>> we are live at the national press club in washington. the national governors' association will lay out issues of priority to them. we will hear from the chairman and the vice chair, the better jack markell of delaware, -- governor jack markell of delaware, and mary fallin of oklahoma. it is the time of the year for state of the state addresses, and we have several to date. the governor of connecticut will talk about hurricane sandy relief efforts, and the recent shooting in newtown, andrew cuomo of new york is expected to oppose a weapons ban, and then talk about hurricane sunday -- hurricane sandy relief. tonight, bob mcdonnell, who yesterday announced a tax for transportation funding over five years. we'll have all of those live today beginning at noon with the governor of connecticut. back to the issue of guns and gun violence, again, into " is likely to propose an assault weapons ban, and vice president joe biden will begin meetings, hearing with victims' groups in gun safety organizations. he will also talk with the national rifle association. that is set for tomorrow. >> thank you for being with. -- here. we welcome you to what we hope is the first and will state of the state's address. without further ado, i would like to introduce you to our leadership, governor jack markell of delaware, and governor mary fallin of oklahoma. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. i am jack markell. i want to see what you all for coming to what we hope will be an annual address. it is my privilege to serve as the governor of delaware and the byir of nga and i'm joined the vice-chair, oklahoma governor mary fallin. we are here to deliver the first state of the state's address, and talk about our collective priorities as we go into what will be an unprecedented congress. i want to take a moment to recognize somebody that is here with us this morning. as governors, our relationship with our state's national guard forces is incredibly important. the national guard is a vital resource in the emergency response, in addition to its role as homeland defense, it serves as an operational force on overseas missions alongside active-duty forces. we are honored to be joined by the chief of the national guard bureau. general, thank you so much for being here, and more importantly, thank you for the very important work that you do. [applause] so, through the nga we identified priorities for the states and we find common ground we are bipartisan, and it should come as no surprise how much we could accomplish when we work together. as you will hear today, governors and federal partners have been successful in crafting the command structure so the states can respond in times of natural disaster. we also worked to build a national communications network, in gauging the on issues ranging from transportation to education, to preserving the capabilities of our national guard. while each governor has his or her own unique circumstances, we all have to facilitate job growth, improve schools, and be financially responsible. as much as we do in our states, our economies are tightly linked to the national economy, and as a result, our state's prosperity, the prosperity of our citizen depends in no small measure on the ability of all public servants in washington to come together on a path forward. uncertainty here in federal support hurts both our economies and the federal budget, and the implications are incredibly important. governors have been working with the president, the vice president, and congressional leadership to find solutions to help put our country back on firm financial footing. one of the largest elements of the uncertainty concerned elements of the fiscal cliff that were either postponed or taken out of the reason -- recent relief act of 2012 as the only postponed reducing grants to states. intimate reform was not addressed, and no action was taken regarding the federal debt limit. if the debt limit does not increase soon, there will be disruptions to capital spending and markets that could greatly impact state operations. until there are resolved, states can not make financial plans that will address the needs of our citizens. state economies are slowly recovering, and many places are just now returning to the revenue that we collected in 2008. during the last five years, governors have cut $337 billion from our state budgets. we streamlined our work. in some cases we stopped doing things altogether. for example, we consolidated agencies, improved delivery systems, and in some cases we closed outdated facilities. we continue to aggressively managed our liabilities, including around our pension system, and certainly around the ever-growing cost of health care. sometimes, that is not enough. we have had to curtail benefits. some states reduced workforces. in total, the actions we have taken and made states more productive, more efficient, but at times our people have suffered, and, of course, we cannot afford to wait when it comes to moving the needle on jobs and businesses. we governors are keenly aware of the obstacles job-seekers face every day and much of our effort is focused on removing these obstacles. for example, there are 40 separate federal programs that focus of providing workforce services, especially around employment and occupational skills. we want programs to continue, but we also want more flexibility to implement more state-based systems, work-based systems that would be better to -- able to respond to the needs of job-seekers and business. each governor wants to be the jobs governor, and importantly, we want to be the jobs governor for everybody in our state, and that includes returning veterans, a group where a partnership between state and federal government could be especially helpful. it also includes be the jobs governor for people in our states with disabilities. we want them to engage and participate fully in community life. i have chosen to focus my nga chair initiative with the ways states could help people with disabilities find more employment opportunities. this initiative is called a better bottom line. it is designed to raise awareness of the untapped talent of people with disabilities, and how would can contribute to the bottom line, and finding ways states and businesses can partner. as governors, we also very much appreciate how important step of the art roads, bridges, telecommunications, wastewater -- other infrastructure is to our nation put the economy. governors have taken a lead role advocating for infrastructure investments at a time when our investments in this country are falling way behind the infrastructure investments in so many other countries, and that is why it is important that the nation that detects tax-exempt financing for infrastructure, and the deductibility of state and local taxes which provide critical support to infrastructure projects. many of us have used innovative financing tools to be private /public partners, to help mitigate the public funding shortfalls in to shore up some of our infrastructure. it is really important that we have long-term federal funding stability. some of these infrastructure projects are long term. we also support the investments in its the structure project through existing and maybe some self-sustaining mechanisms. the issue of uncertainty around the federal tax code is also a big concern. the reform. it could have an impact on states. we have had a taxable -- task force headed up by the governor of pennsylvania and the governor of kentucky, and they will develop concrete suggestions, consisted of where the interest of the state and federal governments intersect. it will also address longstanding tax policies such as the need to allow states to essentially level the playing field between main street, retailers, and online sellers when it comes to sales taxes. treating the ball the same is an issue of fairness that congress can and should resolve. and-in-hand with job creation comes education. every governor has an important role to play in what is the most important future-oriented investments that we make, and that is around education. across the country, governors are insuring efforts to students, insuring they can always see the world class education that will prepare them for success. today 49 states and territories have voluntarily adopted a common core standards. these are high standards that are consistent across states. they provide clear expectations that everyone can work for together. most importantly, it is a foundation that we can build on to ensure that our students are well prepared with the skills and knowledge at they need to compete with the very best of the best from around the world. states and schools are working to implement new standards, upgrade training in standards, and you institute some of the initiatives under race to the top. nga has a role to ensure that some of the things we learned our shared with other states and the federal government. with that, i'm going to ask governor markell -- fallin to talk about some other state priorities. [applause] >> thank you very much, governor markell. it is a pleasure to be here. we appreciate your leadership. it has been a great pleasure to work with you. i'm here to talk to you about the nga and the critical issues facing our states. as governor markell has pointed out, we think states are the laboratories of democracy that can be on the front line of helping to develop policies, been able to solve some of our nation's most pressing issues, whether it involves economic growth, job creation, education, focusing on government waste, and many other issues, but to provide these solutions we need room to be able to reform our state policies and objectives. the federal government can and should be a partner in helping us to develop good public policy. a strong partnerships is vital to best serve all citizens of the nation. we call the flexible federalism. -- recall that flexible federalism. you know what i mean. the letters are -- governors are committed to a collaboration with congress and the administration to maintain and promote a balanced system. just last month, governor markell and i joined president obama to outline what flexible federalism will look like. the effort deserves to be front and center, because how washington deals with those issues will have an immediate, direct affect on our states and our budget. 30 of the 50 states that we have have had job growth, and we have been able to get to pre- recession levels. oklahoma has been one of those states to experienced job growth. we have now come from seventh% unemployment to 5.2%, one of the highest job growth rates in the nation, but i have to tell you, it was not easy. if -- we have to make good policy and shared sacrifice. as president and congress will address sequestration, we know as governors that spending cuts will be necessary and inevitable, as are the tough decisions they have to make, but we also asked the president, congress in leaders to keep four points in mind. first is federal reform should produce savings for the federal government and the states. deficit reduction should not be accomplished by merely shifting those costs down to our states, or imposing unfunded mandates. states should be given increased flexibility to create efficiencies and achieve results. lastly, congress should not impose maintenance of effort provisions of states as a condition of receiving federal funding. in other words, it states receive federal cuts, washington should not demand the same level of service without providing the same level of funding. essentially, all of these points can and will be coming down to flexibility and partnership. we need the flexibility to take care of the unique needs of our citizens and the challenges of our states. what we do not need is a one- size-fits-all solution or more unfunded federal mandates passed on to our states. the need to be treated as partners, not underlings. we want to work to implement good public policy. as we told congressional leaders, reducing the deficit by shifting costs to the state is not indicative of the good partnership. whether it is deficit reduction or other pressing national issues, we feel the two principles will guide these relationships with the federal government and the state. the principles are the flexibility and the partnership. i will give you a couple of examples. take health care, for instance. health care in this costs remain a critical challenge to the country. medicaid remains one of our biggest budget issues for many of our states, requiring more stephen federal funding when you combine the two than education in our budgets. in 2011, total medicaid spending increased at an unsustainable rate of over 10%, and in response states are currently creating and exploring ways that we can look at reforms for expanding reforms and also for financing and delivering health care. we would like to see the administration to embrace innovation at the state-level by speeding up the consideration of waivers, and looking on the more favorably as we present those to the administration. unfortunately, many states have found the waiver process can be very long, difficult and time- consuming to prepare. in my state of oklahoma, for instance, we have had a long term waiver we have used in our state to develop a program that best meets our needs called insured oklahoma, of partnership between the state and the federal government, between the employer and the employee to provide affordable insurance to low-income, working oklahomans. it has helped. tens of thousands have received access. unfortunately, we received words that insure oklahoma and the waiver could be in jeopardy, putting the long-term sustainability of our highly successful program in question. as a governor in oklahoma, i want to work with the administration to preserve the program, and as the vice chair of the nga i want to encourage states to look at ways to innovate, and create better public policy. we believe states have a great deal of potential to change the delivery of health care and medicaid and that the states are the vehicle for that change. to help navigate the various complexities of our health care policy, the nga as work together as a group to unveil a brand new web site called state health policy options, where we as governors can look at what other states are doing the best practices, what works and what does not work. i want to encourage our federal governors to take advantage of that website. the site is a virtual resource center that will make it easier to explore potential solutions on health care problems. the website also provides policymakers with expert analysis and best practices adopted in states that are working to improve health care access, affordability and quality. we believe this will be a great opportunity to show off the constructive policy states can pursue if we are given the freedom and flexibility to do so. on the health-care fund, governors are also tackling one of the fastest growing drug problems of the century, and that is the abuse of prescription drugs. initiative, chaired by the governor of alabama seeks to develop and implement a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to reduce prescription drug abuse across seven participating states. the lessons learned from this initiative and its conclusion will be shared with each state, helping us to showcase effective policy to treat addiction, enforce the law, and better protect against prescription drug abuse from experts. i hope i have made it clear -- at it is. i hope i have made it clear that the states and the nga can be significant partner in health care and deficit reduction, but we are also partner in one of our greatest priorities to the national security. governors remained committed to the members of our armed services, especially the men and women of all or national guard, who play a critical role in responding to emergencies at home, and suddenly fighting alongside active military men and women overseas. at the end of october we saw a hurricane on the east coast that provided a major test for dual status command that we have been able to negotiate through our national governors' association. if these commanders are typically national guard officers that have been trained to commend. but the reports are that the the arrangement has worked well, and improved responsiveness. nearly 12,000 national guard men and women from 21 states responded to that crisis, and how to save lives and protect homes and businesses along the -- helped to save lives, and protect homes and businesses along the east coast's -- east coast. we'll continue to work with the department of defense and congress to better leverage our national guard, cost- effectiveness, and the high level of experience, was also preserving the military capacity for our nation. of course, the safety and security of our citizens is crucial. as congress indeed administration examine alternatives to the current package of federal grants, governors will work to insure the first responders are equipped with the tools they need to accomplish life-saying missions. the nation has begun development of one of these critical tools by providing sufficient radio spectrum needed for the construction of a broadband network for public safety communications. the nga was instrumental in a critical legislation that will play a strong role in the parliament, and means -- in the development and maintenance of this network. this will help first responders develop the most reliable condition capacity in our nation. in addition, governors are looking that the growth of cyber terrorism, and the attacks and threats our nation faces. we think is important to include a critical infrastructure as they begin to look at ways to protect our nation. nga recently created the resource center led by the governor of maryland, martin o'malley, and the governor of michigan, rick schneider. it is examining the role public policy can and should play in insuring adequate cyber security for state-owned and state-based infrastructure, and that includes services like looking at our data, communication systems, our banking systems, water systems, electrical grids, and water energy companies. we are working with policymakers and representatives from private industries and institutions to affectively and strategically identify and address cyber security policy issues within the states. finally, i want to talk for a moment about the energy and energy security. i am proud to say that my state of oklahoma, working along with democratic governor from colorado, has teamed up with 22 other states to work for the conversion of our state automobile fleets from traditional gas-powered vehicles and trucks to natural gas vehicles. we -- when we come by all of our state's purchasing power we were able to let a national bid which has driven down the price of cng-powered vehicles by thousands of dollars, making the vehicles more affordable for state budgets and the private sector. each automobile has the potential to save $20,000 in fuel costs, freeing up resources for priorities like education and health care. just as important, our initiative supports the production of american-made natural gas and the creation of american jobs, which will once again benefit our local economies and help our state budgets. it is stage for the ability to increase -- it sets the stage, excuse me, for the ability to increase national -- natural gas is the structure and fueling stations, and it supports a very important fuel source for our nation to help us to be able to become more energy independent as a nation. so, as you can tell, we are thinking very big, and governors are thinking very big. we are optimistic about our states, and the role that they play in making our nation more prosperous. we believe if we are given the flexibility, and if we are able to have a partnership in making good public policy,, then we can all work together with the state and federal governments to be able to benefit all americans in finding solutions to problems and challenges that our nation faces. that is a message of hope as we move into 2013. i want to say thank you to all of you for being here, and governor markell, thank you for your leadership, and all you have done to bring together the governors and the public and the private sector to have this important discussion. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, governor fallin, and we would be pleased to take questions from members of the media. >> microphone coming to you. >> one is sure you did the mentioned is gun control. can you tell me how the figures into the government -- governor 's agenda? >> it will work to leave for different governors, but i can tell you we will be thinking about it in delaware, in reaction to the awful tragedy in connecticut, and two years ago i might of been the only governor to introduce the legislation. i introduced four bills. three of them were passed aired at this point, my view is there are three pieces. one has to do with access to mental health, something we've been focused on for some time, increasing access to medical health in our state. the second is around school security. we actually kicked off last year a robust process to make sure that every school has a good safety plan. in our state, for a long time, every school has been required to have the safety plan, but the quality has been very, so we kicked off the idea of every school having a plan focused and not just making sure that teachers and other school based personnel are prepared to be the first act is, but to also make sure the first responders know what the layout of the school looks like before they get there. the third piece has to do with guns. in the next few days, i will be rolling out initiatives around all three of those, but i think it is less likely that nga as an organization will have been initiative, but we do appreciate the initiative -- initiation by the white house who has invited all governors. we appreciate that aldrich. -- outreach. >> thank you, governor markell. nga has not taken an issue, as each a distant with its own needs, but first of all our hearts in prayers go out to the people that suffered tremendously. we in the state of oklahoma have taken steps to encourage our local schools to pull out their emergency plans, to have drills, to not let the planes gather dust on the shelves, to rehearse those things come to update the plans as they need to. we have also been working with our mental health director to look at our services in our state to make sure that our findings match our priorities, and we have been able to put more funding into mental health services, especially crisis intervention itself. certainly come as a governor, with my cabinet, we have has some rehearsals going through emergency response and prepared this, making sure all different levels are fortunate the levels they need to be functioning, -- are functioning at the level set the need to be functioning, and also stay -- saying the state of oklahoma we respect our second amendment rights. >> what can you say in terms of immigration reform? >> of this, it is a very federal -- obviously, it is a very federal issue. we look for to being supportive however we can, and a lot of governors would probably say the idea of making it easier for folks that have come here from elsewhere to get their education, who might want to stay here, we ought to make that easier for them. obviously, there is a big debate around a lot of issues. we look forward to working with you administration and congress on that. >> the states have had very different reactions to health- care reform. some have formed their own exchanges and are in the process of forming their own, and other states have not. i guess my question, and i'm sure you probably have different perspectives, but is health-care reform going to work in 2014, given the various responses of the state level to it. >> why don't we each address this? i will start. first of aqaba -- first of all, dick and states have taken different approaches, and when tested with the establishment of states. in delaware, we decided to do a partnership, a state-federal. number two, the issue that we had to deal with was expanding medicaid. this was not a democratic or republican issue, it was just math, and the way it works we believe it is a good investment to make sure that more people get covered through this expansion, why let the same time the federal reimbursement for medicaid actually increases for the people that we are already serving. number 3, and i think this gets to your question about how this will work, i have been very grateful to the leadership of secretary sibelius' around supporting the idea. a lot of the conversation around health-care leaves out some of the changes that have to take place within states as we come up with different ways of doing payment and payment reform. for example, ark., has done some very interesting work around moving away for -- from fee-for- service. governor patrick had a bill passed in massachusetts that is starting to do the same thing. we're hoping in delaware to get one of these grants. so much of the conversation around health care has been what is happening at the national level. as with so many of these issues, how would is implemented is largely dependent on what kinds of decisions we make in our states. a couple of years ago, when jim douglas, former governor of vermont was the chair of the national governors' association, his initiative was around state- based health-care reform, and there were some interesting things that came out of it. the role that nga plays is around technical assistance as much as anything else. when you combine the increased access with the opportunity to make some pretty basic, important and fundamental reforms in terms of payment reform, i think are interesting opportunities in front of us. >> you gave great examples of why we believe we need flexibility and a partnership. those were our main points. each state is unique, has different constitutions, different budgets. we know 30 of the 50 states are just now beginning to reach pre- recession levels. there's still some states that have huge shortfalls. there are states that have better health outcomes and some do not have as good of all comes as they need. that is why each state is allowed to make their own decision about what best fits their citizens, population and budget, frankly. in oklahoma, we have estimated that if we should expand medicaid, when report says it will cost around $450 billion over the the next years between now and 2020, and we had another report saying it would be $650 billion between now and 2022. we need to take into consideration the cost. when we are looking a sequestration, the debt ceiling limit, and we do not know what is in store for our state budget, much less states around the nation because we do not know what congress indeed administration is going to do as they work together to find resolution for the big issues facing our nation, and certainly the debt and the deficit itself. at nga, we have not taken an official position other than to say we have a website shares information. we talk almost weekly about the different options available. i talked about insure oklahoma, and how that has worked well. it is one of the options we are looking at. that is why i mentioned we need the flexibility in oklahoma to sustain a program that is currently working in my state. >> thank you. i was hoping you could expand on the tax reform task force, maybe outlined the goals, and also you mentioned preserving taxes for infrastructure investment. maybe you could expand on that, and what steps you are taking right now is congress talks about sequestration. >> the tax reform task force is being led by tom corbin, -- tom corbett, the governor of pennsylvania, and the governor of kentucky. we recognize there is considerable work being done in washington, and we think it is incumbent upon us to come in with solutions, not just say that we want this, this, and this, but in general terms, say we understand what you are trying to achieve and we would like to be helpful as partners in coming to put reasonable solutions. we certainly are a part of this around municipal bonds alike, because so much of that goes to fund infrastructure, that is important. it is essentially making sure that we as governors, democrats and republicans, can find common ground, and the second piece is making sure that we are communicating that effectively. we were grateful for the reception we got from president obama in vice president joe biden one month torso ago when we went in and said we -- or so ago when we went in and said we are not advocating, but we are partners. for so many of these services, health care, education, work force-training, we have to work together, and we wanted to make sure they understood our perspective. the president was gracious, and we had a productive meetings with speaker boehner and leader harry reid. i wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to weigh in and let the folks in washington, those making decisions understand what the impact would be on states. you will see something that politicians rarely do, and i will clarify something. we were talking about big numbers. it relates to medicaid. i wanted to talk about the cost in our state. i said 450 minute -- billion dollars. -- $40 million. i want to make that clear. it is actually 800 billion for our nation one of the things we have been working on is trying to work within our states, looking at how we can make government more efficient and effective. we know there's going to be cuts coming, and we are concerned about our deficits, and barley money, so we have this task force formed -- borrowing money, so we have this task force formed. we know that if we do not find some certainty in the financial crisis that we are facing as a nation with sequestration, the debt limit the deficit itself, that uncertainty and having this debate, and a crisis every two months basically, because we have not find it -- found a final resolution, it creates so much uncertainty in our states that it is hard to write a budget. i have been working on my state budget, and we will both present in the next couple of weeks, but it keeps having to be adjusted. congress just passed the tax act last week, and we know they will have another vote because they will hit the debt limit and sequestration march 1. we know that in the middle of our legislative session in oklahoma, our budgets and our numbers are going to change. it hurts our economy it does not help us when we are trying to play in the sources that we need. that is part of what the tax reform is about. bringing together governors to look at best -- task force is about, bringing to the other governors to look the best ideas, and hopefully share in partnership with the president and congress because we think it is important to have a seat at the table. >> something governor scott walker broke up -- brought up, there is the uncertainty with budgets, and also with the businesses in our state. one of the things administration is focused on is a continued focus is how to deal with these big issues and focus on growth. go ahead. >> you last -- you both touched on education reform. i wonder if you could talk more about no child left behind. i think everyone agrees we need some sort of more formal reauthorization, so i did not know with nga would have a unified push for what that should look like. >> i agree with the premise of the question we have a great partner. i think secretary are the donkey -- arne duncan has started a wave in our country and i'm excited about the progress. i am working not as the education committee. we try to do things by consensus. , which even if it were a single-party it would be difficult enough. let's face, democrat or republican, we all face the same goals. we want as much -- so much education is driven at the local level. it is a philosophy shared across most dates. and the decision should be made by the people closest to the kids. there is clearly something broken we look forward to working with them on that. >> back to the national guard, can you speak to international guard funding, how you plan to work on the structure of the air force? >> very closely is the answer. the question is how we will work with the national guard when it relates to funding for the air guard, and part of this is making sure -- we do have this council of governors made up by folks at the pentagon, and it is hard to overstate how important our national guards are in each of our states, certainly from the perspective of helping us in times of emergency, but the other thing, and this is really what we want to weigh in on, is making it clear how cost- effective the national guard is as part of our overall national defense package. it is absolutely remarkable. i had the opportunity last year to travel to with the anniston. we happen to have been flown from kuwait -- afghanistan. we happen to be flown from kuwait from the air guard, and these hometown heroes, they will step in, they are extraordinarily well-trained, and they will step in for six months, nine months, and for making that -- to make that happen is incredibly cost- effective. we have a responsibility to the policy-making decisions of the national defence is up to the president and the federal government, but when we have something available to us, specifically the national guard, which is trained extraordinarily well to talk-dutch standards and is also so -- top-notch standards, we will continue to hammer that particular point home. >> it goes back to the point that we want to be a partner and look at the challenges facing the nation, and i agree with governor markell, but that the national guard is effective, important to our state operations and our nation's defense, and it is important that they have the equipment, the training, in funding they need, especially in times of disaster and crisis. they employed a huge role in defending our nation. when we are concerned about as governors and generally is what we're talking about sequestration, and we're talking of budget cuts, and we understand we need to reduce our deficits, and cuts will be made, we are concerned about disproportionate cuts to our national guard when it comes to our military. that is why we believe it is important for governors to have a seat at the table, and we appreciate that. we are stepping up to play a bigger role in these discussions as we talk about these important fiscal issues facing the nation. >> back to education, with state budgets pretty limited, how are you trying to better connect education to your work force? what is on the table? >> i think it is a great question, and in many ways the question of the day for every state. from my perspective, when we first took office, we have been a ton to million-dollar budget shortfall in the context of a $3 billion budget, difficult to fault -- solved. we tried to lay out some over- arching principles. when the principles was continuing to invest in things that would lead to a prosperous future for our state, and that was around work development specifically, the better and better job that we could do in making sure that our students understand that what they are learning is actually bought the to the rest of the lives is extremely important. i think that is what the most important things we can do in dealing with the dropout problem. i think a lot of kids drop out because they are beginning to believe what they are doing is not relevant to what they will do for the rest of their lives. if part of that is making sure that our businesses are better connected. it is not a matter of charity. this is their understanding that this is where the future work force is going to come from. whether it is internship opportunities, or making sure that businesses getting into the schools to help them understand what skills are needed -- all kids can realize it is a different day from one i graduated in high school in 1978. at that time, there were a fair number of pretty good middle- class jobs available. you did not meet the need to have completed all of your technical courses. these days, for so many of the trades, in similar fields, you have to know your stuff. it is really important. we have a responsibility, not only as political leaders, but i think families have a responsibility. one of the things we have to do is make sure we are entering this home. when we think generally about the issue of education, one of the most difficult pieces is making sure that we are doing everything we can to communicate to the people of our state about how the world has changed and how we fit in. there are 3 billion people in the world looking for jobs. there are 1.2 billion jobs available. businesses have more choices than they have ever had before about where to go, and that includes the kind of businesses that you are talking about. there are plenty of places around the world investing not only in education systems, but in workforce the element systems. we have to wake up to that. we have to leapfrog that. we are very focused on that in our state and no other states are as well. by the way, it differs from state-to-state, which is one reason why i mentioned earlier there are 40 federal work force training programs, and one of the things we're looking for is as much flexibility as possible, including restoring the 15% set- aside of the work for senator and funds, because that is discretion -- gives the governor's the most discretion. we have to be responding accordingly to the businesses we have today, and when these will be several years from now. >> i think all governors agree that education is critical to a strong, vibrant economy, and giving our children the best foot forward, and that is why the nga has worked toward programs that we have all adopted, including complete graduate america, which would be a certificate from a school to encourage people to stay in those professions. in the state of oklahoma, we have been looking at in depth at what the needs are for the work force themselves, and comparing them to the types of degrees and certificates that we are giving at our colleges and vocational schools, and we have beefed up our accountability and standards for our secondary education systems and to make sure that when a student graduates from a 12th grade, a high-school diploma means they are educated at a 12th-grade skill level. we have been working to talk with higher education, career technology schools, and high schools themselves, to make sure there is a seamless system between them. we have been talking to the private sector, asking them with the job skills are the we need for the future, and going back to your example of how things have changed, we have people in the oil industry and it used to, if you have a high-school diploma, that could give you a decent job, but now entry-level positions come you have to operate computers, and be able to turn on certain switches in calculate certain things. so, the type of skill sets that are needed in today put the work force are essential as governors -- today's work force are essential for us to pay attention to. >> when it comes to certificates, i think they are useful because states could make sure when kids graduate from certain programs, they are graduating with certificates that are the signifying that they have a certain level of knowledge. one more question. >> hi. there have been some difficulties. airforce-oriented questions. there have been difficulties between thick governors and air force discussing what was best for the strategy. by understanding that hinges on a non-disclosure agreement that the air national guard director had signed. this is not been signed by the incoming director. would you like to see this non- disclosure agreement to get off the table so governors have a fair say when it comes to the strategy? >> i think we will lead the conversation between the governors and air force. the fact that there is disagreement should not be a surprise, because people come to issues with the effort perspectives. the important thing is there is as much that brings us together, which is the desire to make sure the country has the best security of the best costs while preserving what is the critical component to this day, which is the national guard. i am looking forward to continuing these conversations and to working with the air force and the pentagon. very much appreciate everyone coming out. thank you so much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the national governors' association in their first date of the state's address for the national press club. a number of other governors doing their annual state reviews, including chris christie. we will show you that coming up at 11:15 eastern. live coverage beginning and noon eastern from connecticut. governor of the amyloid is likely to speak about hurricanes and the relief efforts, as well as the recent school shootings. -- dan malloy. then at andrew cuomo. at 7:00 eastern, bob macdonald will deliver his fourth annual state of the commonwealth address from the state capitol in richmond. he will talk about the plan to replace the gasoline tax with the sales tax increase. all of that live here on c-span. the house and senate are out this week. the president is in washington. president karzai about get a standard set to meet with president obama later this week. the afghan leader this afternoon will be on capitol hill meeting with senator mcconnell and others. vice-president biden as at the white house today resuming his gun violence group. today they meet with representatives of victims' groups and gun safety organizations. eric holder expected to be there. the meetings getting under way at this hour. the representatives from the national rifle association, wal- mart and others will meet with the vice president on thursday. we will take you live at noon for the state of the state. dan malloy for that live at noon. 11:15 chris christie in the state of the state from yesterday. this morning, washington's journal everything you need to know about the flu. corn host: and as is the director of the national institute for allergy and diseases. beginning with "the houston chronicle." it is something that is happening across the country. why? what is going on? guest: you never know why with influenza. it is very unpredictable, except that we have flu season every year. what we're seeing this year is the way this has started off, earlier than usual with a strain of flu that is generally a bad strain in the sense of making people more ill than in other strains of flu, that we are on the way to what looks like as that of the year as we have had since 2003 and 2004. flu seasons really get going when you are into january. this started to pick up at the very beginning of december. the trajectory of the number of cases in severity as such that this looks quite comparable, at least as comparable and maybe a little worse than what we've seen 10 years ago in 2003 and 2004. >> how does your institute and the center for disease control, how are you tracking this? how were you able to note that this particular strand is as bad as it is? guest: the cdc based in atlanta is the main agency of the federal government and in the world who doesn't disease tracking. they have capabilities of determining the relative percentage of visits and different types of clinics throughout the country that are related to what we call influenza-like influence -- and this is. they do testing among them to determine if it is influenza or another type of respiratory infection. what they have shown from the very beginning all of all of this is that we're having an upsurge in the number of percentages of visits that are related to influenza-like illness, and when you examine that, they successfully identified what kind of influence that it is, and they know really what this strain is. that is important. one of the things in this massive relatively sobering news is the good news is the influences strain circulating throughout society in the united states are very well matched to the vaccine that has been distributed, and that is a very powerful all demand for getting vaccinated against it, even though we are into january, it is not too late to get vaccinated. host: some people have reported it is the influenza a virus. what does the government do with this information? guest: first of all, you mentioned the national institute for health and the cdc. the cdc does the tracking and identification of the strain and is influential in months ahead of time signaling what should be in the vaccine. nih is a research organization. we do research on influenza in developing drugs against it and in helping, along with pharmaceutical companies, to develop a vaccine. that is what we do in synergy and collaboration, tracking it in trying to make what we call countermeasures against it in the form of treatment and prevention. guest: how much does all of that cost? a lot of money. we are continually trying to make better vaccines, including vaccines that might be good for all strains of vaccines. the cbc spends tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of millions in the tracking and surveillance throughout the country. and it is a very serious issue. on any given year there is a wide variability but it could go from a few thousand best to up to 49,000 deaths in the united states each season. about 200,000 hospitalizations and over 25 billion in economic cost. this is a serious issue. host: $25 billion cost to him? who bears the brunt of that? guest: it is lost work. hospital medical costs. the cost of doctors and medicine. the loss of work and economic and put -- input. host: we are asking the be worse -- the viewers, should there be a mandatary vaccine for health care professionals? the cdc that would make that type of mandatory provision recommend it at this point. they recommend health-care officials. they have been doing it since 1981. that is not the purview of your agency, but has the federal government ever in other types of viruses said yes, everyone must get vaccinated for this? guest: with regard to the general public there is never an all or none. there is always an offering. for example, in schools better vaccination that are required that is usually not of the federal level. that is usually at the local level. the only time you of something at the federal level, for example, when troops go into areas that are federal united states military that will go into areas where it is very important for them to be protected. that is mandatory unless there is a good health reasons not to do it. it is a very unusual situation when you have a federal mandate to do that. that is usually something that it is required, it is required at the local level. the cdc being the predominant held and surveillance and public health agency for the federal government makes recommendations, but they do not mandate. here is a story in "the washington times" -- is there a role for the federal government to respond to the number of outbreaks we're seeing? >> the federal government is very much involved. the cdc does tracking that provides in certain situations for vaccinations. for individuals that do not have access to vaccination. the nih plays a major role. if you are asking the question does the federal government, role in making a contribution to the tracking control and prevention and prevention of prevention -- of influenza, the answer is yes. they invested considerable amount of resources and that. >> going back to your role in coming up with some sort of concoction for this vaccination. how do determine that? guest: it is interesting when you get a seasonal, every season we know. when you look at the influenza you can get a pretty good idea of what we're going to happen this winter by what was going on in the southern hemisphere in their winter, the equivalent to what our summer was this past summer. for example, june, july and august of 2012. it usually makes that kind of cycle so that something will change from one year to another, you really keep an eye out about what has gone on in the southern hemisphere the season before. there were inklings we were going to have this influence at bay in our own winter. you are usually right. it is a combination of the cdc and other organizations that do the tracking and then make an intelligent guess well into the previous year about what kind of vaccine they will put into their vaccine combination to vaccinate people starting in early fall, the time of the vaccination start. it just so happens this year, which is usually the case but not always the case, it was an absolute correct pick. the pick of what would go into the vaccine, exactly matched what we're having the problem with. >> how many different strands are there? >> if you look at the ones we are concerned about at any given season, there are three. two types of influenza that circulate. then there is h1n1, which interestingly a couple of years ago in 2009 we had that pandemic. so there are two types of ere area's and then th b's. when you get the vaccine, you get three components. one against the two types of a strange and one against the. there are many different types of influenza. it is not only an infection of humans. animals can get it. sometimes it jumps from animals to humans. some people were familiar with what went on with the bird flu, which killed a lot of chickens and rarely it infects humans. that is why we are always on guard for the russian or evolution of a different kind of influence of we're not used to and do not have a vaccine for. vaccine protect you against the flu 100 percent? guest: there is no vaccine that has ever been made that protect you against that particular target 100 percent. there are some really good vaccines like polio and smallpox that going to the 90%. the influenza vaccine, the protection varies with the closeness of the match between the vaccine and circulating strain. as we and talking about for the past several minutes, the strains and differ from season to season. if you get a really good match, the protection and the young healthy person could be as high as 80-85 in maybe 90 percent. the older you get, vaccines are less protective, more to the tune of. so it varies not only with the match of the vaccine to the circulating strain, but it varies by the person being vaccinated. older people less so than younger people. >host: can you eradicate the flu? guest: i do not think we will ever be able to eradicate the flew from this planet, for the simple reason it is a virus that infects many animals, particularly birds. there is a continuing jumping from species where it adapts itself from the human. and although you never say never and never say always come i would say there will -- they will never be able to eradicate influenza from the planet. host: the keeper setting up a conversation this morning. we appreciate it. >> in washington, several news organizations reporting that the president is going to nominate as soon as tomorrow, jack lew to be the next treasury secretary. we will update the story as we get more information. coming up at noon eastern, we will take you live to the connecticut for -- take you live to connecticut for the state of the state address. next up from new jersey, chris christie's third state of the stake, focusing largely on hurricane sandy relief and recovery efforts. it is about 45 minutes. [applause] thank you. governor. thank you. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you all very much. lt. gov.>> lieutenant governor guadagno, madam speaker, mr. president, members of the legislature, fellow new jerseyans, since george washington delivered the first state of the union in new york on this day in 1790, it has been the tradition of executive leaders to report on the condition of the nation and state at the beginning of the legislative year. so it is my honor and pleasure to give you this report on the state of our state. one year ago, we were scheduled to gather on this second tuesday in january when our friend and colleague alex decroce passed suddenly the night before, causing us to delay this report. i miss the hard work and kind spirit of alex. i think of him often, but i am so pleased to see his wife betty lou here in this chamber as a duly elected member of the assembly today. she continues his work and does honor to his memory. just three months ago, we were proceeding normally with our lives, getting ready for a national election and the holidays to follow. then sandy hit. sandy was the worst storm to strike new jersey in 100 years. 346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. nearly 7 million people and 1,000 schools had their power knocked out. 116,000 new jerseyans were evacuated or displaced from their homes. 41,000 families are still displaced from their homes. sandy may have damaged our homes and our infrastructure, but it did not destroy our spirit. the people of new jersey have come together as never before -- across party lines, across ideological lines, across ages, races and backgrounds, from all parts of our state, even from out of state. everyone has come together. so today, let me start this address with a set of thank-yous from me on behalf of the great people of this state. first, i want to thank the brave first responders, national guard, and emergency management experts who prepared us for this storm and kept us safe in its aftermath. [applause] i want to thank the members of this legislature for their cooperation in answering sandy's challenges and for being by my side as i toured so many of the devastated areas of our state. i want to thank the community [applause] food bank of new jersey, the southern baptists, the salvation army and the american red cross, who helped us deliver over one million pounds of food and over five million meals and snacks to families who needed them. they are part of a network of organizations, a family really, who make life better in new jersey every day and who really came through when the times were toughest. thank you to them. [applause] i want to thank the new jersey business and industry association, the state chamber of commerce, the commerce and industry association of new jersey and the national federation of independent businesses for keeping us in touch with the needs of small businesses in the wake of the storm, so new jersey can help get these businesses back on their feet. i want to thank the 17,000 out- of-state utility workers who came to new jersey from all over america and joined with 10,000 of our own to get power restored as quickly as possible so that within nine days of this horrific storm, electric power had been restored to 90% of customers. i want to thank the members of my cabinet and senior staff, who for days before the storm and weeks after it, put their own personal losses aside, worked 18 hours a day and slept very little. i want to thank the utility workers who worked seven days a week to make sure new jersey got back to normal. [applause] i want to thank the members of my cabinet and personal staff who for days before the storm and weeks after it put their own personal losses aside, working 18 hours a day and slept very little. their dedicated colleagues in being of others ahead of their own. new jersey and i were both well served by these great, great group of public servants. the cue ball. [applause] -- thank you all. to every one who opened their homes, who assisted senior citizens, that their neighbors, counseled the grief-stricken or pitched in to clear debris, removed sands or to get a school back open, i say thank you to all of you. you define your jersey as a community, one which when faced with adversity rolls up its sleeves, it gets back to work, and were indeed shows new jersey and never, ever give up. now, make no mistake about it, we will be back, and we will be back stronger than ever. in the spirit of new jersey, our community was shown immediately the days after the storm. berry patch was by the storm -- by the side of one small businessman at the moment when he was allowed to return to his business and see for the very first time what sandy had done to his restaurant. a supply would was pulled -- apply would was pulled off of the building, allowing him to see for the very first time the complete destruction of his means of earning a living for himself and his family. he turned and said without hesitation, do not worry, we will build this back better than it was. his words or forceful. they were optimistic. there were emblematic. capturing the indomitable spirit of this great state. he was just one example of how new jersey in citizens were showing our whole country how to briefly and resolutely deal with the crisis. citizens like frank smith jr., the volunteer chief of the first aid squad. his home was destroyed during the storm. then his headquarters were destroyed during the storm. after securing the safety of three young children, he did not take himself to higher ground. he led his team through fires and flood waters, buildings and trailer parks, and he saved over 2000 lives that night. [applause] be be the citizens were saved because he put them first, ahead of himself. frank is here with us in the chamber. please stand up and let us thank you for your bravery. [applause] in toms river, emergency room technician at the day off when sandy hit her home town. she could have gotten herself to safety and forgot about her colleagues at the community medical center, and most of portly her patients. instead, she swam. she swam to higher ground. then she hitchhiked with the utility worker from michigan. and got to the hospital and put in a 12 hour shift, treating her fellow citizens who were harmed by the storm. swimming through floodwaters to save lives. she is here. please stand up and let us say thank you for creating such a great example. in brick, they watched as the floodwaters consume their town concerned about his father, they tried to reach him but could not could not. their wet suits, got in their row boat and rescued jay's dad. in the process, they saw dozens of others stranded in their homes. they turned back around and, one by one, saved over 50 of jay's father's neighbors along with their pets. then, for those they rescued who had no place to go, they housed them as well. these neighbors that well before the storm, but they didn't care. they put extending a helping hand in a crisis ahead of social comfort. saving lives and making a difference. [applause] new jerseyans are among thethese citizens are a small example of that simple truth. moment of loss and challenge is reflected in the eyes of these extraordinary people. you see, some things are above politics. sandy was and is one of those things. these folks stand for the truth of that statement. we now look forward to what we hope will be quick congressional action on a full, clean sandy aid bill -- now, next week -- and to enactment by the president. we have waited 72 days, seven times longer than victims of hurricane katrina waited. one thing i hope everyone now clearly understands -- new jersey, both republicans and democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being short changed. the people of new jersey are in need, not from their own actions but from an act of god that delivered a natural, human, and financial disaster --- and we are thankful to the people of america for honoring the tradition of providing relief. we have stood with the citizens of florida, alabama, mississippi, louisiana, iowa, vermont, california and missouri in their times of need. now i trust that they will stand with us. so make no mistake. new jersey's spirit has never been stronger. our resolve never more firm. our unity never more obvious. let there also be no mistake -- much work still lies ahead. century will take in some cases years to repair. here is some of what we have done already -- we have created a cabinet-level position to coordinate the state's efforts across every agency, and marc ferzan is here today, ready to work with you on this restoration effort. we've requested the federal government to pay 100% of the costs of the significant debris removal that we require -- and have already received $18 million for that task. the federal highway administration for emergency repair of our roads, bridges and tunnels -- a down payment on a major infrastructure task ahead. we have directed our department of environmental protection to streamline approvals for restoring critical infrastructure. we have overseen the removal of over 2.5 million cubic yards of debris to date and counting. 17 towns have already completed debris removal. over 1,000 trucks are working daily to continue dry land debris removal with 26 more towns moving towards completion. we are now removing debris from our waterways. new jerseyans need to know nearly 1,400 vessels were either sunken or abandoned in our waterways during sandy. in mantoloking alone, 58 buildings and eight cars were washed into barnegat bay. we will remove this debris and dredge the bay to reduce the risk of flooding and to improve the health of the bay, beginning the very same week that this administration furthers its commitment to the health of the bay by implementing the toughest fertilizer law in america. we have helped get temporary rental assistance for 41,000 new jersey families, and where necessary, secured transitional shelters in hotels or motels or even in fort monmouth. we have worked with the small business administration to secure nearly $189 million in loans for thousands of home and small businesses, and through our new jersey eda, we have provided lines of credit for businesses awaiting insurance reimbursement, grants for job training, and benefits for displaced workers. our new jersey dot has been one of the busiest agencies, removing over 4,400 truckloads of debris from state and local roads and cleaning another 4,300 truckloads of sand to restoreour department of education has worked night and day to get schools reopened right away, and where that wasn't possible, to get them restored by the next school year, all while maintaining our commitment to a full 180-day school year of education for our kids. executive order 107 makes sure that when insurance payments do come, they are not compromised by excessive deductibles and maximize their reimbursement. while there are dozens of other examples of the never quit attitude of this administration and our citizens, there is none better than the miracle of route 35 in mantoloking. at the mantoloking bridge, route 35 had been completely washed away by sandy. i stood at the spot where the atlantic ocean flowed into the bay where route 35 once carried thousands of cars a day to vacations down the shore. within days, commissioner jim simpson, the department of transportation and our private sector partners had a temporary road built to allow emergency vehicles onto the island. now, merely 10 weeks after our state's worst storm, you see a permanent route 35 already being rebuilt. that's what an effective government can do. that's what a determined people can do. that is how and where we will lead new jersey in the months and years ahead. there is no question that sandy hit us hard, but there is also no question that we're fighting back with everything we've got. sandy took a toll on new jersey's economy. just when we were coming back from the national recession, sandy disrupted our economic life -- cars weren't bought, homes weren't sold, and factories couldn't produce. from those things we can catch up, and we are catching up. but make no mistake, as common sense would tell you, sandy hurt new jersey's economy. back -- electric power that wasn't produced, visitors who didn't come to our casinos or our downtown centers. in all, sandy cost us over 8,000 jobs in november, mostly in our leisure and hospitality industries. but we were relatively fortunate. louisiana lost 127,000 jobs after hurricane katrina. sandy may have stalled new jersey's economy, but there is plenty of evidence that new jerseyans have not let it stop our turnaround. the direction is now clear. here is the latest economic report -- unemployment is coming down. 2011 was our best private sector job growth year in 11 years, and 2012 is also positive. personal income set a record high in new jersey for the seventh quarter in a row. gross income tax receipts are exceeding the administration's projections for this fiscal year prior to sandy. sales of new homes are up. consumer spending is up. industrial production is up. since i took this office, participation in new jersey's labor force is higher than the nation as a whole and the numberthat means that more people have the confidence to be out looking for jobs, and more people actually have jobs. in total, we have added nearly 75,000 private sector jobs in new jersey since we took office in january 2010. i mention the words "private sector" advisedly, because we have not grown government. quite the contrary. we have gotten our house in order by keeping our promise to reduce the size of government. cut more than 20,000 government jobs. in 2012, we had fewer state government employees than at any time since governor whitman left office in january 2001. we promised to reduce the size of government, and we have delivered. we have also held the line on taxes. we have held the line on spending. we have made new jersey a more attractive place in which to grow a business, to grow jobs, to raise a family. this legislature knows the history. in fiscal year 2010, we faced a $2 billion budget deficit with only 5 1/2 months left in the fiscal year when we took office. we cut over 200 programs and balanced the budget with no new taxes. in fiscal year 2011, the picture was even worse -- a projected $11 billion deficit on a budget of $29 billion -- in percentage terms, the worst in the nation. in total, we cut 832 programs. each department of government was reduced. an 8% cut in spending, in real dollars spent -- not against some phony baseline. but with this legislature's help, again we balanced the budget without raising taxes. because we had made the tough choices, last year's budget was a bit easier. the budget, but to actually begin to reduce taxes by enacting the first year of tax relief for job-creating small businesses in new jersey. meanwhile, we devoted a record amount in aid to schools in new jersey. and in the budget which governs the current year, even with growth in the national economy slowing again, we have been able to achieve balance with not only no new taxes, but with a second year of small business tax relief. and let me make this point clearly and unequivocally. despite the challenges that sandy presents for our economy, i will not let new jersey go back to our old ways of wasteful spending and rising taxes. we will deal with our problems but we will continue to do so by protecting the hard-earned money of all new jerseyans first and foremost. we will not turn back. our handling of the budget is that i told new jersey had arrived with our inauguration. years since that day urging us to do the big things to transform our state, to make the tough decisions we had avoided for far too long. we asked this in the context of a state where only 27% of our citizens felt that government was moving our state in the right direction in january 2010. we asked this while the citizens of our country watched a dysfunctional, dispirited, and distrustful government in washington bicker and battle not against our problems but against each other. against that backdrop, few would have bet on us, few would have bet on new jersey leading the way to restore people's belief that government could accomplish things for them. but here we are, three years later, and look at all of those things some called impossible in this town that we have made a reality -- a real 2% property tax cap, interest arbitration reform, pension and health benefit reform, teacher tenure reform, higher education restructuring resulting in rutgers now being in the top 25 in research dollars and the newest member of the big 10, investment in all our universities for the first time in 25 years, acknowledges merit pay, three years ago, a national reputation for corruption and division and waste, today, a national model for reform and bipartisanship and leadership. [applause] let's review this new reality specifically, to remind our constituents and ourselves how far we have come and to resolve to never return to the old, dark days of our past in trenton. four years, four balanced budgets, no new taxes, new tax relief to create 75,000 new private sector jobs -- a far different picture from the prior eight years, which saw 115 increases in taxes and fees. it hasn't been easy, but we have done it together. and the people of new jersey are better off for it. the story is the same on property taxes, maybe even better. they had increased 70% in the prior 10 years -- the most in the nation. together, we enacted a 2% per year cap on growth and the interest arbitration reform that was needed to make that cap work. many said it wouldn't work, but the record tells a different story. last year, property taxes in new jersey grew by only 1.7% -- the lowest rise in two decades. and our pension system, which was on a path to insolvency, is now on much more sound footing. with your help, we tackled the problem head on, modestly raising the retirement age, reducing incentives for early retirement, suspending cola's until the plan is 80% funded, and, yes, asking for something slightly closer to market in terms of employee contributions. in total, the pension and health benefits reform package that you passed will save taxpayers over $120 billion over the next 30 years. just as importantly, it will help make sure the pension is actually there when our public employees and school teachers retire. other states have noticed -- this reform is becoming a model for america. when we combine this needed discipline on spending and taxes, with responsibility in addressing our long-term liabilities, with pro-growth actions on the regulatory side, we have made new jersey a better place to do business. the combination of policies that are not hostile to business and an environment which actually welcomes new businesses and new jobs is working. it is clear. in a competitive world, policies matter. companies have choices. job-creators have choices. that is why our work is far from done. that is why a top priority must be to continue new jersey's record of excellence in education and to fix problems where we are failing. in higher education, the task force led with skill by former governor tom kean has helped us develop strategies for making new jersey's institutions more competitive. we need to turn new jersey's universities -- including rutgers -- from good to great, because that will help us keep more talented new jersey students in new jersey and will strengthen the link between higher education and high quality jobs. need, of course, is the plan to make sure that new jersey's health sciences institutions remain world class. by merging rutgers and umdnj in the north and rowan and umdnj's stratford campus in the south, we will enhance three established hubs of educational excellence in north, south, and central new jersey. and we will bring rutgers, and new jersey medical education, into the 21st century. i thank you for passing this plan, and i was proud to sign it into law this summer. in k-12 education, we have made great strides, but there is much more to be done. who would have thought, just three years ago, in the face of entrenched resistance, that i could stand here and congratulate us today for the following -- ensuring accountability by passing the first major reform of tenure in 100 years, establishing performance-based pay in newark through hard- nosed collective bargaining so that we can reward and retain the very best teachers where we need them most, implementing inter-district school choice, which has tripled its enrollment in the last 3 years and will grow to 6,000 students next year, growing the number of charter schools to a record 86 in new jersey, signing the urban hope act to turn failing schools into renaissance schools in newark, trenton, and camden, and finally, investing the largest amount of state aid to education in new jersey history -- $8.9 billion in this year's budget, over $1 billion higher than in fiscal year 2011. in new jersey, we have combined more funding with needed reform. both money and reform of our schools are essential, but neither alone is sufficient. in new jersey, we are leading the way for the nation by providing both. as we assess the state of our state this afternoon, we should be proud of our record. the state is stronger today than it has been in years. we are recovering and growing, not declining and descending. we are working together, not just as a people in digging out from sandy and rebuilding our economy. here in trenton, in this chamber, we have had our fights. we have stuck to our principles. but we have established a governing model for the nation that shows that, even with heartfelt beliefs, bipartisan compromise is possible. achievement is the result, and progress is the payoff. so i want to thank president sweeney and speaker oliver, leaders kean and bramnick for your hard work, for your frankness when we disagree, and for your willingness to come together on the truly important issues, on the big things. [applause] maybe the folks in washington, in both parties, could learn something from our record here. our citizens certainly have -- now 61% of them believe our state is moving in the right direction -- more than double the amount that believed it on that cold day in january three years ago. make no mistake, our work is far from finished. rebuilding the homes and infrastructure damaged and destroyed by sandy is the next big challenge, and it will take years. we will need to spend our funds wisely and efficiently. we will need to cooperate. we will need to learn the lessons from past disasters and listen to each other. the good news is that strong leadership and bipartisan cooperation makes all these things possible. our work over the last three years proves that beyond argument. having worked hard to tackle our most urgent legacy problems, having faced up to and corrected some poor decisions from the past, we now have more freedom to chart a course of excellence in the future. as we begin this new legislative year, we can now look ahead from sandy, ahead from the national recession, to a brighter day for new jersey. the author bern williams once said, "man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit." for all i have seen and experienced as your governor in this extraordinary year, one experience will be indelibly etched in my memory. her name is ginjer. as i walked around the parking lot of the fire department in port monmouth in one of the days soon after sandy had laid waste to so much of our state, i saw so many of the scenes that i had come to expect in the aftermath of the storm -- neighbors helping neighbors, food being prepared for the hungry, first responders helping the homeless. then i met 9-year-old ginjer. having a 9-year-old girl myself, her height and manner of speaking was immediately familiar and evocative. having confronted so many crying adults at that point i felt ready to deal with anything. then ginjer looked at me, began to cry and told me she was scared. she told me she had lost everything -- she had lost her home and her belongings. she asked me to help her. as my eyes filled with tears, i took a deep breath and thought about what i would say to my bridget if she said the same thing to me, if she had the same look on her face, if she had the same tears in her eyes. i asked her where her mom was and she pointed right behind her. i asked her if her dad was ok. she told me he was. so i told ginjer, you haven't lost your home, you've just lost a house, a house we can replace. your home is with your mom and dad. i hugged her and told her not to cry, that the adults are in charge now and there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. ginjer is here today -- we've kept in touch -- and i want to thank her for giving voice to new jersey's children during sandy and helping to create a memory of humanity in a sea of despair. in this year ahead, let us prove the truth of the words i spoke to ginjer that day. let's put aside destructivelet's put aside accusations and false charges for purely political advantage. let's work together to honor the memories of those lost in sandy. let's put the needs of our most victimized citizens ahead of the partisan politics of the day. let's demonstrate once again the resilience of new jersey's spirit. and let us continue what we have started -- rebuilding from sandy with pride and determination; restoring our economy to growth and prosperity after a decade of decline and high taxes, and reclaiming the promise of new jersey for future generations, presenting to our children renewed excellence in our schools, a sound and balanced budget, and a vibrant economy with jobs for those willing to work hard. that is our mission -- to hurdle barriers no matter how high, to disaster, and to leave this place better than we found it. let us prove, once and for all, that what i said to ginjer is undeniably true -- the adults are in charge. let's accomplish the mission of rebuilding our battered state and restoring the hope and the faith and the trust of our people that government can work in a bipartisan way tothat govea bipartisan way to restore our life for all new jersey and spirited into your head, i look forward to working with all of you. on that most important mission of all, thank you, god bless you. >> it would be great if governor christie would say, we deserve the help that others have received in the past, but what we do not deserve is a country with a bill. [applause] [applause] >> coming up in just a moment or two, governor dan molloy in his state of the state expected to get underway shortly. >> movie stars leave the film capital to help the government sell war bonds. all part of a contingent of some 50 screen celebrities to aid the national war effort. >> what we want to look at today is how popular culture presented at the war. how was the war presented in movies from the 1940's? how was it presented in comic books from the 1940's? how was it presented in advance from the 1930's and a 1940's? how was it presented in music from the 1940's? >> this weekend on american history tv, popular culture and world war ii. lectors in history, saturday night at 8:00 and at 10:00 eastern. >> i think that collectivization of the minds of americans oppose the founding fathers is particularly dangerous because, as i say so often in the book, there were not a collective unit. presenting them as such, tends to dramatically oversimplify the politics of the founding generation. a big bat during ramp to beat people over the head with it in ways that are both historically inaccurate and unsound. >> michael austin on what he calls the deep historical flaws by historical commentators and their use of america's found in history. he shares his views on booktv's "afterwards." >> if you ask how many are self-identified libertarians, people who describe themselves, you might be getting between 10% and 15%. if you ask people like if you give them a battery of questions like do you believe in x or y, and then you track those ideologies, depending which pull your looking at, you get up to maybe 30% of americans calling themselves libertarians. if you ask the following question -- are you economically conservative or socially liberal, you get over half of americans saying that is what they are. that said, just because people say these things, does not mean necessarily believe them. if you ask most americans come to you want a smaller government? they say, yes. if you said, do want government to spend less money, they say yes. if you ask them to cut a particular item, did not want to cut anything. it is not clear if they believe in it. i have to say, as low as 10% and high as 30%. libertarians, if there were a kind of conscious and political, it could be a big movement. it could be a big group of people who have a shared ideology but have a lot of influence in politics. but for various reasons, the and not organized that way. >> libertarianism and what you might not know. sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's "q&a." coming up, we'll take you to hartford, conn. governor dan malloy is expected to talk about the hurricane katrina efforts and the shooting. meanwhile, president obama at the white house. associated press and that the pick to run the treasury department with an announcement before the end of the week. they said white house officials would not confirm that until a final decision has been made, but aids did not dispute that jack lew is the choice. there are reports there will be a joint news conference as well. meanwhile, joe biden, the first of two meetings with victims' groups and gun safety organizations. the attorney general also at today's meetings. they're expected to meet with the national rifle association, walmart, and other groups. vice president biden has some comments for reporters. >> on behalf of the attorney general and the president and i, thank you for taking the time. this is important work. we have a lot of work to be done and i know that several of you around the table have lost loved ones or have been the victims of gun violence yourself. now, it has been almost four weeks now since the tragedy in connecticut. i have been doing this a long time. of all the tragic events i -- we haven't heard, i do not think anything has touched the heart of the american people so profoundly as saying those young children being shot and a riddled with bullets. every once in awhile there is something that weakens the conscience of the country. that tragic event did it in a way like nothing i have seen in my career. so, we are here today. it requires immediate action. the president and i are determined to take action. this is not an exercise in photo opportunities or just asking you all what your opinions are. we are vitally interested in what you have to say. as the president said, the golan in one life -- go along in one life. i am convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of americans if we act responsibly. today i want to hear about your experiences firsthand. we authored the brady law -- jim brady. friends of mine for a long time. used to be my colleague's press secretary. worked in delaware for years. as chairman of the judiciary committee for a long time, i have been working in this area for a long time. arent you to know that's we meeting with a number of advocacy groups. and we have reached out beyond the issue of just gun safety. we have reached out to the mental health community. we have reached down to doctors and nurses. i am heartened by the cut in -- the incredible response we have received. the catholic conference, evangelical groups. i am not saying, again, anything quite like that occurring before. we did not even have to reach out. they reached out to us because this is a moral issue as well. you are going to read and hear the conducting meetings today, tomorrow, friday, and beyond. i want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in that notion of unless we can do everything we will do nothing. it is critically important that we act. there are certain things that i know a great deal about. i have read what you have published and spoken to. there is a pretty wide consensus on three, four, or five things in the gun safety area that could and should be done. you should know that tomorrow i invited the gun owners and the nra to come and make their case as well. -- make their case as well before us. on behalf of the president, we are reaching out to all parties on whatever side of this debate you fall. but the president is going to act. executive action -- if executive action to be taken, we have not decide what that is yet. as well as legislative action, we believe it is required. i appreciate very much and you being here. with that, what i would like to do is think the press for coming in and maybe we can get to work. >> [indiscernible] >> they will be able to tell you that. thank you. >> the meetings yesterday at the white house just a short while ago with vice president biden, attorney general eric holder, and others. if we are live at the state capitol in hartford, conn., which in to hear from governor ann malloy -- dan malloy. he is expected to talk about gun violence and also hurricane sandy relief efforts. it is about to get under way here on c-span. >> if you do not possess a ticket for the joint session, please leave the chamber now. thank you very much. ♪ >> this is the state house in hartford, conn. the governor will be speaking shortly. it is the first of three live at the state of the states we are bringing you. coming up at 1:30, from albany, and drew cuomo on the state of his state. he is expected to mention eight weapons banned. this will be his fourth. yesterday, governor mcdonnell suggested a plan to replace the gasoline tax with a sales tax increase. all of those coming up live here from connecticut. ♪ >> live a from hartford, waiting for the address from dan malloy. at 7:00 this evening, the virginia governor, bob mcdonnell, delivering his fourth state of the common address. we will have both of those live. governor malloy expected to talk about hurricane sandy mud -- relief efforts as well as the school shooting. he is known to introduce legislation in congress for purchases of the un mission. that is from richard. >> waiting to hear from the governor for his state address. >> hillary clinton also that as secretary of state looking for for a smooth transition over to senator kerrey. >> as you can see, we're having some video problems. the secretary of state, hillary clinton, of course, hearings are expected in the next couple of weeks. reports say that he is likely to make that announcement before the end of the week. >> here on c-span, we are live in hartford, conn., waiting to start the state of the state address. it looks like it will be a few more minutes. while we wait for that, we will bring you part of this morning's "washington journal." host: our topic and guess, adam green. let's begin with the fiscal cliff negotiations and the final deal that was put forth. here is a quote from you. the president remains clueless about how to use leverage and a negotiation. guest: did i say that? progressives have been very clear. we dropped a line around the idea that we cannot cut social security, medicare, or medicaid benefits. and that taxes should go up. there's a direct correlation between the two. we let hundreds of billions of dollars on the table which makes it more likely that social security, medicare and medicaid benefits will be spread around. republicans have gone on national tv. this that we lost this fight. the national prominent republican said that. we were not that happy about that, most because we care so much. host: the president was quoted saying that the authors -- that the offers made were sofer. guest: one of the things we need to debunk is the idea that the left is angry and the right is angry. to give you an example, in the state of new hampshire, a state that is so antitax at the do not have an income tax, even to reduce the deficit, do not cut social security benefits. progressives like myself asking for purity on that issue is completely different from those on the right that are standing up to the 11%. his version of there is proposing a compromise the other direction on an issue where he owns 75% of the vote. if 75% of the people are on his side, -- host: is it too late to go back to that? he didn't say anything about going back to individual tax rates. host: because we left billions of dollars on the table for that round, the bar is higher in this round. there are millions of dollars in corporate tax loopholes lost. even mitch mcconnell in the senate was on meet the press this weekend and granted there are tax loopholes that need to be addressed. here's the difference. republicans want this to be revenue neutral. they want to close the loopholes, save hundreds of billions of dollars, and give those under the billions right back in the form of lower tax rates for corporations. progressives need to stand up strong and say no. we need to demand that those hundreds of millions of dollars go right to address the deficit and preserve social security and medicare. that's where we think the fight will be on the revenue side. host: your group is ok with going after deductions and loopholes rather than try to go back to get more tax revenue? guest: if any democratic or progressive leaders in congress went on national tv and said we're going to put the $250,000 rate on the table, we would fully support that. and at the end of the day, we are results oriented. we want to make sure social security and medicare and medicaid benefits are preserved. if democrats are successful in doing that by taxing corporations more as opposed to tax and high income individuals more, we would be fine with that. will social security and medicare and medicaid benefits be cut and we say no. host: if they are cut, what does your group do? guest: there would be somewhat of a nuclear war on the left. it's probably going to factor the party for the next two years, to the detriment of this president. we probably will start right away recruiting challengers for the next elections, local union leaders, local party officials, and activists. we would happily send out an e- mail in the district to those who support medicare and social security and medicaid cuts. host: have you ever want that at some members of congress? guest: we have launched it publicly in the more generic sense, saying this is a warning. we want to be transparent. we don't learn from this nuclear war. for someone like me woke up every day in 2008 and thought, what can i do today to get barack obama elected president. he publicly admitted that he put social security benefits on the table. tot's not a position i want be in and not what i worked for and to thousand eight. host: did you work for it in 2012? guest: our organization prioritized congress in 2012. our number one candidate was elizabeth warren. she's already been bold, calling out aig and big wall street banks yesterday. we raised $1.5 million from grassroots contributions in this last election cycle. we raised $100,000 before she even announced she was going to run so that on the first day of prayer campaign should be able to hire staff and put together a competent campaigner, which she did. we also supported 30 candidates in the cycle. we did not work to undermine the president, because it would've been a disaster if mitt romney had been elected. we wanted to make sure that -- we asked our members to donate $3 or $5 to a candidate so we could do that with clean hands and really get progressive candidates. host: one industry that has seen positive numbers even during the recession is the energy and gas industry. we're talking about jobs. in the states that have that industry, their unemployment rate has remained very low. here is the headline today in one of the newspapers online -- we are talking about jobs. guest: who said that? host: jack welch. guest: the petroleum industry. we have this idea that these big companies are the job creators. frankly, they had a decade to create jobs. they failed. frankly, they had a decade to create jobs. they failed. tax breaks did not result in jobs. it results in moving jobs overseas. giving these guys more tax breaks is not the solution. the best way to solve the deficit issue is to create millions and millions of jobs for regular people. we could put 1 million teachers back to work by hiring the people that were fired in the last two years. the debate is clear. do you stand with giant corporations, or little-guy workers? host: here is the opinion section of "usa today" about aig. guest: it is like somebody who is drowning in the water, saved by some hero, and he says while you were saving me you choked me a little, and i'm going to sue you. it is unconscionable. it is a breath of fresh air to say bad corporate action is bad corporate action. host: shirley. democratic caller. caller: thank you for c-span. i want to make some comments for the agenda we need to have as a nation. in focusing on social security, medicare and medicaid, we look at the cap, and it amazes me. i would like for c-span to do a program on the specific parameters as it relates to the cap. the cap is a household with two high-earners, who did not paid the -- would get into the limit around mid-june. i thought it was strange because my family members who were paying their full social security tax -- i found that strange and not fair. if we were to go, we could reduce the rate if we increased the cap, and that would create solvency for an eternity. as it relates to medicare, we should have people who are able to pay a higher co-pay such as myself and my husband, pay based on the income. i'm not understanding means- testing.th >> and governor dannel malloy makes his state of the state address. he will be introduced by the lieutenant governor, nancy white. >> we will be led in prayer. >> let us pray. mighty father, we ask you to bless us on this joint convention as we come together this afternoon to hear the governor's address opening our session for 2013. these are challenging times. with the economy, the budget, school state he, education, transportation waiting on our minds. let us never forget the coverage, creativity of men and women working together saves a state and saves a nation. we did it then. we can do it now. with your grace and wisdom to guide us. amen. thank you, father. >> will you lead in the pledge of allegiance? >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. please be seated. let me congratulate all of the leaders of both chambers, speaker sharkey, majority leader, the president, and the minority leaders. congratulations on being elected or reelected. i want to congratulate all of you for being elected or reelected. to those of you returning, welcome back. to those of you about to join your first session, you have joined a special body of government that can give you more opportunities and more experience and more fun than you have ever had. my time in the house was some of the best years of my life. for all of the wonderful friends i made on both sides of the aisle. i wish you the same. i want to address what is an important issue. that is my hope that we approach our work here every day with one thing in mind -- our first herpes here is not to represent democrats or republicans -- our first thought is not to represent democrats or republicans. it is to represent the families of our great state and do our best everyday to make their lives better now and in the future. i hope no matter what we do here over the next six months, we will never forget why we are really here. if we are ever looking for inspiration to go through the ups and downs that the session allgs, we can look to havee of those that responded to the tragedy in newtown not respond with anger. they responded with dignity and remarkable strength. that should be the enduring message for all of us. nothing that we will do in the next six months that will leave an approach that has to resolve what those people had to endure. we will endure for a long time what they have gone through. i asked that we look to their spirit of selflessness and bravery to bretguide us. it is our responsibility to face difficult issues and answer the difficult questions. they do not care which side is right. they want us to get it right. we have made progress in the last two years. it is time to commence to make sure that progress continues. by working together to find bipartisan solutions. i am confident that by working together again we will end the session having lived up to the commitments we made to the citizens of our state. thank you. god bless you. god bless connecticut. we need to work together. is there any business on your desk? >> joint convention resolutions number three and four. >> thank you. >i would ask the clerk to call conventional resolutions number three to begin our proceedings. >> inviting the governor to attend the joint convention. introduced by senator looney and a representative. >> the question is on adoption. all of those in favor, signal by saying aye. the ayes have it. i will appoint the majority leaders and the minority leader. invite the governor to attend the joint session. it is down the hall. i would like to do some dignitaries at are here today. chief justice chase rogers has joined us. just as fleming marcotte, jr. is with us. justice richard palmer. justice peter zarrella. eslay.e dennis as wa we have our secretary of state denise merrow, former number of the house. we have our treasurer, denise napier. our controller. our attorney general. we have our u.s. senator, dick lowenthal. i would ask that all of the local elected leaders, please stand up so we can recognize and thank you. thank you very much. i would ask if there are any point of personal privilege from anyone. representative sawyer. former congressman who i will like to welcome back to the chamber. thank you. welcome back. we will have someone walking into the room. the committee has fulfilled their duties. they are discharged. we will welcome in our governor. thank you. it is hard to believe that two- year have passed since the governor and i took office. this is the third time i have had the honor of introducing him. these years have brought hardships to our state. there is no question that despite the many headwinds we have faced, this governor has of complacency in our government and is moving connecticut forward. our state is reinventing, reinvigorated itself. whether it is our approach to spurring economic growth, educating our children, or caring for the sick and elderly. i look forward to working with head and with all of you again to keep the momentum going. for the benefit of everyone who calls our state home. our state went through and is still going through a tragedy that we never expected. i have privately thanked the governor for his work. those of you that were not in attendance or had not been in the ground in newtown do not understand the feeling of what happened or how the governor led. there are a lot of people that we have to thank. i thanked him. i have to personally thank the governor for taking the reins of a difficult situation and helping with compassion and leadership and caring. backtting people's lives online again. i cannot tell you how proud i am to introduce a man who has the compassion and understands what vision is. who has no greater love but for this state and for the people in it. our governor, dan malloy. >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you every much. we have work to do. thank you. thank you. please. thank you. thank you. mr. president, mr. speaker, senator speaker, representative, my friend lieutenant governor, and my fellow state officials, 80s and gentlemen of the general assembly, members of the judiciary, members of the clergy into the citizens of connecticut who are watching or listening today, thank you. for the honor of inviting me to the people's house to address you. i offer my congratulations to the leadership of the democrat and republican caucuses of each chamber and to the speaker and majority leader as they take on their new roles. congratulations to all of the new members of the general assembly who were sworn in earlier today. i look lower to working with you in the months and years ahead. as we gather in this chamber, let us keep in our thoughts the brave men and women of the great state of connecticut serving in our armed forces around the globe. we thank them and our veterans for their service and sacrifice and we pray for their continued safety and health. i would like to recognize my wife, kathy, and i sons, who joined us today. -- and my sons, who joined us today. thank you. i could not do my job without the love and support of my family. we are joined by two of newtown's finest leaders. it is an honor to have you with us today. you were tested by tragedy. your compassion and leadership has been an inspiration to connecticut and to me. it will not surprise anyone here that this speech is different from the one i first envisioned giving. in the early days of december, i thought about what i would like to say today. it has only been a few short weeks on the calendar. we have walked a very long and dark road together. what befell newtown is not something that we thought possible and any connecticut, beautiful small town, or city. in the midst of one of the worst days in history, we saw the best of our state. teachers and a therapist sacrificed their lives protecting students. a principal and school psychologists that ran into harms way. our brave connecticut state troopers, newtown's local law enforcement, and firemen, and others responded courageously when called upon. in the aftermath, officials have served around the clock to bring comfort and stability to newtown. sandy hook's teachers are doing what they do best, putting the interests of their students first as they return and providing continuity that has not been so important and needed as today. there are the 26 families. the families that have gotten up each day since that happened and have been there for one another and supported their communities as much as those communities have supported them. they have persevered. we should all find strength in that perseverance. we have lifted one another up and have carried the spirit of our fallen heroes, wounded families, and lost children. we will continue to do whatever we can for the families of newtown. we must also ask ourselves, what is our responsibility to those we have lost, to one another, to the children, and to future generations? during this session, we will begin to answer those questions together. let us do everything to ensure connecticut never suffers a loss such as this. that we take real steps to make our kids and communities safer. last week, my administration announced the formation of the sandy hook advisory commission comprised of officials. we will never know what thatated the events, but no will not stop us from working to help prevent future tragedies. we will make recommendations and areas of school safety, mental health services, and gun violence protection. there will be others that will take action on these issues. i applaud those efforts. the more resources we can bring to bear on this issue, the better. working together, we can and will affect change. there are some things we already know. we must find ways to better respond to those with mental health needs. as a society, we are obligated to take action in a meaningful way when a person seeks our help or demonstrates a need for it. we must balance our respect for individual rights with our obligation to provide for the greater public safety. when it comes to preventing hr acts of violence in our schools , more guns are not the answer. let me be very clear. freedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher. security should not mean a guard posted outside every classroom. that is not who we are and connecticut. that is not who we will allow ourselves to become. his conversation must take place nationally. as long as weapons continue to whatl up and down i-95, is available in florida can have devastating consequences and connecticut. today, our focus will be on protecting connecticut families. those conversations will not always be easy. as your governor, i have learned there is no challenge we face we cannot overcome with the power of our community. together, we have come. we have done it with purpose because we know there is something bigger in this world and more important and who we are individually. it is our community. as we begin this legislative session, but us be guided by the devotion to the common good, by faith in each other, and by the determination to work together to make community as strong as it can be in every way. looking back over these past 24 months, we have faced many challenges. the largest per capita budget deficit and the nation, a struggling economy, a fractured public school system, energy cost, natural disasters. the likes of which our generation had not seen. in december, when we thought the worst would happen, it did. the people of connecticut when tested, we met those challenges head on. we did as our forefathers and parents and grandparents taught us to do. we banded together. we focused not on what makes us different but on what makes us the same, our common humanity. it is this core strength and that spirit of community that are us together to accomplish so much on t half of the people of connecticut. two years ago, we faced the single largest per capita deficit in the nation. it was decades in the making. getting our fiscal house in order was critical to create jobs. connecticut employers needed a responsible and predictable parliament in state government. we came together and passed a balanced budget. we cut more than we added in revenues. today, our budget six more than 90% of the problem. democrats and republicans came together to make sure we close that gap without raising taxes. anyone who tells you that the budget we passed two years ago did not do its job, that it did not make real change in how we approach our finances is not telling the truth. many of you cast very heart of votes to fix those problems. that is kind of resolve and leadership we are bringing back to connecticut. we have made the tough decisions along the way. after years of underfunding of her pensions, a 4.5 billion dollar payment would have been required in the year 2032, more than four times what we pay. that payment would have been impossible. last year, we restructured payments to reverse years of chronic underfunding. we are avoiding our own fiscal cliff and saving connecticut citizens six win dollars over the next -- $6 billion over the next 20 years. we are saving the state approximately $20 billion. we made sure that state government tightened its belt. we

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