 130,000 laptops to underserved households to narrow the digital divide. And we were worked to accelerate the Clean Energy Transition in every part of our state, and not just some. Now, im grateful to President Biden, our federal delegation, and all of the state and local and municipal leaders who have been fighting for these projects since day one. But together, what we showed is, maryland can win this moment. Together, going forward, we will continue to build on our progress. We will invest in industries of the future with funding for lifesciences and biotech and data centers, and cyber. We will cut red tape so that maryland is the friendliest state in the nation to start and build business. We will make reforms to the procurement process so the state of maryland can be a true partner to entrepreneurs, and we will engage in a robust debate of how maryland funds transportation projects across the state. Team, we have to make it easier for people to travel from where they live to where opportunity lies. The state of maryland has funded transportation the same way for a decade. Thats got to change. To win the next decade, we need to make maryland the best state in the country for our kids. And understand who it is that we are supposed to be fighting for while we are here. When our young people get the tools that they need, to strengthen their minds, and strengthen their hearts, they grow up to dream and to lead. That is why we must build stronger pathways to success for our young people, no matter what road they choose. We need to work with our friends in labor and our friends in the Business Community to grow apprenticeships and job training programs. And we need to keep investing in Substance Use services, mental health, and making sure we are taking care of our children and their families. And we need to honor our pledge to make maryland schools the best in this entire country. St. That is why for the second year in a row our administration it is time. It is time to support our students. It is time to support our educators, and that time is now. That is why, for the second year in a row, our administration has proposed record funding for k12 schools, and funded the blueprint for marylands future. Opportunity. We can seize that opportunity the blueprinton is a once in a generation opportunity, and we can seize that opportunity, but only if we do it in partnership. We must bring together local electives, school districts, legislators, and yes, the governors office, too. We are going to get this right. We have to. But we have to be clear eyed, honest, committed, and united. In order to make this real. The money is important. But strategy, accountability, and partnership, are imperative to get this done right. Weve got to spend smarter across all of our state programs. In a way that respects the taxpayer, in a way that actually follows data, in a way that response to the needs of our communities. So last month, we unveiled landmark legislation that is guided by that exact approach. It is called the enough act. You will use it to continue our assault on Child Poverty, especially concentrated and generational Child Poverty. Aging neighborhoods, organizations, unions, governments, and households. That is what enough stands for. But it is more than an acronym. It is a governing philosophy. We believe that people who are closest to the challenge are the ones closest to the solutions. They are just hardly ever at the table. If they offer the vision, we can offer the support, and not the other way around. Support y and economically secure the enough act is about moving in partnership to create safe and thriving communities. It is about involving our communities and moving in partnership to support healthy and economically secure families. It is about moving in partnership to ensure access to highquality education and healthcare for our children who need and deserve it the most. And im proud to stand with leaders. They champion this kind of work and have for ears perk we have reached out to communities who have been left behind. Talking about people like chairwoman vanessa atterbeary. Talking about people like malcolm augustine. Im talking about folks like the members of the legislative black caucus, and their fearless leader, chair jheanelle wilkins. It is time to make work, wages, and wealth a reality for every maryland or. Now is the time to drive Economic Growth and all of our communities, including communities of color perk nows the time to eliminate the racial wealth gap, and we are going to be unapologetic about it. Because lets be clear. The racial wealth gap is not hurting a group. The racial wealth gap is hurting all of us. Because if we can narrow that gap, we will see how it will increase the gdp of an entire state, and do not take my word for it. Take data. We can and we will get this done. So to the people who have said to me that we need to make maryland more competitive, i say this to you. I hear you, and weve heard you. And we are moving. And fourth, and finally, we want to make maryland the state that serves. That means supporting thosewho every single day run towards danger instead of running away from it. That means standing with our state workers who oftentimes go unsung and go unheard. That means of those who put everything on the line for us. To and that means uplifting the families of those who put everything on the line for us to help keep us safe. We will address each of these goals with policy, and with partnership. This year, we have introduced legislation to ensure our firefighters receive that medical benefits that they deserve. We have worked with unions to deliver a raise to state employees for the second year in a row. Weve worked with unions to deliver a raise to state employees for the second year in a row. [applause] and we are working together to ensure that our military families arent forgotten. You know, when i deployed to afghanistan, i thought military service and deployments were toughest on the you kno