Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. President , mr. Speaker, honorable members of the Supreme Court, members of the state legislature and my cabinet, former governors, family and friends, this is the seventh time that i have had the honor step before this legislature and the people of new jersey to perform one of my duties as governor. Article 5, section 1, paragraph 12 of our constitution. Creates the requirement for the governor to report on the state of the state. As the one person independently elected by all new jersey State Government, the governor is the only person truly able to give this report. For me, service to the people of this state has been my central responsibility every day of my life for the last 15 years. First as United States attorney. And now as governor. As i enter my eighth year as governor, it is my honor and privilege to report on the state of the state that i call home for me and for my family. The state of the state is good. Having boldly dealt with so many of the longterm problems we inherited in 2010, having an economy which continues to grow, and now ready to use 2017 to confront problems that still need solving. I stand here today prepared to give every ounce of energy i have to make 2017 a year where we solve more big problems for the citizens of new jersey. So lets start with the central issues of our economy. Since we entered office seven years ago in the depths of the recession, new jersey has created 278,000 new private sector jobs. We now have had seven consecutive years of private sector job growth, and all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession have now been recovered by the people of the state of new jersey. At the same time, we have kept our promise to reverse the outlandish growth of government which was created in the decade before our arrival. We have eliminated more than 10,000 government jobs at the state level, and over 21,000 more government jobs at the county and local government level through our effective property tax cap. That is 31,000 government jobs eliminated in just seven years. We promised a smaller government, and, ladies and gentlemen, we have delivered. And let me remind you that in State Government, all of this was done without any layoffs. It was all done through effective management and fiscal discipline with the peoples money. Existing home sales which is always a good barometer of the health of a states economy rose 15 in 2016. Home sales are growing and new jersey is growing with them. So as a result, look at whats happened to the states unemployment rate. At 9. 8 when we entered office, now 5 . Nearly cut in half. 445,000 New Jerseyans were out of work when we came to trenton seven years ago. 50 fewer are unemployed today. Now while the pundits and prognosticators always see is glat as half empty, for new jersey faps out of work in 2010 the glass is much fuller, much, much fuller as we enter 2017 and all of us collectively should be proud of the work we have done to make it so for them. Weve also restored responsible budgeting back to new jersey government. Think about this. Discretionary spending by State Government is 2. 3 billion less in actual dollars today than it was nine years ago. Heres what that means. Nearly every additional dollar we have collected in taxes this administration has dedicated to deal with our historic problems pension payments, Health Insurance premiums, and debt service. This year, we will make a 1. 9 billion payment to the pension fund. That is the largest singleyear pension payment made in state history. And that will bring our total payments to the Pension System to 6. 3 billion, and that is twice as much as governors whitman, de francehsco, and corzine combined. This administration has been far and away by numbers the most generous in the Pension System in the last 23 years, and we are proud to have stepped up to our responsibility. Now despite the fact that we have not been able to pay every penny we had hoped to after our landmark 2011 reforms, those reforms have been working. The Supreme Court supported our reforms despite a failed and expensive assault on those reforms by the Public Sector unions. And we have done more to restore solvency to this broken system than any recent group of leaders in this city. All of us together. Now theres more to do, and i will present more ideas to finish the job we started with pension reform in 2011 when i present you with my 2018 budget next month. But until then, we should acknowledge and be proud of the fact that we have passed reforms that will save the Pension System nearly 120 billion over 30 years and that we have doubled the states contribution to the system during our term over what was paid into it in the last 16 years before we arrived. Thats progress. And that will be more to come in february. Now finally, 2017 will be the first year since 1996 that new jersey citizens will see broadbased tax cuts. [ applause ] thats right. For the first time in over 20 years New Jerseyans will actually see taxes go down this year. This was a partisan fight for six years. As my republican colleagues and i regularly called for tax cuts, our democratic colleagues regularly said, no. I want to thank my, friends in this chamber for standing strong for six years so that these tax cuts could finally become a reality in year seven. Now to my democratic friends in this chamber, i want to thank you you, too, for making 2017 a year when New Jerseyans can finally get tax relief. But, by the way, it is tax relief we can all be really proud of. In 2017 our sales tax will be cut for the first time in decades, and even better news, it will be cut again on january 1st, 2018. 520 million in relief for every New Jerseyans who pays a sales tax. That means for every new jerseyan living here today. In 2017 the working poor in new jersey will get even more assistance to raise their families. When we entered office the earned income tax credit was 25 . In 2015, we increased the credit to 30 . And last year, we increased it again effective january 1st to 35 . That now puts us in the top 10 of all states in providing this tax relief to the working poor and we should be proud that we are helping families who are already helping themselves. [ applause ] 2017 is going to be even a better year for seniors on a fixed income. Were going to begin to gain even more income for retirement. In four years seniors can make 100,000 in Retirement Income and pay no state income taxes at all. This is going to help our seniors stay in our state. Once they stay, to live an even better life. This is going to keep families together, it is going to reward seniors who have planned responsibly for their own retirement. Now 2017, the death tax has been put on life support and by 2018, the death tax in new jersey will be officially dead itself. [ applause ] youve all heard the stories, people often flee our state in their senior years because they tax them to death while they live here, and then to add to the burden and indignity, we tax them again more than any other state after they die. People will now be able to choose new jersey rather than one of the other 49 states in the union, in their senior years because we will stop smoking. Lets take a moment to have some silence prayer for my friend and new jerseys friend, pastor joe carter of new baptist church. Hell be tended to and lets just momently be silent and think of joe and make sure he comes through it okay. All right. New jersey estate tax has risen from a 675,000 exclusion to a 2 million exclusion on january 1st. And on january 1st, 2018, new jersey will no longer have an estate tax at all. Now, this is going to be Game Changing tax reform for new jerseys economy, for our families, and for the Small Businesses they want to pass on to their family. Finally, in 2017, our veterans will be honored for their service in our military by our tax code. New jersey veterans who are honorably discharged from service will get their own personal exemption from state income taxes. Their distinguished service to our nation deserves nothing less. So imagine that, republicans and democrats coming together to lower taxes for all New Jerseyans in 2017. It took seven years to get it done, but we should be proud that taxpayers will get to keep more of their own money in 2017 than they did in 2016. [ applause ] now as people sit and listen to a state of the state speech, they often wonder, how many of the goals and aspirations that a governor details actually get accomplished . Good question. So lets review the goals that we set in 2016 in this speech and what were able to accomplish together in the year since. In 2016 i called on the legislature to finally eliminate the death tax in new jersey. As we just talked about, we did it together. In 2016, we acknowledged something at least many of us did that our cities need even more service from Charter Schools. Were already providing extraordinary opportunities to students and their families for a brighter future, and thats why families are still on waiting lists in our major cities to get into a quality charter school. It is not a political decision by them. It is a decision based upon the quality of life for their children and their aspirations for their future. Now we promised to loosen regulations in the speech last year that are choking the growth and expansion of Charter Schools, most particularly in our urban centers. This past week the state board of education advanced efforts to make Charter Schools in new jersey even more effective by allowing them to it be even more innovative. 2016, we promised a 100 million increase in funding for Mental Health and Substance Abuse treatment. Now in this area, we exceeded our promise by adding 127 million to increase access to these vital Human Services for the most vulnerable in ourp state. 2016 we promgsed to open the First Certified drug abuse Treatment Facility for new Jersey Prison inmates in state history. This spring a 696bed facility will open, and every inmate who enters it will receive First Class Drug and alcohol abuse treatment before they leave prison and go back on the streets to try to recover their life. In 2016 we spoke about our successful recovery coach program, and in 2015 we had it operating in five counties. Was so successful that we promised to more than double than in 2016 to 11 of our counties. Whats the program. To remind you, the program puts counselors in hospital Emergency Rooms to help people begin the road to recovery in a way that gives them an even greater chance of success from the minute theyre getting ready to leave the emergency room. We promised greater opportunity for recovery addicts to reclaim their lives, and now in more than half of new jerseys counties, just as we promised, recovery coaches are doing just that in Emergency Rooms. [ applause ] now those were the five central promises of the 2016 state of the state speech. Im proud to say that on each and every one of them we delivered. So, listen a little more carefully this time. We might actually do what we say were going to do. Listen to the speech and people in new jersey should listen also. I hope theyll have the same level of confidence that we will achieve the goals we set today the way we did in 2016. There are so many issues that i could talk about today and look back on with pride. There are so many future issues that i could talk about today and look to with a sense of urgency. And there are so many stories from the last year that i could relate to you today in this speech with a true sense of wonder. But im not going to do that today. For that, i guess youre all just going to have to wait for the book. [ laughter ] [ applause ] and wait. And wait. And wait. But seriously. Im not going to do it today because our state faces a crisis which is more urgent to new jerseys families than any other issue we could confront. A crisis which is destroying families. One that is ripping the very fabric of our state apart. It is the crisis of drug addiction. On december 21st, we held a candlelight vigil on the steps of this historic building. Over 750 people from all over the state attended to show their solidarity with our efforts and their concern for their fellow citizens. Now in the group that night was pam garazzo. She is an employee of the state department of education. Now pam has been a passionate drug awareness and prevention advocate for years. For her, her reasons are personal. Her son, carlos, has battled addiction since he was 16 years old. During his periods of sobriety, carlos was amazing. He volunteered his time running support groups for fellow addicts, at the same time he maintained and thrived at a successful job. He spent time with his family and his friends and he brought all them together for this cause. And they fought his addiction with him as a family. Pam came to the vigil on december 21st to jrejoice in carlos latest 10 1 2 months of uninterrupted sobriety. And she came there that night to celebrate the gifts that she said that sobriety had brought to her son and to their family. Two days later, on december 23rd, carlos relapsed, and he was found in his mothers car dead at 23 years old from a heroin overdose. Today mary pat and i extend our deepest sympathy to pam for her enormous loss and we thank her for her advocate for and in support of other families whose lives have been ravaged by this awful disease. Today, what i am doing today, is for people like pam. Together we will save lives around by doing so, honor the lives of those we have lost, like her dear son, carlos, through the pain of her enormous loss. Pam still has the strength and the courage just weeks later to be here today with her husband. We owe her not only our sympathy, but we owe her our gratitude for her commitment to this cause and to the others who suffer from it in new jersey. [ applause ] thank you. Ladies and gentlemen of new jersey, this is the face of the epidemic of addiction that is ravaging our state and its people. In fact, it is ravaging our entire country. Very few people want to talk about it. We want to continue to pretend that it is isolated to one class of people or one type of family in our state. We want to continue to take the same approaches weve taken for 30 years or more, to jail those who have this disease. We want to close our eyes and hope this scourge passes by our own home, if we just hope and pray hard enough to make it so. Well, hoping and praying alone will not make it better. Arresting, jailing, stigmatizing the victims will not make it better. Our friends are dying. Our neighbors are dyinging. Our coworkers are dying. Our children are dying. Every day. In numbers we can no long i afford to ignore. I am the leader of this state. I have been the leader of this state for the last 2,546 days, and i will be its leader for the next 373 days. And i have been committed to this every day of my governorship. And today i say to each and everyone of you, i need you to join me and feel the same sense of urgency to save lives now. [ applause ] let me be clear to ever ever new jerseyan both in this chamber and in all 21 of our counties. Drug addiction is a disease. A disease. It is not a moral failing. And it is a disease that can be treated. And by treating the disease with the methods we know, and treating its victims with understanding and compassion, we have a chance to save lives. Never forget, each of those lives are an individual gift from god. There can be no calling more clear, no matter your faith, than the calling to save lives. Now we have taken some admirable steps over the last couple of years and we have made some prodprepr progress but it is clearly not enough. I can see it by watching the grow is cost to our budgets. I can feel it by looking into the eyes of too many loved ones who have lost someone so close and so dear that you can actually see their hearts breaking. Beyond the human cost, which is incalculable, there is a real lost to every part of life in new jersey. So you come to this chamber because you care about children . Well, this is affecting our education system. Children coming to school high or tortured by a drug culture at home cannot learn. You came to this chamber because you care about improving the health care system. Great. It is affecting the medical community. The cost of this epidemic is putting a burden on our system which we will not be able to bear in the years to come. So you came here because youre concerned about law and order and saved in the streets. Thats great. But this is affecting how we fight crime. Police are in danger every day. Citizens are at risk on the streets and on the roads, and drug addiction cause is behavior that Law Enforcement simply cannot handle. You are here about economy and the jobs and thats what brought you here . Well, believe me, it is affecting the Financial Security of every person it touches. Jobs lost, savings wasted. Potential ruined. All by a culture of addiction. None of that adds to our economy. Just stalls it. Lets say you came here today because you care most about your own family. Well, let me tell you this. Only through the grace of god has it not touched your family already. You are among the lucky ones and your luck could run out at any moment. This administration has done more than any in new jersey history on the issue of addiction and were proud of it. Were proud of what weve done, but its not been enough. We have to do more. Drug Overdose Deaths in new jersey escalated by nearly 22 between 2014 and 15. Deaths escalated by 22 , largely due to opopioids. There was a 30 increase in heroin deaths over the previous year, and trip many the number of deaths causes by the synthetic opioid fentanyl which is 50 times more potent than heroin. Nearly 1,600 people lost their lives to a