Mediacom. At mediacom, we believe whether you live here or right here or way out in the middle of anywhere, you should have access to fast, or reliable internet. Thats why were leading the way [inaudible] mediacom providest giving Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. [applause] delaware democratic governor john carney spoke about education, infrastructure and gun violence during his annual state of the statement address at the Capitol Building in dover. Governor carney also urged lawmakers to papas spending legislation pass spending legislation. This is 40 minutes. [applause] [cheers and applause] [applause] welcome governor carny. If everyone, please be seated. Madam speaker im not sure whether thats because theyre glad to see me go and good rid dance or theyre happy for the riddance or theyre happy for the service weve had together. Lieutenant governor, madam speaker, mr. President pro tem Senate Majority leader, members of the 15 2nd General Assembly, other elected officials who are here members of my cabinet distinguished members of the guests and my fellow delawareans thank you for inviting me to state of the state address. Sorry its a little bit late. Let me start by recognizing the historic nature of todays event. For the if first time ever, a female speaker of the house is presiding over the state of the tate address here today state of the state today. [cheers and applause] speaker longhurst and her majority team, majority whip Carrie Evelyn are harris and new jfc chair kim is where . Kim, stand up and be recognized. [applause] i look forward to working with all of you for the rest of this session. I also a want to take a moment to recognize two new justices on Delaware Supreme Court justice abby la grow and justice [inaudible] please stand so we can recognize both of you. We have a world class judiciary in delaware, and the justices bring a new generation of leadership to our court. Thank you for your commitment to Public Service. And a moment of personal privilege, if i may id like to sitting up here in front for all the hard work shes done on behalf of delaware children over the past seven applause] tracy has [applause] tracy has transformed the role ofike to call her the first spouse and made sure every delaware child has a first chance to succeed. Shes also stood by me throughout my 30 plus years in Public Service and let me tell ya its not always been easy. Thank you tracy for your support. Prison [applause] before i go any further id also like to recognize the army and Air National Guard. Colonel mike berry is unable to be with usoday but hes represented by Brigadier General james benson. Please stand up for all your army and Air National Guard [applause] we have command staff and other guardsmen and women until if bat colony as well. Its been in the balcony as well. Its been a busy time for the guard, and i think about their service and sacrifice a lot. Over the past years more than 1300 guardsmen and women have been deployed to more than 50 locations around the world. Last year we held a deployment if ceremony for more than 150 National Guardsmen and women from the 160th engineering company. They recently returned from the military operation in [inaudible] again, members of that unit who were deployed are with us today. Please join me again in recognizing our citizensoldiers. Theyre the very best, and theyre up, again, in the balcony. [applause] its really hard to believe this but this is my last state of the state address as your governor and i suspect as i said earlier that there are mixed feelings about the applause tata i was receiving [laughter] as i as i came in. Seriously though, i think its worth a little reflection, if i may, on what weve accomplished working together and on our Unfinished Business. First and foremost, weve helped create [inaudible] order. Point of order. Bl nation in congress [inaudible] genocide is. You cant [inaudible] point ofrder madam speaker. [inaudible] we send you are our children away it should be an [inaudible] not to participate in genocide. Thats all i stand for. Senators, spook if up ing. [inaudible] farewell. Proceed governor. Thank you madam speaker. Fit and foremost, weve helped create more than 30,000 new jobs since 2017. Thats a big deal. For the first history, weve provided funding dedicated for low income students and english learn arers in our Public Schools learners. Weve given our teachers a big pay raise. For three years running weve implemented the largest infrastructure plan in state that means good jobs building new schools safer roads and bridges and connecting delawareans to the internet up and down the state. And weve kept our fiscal house in order. We turned a 400 million budget deficit into a in 2017, into a 400 million in additional reserves today and that means a lot. [applause] were supporting an economic resurgence in downtown wilmington. Weve provided paid leave for delaware families and raised the minimum wage to 15 an hour, and the labor market has blown right through that already. [applause] were building more Affordable Housing units so families have a safe place to call home. Weve reduced crime and our prison population is down nearly 24 . Weve passed sweeping Climate Change legislation committing to net zero emissions by 2050, and were keeping our communities safe is by banning assault weapons and launching targeted gun safety measures. Or these are issues that a matter to delaware fam [inaudible] youre out of odder please. Over 29,000 palestinians [inaudible] [background sounds] please, please [inaudible] pe, we have the governor whos to giving state of the state. [inaudible] governor, please proceed. Thank you madam speaker. These are issues tata matter to delaware families in each of your districts and that matter to future generations; good jobs quality schools safe and affordable communities anvironment and responsible management of taxpayer dollars. And this last year im focusing op leaving t s better place than i found it. We should make sure the next governor is in the best possible position to succeed and we should balance the budge and make sure our investments are sustainable in the long run. And i want to thank everyone in this room for your partnership on this. We dont always agree for sure, but working9 together what with we do best in delaware. Because of our hard Work Together i can say today that the state of our state is strong and getting stronger every day. [applause] as many of you know, i spent a loot of a lot of time on the football field. In fact, one of my High School Teammates is here in the chamber today, dave. I spent a lot of time with him as a player and a coach and i know it was a long time ago. But one thing i learnedtho teams leave it all on the field. And its in that spirit that i want to talk about some of our Unfinished Business and the work i believe we can still accomplish together this last year. Weve made big strides on fina and i want to recognize senator padilla and representative carson for their good work last year as well as senator walshive [inaudible] but despite our efforts we did not pass legislation to permanently control operating spendingt a and an earlier General Assembly rejected by proposed constitutional amendment that would have done just that. Its really pretty simple. Delaware cant compete in the future if we dont have our budget in order. Right now our assembly or governor could lead us down a path of uncontrolled spending. We havent done that. That would lead to higher taxes and pain cuts. So lets not go backwards. Instead lets build on the progress weve made working together. This year im asking you to send me legislation that would make our spending benchmark permanent. I wont be here next year, i know some of you are happy about that but most of you will. Or failure. I hope we can find Common Ground on this very important priority for every delaware taxpayer. We issue with Health Care Cost inflation. If this year between medicaid can and our insurance man for state employees and retirees plan were spending nearly 2 billion on health care alone. Let me say that again 2 billion. A b. And thats roughly 200 million more than our costs were last year. The state share of medicaid alone costs 1 billion. Those are jawdropping numbers. Its almost a third of our state budget and its only going up. And taxpayers are footing the bill. If we dont get Serious Health care spending will crowd out all the other investments investments that we all support; funding for our Public Schools for Affordable Housing and ch employees and state retirees. Right now retires get their pay increases and the funding needed to cover their health care. This is literally an issue we cannot afford to ignore. We should all Work Together to strengthen our health care bench mark address Health Care Cost inflation. Senator townsend and speaker longhurst, i know you and many others in this room agree and i look forward to working together on those issues. [applause] of course, important to our states future than the quality of delawares Public Schools. Ive a spent a lot of time the last s strengthening our schools especially for children who need our help the most. I know many of you have been leaders on this issue for a lot of years. Together, we created opportunity funding, a program that provides additional funding for students and English Learners in our state. Our budget this year increases funding for this program to 63 that its make a difference. Last fall i visited East Millsboro elementary and and spoke with a young student who had been struggling to read, working with a reading special u. S. Funded through opportunity funding. She was improving by leaps and. Reading coach is here somewhere with us today there she is. Heather, please stand up so we can [applause] over the past seven years weve also across the state. Weve spent 1. 5 billion on School Construction alone. Let me tell you something that much more than books brick withs and mortar. Its the pillar of a community and nowhere with is that more true than on the east side of wilmington where with were building the first new school in the city in over a half century. Ms. The school will be named the maurice pritchard sr. Academy after the s [applause] you support that. [laughter] after the longterm principal and Community Icon who i had the privilege to know as a basketball coach maurice pritchett. Im looking forward to the School Opening later this year. Students teachers and neighbors on the east side will have a state of the art School Building they can take pride in. Join me in recognizing the pens the Pritchett Family who are or the members of the Pritchett Family who are also with us today in the balcony i believe. [applause] thank you for being wit us. We also launched the wilmington learning collaborative to provide hyperfocus on schools in our largest city. For the fir districts serving the city are working together to address the needs of wilmington children. I also want to recognize senator lockman for her work in this area and her committee that she chairs and all the people that are involved with that. Y[applause] [inaudible] as a well. And finally we significantly expanded madam Speaker Mental Health services in our schools. The need became even more pronounced during the covid19 pandemic. And i want to thank you madam speaker, for your leadership on this earth. Effort. Working together, i look forward to expanding these services into the high schools this year. These are are initiatives that we all can be proud of, but it simply isnt enough. Heres an uncomfortable truth. Statewide less than 40 of children are are reading proficiently at third grade. Met me say that again. Let me say tha again. Heads than 40 of children are reading proif efficiently in third grade. And many schools fall short of that average. Imagine if your child went tod of result. None of us would tolerate that. But too many children across our state are faced with this reality, and we need to fix it. Thats why my budget [applause] thats why my budget includes funding for a new team of literacy coaches. They will work with educators and district leaders to focus on the science of reading an effective approach to teaching children how to read. Its one of the most important things that we can do, and i hope youll join me in supporting this high priority. My budget also includes a continued focus on Early Childhood education. I know this is a priority for many of you in this chamber today. Our priority simple, create more seats for the children and families who need them the most. The research is clear, it shows that children who have access to quality Early Childhood education have better outcomes. That includes higher Graduation Rates and more Financial Stability into adulthood. Just 15 years ago the state was investing next to nothing in childcare. My budget this year includes more million for childcare. Thats a big deal, and these are critical investments that will benefit our children as they grow up. [applause] before i leave the topic of educates, i want to thank secretary Mark Holliday his hard work. Mark, please stand. [applause] mark was a teacher a principal and a superintendent before he took the job as cabinet secretary. Rship has been tremendous study and strong. Over the past 19 months, secretary holliday chaired the Public Education compensation committee. The group studiedinger pay and they presented a recommendation for paying our teachers what they deserve. Im determined to win the competition with the states around as. We want the best educators working right here in the first s why my budget fully funds the first year of those recommendations for educators building on the raise thad into law last year. If we stick the to the plan, we will raise teachers starting salaries to 60,000 over the next four years. Lets get it done together. [applause] i would like to take a moment now to recognize our Lieutenant Governor long has been a real partner over these past seven years. Shes a nurse as you [laughter] and her efforts on the ground during covid19 were just tremendous. She just knows how to roll upper her sleone. So is, Lieutenant Governor the Lieutenant Governor has also been a champion of science and technology and advancing s. T. E. M. Careers for young people in our state particularly young girls. Last summer i signed senate bill 55 creating delawares rare disease advisory council. This new council will bring together the best and brightest to help support those living with rare diseases. The effort was led by along with senator nicole and representative christa griffith9s. Please join me in recognizings effort. [applause] id like to take another moment to recognize my wife tracy for all her good work as first spouse. [laughter] [applause] thats so typical of her to say to cut it loose and say lets move on to something else. But truthfully, since 2017 trace a city has been focused on giving all delawares children a first chance to succeed. Working with the state librarian, shes helped expand Dolly PartonsImagination Library statewide in the middle of a pandemic. Thats saying something. [applause] now, more than half of the igned up for free books every month. Again, theres nothing more important than helping our children lesh how to read, and hearn how to read, and this is an Important Program to do that. This free program will help us achieve that goal. In addition, last year tracy led a discussion on our traumainformed progress. And she hosted our first youth Mental Health summit that takes all of us working together to make sure that delaware children have a first chance to succeed from birth to adulthood. Please join me no, weve recognized her too many times. [cheers and applause] oh, or go ahead. [applause]b let me tell you i owe all i deserve i need all that goodwill that youre giving for me today. [laughter] of course, one of the rowing. As the saying goes, a good job solves a lot of problems. [inaudible] [inaudible] thank you madam speaker. As the saying goes, a good job solves a lot of problems. Good jobs help families pay the bills, buy home, save for colleget and sock away some money for vacation. Good jobs also increase our state s revenue and help us fund our priorities. Y first day in office, i signed an executive order to rethink our approach to economic development, and together we created the delaware prosperity partnership. And we have leaders of that the effort that are with us today. By every measure its been a success. Just in the last two years weve helped create more than 20,000 jobs. Thats a big deal for our state. And new budget continues our investment in job creation in the strategic fund, the Site Readiness Fund and the Graduation Lab Space fund and our infrastructure investment. Fund. We will not lose the competition with other states around us good jobs for good people. We also have our eye on the future of delawares economy. My budge again includes additional funding for the project nimble and sauber at the star campus at the university of delaware. Both projects will build on delawares Strong Foundation in science and technology. They will track more high quality workers to delaware and spur unnovation and wiz Development Innovation and wiz adopt. You all know this, but our colleges and universities are more important than ever to the future of our at delaware state university, dr. Allen and his team have opened a new Early Childhood innovation center. The center will cha Early Childhood educators. They remain at the forefront of job training in our state. We still have more Jobs Available than we have people looking for work. Its an issue youve heard a we talk about before. Right now there are 31,000 Jobs Available but only 21,000 people looking for work. That requires an intense focus on job training and on the skills demanded employers. Delaware tech is leading on that work. Join me in recognizing the doctorsnd if their teams for their hard work and dedication to the future of our state. [applause] were also exploring federal funding opportunities and weve had some success. Last year delaware, pennsylvania and new jersey were selected by the federal government for a the program was funded by president bidens bipartisan infrastructure law. The u. S. Department of Energy Proposals out of 79 applications across the country. And we were one of the seven. The federal designationill bring 750 million to the region. Make no mistake this is a generational opportunity to build a clean energy here in delaware and in this region. And to compete for Good Union Jobs of the future. We also received 50 million in federal funding to help expand the port of wilmington. For decades jobs at the port have been a gateway to the middle class for thousands of workers and their families. These are the kinds of jobs our state and country were built on. Were also increasing support for towns and cities across the state. Last year we celebrated additional funding to redevelop the onceblighted Nylon Capital seaford. Were building new Affordable Housing on the east side of wilmington, and is and our housing will be director, eugene young, and his team are leading that work. [applause] and just a few weeks ago we announced plans toer the redevelopment of downtown dover. [applause] that will make senator p ya and representative bush very happy. [laughter] and it will also help us attract workers to the area and expand Economic Opportunity in our historic capital city. I know that work is important to senator padilla and representative harris, bush, lynn and many others, and i appreciate their leadership and your partnership. If we want to keep good jobs and workers in delaware, we need to make sure families feel safe in their community. I know fighting gun violence has been a shared priority. Years weve banned assault weapons bump stocks and high capacity magazines. Weve passed red flag laws and this year well take another big step forward and pass the permit to purchase law. [applause] the administration we spent a lot of time on what we call Group Violence intervention is or gvi. We started xvi in wilmington gvi, and have is expanded the program to dover. Heres the truth its a very small numbere who are committing the vast majority of gun violence in these communities. Theyre part of groups that fight with one another. Through gv is i were directly engaging with those individuals and the gangs and groups theyre part of. Were demanding that they put down their guns. And if they do, well offer job is training and other services. For those who choose the path of violence they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and attorney general jennings has been doing just that. Thank you madam attorney general. [applause] more than 300 people have participated in gvi since it started. Just in the last several months, we have started offering gvi services in laurel where we n lethal shootings. Were a committed partner in efforts to gun violence ins the Delaware State Police have been instrumental in our response and we appreciate the support of representative dukes and short and senator richardson in those efforts. [applause] the future of our communities across our state depends on that partnership. As we look towards the future, we cant ignore or Climate Change. Delaware is one of the is the lowest lying state if the country. Drive through some of our coastal youll see for yourself. Its clear to were already feeling the effects of sea rise. Thats why were spending more than 30 million to harden our coastal infrastructure, projects like south bowers rado residents can get in and out of town. Thats pretty important. And i want to thank the secretaries for their leadership in this area. [applause] last year many of you were instrumental in passing the most significant Climate Change our states history. House bill 99 set ambitious but achievable targets. We committed to cutting Greenhouse Gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. If this is critical for future generations,nd want to recognize senator hansen and representative the phillips for their horde work hard work and leadership on this issue. [applause] we have a General Assembly full of lead leaders who understand the threat of Climate Change and who have the political will to talk alaska. Thank you for your leadership. The transition to clean energy wont be easy. At times it will be controversial, very controversial. In december we finalized regulation wills to reduce transportation emissions in our state, a big source of carbon and other air pollution. By 2032 the regulations require that 82 of vehicles delivered to delaware will be zero emission vehicles. That will help us reach our targets under house bill 999. And were following Industry Trends across the country major automakers are already or committed to moving towards electric vehicles. Our efforts will also make left behind in that transition. The threat of Climate Change is also why were taking a fre look at delawares role in offshore wind industry. In december we began negotiations with offshore wind developer u. S. Wind to bring significant benefits to our city as we take an active leadership role. Under terms of the agreement u. S. Wind would bring wind energy into delaware. We expect it the bring more than 100 million of benefits to our state without raising rates. Those benefits include funding for Work Force Development for dredging projects and f projects to mitigate the effects of Climate Change in our state parks. Over the next several months, i hope youll join me in taking step forward or pursuing legislation that will make delaware more of an active player in offshore wind. It will allow us to directly purchase windgenerated Renewable Energy and to explore if partnerships with states in our region. And, senator hansen, i know this is a big priority of yours and we look forward to working with you on this legislation. [applause] i want to end where i started with some reforest reflection. [inaudible]6c its been a great honor for me to serve as your governor. I believe the opportunity to serve as an elected official [inaudible] is the greatest privilege that a one of their own. One of our colleagues who have enjoyed that the privilege if for 21 years is represent former speaker pete schwarzkopf. Join me in recognizing the former e speaker for his Incredible Service to our state. [applause] [laughter] theres a lot of love in that standing ovation representative schwartz cop schwarzkopf. These last seven years havent always been easy. The three years of the pandemic felt like ten to me. But for me, the privilege to serve as governor has been an o travel every corner of our state and meet people where they are in firehouses, in festivals and parades. And during tragic circumstances as well like fires natural disasters and funeral testimonials. Ive been privileged to listen to peoples hopes and aspirations for themselves and for our state and sharing hair good times and their bad. Ive learned that the most important thing for an elected official is toen the trust of the people grow represent they give you the benefit of the doubt so long as they trust youre trying to do the right thing. If you earn that trust they will follow you when times are tough, and times get tough. Finish finally, i want to thank tracy again and our boy sam and jimmy, for their sacrifices during my time in Public Service. I couldnt have done it without them by my side. For the if rest of this year, well continue to do the right thing. And working together, well leave the state better off or for generations to come. I look forward to leaving it on the field with all of you. Thank you for your hard work. God bless you and god bless our great state of delaware. [applause] [applause] celebrating the 20th anniversary of our annual student the cam documentary competition. This year cspan asked middle and High School Students across the country to rook forward while considering the past look forward while considering theas the anniversary. Each participant was given the option to look 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past. In response, we received inspiring and thoughtprovoking documentaries from more than 3,200 students across 42 states. Through conducting Indepth Research and interviews with experts, students tackled critical topics such as technology and social media. Itacing humans, eliminating entire fields of work. Challenges in climate our tapestry can no longer sustain the richst and diversity it once held. Discussions about criminal justice, race race, bias and the more than criminal justice system. Were excited to share the top winners of student cam 2024. In the middle school griggs, the first price goes to [inaudible] from isaac Graham Newton middle school in mountain view, california. A. I. Reshaping americas tomorrow delves into the evolving world of Artificial Intelligence the high school eastern divisions first please is awarded to dermott from Montgomery Blair with high school in maryland for his film, the promise of langley park, the purple line Climate Change and americas suburbs. Brianna and leah from Troy Athens High School in troy, michigane in their High School Central division with their production unseen heroes the caregivers of america. In the western division, brandon, emily a max from Palo Alto Senior High School in california earned first prize for threads of change which talks a critical look at the fast fashion if industry. And our top award of 5,000 for a grand prize dose to nate coleman and jonah tenth graders atten high school in connecticut. Their compelling documentary innocence held hostage deals with the timely and sensitive subject and features interviews with a former iranian hostage. Instead of saying so youre free to leave blindfolded, handcuffed, thrown in the back of a car and taken straight to a prison. It bringf 3200 students who participated in this competition this year, you guys are the grand Prize Winners in student cam 2024. Oh, my god, thank you. Hank you so much. Thank you. Wow. This is the a huge honor. We really [laughter] we are so grateful for this opportunity, we really thank you a lot. We extend our gratitude to the educators parents and participants who have supported even of these young film makers on their creative journeys. Congratulations to all our winners. Dont miss out. The top winning documentaries will be broadcast on c pan starting april 1st cspahe 150 awardwinning student cam films online anytime at studentcam. Org. Join is us in these civically engaged and inspiring young minds as they share their opinions on on the issues that ar t and world. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Were funded by Television Companies and more including comcast. You think this is just a community center