Transcripts For CSPAN3 Wyoming State Of The State Address 20170207

Speech. In 2016 wyomings ranked first for mount region and Workforce Development and was also rated third of new business startup activity and best state for business. So despite being the most difficult budget in my time in Office Wyoming state with the important work of renovating and modernizing our state facilities like the Wyoming State Hospital and Resource Center and the veterans home. We had Ground Breaking at the university of wyoming for the mcmurray High Altitude Performance Center last fall. The Ground Breaking for the integrated test center last spring. At the university of wyoming in addition to new facility starts we open the facility in march 2016 in the High Bay Research facility is opening soon. We have had incredible opportunities with the wealth created by our many businesses and great citizens. Were grateful for so many partnerships. Were grateful for the partnerships we have with the tribes. Were partners and friends to each other and i look forward to continued good relations with the tribes. Maldondo is here today. Leslie shakespeare is also here. Leslie has kindly agree to until a new person is chosen. We appreciate the work of those lee a sons which strengthen ties. If all tribal members that are here would please stand wed like to welcome you to the state of the state. [ applause ] none of the prosperity we have enjoyed would be fully realized without the safety and security provided by our Law Enforcement and First Responders. I know we see nationally sometimes Law Enforcement getting painted with a broad brush and they are often vilified. In wyoming we dont do that. We continue to be extremely proud of our Law Enforcement and First Responders. Its time wyoming as we continually do to once again thank Law Enforcement First Responders for the incredible work they do. [ applause ] we know first hand and we would not have a our guard helps fight the global war on terrorism and assists here at home with firefightering, Flood Control and storm damage. Last year our guard performed evacuation missions in afghanistan, helped fight wildfires in idaho, helped prevent a wild fire in the Big Horn Mountains from becoming a much wild wild fire thats a few of the things the guard did in one year. Thank you general were grateful for your service and the service of all guard members. General, please stand so you may be recognized. [ applause ] its great to have you here and as always you look very sharp in that uniform, so thank you for being here. As we celebrate our guard members we remain grateful for all military members. Our veterans and those who serve our veterans. Ive asked today for two distinguished veterans to be here with us. Lee is vice chaim of the wyoming Veterans Commission and the larry is the director. Both unfortunately have indicated theyre going to be retiring early in 2017. Lee is a wyoming native and graduate of the university of wyoming. 1967 he went to vietnam as Army Lieutenant and served as recog instance pa ploon leader for infantry ba talion. His lists include the distinguished service cross, the soldiers medal, the silver star, the bronze star, two air medals, two purple hearts, and veet in a meez cross of gallantry. He was nominated for our nations highest award, the medal of honor. Upon his return from vietnam, held lee as wyomings murphy alluding to the highly decorated world war ii vet. He was instrumental in helping reshape the veterans committees so it serves all generations of our veterans. His leadership ensured the commissions work is professional and relevant. He previously served as chairman of the commission and served ten years in all. Lees book, back from wback fr quest of life after death, has been used by countless vets and their families to better understand how they can adjust to life after serving in combat. Kernel took the oath of an rotc scholarship cadet. His military and Government Service spanning more than 40 years began then. Was selected for the active guard and reserve program for the wyoming guard in 1985 and retired in 2000. He was recalled to active duty in 2000 serving at wyoming arm guard chief of staff and was responsible for Airport Security augmentation for ten wyoming airports following the 9 11 tacks. He retired from the army again in 2004. And since then has worked tirelessly to improve benefits and services and programs for wyoming veterans. In my budget message, i discuss one benefit, the veterans tuition waiver which suffered from last years session cuts to address the issue in interim move money to fix the program during the interperiod but its a shortterm fix. I favor a longterm commitment to those who join the guard when the promise of Tuition Assistance was in place. I also favor some form of support for new recruits. I hope youll favorably consider these matters. We and our state, are nearly 50,000 vets and all those who work with the commission, including me will miss larry and lee. Our communities, our state, our country are better places because of men like larry and lee who stepped up to serve in the u. S. Military and keep on serving in a civilian capacity. With their work and the outstanding work of his legislature, wyoming is recognized as one of the very best states for veterans to retire in. Larry, lee, we couldnt thank you enough for all the service you provided to state and country. Please stand so we can recognize both of you. Thank you. [ applause ] by our great tour rich we need the university of wyoming to be great. A Great University starts with great leadership. And we have a great leader in lauri in this case olz. She started in may 2016 when dick mcginty retired. Its hard enough to be a University President let alone during a time of budget cuts. Its great to have her at the helm. We are proud of the new facilities at the university of wyoming which will strengthen our reputation as leader in education, technology and innovation. We are proud of the Academic Research and athletic achievements. Speaking of which, how about that Cowboys Football Team . [ applause ] they gave us some great members and we appreciate that and lorry we thank you for your leadership at a critical time. We stand so we can recognize you and the university of wyoming. [ applause ] we are keeping in the Competitive Edge and thats a wise thing to do at all times especially during a time of constrained revenue. In 2016 we pressed on with efforts to promote and diversify our economy. Ill give a few examples. We are now a proud ag state. Ag puts food on the table. It provides great open spaces. We have great wildlife in wyoming. We have Great Respect for the second amendment. And when you combine all these assets together its no surprise that hunting, firearms and shooting sports are part of wyomings history and heritage. We want to keep these traditions and pass them on to future generations. We want to share enjoyment of are supporting live with others. I announce a new initiative including the first annual mag pool sponsored governors match scheduled for this summer. A charge state parks with convening Outdoor Recreation task force. It held his first meeting in december and will held recommendations how to further expand the outdoor industry. Thanks to atlas carbon going gangbusters 2016 was a rear of expansion for manufacturing. The wyoming firearms industry, important component of manufacturing continues to grow. Our World Class Companies manufacturer hand guns, silencers and other firearms accessories. Take for example, mag pool. Recently selected by the United States marines as the exclusive supplier of magazines for combat use. Isnt that incredible news for wyoming company to supply our u. S. Marines . [ applause ] now while they were doubters about recruitments i believe now more than ever we can continue to build on a robust firearm industry in wyoming. You are all aware of my focus on the Technology Sector with the uniified network and Global Technology sum mitts, recruiting efforts and natural advantages like cool climate, energy availability, technology continues to emerge as a viable economic sector. I truly believe it can be our fourth largest sector and we must continue to build upon it. Last spring with more than three quarters of the initiatives the original Energy Strategy complete we updated the strategy to include 11 new initial tifsz. Amongst those were working to make changes in dangerous endangered species act. It was passed in 1973. Since then, all the species listed, little over just 1 have ever been d listed. It needs help. My initiative was to get the western states on board and to change the improved the endangered species act. All western states dont have the same politics as wyoming. But we worked together with outdoor groups, with environmental groups. We put together proposal and im pleased to say in june last year, western governors voted unanimously for improvements in the endangered species act. Were now take to congress. Its time to make improvements to the endangered species act. [ applause ] we continue with the Energy Strategy with review of rec la mags rules, carbon innovation and i greatly appreciate the Legislature Support of the Energy Strategy which is helped with implementation. We not only want to be the energy state in terms of production, we want to be the energy state in terms of innovation. And we can be. The carbon initiatives looks at building an industry around co2. This means integrated test center at the is part of the effort. The relationships we foster has now put together a ten Million Dollars prize for the team that can figure out how to capture that co2 and not only capture it but use it to make a useful project. This has not only brought attention to wyoming but around the country. The governor of montana is asking his legislature to help participate in this. We have companies coming to wyoming to learn what they can do to participate in it. Its a very exciting. Its very important to be have that innovation here in wyoming. Industrial park project for energy products, that is the uses beyond extraction is also part of the carbon initiative. In 2014 this body appropriated 15 million for the itc and provided seed money to begin an Energy Related Industrial Park project. Projects like these, not only help wyomings number one industry, minerals, especially coal they foster diversification. The itc is well on its way and we need to pursue the Industrial Park project this year. I hope youll consider a bill that provides for further implementation of the initiatives and the energy strategies. We are proud that wyoming is the energy state and we are the energy state. In 2016 as part of that we continue to implement that which goes with energy which is water. The state water strategy was issued two years ago. Water strategy contains ten initiatives, one of the initiatives is the ten and ten project, which seeks to build ten new res voirz in ten years. While i know its ambitious weve come a long ways and im pleased to say the omnibus water bill youll consider this session has four of these ten in ten projects. The Big Sandy Reservoir in sweet water counties, the alca lied reservoir, big horn county. Water projects like these are funded separately from Government Operations, education and School Construction and maintenance. These funds generally come from water account three which is accumulated over the years and has the funding available. Together these projects would add over 31,000 aker feet of storage of our most precious Natural Resource that is water. Water is key to economic development, Ag Production and more and Water Development must remain a priority. In 2016 the executive branch we continued to streamline our rules and tighten our belts. For example, we put uniform rules in place for Public Record requests. This is in addition to my request two years ago to have all agencies reduce their rules by 30 . We have fewer rules, we are spending less and were down positions from fiscal year 2011, my first year in office. We have in wyoming bucked the trend of so many governments that only grow. While being careful with the budget is critical, we can never forget we are more than counters of dollars. We are here for the citizens of wyoming. To be sure we must remain aware of our inmate population, our disabled population, the health care we are providing or not providing to the citizens of wyoming. And always we think of our families and the next generation, our children. In september i sponsored the governors symposium on suicide prevention. Its important to talk about suicide and ways to reduce it. People who are hurting need help and we need to look for ways how we can better provide it. This will now become an annual symposium. In november i announced the endo you initiative at the business forum. This is a longterm planning effort for Economic Diversification. I seek 2. 5 million for this initiative in my supplemental Budget Proposal. Ill continue to work for Economic Diversification building on our successes during my last two years in office, however as a state we need identify plan that goes behind one governors time in office. We need a 20 year plan. And we do not diversify, we diversify in those areas as well to expand our economic base overall. As we diversify our industries, we must look at how we tax our industries. Diversification and a broad based fair tax structure are required to stabilize our economy, our revenue. We need to diversify not only to stabilize and grow our revenue but equally important as that as equally important to that is we need to diversify to benefit our young people. We need to provide more options for our young people to give them as many reasons as possible to stay yes to staying in wyoming as we can. As we look at our population, we know that in any given time period we lose between about 60 of the age group between 18 and 25. Our future will never be as bright as it being be if we dont do all we can to keep young people home. Home in wyoming. The energy [ applause ] the energy bust and the revenue fallout reminds us why the endo you initiative is imperative. In december we got some great news the National Park Service Completed the purchase of the 640 acre flats parcel of state trust land located in National Park for 46 million. 23 million came from the federal government and 23 million came from over 5,000 private donations to the National Park foundation. I thank all the donors who made this happen, the legislature for its support and of course we remember the late u. S. Senator craig thomas who got the ball rolling on this. [ applause ] not only is this good news for the park its good news for Education Funding at a time when we need good news. The money has been deposited and the Common School trust fund to support wyoming schools. The parcel was generating no revenue for wyoming. We were getting zero dollars from that parcel. Then come Common School trust fund, account varies but it expected that these funds will generate more than Million Dollars annually for these schools. The funds are also available for the board of land commissioners to acquire land assets held by the federal government if we choose to do so. The state of wyoming currently owns one remaining 640 aker parcel, the kelly parcel. Its valued at 46 million. We are making money on that parcel. That 46 million asset is bringing us in a whopping 2,000 a year. Legislative authorization for the direct sale of the kelly parcel expired december 31st 2016. Moving forward the board of land commissioners has authority to exchange the parcel or sell it at auction to the highest bidder. Additional authorization however from the legislature will be required for a direct sale to National Park service and this is something i ask you to consider. Bottom line is, even during these tough times we accomplished a lot in 2016. Wyoming remains strong heading into this new year and thats a big achievement. Were keeping our state strong during a difficult period, theres a lot of credit to go around. Certainly the legislature, university of wyoming are Amazing Community colleges, our state agencies and our communities our schools and our businesses. As i said before, wyoming people are wyomings greatest assets. The individuals i recognized today are examples of people all around wyoming who contribute to our states strength and we thank you all of them. Now i turn to the budget. June 2016 i asked agencies to implement 250 million in cuts from the 17 18 budget. This was a response to budget short fall forecast in the spring. These were difficult but necessary cuts. My supplemental Budget Proposal carries these cuts forward making them permanent. With my cuts and the legislatures cuts last session, the executive branch operating budget which was 2. 9 billion in 2010 is now a little over 2. 5 billion. Its down, not up. This reflects conservative, disciplined budgeting, the type of budgeting wyoming is known for and proud of. State government has shrunk. It is not grown. The Legislature Last session voted for 67. 7 million in cuts. Which i know you found difficult to make. I made three and a half times that amount of cuts in june which two was very difficult. The belt tightenning gun in 2013 has continued and i make only five general Fund Requests of you this session. Five million for local governments. We have to continue to support our local governments. 2. 5 million for endow which i have spoken about. 500,000 for the udub science initiative, 475,000 for the udub strategic Enrollment Program and 100,000 for the tribal lee yeah zones. I hope it will continue to be funded beyond this budget cycle. My general Fund Supplemental budget request total just over 8. 6 million. And the funds are available. For new legislatures to put it in perspective, supplemental budgets have exceeded 300 million. Explains the importance of knees request but today for example, ill talk about one of them, the udub science initiative. As i mentioned earlier we have been investing in university of wyoming. These efforts are critical. We need to continue to invest in the science initiative, thus the supplemental request. Because we value education and this legislature values education so strongly every year of highlighted the great talent we have with our teachers by recognizing the teacher of the year. This year were recognizing ryan furman who is 2017 teacher of the year. Who grew up in cass per. He graduated mag numb cumulaud from black hills and received masters degree out east. A 15 year teaching veteran he started teaching in wyoming in 2008 and has taught science since 2012. In addition to teaching science, hes a vex robotic strucker, a camp systematic counselor and organizer, science kids Board Members and assistant basketball coach. Continued commitment to the science commitment will help prepare more teachers like ryan. Were very proud of you, please stand so we may recognize your extraordinary work as a teacher. [ applause ] we know as we consider the difficult work ahead on education that we not only have Great Teachers and great school districts, we also in wyoming have great, great students. Logan johnson is a junior from grabl, wyoming. I first met logan when he was elected officials for boys state and i spent the day with him. Logan is double majoring in physics and astronomy at the university of wyoming. I did not know that was possible im not even sure its legal. This is an amazing thing. He is taken advantage of almost all wyoming offers as undergraduate. As a freshman he went faculty to udub telescope and acquiring the skills to analyze digital images. As a store more he led a study over the observatory site. Hell participate in next summers total Solar Eclipse and for those of who wyomings is going to be the place for the total eclipse. This is a big deal and i have here in my notes, in your own words, make sure Everybody Knows how valuable this is to tour rich. That is a big deal. August 21st, he also serves the counselor to junior high youth at udub. Hes done what many other students would long to do. We want to encourage more students like logan to take advantage of the uw science initiative. Logan, please stand. Congratulations on the extraordinary work youve already done. [ applause ] in this supplemental budget i requested contingent funding 25 million, 19. 2 million to zraes the fire at the ymca this contingent funding would come from the lsra. I also request the legislature authorize bonding to cover capital costs. After i know some of you do not favor that. Let me just say this. Whether you want to do bonding or take it as savings. It will not go away by not addressing the funding. I believe that the prison should stay not by the constitution but what it means to the community. I also believe we need to be prepared to weather it asfix or rebuild, we need to have that address this session including where the funding would come from. My Budget Proposal is bare bones and balanced. We have nearly 1. 6 billion sitting in the Rainy Day Fund. It appears without a diversion that ive asked for, the Rainy Day Fund will grow this session. Thats a hard message for the people of wyoming as weve made in excess of 300 million last session and we would continue to grow the Rainy Day Fund and goes to the question what is the Rainy Day Fund for . So i have asked for some of them money to be diverted for my budget and to not grow the Rainy Day Fund during a time when it is raining. I think of and i know much of you think about the General Fund Budget as a spralt budget from education and i think thats an appropriate way to look at it p. Education budget is different. The School Foundation program can fund, k through 12 School Operations through this but not beyond. Beginning with the 1920 budget the short fall in the School Foundation program account is projected to be 1. 5 billion over the next six years. School facilities and maintenance funding must also be addressed because its not included in that 1. 5 billion. I ask now as ive asked before that we Work Together to discuss solutions that include the public, teachers, School Boards and parents in this discussion. We recognize that one week to submit comments to this body regarding the subcommittees december 28th very thoughtful Education Funding is not enough. I believe just short of 600 comments in about a week were provided. We have to make tough decisions this session but to solve the issue completely we need to have a broader public discussion. Many Public Comments we received in one week underscore the need for the publics participation on this issue. Starting the discussion on education, i point out the wonderful report superintendent bill just rated 7th best in the country. The other six are on the east coast. We dont even know where the east coast is here in wyoming. We are proud of that. We want to continue to be strong in education. Wyoming should be proud of how it supported education. By my measure, wyoming has placed the highest value on education. To illustrate this point between executive and judicial and legislative branches the general Fund Standard operating budget has decreased since 2011. In fact, today, the Government Operations standard budget is about 200 million less per than the total block grant to school districts. 200 million less. Simply stated the standard budget for all Government Operations is less than were spending on k through 12 education. This doesnt even include major maintenance or school cap conconstruction. In 2016 we cut the budget by 370 million. When you combine legislative cuts during the 2016 session and my budget reductions last june. The School Operation budget has been growing. It was 1. 3 billion annually in 2011 when i took office. It is nearly 1. 5 billion now, six years later. While student enrollment has increased 12 since 05 06 School Foundation funding has increased over 91 and we see a projected short fall of 1. 5 billion over the next six years. This is a big problem. It is a fiscal crisis. It is a big problem that requires very big, very difficult choices. I again ask that we have a task force or Speaker Committee participation of wyoming stakeholders to address School Funding because a year has gone by and things have not gotten better. We cannot wait another year to act. As a minimum we should be planning for reductions. But there is a broader discussion that we should continue to have about funding and revenue and it is my hope that participation with all of you in the public that we can at least by the start of next session have a plan that addresses both cuts and the funding. I do want to mention a nonbudget measure from last. Im pleased to report that this program which is anonymous tipline is already making a difference in preventing suicide and improving school safety. This session i know youll be considering numerous bills. Ill follow them as they move through the legislative process but i can tell you here at the start a few things that i am interested in. I support concept the sales tax collection from remote sellers, establishment of legislative framework for endow. And providing a mechanism to continue the energy and water strategies. And what has sure been a market, were getting poor investment returns. Just no other way to look at it. It is a challenge in this financial market. Were also not doing well compared to other states. And yet the state of wyoming pays in excess of 70 million a year in management fees, in consulting fees. This has to change. It has to change now more than ever when were budget constrained. The treasurer has worked hard in his office to make some suggestions for the legislature. I ask you to consider those suggestions because the treasurer, like me, like the recognizes we want better returns and want to spend less money in getting those returns. And until we can get a broader more comprehensive tax structure, i ask you to consider continuing the manufacturing tax exemption, which is sunsetting. It is important for the businesses that are here, it is important for some of the businesses were trying to recruit now. We are looking to the change of administration in d. C. In the coming weeks and we hope theyll provide an opportunity for wyoming to become stronger. Im heartened by the prospect of fewer regulations and progrowth economic policies. Im hopeful the new administration will see the benefits of what states like wyoming have done. In responsibly developing the resources. Im hopeful more authority will be given to the states with respect to Natural Resources and other areas. And as we face some difficult budget times, we know we are in fact better suited to address the problem than we ever have been in the past. I also am confident that this group, the legislature, is the group to deal with these difficult issues. But as always, it really isnt just about the numbers and the dollars or a single issue. We cannot lose the forest in the trees. This session as every session we remain obligated to do what is best, not for ourselves, our political parties, but for the citizens of wonderful wyoming. What a privilege we have to have that as our duty, what a privilege it is to have that opportunity to have our job to serve the citizens of wyoming without regard to political party. Without regard to any single issue but how do we do better for the citizens of wyoming. I thank the legislature as i always do. We are successful in this state for a number of reasons. But a prime reason is we have a Citizen Legislature to you, men and women, who give up your time and leave your homes and your families and your businesses to come here, this is an extraordinary thing. It keeps wyoming strong. But as always, we take time today to say we know were blessed to live in this state, we say to citizens of wyoming, we will continue to work hard for you, we say may god continue to bless wyoming, the United States and all her people. Thank you very much. [ applause ] the u. S. Nat senate today confirmed betsy devos as education secretary, 5150. Vice president mike pence was in the Senate Chamber and cast the final vote to break the tie. The senate also voted to advance the nomination of senator Jeff Sessions to be the next u. S. Attorney general. If all debate time is used, a final confirmation vote could happen in about 6 50 p. M. Eastern tomorrow evening. After that, the chamber will then move to consider congressman tom price to head the health and Human Services department and Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary. Live coverage of the u. S. Senate is on cspan 2. Our state of the state coverage focuses on iowa next. Governor Terry Branstad gives his final state of the state address. He was recently nominated by President Trump to be the next u. S. Ambassador to china. This is about a half an hour. Thank you