In his annual state of the commonwealth address Virginia GovernorGlenn Youngkin discusses test scores, Opioid Crisis and need to improve the foster care system. Governor youngkin and was born in richmond has been serving as governor since 2022 his speech at the kate State Capitol is about 45 minutes. [applause] [cheering] [applause] [cheering] thank you. Thank you. [applause] okay. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, madam president , Lieutenant Governor earl sears, attorney general, members of our General Assembly, chief justice a good one and the justices of our supreme court. Members of my cabinet and my fellow virginians, what an honor it is to be with you this afternoon. Today we gather and our commonwealth capitol. Not as republicans, not as democrats, but as virginians. And what an honor it is to welcome 54 members of the haGeneral Assembly that are in their new seats. [applause] and as we open this next chapter we mark a yet another trailblazing moment in the history of the commonwealth and a welcoming the new speaker of the house, speaker don scott. [applause] not withstanding this esteemed body being described as the citizen legislature, we all know it is a fulltime job. And to serve as both a privilege and a responsibility. I want to personally thank you and i want to thank your families for the sacrifices that you all make it. And i particularly want to thank our first lady Suzanne Young converted her love for virginia and more so for the people across this great commonwealth inspires me each and every day thank you for your service and thank you for your grace. [applause] two years ago we began a journey together to ignite help, inspire faith in our future and to make virginia the best place to live our meeting today in this Great Chamber and a charge to press ahead for even greater strides and also tost acknowledge our journey together is only at halftime. The state of our commonwealth is strong. Stronger than she has been in a very long time and we, all of us should feel a great sense of accomplishment. The spirit of opportunity has expanded. The cirrus of Service Helping those in need has spread. The spirit of hope has been unleashed all because the collective spirit of virginia has been strengthened. 233,000 more virginians are working today than two years ago. [applause]. The bottom third in the nation job growth number three in the nation in the past 24 months. [applause] more virginians are working today than ever before. We provide a record 5 billion wreck and tax relief particulate benefiting at lower income virginians who need it most. We funded a record amounts of education. We reestablish expectations of excellence and intensive tutoring, adopting the science of reading, launching a lab schools in renewing the focus on career and technical education. We rebuilt the ranks of Law Enforcement with record investment and an unwavering commitment that we back the blue. [applause] we launched historic efforts to transform our overwhelmed Behavioral Health system. Ri our childcare System Critical for working families. A foster care system that was failing to manny and a Developmental Disability waiver system that left so many unserved. We fostered even more business friendly with investments and sites streamlining regulations. With reliable affordable and yes increasingly clean power. We regained our commitment to conserve gods great natural n resources with a significant progress to meet our Chesapeake Bay 2025 goals we went to work to make government run more efficiently and more effectively. All of these accomplishments Work Together for a better day in virginia. Yet while virginia is stronger than ever she and we have major challenges. Virginia has a population migration problem. The data isfu irrefutable. You know the rate has declined the past year more people moved away we have fewer children in our k12 Public Schools five years ago fewer than 10 years ago. Makes 100,000 or more the taxes they pay are living with them. Among the states job and opportunity winners, taxes and talent winners and losers. A. Transportation, quality education Public Safety winners its up to us to make sure she is as we are nearing we are nearing we are reminded of our nations foundational pillar of in alienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happyness it. Paired with our collective pursuit of a more perfect union. And that pursuit is built upon protecting freedoms and enshrined principles of equality and opportunity so that all virginians and all americans can pursue their dreams. Virginias story is americas story. It is our shared past and it will be our shared future. And in this next chapter to unleash true opportunity for all virginians we must embrace the call to lead. Lets it lead because virginians deserve it. From a single mom and petersburg working two jobs, so that there will be more opportunity for her child, to the farmer in shenandoah who struggled through this years drought but never gave up. To the first Generation Technology graduate forging new opportunities in a new country. To the nurse in Washington County who just finished the night shift. To the grandmother who moved here all f the way from ohio to take care of her grandkids while her daughter is serving overseas to protect our freedoms. I have met them all and so have you. We work for them. Every one of these virginians in addition to the 8. 7 million i did not mention deserve not only gods blessing but also our leadership throughip service. If we lead together, opportunity will abound. We note that a future filled with opportunity begins in the classroom. Coming out of the pandemic it was clear after prolonged and Unnecessary School closures, our Students Experience a catastrophic learning loss. And we risked losing an entire generation. Together we responded. I would particularly like to thank the senators lucas and locke and delegate night. We introduce the all in virginia plan. Providing intensive math and reading tutoring and years of third through eighth grade. Let me tell you a story of a mother and her daughter and mother received a letter in the mail saying her 8yearoldd daughter was way behind and she could benefit from all in tutoring. Chloe, like so many thirdgraders said who needs math . But they made a deal as moms and daughters often do, so chloe went to Early Morning math tutoring and was greeted by a smiling teacher with a hug and a snack. Here are the results. In September Chloe scored in the second percentile in math in the 50th percentile in the 80th theh percentile in math. [applause] and chloe. [applause] [applause] thank you for your hard work. Thank you for blazing a new trail in virginia. Every Single School division is all in. So many more will benefit and virginia is leading. I have proposed 22 billion of the millennium heading into this next fiscal year 2. 1 billion over 2021 levels. And even more support for student services. Yes, i agree. This has been a tremendous effort on behalf of we been able to fund our schools in an unprecedented level. I would like to caution us. I would caution us from drawing strong opinions from out of date fax even as we made great progress we can do so much better than the current funding formula. Committed to working with you across the commonwealth the november 1, 2024 deadline we set together with the system that put students first. [applause] while we know our youngest generation fell behind during the pandemic struggled to to the workforce of the pandemic. Which will ensure working families m meets the needs of te families by innovating with the digital wallet ensuring no working family loses access. Prioritizing Parent Choice and cutting red tape for families and providers. We d are delivering a best in class model for Early Learning and childcare. These are the Building Blocks that are at the center of the future of the commonwealth. We critically must always support mothers including at the very beginning and helping mothers succeed i was proud to stand beside early last year and celebrate our first Maternal Health hub the opening and petersburg. As strong as our Strong Partnership with the great city other petersburg urban baby beginnings helps more women access Prenatal Health resources whetherth thats finding a doctr or a dula, later providing these supports that new mothers often need and all the while navigating an incredibly complex system there are many moms to face this challenge. In 2021283 expecting mothers signed up for medicaid coverage and petersburg. But less than 20 Stephanie Spencer is here with us and thank you for making we have healthy women and babies in the commonwealth. [applause] virginia leading also more of etheir hard earned money have a great jobs and stop moving away. Let me just remind you virginians are moving away. Families, Small Businesses, entrepreneurs, job creators and that Young Professionals and on top of that the taxes that they pay to fund our schools, our Behavioral Healthcare and other essential services are moving m away to. In order to address these issues, over the past two years virginians have received 5 billion in tax relief which equates to about 2200 for the typical virginia family and 4500 for our veterans. In the second half together we need to structurally reform our tax code. We can do this by cutting taxes across the board 12 and paying for almost 80 of this by modernizing our tax code which includes closing the tech tax loophole and increasing the sales use tax by 0. 9 . For low income virginians we are including an expansion of the earned income tax credit. Now there was one topic not included in my budget submission last month that i challenge all of us to take up and resolve and that is to eliminate the single most hated tax in virginia that locally imposed personal car tax. [applause] provide real tax relief and keep our localities hold. To be clear this is a package deal and it only interested in the plan that reduces taxes for virginians. In north gwinnett south granite tennessee, georgia florida have lower taxes. Starting their journey to lower taxes and they are winning the opportunity sweepstakes. And our neighbors to the north are losing the population, fiscal growth and opportunity contest. Our message must be clear. We arepe going to compete and wn and ensure virginians keep more of their hard earned money. And to do this we must lead. [applause] as i stated in my first hours as an governor at the heart of opportunity and jobs is the fundamental right to work. Please, please do not bring me r bill that impacts virginians right to work. [applause] it will meet the business ends of my veto pen. Lets spend our time on advancing our great workforce. Building on the new Workforce Development agency and making it easier for people to get licensed, or certified to start their career by expanding universal licensing. Making it easier for people to move to virginia to get to work. And making sure every High School Student has the opportunity to graduate with a diploma, a diploma plus credentials that will launch them into highpaying jobs. [applause] the Economic Growth in virginia is the fact that virginias power demands are growing at a ratete five times that of our neighbors. The simple fact is if we do not build capacity right now, virginia it will not grow. Innovation and baseload power are key and all the above all american plan embraces everything. Americas largest offshore Wind Development project, solar, hydrogen, nuclear, carbon capture, and natural gas. This is an issue we cannot turn away from. So lets work a together to keep cost down and keep the lights on. [applause] virginiansns are in charge of or destiny nobody else it also means we put power where it belongs with the people the misguided law to dictate our vehicle laws. [applause] not only does it defy common sense virginians should decide for virginians. And with this misguided law in place the regulatory process is starting this year. Meaning more and more virginians will see higher cost and fewer choices. Virginias General Assembly to pass a bill to allow virginians to decide what car they drive it. [applause] our economic developer and activity is setting a record pace. Amazon services, lego, boeing, raytheon, and the list goes onn and on. Over two years we welcome companies committing nearly 71 billion in capitol investments. More than two and a half times any other twoyear period and just this past month we announced the sports and entertainmentio vision unlike ay in history. With the General Assembly, we can bring this opportunity to fruition. Together we can welcome both new nba team and a new nhl team. 12 billion in Economic Activity and 30,000 new jobs. Now to be clear, all of this is accomplished with no upfront cash commitment from the commonwealth. No new taxes and oneofakind Public Private partnership where virginia shares in the project success. To those on the commission thank you. Thank you for your unanimous and bipartisan support. That an opportunity this magnitude is rare and complex. And i am committed to working together to deliver the win for commonwealth. But for that region and the city of alexandria. Small businesses will into. One of those Small Businesses is a porkbarrel barbecue in the delray neighborhood. For over a decade you would find its owner Bill Blackburn behind the counter. He is the father of two his roots in alexandria it run deep and he knows when Opportunity Knocks you should open the door. He knows having a worldclass sports venue unlike anything on the east coast right around the corner is good for business. Bill, thank you for showing us that when opportunity presentshe itself, virginia should seize it. Thank you for being one of the many thousands of Small Business owners that are lifting up the economy and are the lifeblood of virginias future. Thank you, bill. [applause] [applause] the road to opportunity for many virginians will be cleared by exit celebrate our Behavioral Health system. A transformation desperately needed given the clear Behavioral Health crisis that we face it. And while this is a three year journey, we just celebrated the heoneyear anniversary of her right help right now transformation. At this time last year we had hoped to have two new emergency roomwo alternatives. Today we have eight. There are more to come in the month of november alone more than 8300 calls on the 988 line and virginia is among the top in the nation in answering those calls quickly. We started this journey with 36 mobile crisis units with the goal of doubling them. And i can tell you today we are at 97 mobile crisis units across the commonwealth of virginia and we are still going. [applause] the transformation is working butt we need to do more. I am committed to concluding the Settlement Agreement that virginia entered the department of justice 12 years ago. I have requested and my budget funds to completely eliminate the current backlog of 3544 virginians on the priority one waiting list. [applause] we must ensure that these virginians have meaningful options as well as other elements that make the goals of the settlement. We must ensure it virginia delivers for our youngest generation including the most vulnerable. And for too long our foster care system has failed our young virginians. So we started the safe and sound task force to address this head on. One of those safe and sound volunteers is here, angie, joined by her husband stan and their adopted son michael. Stan and angie have been pastoring in their church for 26 years when they welcome their first foster child and open their eyes to the need. Ultimately they use their ministry in time to work toward bettering the entire system. And in angies words, not everyone is called to foster. But everyone can play a part. Friends, children deserve families. They deserve support. They deserve love. Angie, stand, and michael thank you for reminding us all of that. [applause] [applause] and nowan it is our turn. Lets do our part to make Virginia Home to every child by working together to expand kinship care. [applause] lets lead support virginias families just as i did last year. I am asking you to send me a bill that empowers parents to protect their children and prohibit Tech Companies from selling the data of children under the age of 18. [applause] iavirginians suffer when we miss the opportunity to lead it. There is no greater reminder of this and the stark facts that on average five virginians die froc fentanyl poisoning every single day. Because of the week of drug laws to many drug dealers are not prosecuted. Send me a bill that will raise the penalty to felony homicide when it causes a death. [applause] [applause] there is no doubt the ramifications of addictive drugs is at an unprecedented level in our commonwealth. It has resulted in devastating violence. We know a majority of violence v is related to drug and gang activity. We should also know virginians and gun laws are among the toughest of the nation. Therefore i am asking you, ill allow us to hold accountable those criminals that commit crimes with guns and bite lengthening and making more severe the penalties in order to keep them off the streets. [applause] [applause] our brave men and women in Law Enforcement face in danger on a dailyon basis. And over these past two years, 14 Law Enforcement officers and First Responders have fallen in the line of duty. I have attended way too many funerals. Here is in Law Enforcement are all around us. One of those heroes is here with us today. Onon a day like any other, he ws on his shift committed to his job and he heard a woman in need. In the following moments he was shot and tragically paralyzed from the waist down. Officer bruce foster, i like that we stand and honor you. [applause] [applause] [applause] when i visited officer foster in foster inthe hospital i was incy moved by his unwavering desire to continue serving. Bruce said to me, god has a plan. And i want to continue to serve. I am proud today, i am humbled today and i am honored today to offer officer bruce foster a chance to continue his career in service with the Virginia State police when you are ready to come back and serve. [applause] [applause] i know Virginia StateUniversity President abdullah and i might need a bidding war for your services but we will settle that another w day. Just as the Law Enforcement community has come around supporting bruce, we should come around that community that typrotects us. In our next budget lets double down on operation bold blue linm and campusbased security. Lets continue to build trust between a Law Enforcement and the communities they represent with increase in funding for bipartisan programs liketi operation ceasefire, the Violence Prevention Fund and safer communities. We must never stand and watch when evil itself presents in front of our very eyes. We must always be called to action. One step we took last year was to champion and ilhan a bipartisan basis to define antisemitism so clearly that nobody can argue it doesnt still exist. On that day we signed the bill, i remembered it was cloudy but the sun burst through and the quiet words of one woman reverberate in my head still today. Hate is wrong, love is right. Hate is wrong, love is right. Those were the words of helene and zim a 96yearold holocaust survivor here with us today and joined by her family. [applause] to define the good and i want to thank the entire General Assembly foror taking a stand ad i want to challenge us i want to challenge all of us, passed a bill that says the commonwealth of virginia will not do business with companies that boycott israel. [applause] [applause] and pass a hate crime bill which all forms of antisemitism. Not just religious and bigotry, are treated as hate crimes under the law. When parents send their children to college, when a young family goes to the grocery store, when someone goes to friday prayer at a mosque or Satellite Services at a temple, or sunday morning worship at church, virginians should not worry about being the victim of a crime simply because of their religion, their race or creed. We are better than this. We are virginians. The first estate to forge religious freedom into the fabric of our nation with the statute for religious freedom with the timeless words that god created the mind to free. We must lead and we must do the right thing. [applause] for generations, these ideals, these liberties, these freedoms have been protected by our brave men and women in uniform. I want to take a moment and a recognize virginiabased military Service Members both reserve and active duty and our amazing Virginia National guard and their families who serve with them here and across the globe in defense of freedom. [applause] [applause] come. [applause] amongon them, are the norfolk be uss eisenhower and uss gerald ford. Supporting and o defending our allies in the middle east. We say, may god bless you, may he keep you, may he watch over you. And may he protect you. And we collectively say thank you. [applause] my friends, we are at halftime and we have accomplished an extraordinary amount on a bipartisan basis and we are just getting started. Our founders inscribed in the constitution a form of government that requires legislation would not only be passed by the General Assembly, but to be signed by the governor. We must Work Together. There is a road, a road less traveled that we can choose to take together. A ruger we stop accepting mediocrity and start winning comprehensively for it a road we put down petty politics and pick up the collective good of the commonwealth. A road or we work collaboratively solving problems rather than ignoring them. A road work opportunity is unleashed across the commonwealth. A road where virginia leads. And if we want to be on this road were more people call Virginia Home, then we can come around the table to lower the cost of living for all virginians. We can raise the ceiling and the floor in education. Foster safe communities and protect our constitutional freedoms. We can empower people to not just choose a life but to choose to build their life it. It is time to lead it. And it is time to lead together. To build a virginian that is overflowing with opportunity and arrive at her ultimate destination which is the proverbial shining city on the hill. And in order to get there we must do it together. Thank you. May god bless you, may god bless the commonwealth of virginia and may god bless our new speaker. [applause] [applause] thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] [applause] each night this week was showing state of the state addresses from across the country. In just a moment will hear from rhode island governor and speeches from new Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and alabama governor iv. Get Contact Information for members of government right in the palm of your hand when you preorder your copy of cspan 2024 congressional directory. With bio and Contact Information for every house and Senate Member of the one hard 18 Congress BringImportant Information on congressional committees, the president s cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. The congressional directory cost 3295 plus shipping and handling. Every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations for scan the qr code on the right or go to cspanshop. Org to preorder your copy today for delivery this spring. Coming up, secretary of defense lloyd austin will testify on the failure to immediately notify p officials aboutis recent hospitalization. See the House Armed Services mmittee live on thursday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on a cspan three. Cspan now arere mobile video app or online at cspan. Org. Correct cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Funded by these Television Companies and more or at right here, or wait out in the middle of anywhere you should have access to fast reliable internet. That is slightly art leading the way. Media, support cspan as a Public Service along with these other television providers. Giving you a front receipt to democracy. And that we head to the ocean state of rhode island for