And, while enrollment in public colleges and universities is higher than ever, our graduation rates are very disappointing. Our greatest challenge is to make sure those who start college will finish.
Learning additional skills beyond high school is more critical than ever for West Virginians. That is why I am asking all of our technical and four-year colleges and universities to freeze their tuition rates for the coming school year.
As we grow into new technologies and business sectors, we must still support the traditional industries that have helped build our state and make this nation great.
West Virginia will play an increasingly important role in our nation’s energy future.
West Virginia ranks second in the nation in exporting electricity, and most of our coal and natural gas is sent out of state.
2009 was a tough year for coal. Despite the fact that half of our nation’s electricity is generated by coal, and that our national economy depends on this abundant, reliable and affordable energy, some want to villainize this resource that helped us win two world wars and built the greatest country in the world.
We must continue to stand up for our coal miners and their families! We are not asking for a handout. All we're asking for is the permission to work!
We are reaching new and better ways to use our coal. There is a balance to be had between our economy and our environment and West Virginia is leading the way in finding that balance.
Our alternative and renewable energy portfolio requires one-fourth of the energy used in our state to come from alternative or renewable energy sources by the year 2025. A progressive law such as this is already paying off.
We have more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power in service or in development – that’s enough to power more than 250,000 homes! And we have the third-largest wind capacity of any eastern state.
The world’s first successful carbon capture and sequestration project is at AEP’s Mountaineer Power Plant in Mason County, and an advanced pilot project is capturing CO2 at the Dow Chemical plant in South Charleston.
These pilot projects will lead the way for implementation of this technology at coal-fired power plants around the world.
Plans are moving ahead on a coal-to-liquids project in Mingo County that will use state-of-the-art cleaner coal technology. Through this technology, West Virginia coal will be our primary energy source as we make the transition to the fuels of the future.
We are advancing wood and coal co-firing plants as part of our energy mix and virtually all of our state’s hydropower capacity is being used. And, with new ways to recover massive natural gas reserves from the Marcellus Shale, we are poised to power our nation for the next century.
Last year, we also passed a post-mining land use bill that requires surface mine operators to have a plan for how the land they want to mine will be restored. Those plans include highways, industrial parks, schools, recreation facilities, farms and other renewable and alternative energy projects.
This law is about creating more jobs.
We are not only a leader in energy; we are also a leader in adventure! Last February, we found out the Boy Scouts were looking for a new home.
Not only did the Scouts choose West Virginia for one of their high-adventure bases, they chose us as the centerpiece for the next 100 years of Scouting in America. The Summit: Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve at the New River Gorge will be the permanent site of the National Scout Jamboree and a premier destination for Scouts and their families from around the world.
It gives us an unprecedented opportunity to showcase West Virginia to business leaders and tourists, as well. The Scouts are investing hundreds of millions of dollars and will create more than 1,000 permanent and part-time jobs.
I truly believe this can be a game changer for the State of West Virginia.
The Scouts exemplify the values we West Virginians hold so dear – leadership, strength, teamwork, skills and respect for the environment.
From our Development Office to the local Scout Councils and the people of southern West Virginia, who all worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality. I want to personally thank you, and we all owe them a round of applause.
Welcome home, Boy Scouts.
In addition to teaching our youth the values and skills important to a successful life, we continue our battle against illegal drug use, which is one of the worst blights on our communities. When I became governor, we began dedicating additional funding and resources to combat the drug problem.
We are seeing results.
In 2008, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations unit alone took more than $13 million in drugs off the streets, up from 910,000 dollars just a few years before. Felony drug arrests nearly tripled from 2004 to 2008.
Last July, we announced Operation Eviction, which pools state resources with county and city agencies to get drugs out of our communities. And we are taking it to the next level.
We have a simple message to all drug dealers in West Virginia: Get out of our state now, while you still can.
We are not just going after the dealers themselves; we are going after the places where they operate. Vacant and rundown properties harbor illegal activity, and they also lessen the appeal of our towns and lower the value of homes and buildings that are maintained by responsible property owners.
That’s why I’m introducing legislation that will allow our cities to collect fees from absentee owners for vacant properties they don’t keep up. It will encourage residents and businesses to take pride in their communities and help spruce up our cities.
Unfortunately, after a damaging fire, some property owners take their fire insurance money and run, leaving the city with a dangerous, abandoned building they cannot afford to demolish. We are joining our cities and the Insurance Federation on a bill that gives more flexibility to clean up buildings damaged beyond repair by fire, by allowing the cities to place a lien on fire insurance policies.
Like most states, West Virginia is facing a dramatically increasing prison population we simply cannot sustain. Last year, I established the Commission on Prison Overcrowding to provide recommendations on how we can address this problem.
The state Supreme Court has also studied this issue, and an interim report of its commission reached many of the same conclusions. Over the years, we’ve done a good job of locking criminals up, but a poor job of rehabilitating non-violent offenders and helping them become productive citizens.
We are always going to be tough on crime, but we must adopt a different approach or we will have an insurmountable problem.
Tonight I am introducing a bill that will streamline our parole system and use our prisons to keep violent offenders where they belong - locked up. This accelerated parole system has been tested in other states and is one part of an overall plan to free up our prison resources.
This program would only be open to non-violent offenders and those convicted of crimes that do not involve a child. Following through on the commission's other recommendations, we are renovating the Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley to expand the work-release programs. And, we will be working with West Virginia State University for the combined purpose of expanding our work-release program and renovating the former Rehabilitation Center in Institute. We look forward to creating new opportunities for the university, its faculty, staff and students.
By using existing state facilities, we’re addressing the overcrowding problem, saving money and creating opportunities. These issues will not be fixed overnight, however, by working closely with the Legislature and corrections officials, we will find the best way to solve these problems once and for all.
We are not being soft on crime - we are being smart on crime.
Our single-largest budget item is education. Our challenges in education are greater than ever. But success begins in the classroom.
Our 2010 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Gretchen Shaffer, teaches math at Morgantown High School. Gretchen created an after-school ACT/SAT prep class that has helped many students increase their scores enough to qualify for PROMISE scholarships.
She exemplifies the commitment of our educators who put children first and find innovative ways to help them succeed. Gretchen, will you please stand and be recognized.
I also want to acknowledge Toyota Motors and Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield for their continued support of our Teacher of the Year program.
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said our nation has fallen behind in education and job skills. Shockingly, the United States is now the only industrialized country where young people today are less likely to earn a diploma than their parents.
If we are to remain a world leader, and if we want West Virginia and other states to break the cycle of poverty, we must not be afraid to make the changes that are needed to succeed!
More than 40 billion stimulus dollars will be available for states and schools to lay the foundation for a generation of education reform. And $5 billion will be set aside for new ways to produce results in our classrooms. It's known as Race to the Top.
We have applied for the first round of funding, based on our present education system.
If West Virginia is not awarded the first round of Race to the Top funding, I will call this Legislature in to a special session on education to make the changes needed to win the second round of funding, which will be awarded in June.
Let me assure you I will always push for the bold changes that will allow us to succeed nationally and globally!
That is why I will reintroduce a proposal of immediate importance to our children’s education.
Our current law requires students to attend school for 180 days a year, but let's face the facts: This is not happening. That is why I am asking you to pass a bill that guarantees that every county is able to comply with this law and provide 180 days of instruction.
And we must pass this, because it is that important. No excuses, we owe it to our children.
We also owe a lot to our seniors, which I affectionately refer to as our experienced citizens, who share so much with our children. Since 2005 we have dedicated an additional $26 million to Senior Services -- the highest amount in our state’s history.
Most importantly, I have been committed to giving them the tools they need to maintain a healthy, happy and independent lifestyle. We have provided 35 brand new food delivery trucks to county senior services agencies and we will reach our goal to equip every county this year.
Last year, the Bureau of Senior Services helped more than 120,000 seniors, providing nutrition, transportation, job training, and in-home care, as well as respite for those with Alzheimer's Disease.
We also signed the Silver Alert Bill, which helps locate missing seniors by quickly notifying emergency responders.
And as our nation continues to debate health care reform, it’s important to note West Virginia is a leader in health care coverage for children. Last January, the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, increased its income limit to 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
This program has served 118,000 children since it began. Including this and private insurance, we are covering almost every child in West Virginia.
We have joined with local businesses, food suppliers, volunteers and the Department of Education to include more freshly prepared local foods on the school menus in Cabell County. This initiative began through the efforts of Chef Jamie Oliver. If this program works, it will become a model for the rest of West Virginia and the entire nation.
Beginning in October, the West Virginia Women, Infants and Children program -- or WIC -- started providing fresh fruits and vegetables to qualifying families each month. WIC helps our infants and children eat properly, and it improves access to health care.
Children up to age five are eligible and 70 percent of all infants born in West Virginia can use this vital program. WIC also is distributing more than 155,000 free books that teach our children about the joys of physical activity and eating healthful foods.
Last year, we added seven additional counties to the Department of Education and the Arts’ Imagination Library. This program, started by Dolly Parton, provides free books to children from birth until their fifth birthday.
The Imagination Library will soon expand into 14 northern counties, adding more than 23,000 eligible children by August. Some 46 percent of our children live in low-income homes where parents struggle to provide for their families.
Sadly, poverty often persists through generation upon generation. This cycle is difficult to break. Parents without additional education and skill sets often struggle to earn enough to support their families, and cannot provide these educational opportunities to their children.
The best way to improve the chances for lifelong success of children who live in poverty is to ensure they have the same education opportunities as other children. In West Virginia, 49 percent of low-income fourth graders read below grade level, and research shows that children who score below grade-level at this age are unlikely to ever catch up.
This creates a lifelong deficit that is rarely overcome. Last year, we passed the 3rd and 8th grade screening bill that provides additional resources to help students who are not meeting the standards at these critical grade levels.
But we must do more.
For more than 75 years, Save the Children has helped kids thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. They are working in more than 150 communities across the country to help lessen the impact of poverty on children.
With our support, Save the Children will help our most needy kids acquire the skills they need to succeed and build a lifelong love of learning, so I am directing $1 million to their efforts in our rural counties. It will provide another tool to give our children the chance they deserve.
This program was brought to the First Lady’s attention by one of our state’s most-recognized citizens. She’s a mother of two young daughters who truly cares about her home state, and she is a national ambassador for early childhood education. She presents a positive image of West Virginia wherever she goes and is always proud to tell her millions of fans where she grew up.
Her dedication to children has taken her to the halls of Congress and brought her back home to build support for these important initiatives.
Tonight, I’m pleased she has joined us here to highlight this important message.
I’d like for West Virginia’s own Jennifer Garner to please stand and be recognized.
Thank you, Jennifer, for introducing this valuable program to West Virginia.
We look forward to working with Save the Children to help move our state and our nation forward. Jennifer is joined tonight by Mark Shriver, a tireless advocate for kids and managing director of U.S. programs for Save the Children. Mark, would you please stand so that we can thank you also.
Above all, our children should always be our top priority. President Kennedy once said, “Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
Sadly, if you could see what our State Police see every day, you’d be more concerned than ever about the dangers our children are facing. On any given day, 300 West Virginia children – including infants and toddlers – are sexually abused. 1,000 computers each month in West Virginia possess or distribute child pornography. This is an international problem that is stealing the innocence from our children. An innocence that can never be replaced.
I am committed to making West Virginia a leader in fighting this most horrible type of crime.
Since September 2006 the Child Protection Unit, with only 6 State Troopers, has arrested nearly 1300 offenders. This is clearly not enough.
To better target predators and concentrate our efforts, the State Police consolidated and formed the Crimes Against Children Unit. This new unit covers the entire state.
But they're not the only ones in this fight. They join the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Child Protective Services, as well as multi-disciplinary teams from across the state.
There is nothing I will do as governor, or you will do as a lawmaker, that is more important.
We must devote more funding and resources today to these efforts.
Next week in this chamber, I will join state and local police, child protection agencies and groups who are leading the charge against these crimes in a video presentation to our Legislature that I’m sure will shock you – as it did me.
The video illustrates the urgent need to take action. Right now, I am asking the Legislature to fund six additional troopers and support staff for the Crimes Against Children Unit.
This will be a huge step toward creating a safer environment for our children.
We will not stand by and lose another child to a predator!
West Virginia’s most famous author, Pearl S. Buck, summed up the importance of children best when she wrote, “If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.”
When I was first inaugurated and in every year since I have been governor, I have spoken about the five promises we should keep to every child. At the heart of those promises is the principle that every child should have a safe place and a healthy start.
Many of the bold initiatives I have discussed tonight are tailored for our youngest citizens, because they have no voice and they deserve the opportunity to succeed. We must be their voice, and it is our responsibility to provide that opportunity.
We are all in this together, and we must continue to work together to ensure our children are healthy, happy and, most importantly, loved.
For our children and grandchildren to grow up and be productive adults, they must have a strong start.
We must do our part now to make a positive impact on their future because West Virginia’s future depends on it.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God continue to save the Great State of West Virginia
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