Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you and good evening. Good evening. It is a good evening. Mr. Speaker, mr. Senate president , members of the general assembly, distinguished guests, my special guests, my family, my husband andy and my son tommy and my daughter cici. [ applause ] and of course my fellow Rhode Islanders. [ applause ] tonight i stand before you filled with optimism for our future because tonight we begin this year stronger than weve been in decades. [ applause ] you know, four years ago, our Unemployment Rate was the highest in america. Today its in line with the national average. The number of people filing for Unemployment Insurance last year was the lowest it has been in 50 years. [ applause ] and our economy has more jobs than at nearly any other time in our states history. [ applause ] weve cut our deficit in half, t. F. Green is booming, and we are the first state in america to teach Computer Science in every public school. [ applause ] and its not just the numbers. You can see it all around us. See it all around us. Cranes rising over providence, johnson, and kingston. [ applause ] construction crews fixing roads in every part of our state. And the best part hope. Hope in the eyes of our friends and our family, who finally have a good, steady job. Weve made all this progress together and id like to begin tonight by saying thank you. Id like to say thank you to everyone whos been a part of it. Beginning with the legislature, thank you. Thank you for your partnership. [ applause ] i want to thank our mayors and town managers. Id like to thank my cabinet and my team. And id like to thank every single state employee. Thank you for your hard work and for your commitment to the great state of rhode island. [ applause ] but of course, of course, as always, the real credit goes to the people of rhode island. People like lisa and alan turtolani. Alan grew up in burville and went to school in paut ukit. After college he fell in love with the beautiful girl from new jersey. Now i could relate to alan because as a rhode island girl who fell in love with a guy from michigan, he and i hit it off right away. It took a little while, but when he was ready to start his company, abcia, he convinced lisa to move to rhode island. He couldnt imagine chasing his dream anyplace else. He got started in the basement, balancing a kid on one knee and this is laptop on the other while lisa supported the family teaching italian. But when his game, math bingo, hit number one in the app store, they knew it was time to get out of the basement. So abcia started hiring programmers, designers, and project managers from all around rhode island. And when i met alan, it was so clear to me that he loved rhode island. But he did not shy away from telling me some of the things that frustrated him. Our maze of regulations drove him crazy. Sometimes he said it was too hard to find people to hire with the right skills. Sometimes it seemed to him that the state was putting up barriers instead of clearing the way for him to grow. That kind of thing drives me crazy too. So i asked alan, keep believing in rhode island, and i promised him we were going to keep working until we made things better. And he did keep going. It would have been easier for him to get frustrated or let cynicism slow him down. But he didnt. Because he was proud of his company and he wanted to build it in rhode island. Last year, his company, abcia, had a record here. 120 million kids played a game on his website from all over the world. Kids from warwick in westerly, all the way to guatemala and india. [ applause ] now, since 2015, weve come together to fix many of the things that have frustrated alan and frustrate so many of us. Weve cut over 3,000 pages of regulations. Weve cut red tape, and weve cut taxes every single year. [ applause ] you know, if you think about it, four years ago, it doesnt seem like wed have this much to celebrate tonight. At that time, our economy had run out of gas, we werent positioned for growth in the new economy. One out of four of our bridges was falling apart and crumbling. We didnt even have a plan to fix them. But the worst part, people were losing pride. They were losing their pride because theyd been out of work for so long. And some people thought state leaders werent listening, and they were losing confidence in our whole state. So we came together four years ago and we decided that we were going to chart a new course. We said, were going to change the old way of doing things, so we could do better by Rhode Islanders. Now, our progress didnt just happen. It wasnt an accident. And by the way, it wouldnt have happened if we just kept doing things the same old way. But we had a willingness to try a new approach, we had a commitment to build a new economy, and we werent going to settle for anything less for our kids for or our future. And since then, weve come a long way. But id say were only in about the third inning of our economic comeback. So tonight, tonight i say, lets keep going. [ applause ] together, together weve made rhode island more business friendly. Our economy is the 18th best in america. Last year, we went from number 50 to number 23 in unemployment taxes. Four years ago the gallop jobs index ranked Rhode Islands economy dead last. Today we come in at number 28 and we are not stopping until we are at the top. [ applause ] lets keep going. We have proven that you can grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. [ applause ] we are the only state in america with offshore wind farm. We are on track to make our wind system ten times cleaner by 2020. Since 2014 we have added over 5,000 green jobs, a 66 increase. Lets keep going. Were committed today there are three times as many public prek classrooms as they were four years ago. [ applause ] we guaranteed all day kindergarten for every child in rhode island. And this year more than 1,500 Rhode Islanders are getting a shot at a good career because rhode island is the first state on the east coast to provide tuition free access to community college. [ applause ] but there is still so much more to do. So lets keep going. Lets continue to support our veterans. [ applause ] last year we opened a new stateoftheart Veterans Home in bristol. And last month we launched a new online portal to better coordinate the services that our vets and their families have earned. To everyone who wears or has ever worn our nations uniform and to your families we say thank you. [ applause ] we have also been listening. We have been listening to Rhode Islanders. Rhode islanders have felt like their leaders werent doing enough to support them so we raised the minimum wage and were going to do it again next year. [ applause ] we passed paid sick leave because no Rhode Islander should have to choose between a paycheck and staying home to take care of a sick child. [ applause ] and we have improved the quality of child care so parents can have peace of mind while theyre at work. [ applause ] we have also been listening to seniors like my mom. She and so many say its just too hard to live on a fixed income. So we heard you and we cut the taxes on your Social Security income. [ applause ] and we heard you. The car tax is probably the most hated tax in rhode island. So last year we cut it and we are going to continue to give Rhode Islanders relief. [ applause ] the progress that weve made together, working together is undeniable. Its all around us. And its the direct result of the reforms that we have made together. Lets keep going with the bold reforms. Lets continue to chart our new course. Lets send a clear, loud signal that were ready to move beyond the old way of doing things. Tonight im asking the legislature to put the line item veto on the ballot in november and let Rhode Islanders decide. [ cheers and applause ] its time. Its time. 44 other states including massachusetts already have it and they use it to eliminate waste and give taxpayers confidence in their government. Rhode islanders deserve the same thing. Now, i know every Single Member of this chamber cares deeply about rhode island. And you work hard every day for the people of our state. So i would like to spend a little time tonight sharing the stories of some Rhode Islanders. These are the folks that inspire us to keep going and do our work. And their stories also give us confidence that were on the right path. Rhode islanders like alicia richardson. Her story gets right to our core mission, to make sure that every Rhode Islander can keep up and get ahead whether or not they have a college degree. Now, i met alicia at her daughters graduation from one of our new Job Training Programs. Elizabeth had started college but she didnt finish. She still has the loans, though, and they are due every month. Because of the Job Training Program elizabeth now has a great job at gill tool in west warwick. [ applause ] her son james studied electronics at the career and tech center and he is now one of thousands of Rhode Islanders that electric boat has hired in recent years. [ applause ] and her youngest child, katie, she is a senior at pilgrim high school. She is excited to go to college and next year she is going to ccri on a rhode island promise scholarship. [ applause ] she is here tonight. Were proud of you guys. Keep going. Here is the reality. The reality is that 70 of good paying jobs in rhode island do require some degree or credential past high school. Not all of them require a college degree. So its on us. Its on all of us to make sure that every single Rhode Islander has the job training and education that they need to get a good job. [ cheers and applause ] thats why in 2015 we completely revamped our approach to job training. Real jobs rhode island now gives Rhode Islanders in the middle of their career the new skills they need to keep up in a changing economy. That one program alone real jobs alone has trained and placed more than 2000 Rhode Islanders into good steady jobs in the past couple years. We have also expanded more than two dozen career and tech programs in our high schools like the Welding Program at coventry high school. Austin enrolled in that program last year. He graduated in june with a High School Diploma and a welding credential. One week later austin started working as a welder at electric boat. [ applause ] i asked austin do you like your job as a welder . He said i was born to be a welder. He said i got a real job. Hes filled with pride. Keep going, austin. [ applause ] so tonight im proposing that we expand our job training initiatives and we expand our Technical Training in our high schools. [ cheers and applause ] a year ago we opened the westerly Higher Education center. It trains people for jobs at local companies. Its been an unbelievable success. Last year over 500 people earned a certificate for a good job through that one center and 345 of them already got good jobs at electric bow. Lets keep going. [ applause ] lets keep going. Lets put the same kind of center in the black stone valley. In the weeks ahead [ applause ] in the weeks ahead well announce a new Public Private partnership to establish the Higher Education center which will provide hands on training and a path to a good job without a Fouryear College degree. [ applause ] you give us your passion and well give you a pathway. [ applause ] Small Businesses have always been and are today the engine of our economy. In fact, Small Businesses employ about half of our workforce. And thats why we have made investments to support Small Businesses. A couple years ago we announced 10,000 Small Businesses, a unique partnership at ccri that helps Small Business owners learn the skills they need to take their company to the next level. Since then more than 100 companies have gone through the program. These are local stores, jewelry shops, small food companies. These are our friends and neighbors who pour everything theyve got into their Small Business. Nearly everyone of the companies that has gone through the program has added jobs including a navy veteran from east providence. For years evan worked a desk job that he tolerated but on the side he had a small cleaning business that he loved. His company, the cleaning business was growing. One day he finally got up the courage to tell his family he was going to quit the day job and do the cleaning company full time. As you can imagine he really needed to make this cleaning company work. But he needed some capital. And his business was too small so banks wouldnt lend to him. So he applied for a loan through a new loan program that we started for Small Businesses in 2015. With that 10,000 loan he was able to buy the equipment that he needed to support his new contracts. Since then avenevans business tripled. [ applause ] and you know like every Rhode Islander i have ever met evan is determined to succeed. Keep it going. Were all behind you. [ applause ] Rhode Islands Small Businesses are expanding because of these loans. We know theyre working. So tonight im committing to doubling the number of loans awarded by the end of this year. [ applause ] but the responsibility to support Small Businesses doesnt just lie with state government. It cant. We have to come together as a community to support one another and to support our Small Businesses. We need our biggest employers to use more of their spending power to support Rhode Islands smaller companies. Here is an example. If our colleges, universities and hospitals shifted just two percent of their contracts to Rhode Island Companies it could add 50 million to our economy and create hundreds of jobs. So this year well launch supply ri, an initiative to make it easier for our biggest employers to buy from small local Companies Like evans. Andy and i try to do as much of our shopping locally as we can and we want to make it easier for our Biggest Companies to do the same thing. [ applause ] now, most of our manufacturers are Small Businesses, too. For every electric there are dozens of smaller manufacturers like swiss line precision. Last year manufacturers in rhode island created over 1,500 new jobs. My dad spent his whole career in manufacturing. And you know making his living making things gave him so much pride. So lets bring that pride back. This year im again proposing to the legislature the rhode island manufacturing initiative. Its a good plan and it helps smaller manufacturers buy new equipment and hire more people. [ applause ] now, our number one priority, our First Priority will always be to support the businesses that are already here. But if we are going to make sure that every single Rhode Islander has a good job we also need to recruit new businesses to rhode island. Now, the good news is that for the first time in a long Time Companies are moving here and expanding here mostly because they want to hire Rhode Islanders. But for decades we just sat back and we watched as massachusetts rebuilt. Boston and its suburbs flourished and we all saw it. The mill buildings along 95 in the Black Stone River were vacant and crumbling. Now, that didnt just happen in massachusetts. That wasnt an accident. They had a plan. They had a strategy to create good jobs and put cranes in the sky. They used job training and incentives to create thousands of jobs. In fact, massachusetts and nearly every other state in the northeast still uses incentives and job training. They have all been doing it for years. Until recently, though, we didnt. Our leaders didnt have much of a strategy. And because of that Rhode Islanders got hurt and the few times that they did take action they either put all their eggs in one basket or chased special deals. Any way you slice it Rhode Islanders got hurt. So in 2015 we created a strategy combining job training and incentives that enables us to compete and prevent the special deals of the past. The results are in. The new approach is working. In the last two years we have recruited 22 companies to rhode island. [ applause ] thats 22 companies that would have gone somewhere else and hired some other people, not Rhode Islanders. Because of our new approach they are in rhode island. Those companies are on track to hire over 2,000 Rhode Islanders as an average annual salary of over 70,000 a year. So yes, yes. Our new approach is working. It is beginning to work. It is working and Rhode Islanders are getting good jobs because of it. And we need to keep going because if we go back to the same old way of doing things Rhode Islanders are going to get hurt and left behind. So tonight i say lets keep going. [ applause ] and while were at it lets continue to fix our roads. You know, when our kids were younger andy and i would drive them to soccer practice and we would go over the newman avenue bridge in east providence. That bridge made me so mad. Half the bridge was in massachusetts. The massachusetts half was in good shape, the lines were drawn. Then when you drove back into rhode island you can practically feel where the state line was. You know what im talking about. But since then we made a commitment to fix our roads and i want to thank all the members of this chamber for passing road works. [ applause ] because you did that, because you passed road works its allowed us to fix dozens and dozens of roads and bridges all over our state. You know what . We put thousands of Rhode Islanders to work in the process. So lets keep going. [ applause ] i want to talk for a minute about a fight that we cannot afford to lose and thats the overdose epidemic. The Opioid Crisis remains the most Urgent Public Health crisis that we face. And its taking people away from us in every single city and town and community all across our state. Now, in the last two years we have made it a top priority. As a result Overdose Deaths were down in rhode island last year by eight percent. But even one death is too many. So the budget i will send the legislature this week continues to fund what has been working. But we got to do more. If were going to save lives we have to support peoples recovery. One of the members of our Opioid Task Force who is here tonight, jonathan goyer, he often has told me that his job is critical to his recovery. And thats true for so many people. So this year were going to create a new Job Training Program for people in recovery because we know [ applause ] we all know we all know there is no Silver Bullet in our fight against addiction. But we also know that helping Rhode Islanders in recovery to get and to keep a good job will save lives. [ applause ] i also want to talk about another topic that we dont talk enough about because of the unfortunate stigma and that is Mental Health. I hear from people all the time that they or their loved ones cant get access to Good Mental Health care. Rhode islanders who are beside themselves because they cant get Good Mental Health care. And you know what the number one reason is . Their Insurance Companies wont pay for it. That needs to stop. [ applause ] in the coming weeks ill be introducing legislation to make health Insurance Companies cover addiction and Mental Health treatment just the way they cover diabetes and other chronic conditions. [ applause ] lets talk for a few minutes about what we are going to do with our School Buildings. Last week schools all across our state had to close and send the students home, all across rhode island. There are teachers putting trash bins in the middle of the classroom to collect water dripping from the leaky ceiling. Teachers and students going home sick because of mold. Rhode Island School buildings get a failing grade. Its just not acceptable. And you know like anything else the longer we wait the more expensive it gets to fix it. Rhode island has not made a meaningful statewide investment in our School Buildings in over 25 years. When i became governor one of the first things that we did was to end the previous administrations freeze on school construction. And we added some funding for high priority projects. Because of that we have been able to fund a handful of improvements at our worst schools including potter burns. Its a 100yearold building. You know it the minute you walk in the door. Today because we came together and we made an investment its bright, clean, has a new library. Its wired for 21st century learning. Kids are ready for 21st century jobs. Attendance is up. Disciplinary problems are down. I was recently at potter burns. The students and the teachers are proud to be at potter burns and there is not a parent in rhode island who wouldnt be proud to send their kids there. Lets keep going. You know what . Our kids deserve to know that we value them. So tonight im calling on all of us to take action. Lets come together to make a once in a Generation Investment to fix our public schools. [ applause ] tonig tonight together with our cities and towns lets commit to investing 1 billion over the next five years to finally fix our public schools. [ cheers and applause ] no now now, dont let anybody tell you we cant afford to do this because we can. I would say we cant afford not to. We have a detailed plan that outlines how we can invest more and do it smarter so we protect the taxpayers at the same time. But every single year that we wait we are wasting millions of dollars putting band aides on our crumbling schools. Lets act now. [ applause ] no now, my fellow Rhode Islanders, we are making real progress. But our work is so far from done because there is still too many Rhode Islanders that arent feeling the recovery. The recovery hasnt reached them yet. We have to keep going until everybody is included. We have to keep going until every child is lifted out of poverty. [ applause ] until every child can attend a flourishing public school. [ applause ] until we meet the needs of every senior and the challenges of an aging rhode island. [ applause ] and until every Rhode Islander has a shot at a good job. And you know what . Lets stay at it until every Rhode Islander can go to work free from harassment, abuse or bullying. [ applause ] i i applaud every single woman who has had the courage to come forward to tell her story. And i pledge to work with anyone to root out harassment in this building and every other work place in rhode island. Times up. [ applause ] we also have to come together to make sure that the uncertainty coming out of washington doesnt derail the progress that were making right here at home. Now more than ever we need to stand up to protect Rhode Islanders. You know, nearly everybody in rhode island has Health Insurance and the premiums [ applause ] and the premiums on our Health Exchange are the lowest in america. When the politicians in washington tried to take Health Care Away we spoke out and we stopped it. And we are not going to let washington take the Health Care Away from people in rhode island. [ applause ] and when washington took aim at our dreamers we stood with our dreamers because this is rhode island. We dont just tolerate diversity, we celebrate it. [ applause ] a and and last week when President Trump announced a plan to open our coast line to drill for oil, we, the people of rhode island stood up and said not on our watch. [ cheers and applause ] we have come so far and we need to keep ongoing. I would like to end tonight where we began. And i would like to share with you the rest of allen and lisas story. Because this is a story that offers a window into what rhode island is all about, into who we are and what we can be. So about nine months ago on a friday allen called lisa while he was headed home from work. And before they hung up they said i love you just the way they always did. And then allen went off on a bike ride. But allen never came home. He was 40 years old and a dad with three kids. But when he was on his bike ride something happened. He collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital and he didnt make it through the night. Allen passed away that night. And his wife and kids miss him every single day. Now, somehow lisas found the strength to pick up the pieces. She keeps going. Shes running the company now. Shes running the company honoring allens work and taking the company to new heights and deepening the commitment to rhode island. So recently i asked lisa. I said why are you so committed to rhode island . I mean, she wasnt born here. She didnt grow up here. Much of her family is still in new jersey. You know what she told me . She said its the community. She said i have never lived any place with a community as strong as rhode island, with a community as tight knit, as generous, as big hearted as rhode island. Allens been gone for about nine months. Lisa cant remember a single night that a friend or a neighbor, someone from church hasnt brought dinner over for her and the kids. Thats who we are. Thats the state we love. Thats what rhode island is all about. [ cheers and applause ] lisas here tonight. Lisa, i think youre amazing. I dont know how you do it. Youre a model for all of us and you inspire every single one of us to keep going. So lets all keep going. Lets all commit ourselves to rhode island. Lets commit ourselves to making this recovery real for everybody. [ applause ] lets stand up for our values. Lets protect Rhode Islanders and the progress we have made. You know, they love rhode island not because its perfect but because of the people, the people who wake up every single day determined to make our state better. They love it for the same reasons we all do, because its home. Thank you, god bless rhode island. [ applause ] defense secretary james mattis is on capitol hill tuesday to testify on the pentagons National Defense strategy. That hearing also includes air force general. Live coverage at 9 30 a. M. Eastern here on cspan 3. Sunday on cspans q a New York Times staff praef photogr talks about the pictures he took. I really believe despite his constant comments about fake news and the media and so forth, i really feel he enjoys having us around because it helps drive his message. It helps drive the news of the day which he can do every day and does every day. He is constantly driving a message. Therefore, having us around really allows him to do that. Q a sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspan. In his state of the commonwealth address Kentucky Governor matt beven talked about budget reductions and eliminating 70 Government Programs to help the
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