Justices of the supreme court, ladies and gentlemen of the virginia General Assembly, i do once again appreciate the opportunity to address you one final time. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe i would be careful. Last year, every republican i gave a shout out, they are not back this year in the chamber. [applause] [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe you guys have done just fine. Seriously, in would let the think speaker bill howell for his many years of service to this commonwealth and to tell him and his family that we are praying for his speedy recovery. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe i would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you mr. Speaker for your election to this historic office. Congratulations. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe i am so proud to be joined this evening by so may people who have worked tirelessly to help this administration in this commonwealth succeed over the last four years. We have with us, my incredible wife and my better half, the first lady of the commonwealth of virginia Dorothy Mcauliffe is with us tonight. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe her leadership on childhood nutrition has resulted in more than 12 million more meals being served to our students this year than in my first year in office. Her work on behalf of military students and their families thatt shor has ensured virginia law remain the number one place in the world for our service members. Thank you, dorothy, for your love. [applause] to. Mcauliffe i would like take this opportunity and recognize our five children four who are here with us tonight. Nk you for in enduring this and being a great partner to their dad. Thank you. [applause] our Lieutenant Governor and the governor elect, dr. Ralph northam and pam northam are in the house with us as well. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe ralph, i have been so fortunate to have you as my Lieutenant Governor and my friend. I know you will make a great 73rd governor in virginia with pam at your side. Congratulations and good luck. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe to our attorney general, i want to thank you for your unwavering dedication to upholding the law protecting the rights of all virginians. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe i have loved reallyinute but i have loved working with ralph and mark and i know they will continue that great work alongside our next Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax over the next four years, congratulations justin. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe to my entire cabinet to as been nothing short of spectacular, i take pride and i leave the greatest cabinet ever assembled in their team i think them for their tremendous work. I especially want to thank my chief of staff and deputy chief of staff for the great work they have done. On behalf of our citizens, thank you, all of you for what you have done for this commonwealth. [applause] there is onee secretary who i think has tremendously helped everybody in this chamber. He has helped us all sleep at her at night. Ninance secretary rick brow will soon retire after 47 years of dedicated service to this great commonwealth. Thank you for your leadership. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe congratulations, buddy. Gov. Mcauliffe the men and women of my cabinet have done tremendous work over the past four years but our kabul schmitz would not be possible without the most talented state Employee Workforce anywhere in the glow. I been so proud that weve been able to get them two welldeserved praise raises and i hope you will accept my proposal for another one. Please join me and recognizing the state employees who keep the state running. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we are so fortunate to have the greatest first responders, Law Enforcement, national guard, activeduty military, and in thes right here commonwealth of virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we should never forget these men and women who put their lives on the line every day so we can gather here safely tonight. It is hard to believe that it has been for years since i first stood at this desk and spoke about what i hoped to achieve as governor. Youhat speech, i promised to work with you to build a new virginia economy. An economy that works for everyone. That was a tall order for years ago. The economic model that had served in virginia well for decades had begun to crumble. Our overreliance on federal spending left us exposed insignificant defense cuts. In significant defense cuts. They were in need of dire reform and investment. Faith andd shaken the integrity that citizens have put in their officials. It damaged our reputation with employers all over the world. The agenda i presented to you for years ago and every year after that was designed to solve those problems. New chapter of growth and opportunity in every single corner of our great commonwealth. Four years later, we can all look back on a record of accomplishments that we have of building a new virginia economy. We reformed how we would make transportation decisions to prioritize a benefit to virginia over the desire of politicians. Recall, when i took office, virginia had just wasted 300 million on route 460, a road that was never going to be built. In contrast, thanks to our forms, we are transforming the using noe 66 corridor state dollars and saving our taxpayers 2. 4 billion. Just this morning, i announced a deal to extend the i95 hot lanes 10 miles south to fredericksburg without asking to the taxpayers a put up a single dollar for construction. This project will require the builder to cut virginia a check for 277 million when this contract opens up. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe that is how you negotiate deals. We took the port of virginia which had foolishly been put up for sale. We took it off the market and invested millions of dollars and it turning it around after five straight years of losses. They, it is profitable for Third Straight year and we are tracking some of the biggest container ships in the entire globe. We took executive action. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we took executive action to make virginia a leader to combating Climate Change and we built a energyan eneger environment. I am proud of the progress we have made working together on solar projects. When we took office, virginia was home to 17 megawatts of power installed one of the lowest in the United States. Today, we have installed more 2600 six megawatts of development in the commonwealth. [applause] even in ourfe times of fiscal difficulty, i am 2roud we protected k1 education from budget cuts and we made the largest investment in education in the history of virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we reformed the ,tandard of learning transformed our workforce Training Programs and redesigned our high school curriculum. When regulations threaten to nearly all stoods health clinics, we to protect womens rights to Quality Health care. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we reformed our ethics laws, restored the people of virginias trust that we are working for them. We expanded access to Critical Health services to the people who needed it the most. We were the first state in the nation to bring a functional and to veterans end to veterans homelessness and we connected 30,000 veterans. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we secured and modernize our election system. We transformed our criminal Justice System, which posted the rate in the United States in america for the second year in a row. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe like any relationship, we have had our rough patches. , did not come into this job expecting the Republican Leadership of the o al assembly to sue m me for contempt. But, it is a truly historic four years this has been for virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe even the justices are chuckling a little bit up front. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe the spy of a few bumps in the road, our Work Together has been defined by serious policy accomplishments than bipartisan warfare. I think all of you. Thank all of you. Job creators are taking notice around the globe. As a testament to that, tonight i am proud to announce that Service Center metals will invest 35. 2 million to expand its operations in prince georges county. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe to the surprise of absolutely no one, we beat out the state of indiana for this great award. [applause] we will create 58 new jobs and let me tell you why this announcement is so important to me personally. Because of the opportunity it will create for virginia families but it has a much larger significance tonight. With this project and the over 1100 others we have announced during our four years, virginia has attracted more than 20 billion in new Capital Investments since i took office. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe not that any of you were counting, but that record exceeds any previous governor by 6. 5 billion. Service center metals cofounder of chairman of the board supervisors are here with us this evening. I want to say thank you. Stand up and lets give them a great round of applause. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe the investments, policy decisions, and Economic Development successes of the past four years have contributed to a new chapter of Economic Growth in our commonwealth. After 35 domestic and International Trade missions across five continents, we have agricultureas exports skyrocket 30 from 70 billion in 2014 to 91 billion last year. [applause] revenues have grown by 2. 2 billion. Our initial unemployment names ow. E just reached a 43 year l there are now 200,000 more jobs in virginia then we took office in january of 2014. [applause] you want a job . Jobs are bipartisan, they are not democrats or republicans jobs a job is a job. In 2017 alone, we created 33,700 s compared to 1500 jobs that were created in the year before i took office. We have driven unemployment down to 3. 7 from 5. 4 when i took office. I am proud to say, in every single city and county in virginia, they have seen their unemployment drop in the last four years. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe these are not just numbers. They are a reflection of the remarkable turnaround we have seen in the virginia economy in the past four years. Real jobs,ate to real opportunities for thousands of virginia families. Inthe most traveled governor the nation, i can also tell you firsthand that they translate to even more Economic Activity as we have told us amazing story to job creators all over the globe. Virginia is a different place than it was four years ago. For that, we should all be proud. There is still more work to be done. I may not be here to continue the battle, but the Budget Proposal that i am leaving behind reflects the enormous progress that we have made and the need to keep moving forward. If you remember, in my first year in office, we were forced to Work Together the deal wouldve inherited 2. 4 billion shortfall. Since then, our bipartisan cooperation and virginias strong Economic Growth have improved our financial picture significantly. I know you all will be happy to hear that for the First Six Months of the current fiscal year, revenue collections are up 5. 9 over last year well ahead of our estimate of 3. 4 which we had already revised upward to upward. We are running nearly half 1 billion of our revised forecast heading into the final six months of the year. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe come on, we are talking to money. Strong revenue picture is the clear sign of a Strong Economy and the budget i present to you build on that momentum. It invests in the essentials of a modern economy like education. It strengthens our commonwealths response to the opioid crisis. In advance is the work we have done to diversify our economy so we no longer rely on one industry for future Economic Growth. Todays so important because virginia is no longer just a Defense Industry state. I am proud to say today that we are anyber state, we advanced manufacturing states, we are Data Analytics state, we are Renewable Energy state, and we are in unmanned system state. By making those right decisions, we have built a new virginia economy and the budget i leave you with will keep that momentum going. In addition to the budget, this year presents a very unique opportunity. For thevirginia Forward Health and safety and prosperity of the families we all serve. Yesterday, governor elect northam and i stood together to outline. They include reducing obstacles withting by doing away barriers to absentee voting, building on the executive action that my Administration Takes by becoming the first of Southern State to formally join the regional Greenhouse Gas initiative. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe we need to close the loophole and our ethics laws by prohibiting personal use of campaign funds. Finally, raising the threshold for felony larceny to from 200 to 1000 so that one mistake does not ruin a persons entire life. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe giving virginians the tools to manage student debt and hold predatory lenders accountable by passing a. Ill of rights keeping families safe from gun requiring background checks for guns purchased here in the commonwealth of virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe none of these items are inherently political. They are proposed solutions to real policy problems. It could well be the case that there are better ideas to solve these problems and to make life better for our virginians. Those are the questions we are all elected to consider. We are not elected to ignore problems. As i look across this room, i see many new faces. In theire of virginia wisdom have made significant changes to the composition of this General Assembly with a simple message in mind Work Together and get things done. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe this is the opportunity that the voters have given you to do things differently than they have been done. To finally break the gridlock on issues where we have not made as much progress as we should. Issue that demand your attention is making a clear statement and in a new virginia economy, health care is not a privilege for the few, it is a right for all. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe you can make progress on that goal by bringing our tax dollars back home to provide health care for nearly 400,000 virginians who desperately need it. The plan that ive submitted would create 30,000 new jobs and free up 422 million in our budget to invest in priorities like a state employee pay increase and a 427 Million Investment in our cash reserve fund. All without putting up a single dollar of virginia taxpayer money. As some of you may recall, expanding medicaid coverage to working virginians is an issue i have felt very passionate about for the last four years. I will tell you this i am passionate. I am passionate because i know as many of you do the benefit it would bring to our economy and to our budget. I am passionate because i have met hospital administrators ral communities who say they needed to survive. I am passionate because ive looks mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters in the eye and learned how they cannot care for their families and they cannot deserve lives they because they cannot get the health care they need. You can end the waiting peri period. Waiting you can end the hurt. Hospitals are struggling to stay open because they can care for these virginians but they are not being reimbursed for their expenses. Put the politics aside, it is time to expand medicaid in the commonwealth of virginia. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe as you prepare the nexto write chapter, i hope you member several principles that have guided our work. While other states have grappled with discriminatory legislation, virginia has capitalized on their misfortune. I absolutely hate it to have to veto the 120 bills that were sent to my office. [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe let me be clear, those bills attacked womens rights, equality to the lgbt people, and access to the voting booth. I honestly wish they had never made it to my desk because the passage hurt our reputation. Because weose bills of about the business bringing people together and lifting them up, not tearing them apart are dragging them down. Gov. Mcauliffe in the coming years, i hope you will build on that foundation by using your votes more equal. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe another guiding principle that has served this administration well is the incredible importance of Second Chances. Nobody, no one lives a perfect life. We all do things that we have regretted. We have all made mistakes. Personally, the next time somebody offers me a ride on a horse in africa, i will take a seat at the bar instead. Of us, what defines our lives is how we learn from those mistakes and how we move forward. That should apply to everyone. Even to men and women who have committed a crime. Over the past four years, we have worked handinhand with the General Assembly to reour criminal Justice System to reflect the principle that nobody is beyond redemption. That approach guided the transformation of our justicealths juvenile system as we reduced the population by nearly two thirds and began to close our youth adult style prisons. Replace thems to and to advance reforms that will prepare these young people to lead more productive lives. The power of Second Chances. They define my proudest moment as governor. Many of you have heard me tell the story of standing on the steps of this building and ending more than 100 years of a disenfranchisement and racial discrimination. Since then, my team has worked with all three branches of government to finalize a process that we have used to restore the rights of more than 173,000 virginians more than any governor in the history of the United States of america. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe over the years, ive met hundreds of men and women whose rights were restored during my term for it ive even introduced some of you from this very desk over the last two years. Virginiansf those represent the same hope for better life that we saw play out this past election day as these men and women went to the polls, many of them for the first time in their lives. If you want to see the power of Second Chances, watch the videos that were posted on social media as grown men and women broke down in tears of joy after doing something that most people take for granted. Voting in an election. That is what citizenship looks like at its very best. We should do everything we can to Work Together to encourage more of it, not less. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe as you begin your Work Together this session, i hope you will continue to reshape virginia into a commonwealth of Second Chances where people who make mistakes can live among us as redeemed human beings, not lifelong outcasts. My final request i would like to leave you with is to please do everything you possibly can to make virginia a beacon of hope, even in times of fear and hatred. If restoring virginia civil rights was my proudest moment as governor, witnessing the bigotry and violence that we saw last august in charlottesville was clearly the lowest. That day was full of hatred, cowardice, and unspeakable loss. Even in that dark moment, the character that makes this commonwealth great came through. Virginians who were taken from us on that terrible day. Heather heyer was 32 years old. 32yearoldssionate who was in the downtown mall on august 12 fighting for the values that make our commonwealth and country so great. She died fighting for what she believed in. I bigotry and hatred. T bigotry ands hatred. Neonazis came in our community, she stood against them with love. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe state trooper were standing watch that day from above in the helicopter. They were protecting the people who participated in the day of events. They were protecting all of them. They made the ultimate sacrifice doing what so many of their brothers and sisters in Law Enforcement continue to do each and every day upholding the believed that every person should be protected by the law, no matter whom they are. Nothing, nothing will bring these brave virginians back. As we continue to mourn their loss, i hope we will ho nor their legacy by finding the good in each other and our commonwealth. Tonight, we are joined by several people who love these and miss thems everything will day as we do. Please join me in welcoming Heather Heyers mother, her stepfather, the two pilots wives and so and son. Wives and son. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe thank you for joining us here tonight. Before i move on, i do want to say a brief word about j burke and the many men and women like them until you become be difficultcan to fathom how people work day and night to keep you safe. From the moment i took office, countless Public Officials have gone above and beyond to ensure that my family can perform our duties. They include the capitol police, the pilots, the department of aviation, and the staff of the executive mansion on capitol square. This evening, i am proud to have some of them join us tonight. One man is given 30 years of faithful service to the commonwealth of virginia. You all know him because you ,ave served with them martin the head butler of the virginia executive mansion. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe he has served nine governors, his father, his mother, and his two brothers. We thank you for your tremendous service. This is his first time attending a state of the state address. I have no doubt now who his favorite governor is. [applause] you anduliffe thank your family for everything you have done. To all the people of his great commonwealth, i want to say thank you. There is one group of Public Servants who draw a difficult assignment fo the Virginia Station assignment. The Virginia State police. Assigned to spend every moment with the first family. Workedhis colleagues around the clock and i mean literally. Keep us safe and artificial activities and in the process, joins us for our family dinners, holidays, and countless sporting and school events. They became a part of our family often at the expense of time with her own family. I can store member one day at one of the many car rides i had with burke, burke told me yoully, i did not vote for but i finally decided that i was glad that you one. Won. Thank you, amanda. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe i told a story at burkes funeral. Ive spoken to burke just a day before and he told me he was sending a care package to our son who was a marine overseas. I said thank you for that, burke. That was the last am i spoke to him. Whiskey overt some there, too. Sendd, burke, you cannot whiskey overseas to someone in the military and let alone in a muslim country. He said, do not worry about it, it was in a listerine bottle, they will never know. [applause] jack got hise package and there was no listerine bottle in the package. Childrennd i and our and our entire team cannot say thank you enough to the men and women of the Virginia StatePolice ExecutiveProtection Unit for all they do in this commonwealth. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe as this chapter in my life comes to a close, i want to say how truly grateful i am to the people of virginia for the honor of serving as your governor. Make a joke about how unlikely it is that i would serve as the successor to Patrick Henry and thomas jefferson. The joke is funny because it is true. Not many middleclass kids from syracuse, new york whatever find themselves speaking behind his desk. At the heart of that joke is a statement about the singular privilege it is to be the chief executive of a commonwealth with the people, the resources, the history, and the potential that ours has. I have loved every second. It is one of the greatest jobs on earth. It would not be possible without the men and women who serve in the virginia General Assembly. We run separate branches of government, but we serve the same cause the good of the people of the commonwealth of virginia. We have had our disagreements but even a difficult moments, i have never lost sight of the tremendous honor it is to work the incredible dedication and the professionalism that you bring to the task of representing your constituents. I want to say thank you to all of you as well for your leadership, your dedication, and the many ways you make this administration a success. Thank you. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe four years ago, i promise you that when this day came, the next governor would inherit a virginia that has created more Economic Opportunity and grown our 21st century businesses. I promise to transform pre k, k12, and higher education. I promised for strong fiscal management. I promised to make virginia the greatest place for our veterans and military and their families. I promise to make virginia a rgyder in the clean ene economy and i promised to be a brick wall to protect the rights of women and lgbt virginians. Four years later, we have kept those promises. We are a commonwealth of greater equality, justice, and opportunity for all people as a result. This is a legacy that we can all be proud of. Thank you, god bless you, and god bless this great commonwealth of virginia. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] u. S. Supreme court heard oral arguments this week over voting rights. The ohio case of whether the state can purge voters from registration roles. Watch that tonight starting at 9 00 eastern on cspan. Back on capitol hill tuesday facing a Government Shutdown deadline a week from today. Members may also consider an abortion bill. And surveillance programs under the pfizer two house leaders on cspan denny paul ryan and hoyer. Speaker ryan talks about tax hoyer on congressman the possibility of the democrats retaking the house in 2018. New york nia and looking at workarounds to get reduction. 0 will you do anything to stop that . I dont think it will work anyway. The idea theyre talking about s letting millionaires and illionaires pay their taxes as donations. I cant imagine that the let that happen. I expect us to retake the house, the majority. American people are looking for stability, some focus on the issues that they care about in jobs, in terms of education, in terms of healthcare, in terms of the environment. And in terms of our national security. View democrats as being able to provide some country and our very frankly also to proper system d balance in our hen we see a president who is that has trouble creating stability within the white within our less government. Watch cspans interview with paul ryan tonight and steny hoyer sunday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Paul ryan tonight and new Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave his final state of the state address to lawmakers at the state capital in trenton. He discussed many of the challenges and initiatives that to government. Chris christie leaves office after new jersey 8 years. This is courtesy of new Jersey Television station njtv. Its about 90 minutes. [applause]