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address from the capital in atlanta. 's remarks focused on economic growth in georgia, curbing gang violence and human trafficking, expanding healthcare and championing education in the state. [applause] >> thank you all very much. thank you all so much. lieutenant governor, speaker

burns, president pro tem kennedy, speaker pro tem jones, members of the general assembly. my fellow constitutional officers, mayor dickens, members of the judiciary, members of the core, my fellow georgians. when i delivered my first state of the state address in this chamber four years ago, little did we know the unprecedented challenges that were before us. now, on the other side of my first term, we have overcome each of those challenges and did it to gather and have risen to the occasion each time that changes come. speaking of change, each chamber has new leadership than when i first began my term and i want to congratulate lieutenant governor jones and speaker burns on their elections.

[applause] >> i also want to congratulate the newly elected leaders and appointed committee chairs in both the senate and house which i want to congratulate my fellow constitutional officers on their recent victories. over the last four years our greatest achievements were accomplished when both chambers work hand in hand with my office to put the people of our state first ahead of the status quo. our future as a state relies on that partnership, to do the right thing for our citizens even when it may not be easy. each of you has my commitment to continue that work and to do it together. that is good for our entire state because i believe this session will be one of consequence. i'm proud to report that

because of foundation that we have built together over these past four years, because of the resilience shown by the people of our great state, because of the resolve they continue to show, the state of our state has never been stronger or more resilient. [applause] [applause] >> thank you all. >> thank you, and you all are a big part of that. this session we will not only build on the monumental achievements of the past four years, we will set georgia on a path of greatness for generations to come, this past year in particular was unprecedented for economic success in the peach state. in 365 days we announced four

of the largest economic developed projects in the history of our state. those four projects alone will bring over 20,000 new jobs and over $17 billion in investment to rural communities across georgia. those good paying jobs are in bills that would define the next generation of manufacturing. that future will be made right here in georgia, but we are not slowing down. last week, we learned in the first half of this fiscal year our top ranked department of economic to veltman helped with 7000 new jobs and $13 billion of investment coming to georgia. i am especially proud, 86% of

those outside metro atlanta and [applause] >> and the good news is our metro areas continue to thrive in this environment with organic growth, generated by good policies and a pro business approach we have all worked on with our partners in the private sector to create. i want to thank the hard-working men and women of the georgia department of economic development who helped us bring these unparalleled levels of opportunity to communities all across our state. one member of that team is here with us today, the director of korean investment who has been instrumental in bringing billions of dollars of investment, thousands of jobs to georgia communities. please stand and let us thank you for all your good work.

[applause] >> it just cut out. >> i want to thank members of the general assembly for your contributions to this effort. i cannot overstate how critical your support is when it comes to winning in these competitive environment while also providing a good return on investment, that we will see for decades in this state. thanks to the collective work of those in this chamber, votes who came before us in local leadership across georgia, we have been named the number one state in the country for business for nine years in a row. [applause] [applause]

>> but despite all we have achieved, there's a growing risk to the number one status, the need for more workers. quality homes where they can raise our family in the same community where they work. the budgets i presented to you make significant steps in addressing both issues, we are putting pressure state dollars where our priorities are including every level of education to grow a generation of highly skilled workers, between both budgets we will devote an additional $1.9 billion to education and fully fund the formula. we are expanding -- [applause]

we are expanding and reinforcing the workforce pipeline at every level including where it begins in our k-12 classrooms. hard work. hard-working teachers are the most impactful elements of the pipeline. we are fortunate to have one of them here with us today, she is a first grade teacher, during the pandemic, like so many others who served our classrooms, she went above and beyond for her students, lauren, will you please stand and let us thank you and your colleagues for all your great work. [applause] >> lauren is in her fiftieth

year of teaching, a milestone when educators often feel burnout and consider leaving the profession. to keep our best and brightest in the classroom, when i first ran for governor, i promise to raid teacher pay by $5,000. with your help, we fully delivered on that pledge. to reward those who continue to serve after the hardships of the pandemic, my 2024 budget proposes another $2000 pay raise for teachers like lauren. [applause] >> some politicians have continued to grumble about teacher pay in georgia i would like to share the facts. in total, we would have given -- we will have given hard-working educators of $7,000 pay raise in just 5 years, no other general assembly or governor will have

raised teacher pay by so much so quickly in state history and i want to thank you all for your support of that. with the passage of this budget the average teacher salary in georgia will also now be over $7000 higher than the southeast regional average but we know teachers don't just need more pay and resources, they need reinforcements. that is why i am furthering the teacher pipeline measures we put in place during my first term, through the certification grants that will help professionals become teachers with this one investment we will add close to 5000 teachers to our education workforce. [applause] >> we also know the workforce

pipeline extends into our world-class university you use and technical colleges. that is why for the first time in a decade, the thirtieth year of this program and the georgia lottery, we are once again fulfilling governor miller's vision and returning the hope scholarship and grant award to 100% of tuition. today we are joined by one of the students and future workers who has benefited from governor miller's legacy, and the support of this general assembly. a hope scholarship student at

our national championship winning university of georgia, a first generation college student and the oldest of 5 children, his father is retired navy veteran and pastor. his mother is also currently in the school working to become a doctor. by covering one hundred% of tuition, a policy long worked on by members of both sides of the aisle, a student like this will receive roughly one thousand dollars in additional financial assistance in the coming school year. will you raise and let us wish you continued success, thank you for being with us today. we look forward to your

continued success and bright future and i feel certain that you will work here in our state after you graduate. we will also continue to focus on apprenticeships, dual enrollment pathways and degrees in line with job creators to grow the talent pipeline. but where they get into the workforce, because of our efforts, there is greater opportunity in every zip code in georgia, many of those communities struggle to provide adequate workforce housing, the transformational project, good paying jobs and new investments are worth little if there aren't options for hard-working georgians to live where they work. we are talking about the people teaching our children, keeping our communities safe, who provide life-saving support in

times of trouble and those who make the goods and provide the services that make a community such a great place to call home. that is why i am creating the rural workforce housing fund are enabling the state to partner directly with local governments to develop sites across the state for workforce housing. i'm also eager to see solutions that will come from others over the next few months regarding this issue. it is hard-working georgians find opportunity, the quality housing that comes with it. they also deserve to live, work and worship in the safety. this is something everyone in this chamber can agree on and no issue of public safety received more bipartisan support than the legislation championed by the nation's best first lady, marty kemp, and our three daughters. [applause]

>> working alongside partners on the grace commission like speaker pro tem jones, attorney general chris carr, the gbi, and others, they have helped make georgia a hostile place for traffickers and a safe haven for victims. marty at her partners have worked tirelessly to make sure georgians throughout the state are aware of this evil industry. thanks to that good work, lives have been saved, children have been removed from dangerous situations and offenders have been put behind bars where they can no longer make victims of the indocin. i would like to ask marty, our girls, and others representing the grace commission to stand so we can thank you for your good work.

this year we will build on their good work by increasing penalties for those organizations required to provide resources on how to spot human trafficking and what actions are needed to stop it, but who unfortunately failed to do so. like marty's prior legislation, i'm sure it will receive overwhelming bipartisan support. i also want to thank the general assembly, again, for your support of the receiving centers where victims are now finding help and hope. this is certainly a resource that is and is still in critical need. we will also continue to take

violent offenders out of our communities. for too many georgians, the safety of their families and homes is put at risk by the unchecked crimes of street gangs. early in my first term, we created the gbi's and high gang task force to take the fight to these criminals. last year, you gave the state a new tool to ensure justice, the gang prosecution unit and the office of attorney general chris carr. i'm grateful that the attorney general and his team has indicted 50 gang members in just the first 6 months of standing up this unit. [applause]

>> and more on the way. local district attorneys are unwilling to confront these violent offenders, the gang prosecution unit will. the attorney general is joined by the head of the prosecution division, john fowler, head of the gang prosecution unit, and the head of the human trafficking prosecution unit, anna palmquist. i hope you stand and let us thank you again for your great work. [applause] >> we've made great strides in curbing crime, but now there's fighters entering a new phase and law enforcement needs your help to continue to achieve success.

in communities across our state, gangs are actively recruiting children as young as elementary school students into a life of crime. they are targeting the most innocent among us, pulling them down a dark path that often leads to prison cell or cemetery. that is why, along with the attorney general, i am proposing legislation to increase penalties for those trying to recruit our children into gangs. let me be clear, you come after our children, we will be coming after you. [applause] [applause] >> i know lieutenant governor jones and his team are working on the broader issue of gang

violence and we look forward to partnering with them. my administration is thankful for the dedication to this urgent problem. there's strong bipartisan support for state law enforcement including the brave men and women of the georgia state patrol under the leadership of colonel chris right. last week we were reminded of their steadfast courage and the dangers they face on a daily basis. while clearing the side of the atlanta training facility, militant activist, a trooper was shot without warning or just cause. he was rushed to the hospital, endured multiple surgeries, days of severe pain, which he is still in. like all troopers, he has refused to quit. just a few blocks from where we are sitting today, he still continues his recovery. he and his wife have our thanks

and praise, but also our prayers. i had the chance to meet with them earlier this week. his resolve continues to be strong. but he continues to need our prayers. this past weekend, when i -- state riders tried to bring violence to the streets of the capital city, sheriff's deputies and atlanta police quickly brought peace and order. that's just the latest example, here in georgia, we will always back up. [applause] [applause] >> this morning, we are joined

by another trooper, one who serves from these guys. last year, helicopter pilot, sergeant brad harrison, along with the tactical flight officer and a spotter received a call to assist with a search and rescue operation in northwest georgia. a little boy no more than 5 years old was lost, and like all of us would become his family was frantic. thanks to the skill and quick work of sergeant harrison and his crew, they were able to locate the boy in a field, got troopers to his location while circling above, and ensure the child was safely returned to his parents. sergeant harrison, would you please stand and let us thank you for your good work and those of all our georgia state law enforcement? [applause]

>> these and other public safety officers on the state and local levels are our unsung heroes we don't always hear about, because their acts of service are given without expectation or reservation. in light of this past weekend's events, when men and women in uniform are putting themselves in harm's way, it literally in the line of fire, you can imagine their frustration when one of these committals goes out on the street in a matter of hours, just to terrorize those streets further which i appreciate that a fulton county judge did not -- gave the other two bonds of over $355,000, along with 24 hour curfew and

ankle monitors. unfortunately, [applause] unfortunately this approach is not universal across the judicial system. some may not take this seriously, this issue seriously, i can assure you that i do. we can and we must do something about the revolving door of criminal justice and i look forward to working with this legislature to get it done. [applause] >> in addition to public safety officers we are grateful for our healthcare heroes. simply put, we need more of them. right now there are 67 counties with less than 10 physicians and georgia's need for more nurses is well-documented. that is why i am proposing $4.5 million in loan repayment

programs to grow the number of healthcare workers in georgia. i am also -- [applause] >> i am also calling for an additional 102 residency slots through investment of $1.7 million. with these additions, we will exceed the initial goal number of this program and i am proud to report that the innovative solutions we brought to georgia's healthcare challenges continues to bring great results. when i signed the bipartisan patients first act in 2019, no counties had more than two health insurance carriers. today, 86% of georgia counties have three or more. while others have called for expanding a 1-size-fits-all massive government healthcare program, thanks to our policies, enrollment in the individual market has more than

doubled since 2,019, to 700,000 georgians. thanks to our reinsurance program, we are also saving hard-working families more and more in their wallets. in fact, we have reduced premiums by an average of 12.4% across the state. that represents an average annual premium reduction of almost $1000 a year. in rural communities, where premium prices were the least affordable when i took office, the reinsurance program has reduced premiums from 25% to 40%. in addition to these innovations, and with your help, we expanded medicaid coverage to a 4-year after a mother gives birth, to support new mothers even more, my team is proposing legislation that will allow pregnant women who qualify, to receive benefits. previously, they were unable to apply for such assistance until

after a child was born. i know that this measure, supported by many in this chamber, i am grateful for your backing. [applause] since 2,018, our state has spent 15. $3 billion on medicaid, with 9% increase in spending over that time but while the state spends more and more georgians aren't seeing improvement in the care they receive. in georgia, we are talking about an innovative and sustainable approach, the georgia pathways to coverage program was negotiated in good faith with the federal government so that we could expand access to health insurance for those who need it the most, while also sustaining quality of coverage, the biden administration delayed its launch for over a year until

thankfully a judge threw out their biased objections to this innovative approach. those are the facts. when it comes to healthcare for hard-working georgians, the biden administration would rather play partisan politics than get people insured and lower costs. we don't have time to wait on washington and i don't have much patience for dc posturing. [applause] >> we are moving forward, targeting our launch date of july 1st of this year to meet that goal, i'm allocating $52 million to stand up this program and connect those in need to its benefit. here's another fact. upwards of 345,000 georgians could qualify for the pathways

program, and healthcare coverage, for the first time come with no changes to those who qualify for regular medicaid. unlike medicaid expansion georgia pathways will not kick 200,000 georgians off their private sector insurance. [applause] >> in our state we want more people to be covered at a lower cost, with more options for patients and i'm glad to say georgia pathways and access accomplish that goal. during this legislative session i want to encourage the men and women throughout this chamber to consider not just the georgia of today, but the georgia of generations from now. speaking of generations, i've got to be careful how i say this but i want to recognize my mom who is here today, we love you. [applause]

>> she is joined by my sister and her husband, rocky, we are glad to have you today, love you, guys. three years ago, in my state of the state, just before the pandemic hit. i shared the words of the nehemiah who refused to slow down or stop his efforts to rebuild his home down despite heavy pressure to do so. he always delivered the same message. i'm doing a great work and i can't come down. throughout the pandemic and afterwords we have been reminded that our work continues, during this session we should all be too busy to come down into the mud of

politics. we have much work to do and we need to get it done for the people who are counting on us. here at the start of a new session, a new term and a new era for our state, we have an opportunity to make decisions that will impact our children's grandchildren if we do it right. and if we do it together. the campaigns have all been run, or at least most of them and the people have spoken, they have given us our marching orders and it is time for us to get back to work. for the georgians of today and tomorrow, let's get it done. thank you all, god bless you, and may god continue to bless the great state of georgia, thank you very much.

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