This is 45 republican mark gordon has been the governor there since 2019 after serving as state treasurer. In february he spoke to a joint legislation session in cheyenne to share his vision for Energy Production and education. This runs 45 minutes. Thank you. Good to see you. Thank you. It is good to e]see you. Good morning. Thank you. Good morning. It is an honor to be here. President driscoll, speakers summers and members of the 67th legislature. Jenny and i say thank you for the opportunity to be here but before i begin i would like to take a moment to remember two remarkable people. Senator hines who served in this chamber and bobby the beloved wife of our senior senator john barrasso. Please let us take a moment. Both of those individuals lived each day for wyoming and thank you for honoring them. Secretary gray, treasurer meyer, superintendent. Chief justice fox. I do look forward to your remark is. Justice baumgarten, justice and i would like to ask justice counts to stand for a moment so that we may recognize him. He is right there. Thank you thank you. Justice, i never miss anything. He will be retiring next month and so, your service not only to the judiciary but also the supreme court, we truly appreciate. I am going to ask you to stand as we have several people i would like to recognize. I have to be the chief justice for the shortest speech so, i would like to honor from the eastern shoshone tribe. But he had an emergency on the way down here. He is in wheatland and will try to get down here, but we can honor him as well. I have to say with both tribes its been an chairman would be here but nc he had an emergency and is in wheatland and will try to get here. I have to say for both tribes it has been an incredible honor and we have made remarkable progress over the years. I would also like to recognize major of the Global Strike command stationed at francis e warren. Welcome. Us safe. Thank you. Us safe. Major general,he thank you and thank you to all members of the armed forces for your service and for keeping us safe. Here at home our National Guard is the sword and shield and currently we have more than 150 air guard members deployed overseas and far from their families. The general and i visited last month and we can be very proud of the air guard. We can pray for them and their safety and to all members of the wyoming National Guard. Brigadier general. He is here. We congratulate you on your recent appointment as direct your thank you for your service. I think you all just heard Rebecca Burger seeing the sweetest National Anthem on earth. She is also miss wyoming. Ll of our military and their ll families for their these men and women know the meaning of service. Please join me in saying thank you to the military and their families for their service. Let us never forget let us never forget our prisoners of war and those missing in action. We want them home. God bless america. Please be seated. Distinguished guests, friends, family. Here in the chamber and online, without further ado, thank you for your warm welcome. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to address you again at the commencement of this session. Let me begin by reporting to you that wyoming is as strong as it has ever been. Our economy is growing and spirits are soaring and the future is ours. We have made tremendous progress over the last several years. Even through adversity. Thank you for your collaboration that has kept wyoming moving forward. It is right for us to take a moment to recognize our successes because they have not come easily. A healthy economy means new businesses are relocating to wyoming and businesses are looking to expand of entrepreneurs are starting new enterprises. Unemployment is at its lowest mark in 15 years and wages are growing. We should celebrate that more people are working in wyoming today than there was in february 2020. Wyoming his earned National Recognition as a leader in balancing energy and the environment. Today wyoming agriculture is expanding and is more diverse. And enjoys greater marketing opportunities. Manufacturing is advancing and continues to gain and tourism is on the rise. Our work in education and Workforce Development shows an ambitious and capable workforce. These are good things. Wyoming is open for is this and constantly seeking to innovate and improve and i can probably say that wyoming is on a roll. That is despite a we know best federal government that openly obstructs the industries that have been part of our economy for over a century. It citizens know just how misguided the administration warped and unwise pursuit of its agenda to limit Domestic Production of coal, oil, and gas is. We all pay for it in higher electricity rates, gas prices, and heating cost. People know how these policies have left our nation more vulnerable and put our economy and way of life at risk. As governor i cannot be as blunt as i want to be so in telling you how bad the Biden Administration policy is, let me borrow a phrase from general Norman Schwarzkopf and declared to one and all that the biden Energy Policy is pure, unadulterated, bovine scatology. Tony, i did it. Every spring before turning out we brand our cabs. It is an important job that establishes ownership and prepares cabs for life on the range. Everybody has their favorite approach. I am a bit more traditional but i have to admit that branding can turn into a circus or a demolition derby, especially if your crew is not focused. A good experienced crew works magic and cobs can process properly and efficiently and with a minimum of stress. A well executed branding is a thing of beauty and an achievement to be proud of. A bad one is just misery. A good crew gets asked back year after year. Legislatures are a bit like branding. The come together every year for a few days with specific work to get done. Job one this year is to pass a budget. We have a good crew and although there are lots of opinions there is commitment and expertise. There are times that branding said when someone will try to tackle a calf like a linebacker. The calf will get loose, a horse starts bucking and everyone tries to catch the calf. People know that or have seen it . Chaos ensues. Chaos like what we see in dc. An excellent legislature. Like a branding crew does its job and knows what it is important. We all know there might be 10 tatian for someone to try to tackle a calf during this session but i am confident the task at hand, setting the budget over the next few years is there is enough that folks will keep their attention on meeting the needs of people. This is not washington. Folks are focused on solutions and not politics. This year will be a new experience for some of you. It has been a while since wyoming has seen a normal budget cycle. We have weathered extreme fluctuation in revenue because we are conservative with peoples money. We say for unexpected challenges and address them prudently. The budget that i presented to you keeps general funding flat when compared to 2021. I am grateful for the work of the joint Appropriations Committee as well as its chairs for their careful scrutiny. At its core, this is a conservative and balanced budget oriented to address citizen concerns, economic well being and. Others share my appreciation for the wyoming approach to government because many have decided to make wyoming their new home. I imagine they admire our commitment to freedom and our independent nature. It is great to have new neighbors but still, we hope they respect the legacy of those that have made wyoming what it is. This hits those living on low on fixed incomes, especially hard. Last year i asked for and you provided 8 million to fund the Property Tax Relief fund. It was a success by most accounts. 9000 households got an average refund of more than 900. The experience with the program prompted me to request 20 million in the proposed budget to provide expanded relief for those who need it. When you vote yes on this budget you will be voting for tax relief for vulnerable wyoming citizens. Any of them are seniors. The Property Tax Relief fund comes out of each county office. My colleagues can attest to the long meetings we sometimes had and the difficult choices we had to come to. We have had to allocate funding to meet the extraordinary needs of counties and municipalities. It is 12 to tell the community that we cannot replace their faulty ambulance. The reality is we are forced to stretch funding for other emergencies wherever these emergencies might occur. We could only partially fund one request because we dont know when another emergency might occur. These funds are really important and they help to defray extraordinary expenses that taxpayers would otherwise have to shoulder alone. Your yes on this budget will demonstrate your support for the safety net for our communities and for the people that live in them. You know, county government is about the closest never meant to the people in county treasurers ran the program. They and their colleagues are working with great skill every day to make sure counties have the money to paul rhoads and protect county interest. With that in mind i want to take a moment to recognize the county treasurer. Should help to gently but firmly break in two treasurers. She is also the president of the Wyoming County officers and she is a valuable mentor for newly elected treasurers. For your service, it has been exceptional. Will you please stand and be recognized by those you serve in this great state. Property tax reform is a complex issue impacting county resources but it is also pressing. This legislature will seek a balance that addresses citizen concerns about rising assessed valuations without leaving counties and schools high and dry. A quick examination of Employment Trends suggest that the Economic Future is gaining steam. Our gdp is the highest it has ever been. Wyoming is brimming with economic promise and we must greet opportunity when it knocks with a welltrained prepared workforce. That is what the partnership is all about. You will remember we set a goal two years ago that wyoming would establish a worldclass approach the plan called for linking the Economic Strategy with Community Goals and then engaged our university and Community Colleges to provide a for economic growth. It has taken a while to align. One example is how with launch the daft after an initial investment it is selfsustaining. Owen grew up in the state and has the ambition we value. He saw how wyoming is empowering the nation and understood what it would take to modernize and explain expand. He recognized an opportunity and seized it. Now he is a with Program Graduate living in miami and working in the energy industry. 01, we know you have a risky job, to maintain power lines and bring power to the people and industries of america. You helped keep the lights on and make sure businesses have access to affordable power. On behalf of with, students across wyoming, and your hard working colleague, will you please stand and be recognized. Thank you. [ applause ] the lower valley has a great person there. When you vote yes on the budget this year you are investing in the men and women who, like owen, a finding work in wyoming. Allow me to take a moment to recognize our state employees and they provide many of the essential services and infrastructure that we rely on. All of which keeps our state moving forward. Boats facilitate the movement of wyoming and they facilitate the movement of livestock to market and her kids to school and our visitors across the state. Last winter southwest wyoming was buried under several feet of snow. Those shorthanded wyoming Transportation Department crews step up to meet unprecedented demands there and elsewhere. Plows from all over the state came to assist and someone had to coordinate that effort while assisting with plowing and removing snow. A foreman of the rollins crew stepped up. Everyone needs to know that rick worked 59 consecutive days and endured three vehicle heads while plowing interstate 80. He aided in the rescues of several stranded motorists. Thank you for living with courage and doing what has to be done and keeping your promises. Rick, please stand and be recognized. Now i want to know when this administration started, wyoming employees were underpaid. With some even having to make ends meet with food stamps otherwise known i want to note that when this administration started, wyoming state employees were underpaid. Some even had to make ends meet with food stamps. That is not conservative. That is just cheap state employees state we have changed this unacceptable situation, even after your efforts wyoming still only compensates its state employees at almost the 2022 averages for the regions. Let me emphasize that rick and all of our state employees deserve a fair wage for the work they do serving us, the citizens of wyoming. And when you vote yes on the budget, you are supporting people like rick and many oi others who need and deserve a wage that keeps up with at least the regional average. Last year i stood before you to outline the work we were doing, to reimagine and innovate the delivery of education in our schools. I said we must be bold and take action. That we must respect parents. That we must equip our students for success. A year later i am proud to say that we are doing just that. Superintendent, you have been a wonderful colleague in that ni effort. Last fall she and i, the board of education, the university of wyoming, and my office launched the wyoming future learning partnership. We recently expanded this unique collaboration to include additional key partners, our Community Colleges and our School District leaders. The effort led to pilot programs in nine School Districts around the state, focused on student centered learning. This initiative, along with the newly established Charter Schools are augmenting the Educational Opportunities and choices for parents and their children. We are seizing an opportunity we are seizing an opportunity educate students in creating the conditions so that every child can thrive in wyoming. And i commend districts, our teachers in the board of education for their willingness to be bold and to rethink policies and practices to achieve student outcomes. This budget funds schools. And schools of choice fully for the next biennium. But you know, all of our innovative efforts to increase funding, unique partnerships, and goals would not be possible without the professional teachers in our classrooms. With us today is wyoming teacher of the year john corbin. He has been teaching social studies for my wyoming students for 16 years. He is an advocate for Civics Education and is a participant in one of our ride pilots. Thank you, john, for recognizing the importance of adapting our educational approaches to meet the needs of the new generation of students. John, would you please rise so that we may thank you . Congratulations. Over this past year i and others have crisscrossed wyoming and visited communities that listen to the concerns and personal stories of you know, over this past year i and others have crisscrossed wyoming and visited communities to listen to the concerns and personal stories of wyoming people touched by Mental Health concerns and suicide. The stories about Substance Abuse and suicide have been heartbreaking. Thankfully, they have been tempered by remarkable stories of recovery and hope. We have heard about what is happening in our schools. We heard about one mothers agonizing struggle to locate resources before her son ultimately took his life. We heard loud and clear about our jails, filling with people needing treatment more than incarceration. And we heard from organizations and from pastors about how they try to address the needs that come through their doors. In all of that, what came through is that wyoming people care. They care about our kids, about our veterans, about our seniors. Most importantly, about each other. They are tired of senselessly losing friends and family members. I want to recognize chief justice fox and the members of the Judicial Branch and legislators who have been able to attend our town halls. And for their work to help citizens and their insights on how we can best optimize taxpayer dollars. Wyomings three branch approaches bolstering what individuals, nonprofits, and faithbased efforts all across the state are doing. An example of that is less summer i learned about the j foundation. It was founded by a young man searching for a way to honor his best friends passing. Jay was a gregarious fellow who grew up a cowboy. He loved wyoming and our way of life. In particular, he loved to swing dance. No one, least of all his family and friends knew the demons he was dealing with. Sadly, he took his own life, leaving his family and friends wondering why and dealing with an enormous loss. Today i am wearing some very special cowboy boots. Julie mackey, who danced with jay, gave me these boots. When she gave them to me she asked one thing. That i commit to doing a boot check with someone every day. So here is what the j foundation boot check is. It is taking a moment to reach out to someone and ask them how they are doing. And remind them that its okay not to be okay. In fact, it is a mark of strength to pull your boots up and be able to talk about it. Julie is here today, and i would ask her to stand and be recognized for the foundations amazing work paying it forward. Julie. God bless you. Thank you. You will see in this budget that ive included Mental Health funding to ensure through the yes vote it you will see in this budget dv that i have included Mental Health funding package to include we buttress our services. Your yes vote on this budget advances are Mental Health efforts sign