today president trump holds a campaign rally in manchester, new hampshire at 7:00 p.m. eastern. watch our campaign 2020 coverage live on c-span 3 at cspan.org. now the state of the state address given by rhode island governor gina raimondo. she lays out her strategy ahead. >> good evening. [ applause ] good evening. [ applause ] good evening. thank you and good evening. thank you and good evening. good evening, rhode island. mr. speaker, senate president, members of the house and senate, members of the judiciary, to my cabinet, my wonderful family, thank you for being here with me tonight, and my fellow rhode islanders. thank you for trusting me to deliver results for our great state. tonight i stand before all of you filled with optimism for our future. in the past few years we've worked hard together to dig our way out of a deep economic hole and now we're preparing rhode islanders for success in a fast-changing economy. right now in rhode island we have more than 500,000 jobs in our state. that's more jobs that we have ever had at any time in our state's history. [ applause ] our unemployment is the lowest it has been in three decades. [ applause ] now i want you to think about that. because that means that our economy is as strong today as it's been in a generation. so what's going on? because we know it hasn't always been that way. actually just a few years ago it wasn't that way. in fact, our neighboring states had strong economies, but we didn't. we were stuck. what's different? what's changed? what's changed is that we put aside the old way of doing business and we're working together like never before to tackle our biggest challenges. because of that, because we've come together to collaborate and embrace change, my fellow rhode islanders the state of our state is strong. [ applause ] and now the work we have to do, now what we have to do is make sure that momentum lasts. make sure this strong economic momentum lasts into the future. that means we need to stick with what's working because somethings are working. like investing in job training and education, like guaranteeing affordable quality health care for all rhode islanders. it also means we have to embrace innovation from all we do, from the jobs we bring here to the way we run government. we're cla we're changing lives and making rhode island competitive in a fast-changing economy. our new approach working together is a proven success. a few years ago in the midst of real setbacks, which we all know about, we decided to deepen our commitment to the black stone valley and it's beginning to pay off. a few months ago we cut the ribbon on a new manufacturing training facility at davies high school in lincoln and we're finally building the central falls train station. and a few weeks ago we announced the biggest economic development project ever in the history. [ applause ] it's a project that's going to bring a professional soccer team and a new stadium, thousands of jobs and revitalize downtown. for years the land that we made available when we moved 195 just sat there as a vacant lot. today we have a vibrant center. we made it easier to do business in rhode island. cutting thousands of pages of regulations and provide over 120 loans to small businesses, and over half of those loans are to women and minority-owned businesses. that small business loan fund didn't even exist when i became governor. working together in the past few years we've added thousands of jobs at our business park. electr electric boat just keeps on growing. more than two dozen companies have moved or expanded. so now they're bursting at the seams. rhode island needs more new available industrial sites. tonight i'm announcing a bond to develop new industrial sites all across rhode island. this is a proven success and it's time to do more of it and put rhode islanders to work in the process. [ applause ] now, importantly together we've made all this progress while cutting taxes every year. so let's continue on that path and once again this year let's give every single rhode islander a cut in their car tax. [ applause ] let's also cut taxes for small businesses. you know, for 25 years small businesses in this state never saw any relief in their unemployment insurance taxes. tonight i am announcing that for the third time since i've been governor, this year we're going to once again cut unemployment insurance taxes for every business in the state of rhode island. [ applause ] over the past few years we have completely changed our approach to job training. we've done that by partnering with businesses. hundreds of businesses have come to the table to help us retool the way we do job training. as a result of our new approach in the past three years we've trained nearly 7,000 rohode islanders. 7,000 rhode islanders. also because of this new approach, more than 7-10 people trained get a good job immediately. now for some people, this new job training has been life changing. take jen brown from warwick. i have something in common with jen because jen like my dad started her career in the jewelry manufacturing business until all those jobs went overseas. then she got another job in a bank until that job was out sourced to india. so, also like my dad, she found herself in her mid 50s looking for a new career. that is a scary place to be. thanks to our new job training approach, jen was able to start over. today jennifer has a great job working at marathane products in cranston. that's right, give her a hand. [ applause ] we're proud of you. jen tells me that her new job is great. she said it's been life changing. but more than the job, she said the training gave her something else. it gave her confidence and hope and optimism that she never thought she would have again. thank you for being with us tonight. we are so proud of you and we hope everybody enjoys success like you are. [ applause ] so not surprisingly because of the success of this new approach, rhode island businesses are calling on us to expand it and sustain it into the future. they tell us they need it in order to find the right talent to grow their businesses. so let's do it. let's answer the call of these businesses. tonight i'm proposing we expand the real jobs rhode island initiative. it has a proven track record of success and can't we all agree that every rhode islander deserves a shot at a good job? [ applause ] i also hear from rhode islanders all the time about the importance of transportation and infrastructure. businesses want to grow and people want to live in communities that are connected. thanks to road works we're fixing our roads quicker than we ever have. [ applause ] you know, it used to be that projects would sit on the drawing board for years, like the 610 connecter. now, like the 610 connecter, they're phenomenfinally under construction. in fact, in the last four years we fixed more than 100 roads and bridges and right now all around rhode island we're fixing another 100 roads and bridges. so i ask you just imagine what rhode island would look like if we improved our trains, buses and public transit in the same way with the same approach that we tackled fixing our roads and bridges. imagine a day when high-speed commuter rails connect providence to boston. imagine zipping through dedicated lanes. that's within our grasp right now. not 10, 20, 30 years down the road. right now. it's today. a few years ago we all came together to change the way we invest in roads and bridges. now let's take that same proven approach to improve our public transportation and transit for every single rhode islander. [ applause ] let's also invest in our beaches. like a lot of you, my family's best memories have been created on our state's beaches. right guys? so don't you think it's time we renovated the tired bathrooms and fixed up the pavilions and the concessions? because i do. i think it's time to make a once in a generation investment in our beautiful beaches. [ applause ] millions of people flock to our beaches every summer. let's protect this beauty. it's the beauty that sets our great state apart. if we really want to ensure rhode island's beauty is enjoyed for generations to come, then we need to address climate change with urgency. [ applause ] about three years ago i set an ambitious goal to increase our clean energy ten fold by the end of 2020. when we announced that, a lot of people said gov, we can't do that. tonight i'm proud to tell you that by the end of this year we're going to exceed that goal. [ applause ] we are the nation's leader in off shore wind production. in a few years we'll be producing enough energy from off-shore wind to power half the homes in rhode island. [ applause ] so, let's go bigger. it's time to aim higher. this week i'll sign an executive order to make rhode island the first state in the country to be 100% powered by renewable energy by the end of this decade. [ applause ] you know, from the day i was elected governor, from the day i became governor, a lot of people gave me advice. they warned me -- a lot of people gave me the same advice. stay away from the biggest issues. they're too controversial. it's been tried and failed. people before you tried and it didn't work. i'll tell you this, improving our public education for our children cannot wait and we cannot think small. [ applause ] i'm committed to do whatever it takes to set public ed caucation a better path. our students are smart and capable. our teachers are talented and dedicated. i've been in classrooms all over the state and have seen great work happening. what we need to do is build on and expand what's working and be honest about what's not working and fix it. now we're starting to see some results. last year rhode island saw improvements in third grade reading scores. that's a great thing. every educator will tell you that third grade reading scores are a key indicator for a child's future classroom success. still the scores lag behind massachusetts. in fact, we've lagged for decades. we've lagged for decades because for decades, we lacked direction and shied away from the tough decisions. those days are over. we have a moral and economic commitment to our children to do better by these kids. [ applause ] now nowhere is our challenge more obvious than in our capitol city. the test scores that came out of providence last year were a call to action for all of us. unfortunately the deeper we dig, the more we find a system in crisis. no consistent curriculum. not enough student learning. brown drinking water coming out of the faucets and bubblers. bats in classrooms. our teachers and our students are working incredibly hard every day in a system that is broken, has been broken for decades. they deserve to know they're not alone and frankly they deserve better. [ applause ] last year we took unprecedented action and the state intervened in providence. we begun the hard work of transforming a system that has failed kids and teachers and family for decades. we're moving to a high quality curriculum across the district, encouraging college level classes. we're making smarter investments in our buildings so people can feel safe. and we will end the culture of low expectations for these kids. [ applause ] stude students, teachers, parents, the community, you're the ones driving this change. i want to thank every one of you for your engagement. i also want you to know we need you to stay at the table the whole way through to make sure we get this right. i also want every rhode islander to know that our work in education is absolutely not limited to the city of providence. we are every bit as focussed on improving outcomes for every child in every school district across our state. [ applause ] we're going to apply the lessons learned and make all schools better everywhere. every single one of us, every single rhode islander has a stake in this work and i would ask you all tonight to ask yourselves what you can do to support this work. i would ask you to do something else, all of us, i would ask you to challenge yourselves to see beyond the borders of your own community, your own neighborhood, your own city or your own town. of course, we all want the best for our own kids. but we all also have a stake in the children in the next town or all the way across the state. they all deserve a high-quality public education. and frankly -- [ applause ] and frankly these kids are our future. you may see one of them one day by your bedside as a nurse or a doctor or as a teacher or as a police officer or as a computer programmer, or, heck, even as a governor. these kids are our future. schools in every community have to do better. tonight i'm announcing an additional $30 million to support children an tead teachen every community in our state. [ applause ] in every district across the state we'll invest in high-quality curriculum, ensure more students have access to advance classes in high school. we'll invest to support multi-language learners for whom the field is still devastatingly unequal. we'll increase the number of mental health professionals in our schools. [ applause ] we'll increase the number of mental health professionals in our schools because all children deserve to have their learning needs met. you know, we all know that having a great teacher can change your life. we've all had a great teacher who's changed our lives. we're going to do more to support our teachers. that means more professional development for our teachers, more and higher quality professional development for our teachers and more mental health training for our teachers. we're going to do more to keep science and math teachers in rhode island by helping them out with their student loans. [ applause ] a very bright spot in our education system is our public pre k. rhode island is a nationally recognized leader for the quality of our public pre k. we should celebrate that. here's the problem, for too many it's unaffordable. parents of young children routinely spend a quarter of their income on child care. in fact, chances are if you're the parent of preschool aged kids you're spending more on their pre k than you are on your rent or mortgage payment. ashley ortiz just couldn't afford it. she's a working mom. she recently went back to school to become a nurse. her oldest son didn't get to go to pre k because it was too expensive. but, her two younger kids did get to go. they got to go to fantastic public pre k classrooms and, because of it, they are thriving. [ applause ] ashley's here with us tonight. we all know how hard it is to be a working mom. you're doing a beautiful job and we'll keep fighting for more pre k like your kids have. [ applause ] we know in study after study it has been proven and we know and anyone who's a parent knows that high-quality pre k works and it is a good investment and kids should not have to be lucky or rich in order to get a good start in their educational life. [ applause ] so tonight -- so tonight i'm proposing a more than 50% increase in the number of high quality public pre k classrooms throughout the state of rhode island. [ applause ] when we do that, we'll be taking a big step forward toward our goal of universal pre k for every 4-year-old in our state. now -- [ applause ] now, in order to do this, we actually need to build more high-quality classrooms. the lack of available space is one of the greatest barriers to our expansion of public pre k and high-quality child care. tonight i'm calling for a bond to build these spaces for our kids. massachusetts broke through that barrier for their kids with a similar very successful program. i think our kids deserve the same. the truth is the only way to really give our kids, and all of us, a shot at a bright future and to give our businesses access to the talent that they need is to ensure that more rhode islanders can continue their education past high school. in fact, every rhode islander should be able to continue their education past high school. it's the only way we're going to thrive in this new and fast-changing economy. a few years ago we tried something new. we enabled high school graduates to enroll at ccri tuition free for two years. we did that to make sure that every rhode islander could have access to the higher education and job training that they needed to get a good job. at that time we were one of only a couple states that did it. now many others have followed our lead. today, i'm proud to say, the promise scholarship is a proven success. ccri's graduation has tripled. [ applause ] and statewide last year we hit a record. more students than ever enrolled in college and, in fact, last year our very own ccri earned the distinction of best two-year college in america. [ applause ] so that's the good news. but there's a risk. the scholarship is set to expire this year which means, if we don't take action now, this year's high school seniors will be the last class of promised scho scholars. that means if we don't take action, we'll be pulling the rug out from under the other high school students and economic experts agree the most important thing that we can do to strengthen our economy and make it resilient into the future is to have a more educated workforce. we can't go backwards. let's make the promise scholarship permanent and cement affordable higher education and job training into the very foundation of our economy. [ applause ] you know, we can't talk about taking care of our children without taking into account our most vulnerable. too many kids in rhode island don't live in a stable home and live in the shadow of addiction. trauma. or mental illness. they arrive on our doorstep through no fault of our own. and we do what any one of you would do. we take them in and take care of them. tonight i'm proposing that we make additional investments to strengthen our child welfare system so that we can meet our obligation to the children in our care. [ applause ] this investment will support our dedicated staff on the front lines. it will allow us to recruit and license more foster families so we can get more kids out of group homes. and it will make sure that no child remains in limbo a day or a minute more than necessary. and if a child cannot be reunited with their biological parents, then it's on us to find them a stable, loving family that they can call their own. so tonight i'm also announcing a new initiative to find and support more foster and adoptive homes for these kids. [ applause ] you know, no one needs our love more than these kids. i'm making it my commitment and i'm asking you to join me. as every parent knows, we also have to protect our kids from the dangers of vaping. last year, facing a public health crisis, i took immediate action and temporarily banned flavored e-cigarettes. [ applause ] public health experts agree these dangers are real. let's make the ban permanent and do the right thing and protect our children. [ applause ] you know, often we say everyone deserves a shot. and that's true. but that means everyone. in some ways we're doing that in rhode island. we are securing access to health care for most rhode islanders. when i became governor, we decided to keep running our own state health exchange instead of giving it to the federal government. because of that decision and because of a lot of hard work, i'm proud to say that over 97% of rhode islanders have access to health care. [ applause ] that's better than almost any state in america. and while the premiums in most states are going up, i'm proud to say that this year, health insurance premiums on our state-run health exchange will be going down. [ applause ] nobody should have to choose between going to the doctor and buying groceries. since i've been governor, working together with the legislature, we've raised the minimum wage three times. let's do it again this year and give our hardest-working rhode islanders the raise that they deserve. [ applause ] and while we're at it, while we're at it, at the same time, to make that raise even more impactful, let's expand the earned income tax credit so hard working rhode islanders can keep more of their hard-earned money in their pocket. [ applause ] no one, no one who works full-time should live in poverty. and it's in our hands to make that difference. by the way, no one should struggle to keep a roof over their head either. and right now in rhode island, too many working people do. and by the way, that affects everyone. lack of housing affects everyone. it affects the young working couple who struggles to be good employees. they can't show up on time every day because their housing isn't stable. it hurts business because they can't hire people who are priced out of the market. it even affects the kid who can't keep her eyes open in class because she slept on a relative's couch the night before. our housing shortage threatens all of our economic progress. this year, i propose a housing bond. and for the first time ever in rhode island, a dedicated funding stream to build more housing. [ applause ] rhode island is one of very few states that does not have a dedicated funding stream for housing. nearly every other state already has it. so let's do it, and let's get to work building more homes in rhode island. protecting our future also means protecting our neighborhoods and our workplaces and our schools from gun violence. [ applause ] we know this is a nationwide crisis. but in the past few weeks, it has hit very close to home in westerly and in pawtuckett. and i know there are folks here tonight from westerly and pawtuckett, and we're with you. even one tragedy with an untraceable homemade firearm is one too many and one that could have been avoided. loopholes that allow extremely dangerous people to get guns need to be closed. military style assault weapons belong in the military, not in our schools, not in our communities, and they should be banned. [ applause ] so this year, i will once again propose a comprehensive package of gun reforms. stand with me. let's stand together and do the right thing, pass these reforms and keep rhode island safe. [ applause ] as we tackle these defining, most important issues of our time, we also need reforms that ensure citizens and businesses have confidence in their leaders and in their government. that means it's time to pass the line-item veto. something -- [ applause ] this is something we know and have known for a long time that the vast majority of rhode islanders supported. nearly every other state uses line-item veto to reduce waste in government spending and corruption. and to ensure that our tax dollars help everybody, not just the well-connected. let's restore rhode islanders' confidence in government and let's put it on the ballot and let rhode islanders have a say. [ applause ] as we sit here tonight, i want you all to imagine yourselves 20 years down the road. imagine yourselves 20 years down the road. it's a fun thing to do. [ laughter ] you'll all still look wonderful. okay. you have your image? maybe, maybe your kids have grown up. maybe your kids have grown up, maybe you've retired. maybe you've started a new career or bought a house. maybe you've started your family. you know what i see? i see a rhode island where the opportunity for an excellent public education from pre-k through college is guaranteed for everybody. [ applause ] i see a rhode island where our public schools are thriving. i see a rhode island where our economy is booming because we have an educated workforce. i see high speed rail and electric buses making it easy to commute within our state and within our region. i see a rhode island where young couples, unburdened by student loans, are able to afford their first home and start their lives together. headlines about gun violence don't fill the news anymore. and everybody has access to high quality health care. we're on track for that. we're on track to make that vision a reality. it's the path we're on. if we continue to invest in what works. if we continue to have the courage to embrace change. so let's do it. let's find that courage. let's stay on that path. let's make that vision a reality. let's build a rhode island that is strong and resilient and strong for our children for decades to come. that bright future belongs to us. so, let's go build it together. thank you. god bless and god bless rhode island. [ applause ] supreme court justice ruth baden ginsburg is scheduled to talk about the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote. we're having troubles with our signal from georgetown university law center and are working to fix it to show you this event. until then, here's a segment from this morning's washington journal. joining us from manchester, new hampshire this morning is political reporter paul steinhouser. great to have you back again. less than 24 hours now before the polls open. what time do they open tomorrow, 7:00 a.m.? >> most 7:00

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