Governor brian governor governor bryant good evening, thank you so much. Thank you so much mr. Lieutenant governor for the kind introduction and thank you for the friendship you in the speaker and the speaker honor the state and people. I will always consider it an honor to have served with you and your members. Mississippians, if everyone is seated right behind me. For the past six years, she has devoted herself to improving the lives of all citizens, particularly our children and for 41 years, she has put up with me. Wonderfulgerman, the , my wife, deborah. To the members of the house, senate and other elected officials, thank you for your attendance. I do not take your attention for granted. Thank you for allowing me to stand at our beautiful capital and offer my vision on how we can reach Greater Heights together. I realize many of us here tonight and those watching and listening, there sometimes seems to be to mississippis occupied in the same time and stay spirit of the critics would have you believe this is a declining sufferinge people are mightily. Agitated, im mildly whomber Theodore Roosevelt said it is not the critics who. Ount the credit belongs to the man and might i add tonight, the woman in the arena. Turns immediately into an investigation and he studied that labeledce mississippi last or blasted across the stage. Porcelain, mississippi is inhabited with people of all ages and race to make this wonderful stay a better place to live and raise our children. Many of these mississippians are in this chamber tonight. A ase your state at a Citizen Legislature and clear in your community. Most of you have very busy careers. Believe in of you his or her own way that we are making a difference. I can ensure you here tonight, we are. I know we still have much work to do, but theres so many. Ccomplishments to be proud of twice last year, the Unemployment Rate is at the fell to 4. 9 and was 4. 8 in november. Since they lowest were recorded in 1979. I believe every mississippi and deserves an equal opportunity for good job and im working hard to make this a reality. Ronald reagan once said the best social program is a job. That is a program we have been successful at expanding. Today, we have more than 40,000 and looking for people since we have began this expansion, weve added more than. 0,000 jobs reporto encourage to that existing industry continues to grow. And a Distribution Center has been added. 33. 4s an investment of million. I can assure you milwaukee tools makes the best powertels in the world and im proud to say they are made in america and perfected in mississippi. Im honored to have in the andery tonight, the manager my friend, jack. Thank you, jack. Currently, 70 of the United States navys, service protecting americas interest mississippi. Ingles is where the navy builds the warships that keep america free and secure. It is now the nations most productive shipyard. An additional Corporate Investment of 20 million and added 75 jobs to its water plant. These and so many more projects and expansions are proof that when government creates and taxes regulatory climate that encourages growth and get out of the way so the private sector can harness and greatest character, our economy thrives. More of our citizens insurance fee dignity of a good paying job that is made stronger. I could continue with many more businesses large and small, but in the interest of time, i will tell you that the numbers are impressive and encouraging and they are growing. Of all of us know the story the tire Company Coming to mississippi and investing over 1 billion. It will be one of the most successful plants in mississippis history. It is a stateoftheart plant that will be over one million square feet spread over 900 acres. It will be the most sophisticated plant ever constructed by continental tire. This facility is scheduled to open late next year. Topas identified as the Economic Development projects were 2016 and led to another milestone. With these and many other successes, mississippi ranks in. He top 10 states in the nation together, weve also made it easier for entrepreneurs to pursue the American Dream, ridding our occupational system of red tape and for too long into an area it has become known across the United States simply as the mississippi model. I will have other recommendations to reduce more government regulations and families the cash it will make mississippi the most jobs in the state in america. I want to say how sincerely for aul many of us are new trooper school. With your help, we bolstered Public Safety by putting more officers on the roads. If we accomplishment a compass this, we could have more troopers on the road next year ofn any time in the history the mississippi highway patrol. In december of 2016, i issued an executive order creating the and we beganorce. O attack these killers im proud to say the recommendation and resulting actions in the Task Force Members were swift. Popular was not easy or in some instances. Fortunately, i have the have done an outstanding job and am proud to have the director of the Mississippi Bureau with us here tonight. Gentlemen, thank you. At the risk of affecting her status among coworkers in the media, i want to take this whonity to recognize has done an outstanding job for events resulting from opioid and legal drug activity. Thank for shining a light on the horrible consequences of this behavior. Ou stand as an example thank you. Our educational system, far from perfect, is clearly better than it has ever been before. For the first time in mississippi history to a more than 90 of our thirdgraders and passed the reading Exam High SchoolGraduation Rates have risen above 80 . More than 109 has been directed for teacher pay raises. We ended the election of local dyslexiandents and response have all become a reality. Still, we have far too many failing schools whose students like behind. The reasons are systemic and often related to a variety of conditions, neglect, lack of. Eadership it is composed of state and National Experts and Child Welfare and Early Childhood learning. It is a familybased system that is the new blueprint for managing a spectrum of problems for ultimately finding solutions. Program wereegan a childcare workers will receive training to provide a learning component and day care centers. Remember, most of our children 12,000end an average of hours of their most formative years in childcare or a custodial environment. ,ur next generation of leaders mississippi is looking to make sure they have the skills needed to succeed. You should know mississippi spends 97 million per year on andrally funded day care 199 million of federal funds on Head Start Centers across the state. Graduates spend another 3. 4 million on the state only dropout prevention program. 800,000 came from the general total. I will ask you to return funding levels and 2016 increase the Graduation Rates to the National Average and build our workforce. Over 90 of these students graduated. Are on higher education. Combined, these programs represent more than 300 million that israeli, if ever, reported. And demand evidencebased is all for every taxpayer dollars. It should be no surprise to anyone that i have strong support for updating the adequate Education Funding formula. I believe it should serve as a road map to success for every child in mississippis public schools. It should not be a political prop used to allege someones failure to support education. That old trick hasnt worked in the past, and it wont work this year. By the way, most of us want more than just an adequate Education System in mississippi. We want a great one. One thing i am certain of, that greatness will not be possible without every classroom having the right teacher. We must do all in our power to allow good teachers to become great ones. This should include continuing to fund at the highest level teach for america and National Board certified teachers. Data proves these dedicated teachers, in most every instance, produce better results. We have many Great Teachers across the state and i know, like me, you are very proud of them all. This session, i will ask you again to expand School Choice for certain categories of children, offering special needs scholarships to even more students. I continue to believe parents should have the freedom to use their tax dollars to send their child to the school of their choice, not one decided by the government. I want to thank you again for creating the department of Child Protection services to attend to our foster children. Nothing we do here will be more important than caring for them. I am forever grateful to former Supreme CourtJustice Jess Dickinson for assuming leadership of the agency. I will remind you that jesus admonished the disciples, let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of god belongs to such as these. I will implore you to provide for the least of these again this year as the children now come unto all of us. Our Community Colleges are the center of workforce development. Thousands of mississippians have been taught the skills that will allow them to get a good job and live the American Dream right here in mississippi. We can do more to help our Community Colleges bridge the skills gap that exists today. There is little doubt our employers consider an educated and Skilled Workforce as their top priority. To meet this demand, we have targeted Certain Industries and emphasized training for these needs. For example, we have created a Furniture Academy in northeast mississippi, and two coding academies have started in jackson and columbus. Our Community Colleges and universities continue their work to provide the Skilled Labor needed in our robust automotive and aerospace industries. With your help, we have invested millions of dollars from the mississippi works fund. That revenue has been generated by savings in mississippis Unemployment Compensation due to record growth in employment. This has been a great resource when recruiting new industries and expanding our existing ones. But, we must do more. I will ask you to create the Mississippi Works Scholarship Fund to provide more opportunity for Community College students who qualify for targeted workforce training. We must increase our workforce and we must do it now working together, we have also built a new worldclass medical school at the university of mississippi medical center. It will train the physicians so desperately needed in a state underserved by medical professionals. Because of your help, we are well on our way to achieving our goal of adding 1,000 new physicians by 2025. The medical profession as an economic driver has become a reality in mississippi. Physicians today are responsible for over 51,000 jobs and have a total economic output of over 8 billion annually. Our beloved blair e. Batson Childrens Hospital in jackson has announced a 180 million expansion. The medical corridor i have long hoped to establish is becoming a reality. It stretches from the medical mall in jackson to new clinics, medical Specialty Centers and even medical Device Manufacturers located just across the river in Rankin County. With the leadership of the first lady, ummc and the department of Human Services, we will soon begin construction on a longterm Palliative Care unit in jacksons medical zone. The center will offer a homelike Treatment Facility for the medically fragile children who are now living at batson. This will be a lifealtering experience for those patients and their families. If there is ever a mission of mercy we can achieve, it is this Palliative Care medical home for the children of blair e. Blair e. Batson. [applause] we have an additional opportunity in jacksons medical zone. I believe real potential exists to move the department of Public Safety headquarters. We have a good location in Rankin County near the state crime lab. The current building, located in the heart of the medical corridor, was constructed in the 1970s and is in deplorable condition. A new medical Conference Center could be constructed in its place. This facility would become the gateway to the medical corridor. A medical city is rising out of the piney woods of harrison county, complete with a new pharmacy school, a nursing and simulation center, and the National Obesity and Diabetes Research center. It is the result of a partnership between William Carey university and the cleveland clinic, one of the toprated medical entities in the world. This partnership at tradition will help us fight obesity and the diabetes often associated with it. With the help of the cleveland clinic, this is a fight i expect us to win. But, even with all this progress, the health of our population continues to lag behind most of the nation. Unfortunately, many of these problems are of our own making. We have an overwhelming tendency to be our own worst enemy when it comes to obesity, Substance Abuse and sexually transmitted diseases. If we are to solve these problems, we must face the uncomfortable facts, then take the necessary steps to assist those suffering while encouraging them to be more responsible for their own Preventative Health care. These poor Health Choices have resulted in higher mortality rates and treatment of even more disabling illnesses. Consequently, medicaid costs have continued to increase, straining our state and federal budgets. Frankly, we have spent far too many years believing that funding for medicaid is we must also insist that positive Health Care Outcomes be the first responsibility of the medicaid recipients. [applause] gov. Bryant patients patients, providers and managed Care Companies should realize a new normal will exist from this day forward. Our goal will be to prevent Poor Health Care from getting worse and to get medicaid patients well. [applause] gov. Bryant as you know, i have requested a workforce requirement for ablebodied adults from the center of medicaid and medicare services. Now this is not, as some would have you believe, a punitive action aimed at recipients. It will actually help this population reap the rewards of a good job, and one day receive Health Care Coverage from their employer, not the state or federal government. Recently, i tasked the department of Human Services and medicaid to Work Together to identify needs of beneficiaries and address them in a more proactive and effective manner. I have contemplated moving Medicaid Eligibility to dhs, something that is done in 46 other states. However, with the change in leadership at the division of medicaid, i now believe it would be prudent to delay such a transfer until a complete review of its benefits to providers to and beneficiaries can be completed. I believe with the current leadership at these two agencies can create a Seamless Service model, and it can be implemented. We must not only manage medicaid for todays needs, but assure sustainability for future demands. Those in extended care facilities should not be told we cannot continue to fund their very existence. If we manage the system properly, and eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse, we can assure a better quality of life for those truly in need. Your assistance in properly framing the medicaid technical amendments act will certainly make all the difference in maintaining an effective and Sustainable Medicaid Program for years to come. [applause] gov. Bryant i am honored to report to you that mississippi has completed an amazing, yearlong celebration of our bicentennial. A record 23 Million People visited to mississippi. [applause] gov. Bryant hundreds of events took place across the state. Many including music, the arts, and educational opportunities. The grand finale of this onceinalifetime celebration was the opening of the museum of mississippi history and the mississippi civil rights museum. I am thankful to the president of the United States of america who came to jackson, mississippi to honor the opening of our two great museums. [applause] gov. Bryant i am told i am told some 20 Million People watched the president s tour and remarks that day at the civil rights museum. It seemed the entire world was watching as mississippi told our own story. To quote the iconic myrlie evers, i was proud of the state of my birth. Myrlies kind and gentle soul was captured in the inspiring speech she delivered that cold and snowy day on lefleurs bluff. At that remarkable event, mississippians of every color and persuasion came together with an understanding of the tragedies and violence perpetrated on innocent people who simply wanted to exercise their right to vote. But there was more than our collective condemnation of the racial atrocities on exhibit in the museum. There existed a feeling of mutual reconciliation and joy in the realization this day, at long last, had become a reality. The museums display thousands of years of our states history. They tell the story of our original and first inhabitants, the proud and strong native americans. They recount the tragic civil war and celebrate our iconic athletes and worldrenowned entertainers. There was no effort to conceal the transgressions of the past. The horror of slavery, the indecency of jim crow, and the dark days of segregation are laid bare for all the world to see. But it all lies in a museum, put away, we hope, to never be witnessed again. [applause] gov. Bryant all of us participating that day experienced something very special. The anger and fear fell away, and political agendas melted with the morning snow. We saw what mississippi could be when our common bonds overpower our differences, and we accept the reality that we can disagree without being disagreeable. We peered into mississippis soul and saw that it was cleansed of any deceit or malice. The soul of mississippi now contained a love for all its people, its traditions, and most of all, our future. As my dear friend and civil rights legend dr. John perkins said, it all comes down to love, and love will always be our final fight. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to this chamber my dear friend, and someone who loves mississippi, dr. John perkins. [applause] gov. Bryant each year i have asked you to set aside your political agendas and focus only on what would be best for mississippi, understanding that we may have different paths to a better tomorrow, but remaining hopeful that we can at least agree on the direction and destination for our state. This year the plea to Work Together will be no different. However, i do have a renewed faith in the outcome. I have seen the results of our mutual efforts and know they far surpass the perceived and temporary gain of political posturing. I have witnessed two worldclass museums open in the capital city. I have seen dramatic improvement in mississippis public Education System. I have worked with you to turn our state into a leader in health care and Economic Development. When we press forward together, we can, and have, achieved greatness. If mississippi is to make the permanent leap from good to great, we must all have a dedication to achievement. We must inform our people that selfdestructive behavior is contagious and can cause an entire state to struggle. They must know that individual responsibility will guarantee Better Outcomes for each of them and collective success for all of us. After 200 years of trials and tribulations, wars and reconstruction, storms and recessions, we continue to persevere. With your help, i believe this legislative session can be the best ever. It can be the year we come together in a common bond of commitment to our peoples best interest. I promise you my door will always be open. I will always listen to your concerns and be unoffended by our mutual disagreements. In closing, i wish to thank you again for this opportunity to reflect on the state of our state and rededicate myself to being governor for all our people. Now, let us go from this appointed time and place, committed to serving the people of mississippi and making this wonderful land an better place for tomorrows generation. May god bless you, the great state of mississippi, and may god bless the United States of america. Thank you and good night. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer 1 two house leaders on cspan, paul ryan and denny lawyer area they talk about tax reform and the possibility of democrats retaking the house in 2018. A number of states are looking at socalled workarounds to get the 10,000 deduction. Will you do anything to stop that . I have heard the best idea or the big ideas are letting millionaires and billionaires pay their taxes as donations. That will not work. I cant imagine the treasury would even let that happen. It is beyond reason to think that tax regulations would allow that to happen. I expect us to retake the house, the majority, and i do so because the environment is the fact that people are looking for stability. They are looking for some focus on the issues that they care about in terms of education and health care, in terms of the environment, and in terms of our national security. I think they view democrats as being able to provide some stability to our country and frankly also to a proper check and balance in our system when we see a president who is, has trouble creating stability within the white house, much less within our government. Announcer 1 watch cspans interview with paul ryan at 6 45 a. M. Eastern and denny lawyers 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Sarah faris joins us to discuss the budget talks ahead of the government