Well.

Good morning everyone.

Mr.

speaker.

Madame president.

Mr.

Chief justice.

Honorable members of the Supreme Court.

Honorable members of the House.

Senate.

Councilors.

My fellow citizens.

Thank you for being here today.

I want you to know how much I have appreciated working with all of you throughout this past year.

From the legislature to the Council to our commissioners, I have seen firsthand how all of you are united by the same passion to protect what makes our state so special, and how you strive to make it even better for our fellow citizens and our future generations.

Thank you for the job you are doing for our state, for our neighbors, for our kids.

And thank you for continuing to serve.

As you've heard me say many times, I think service is pretty important.

New Hampshire depends on those who serve their neighbors, their communities, and our state.

We don't have public safety if not for our law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, corrections officers, and first responders.

We don't have education without our teachers and our support staff.

We don't have health care without our nurses or our doctors, and we don't have a country without our veterans.

Guard active duty and reserve military.

Not to mention our state, county and municipal employees, social workers, community volunteers and the list goes on and on.

New Hampshire has a lot going for it, but what I think makes this state truly special is the people of New Hampshire, people like Lieutenant Bill Shea and firefighters Jonathan Moore, Corey Poisson and Nate Keller from Engine Company five of the Nashua Fire Department, who bravely responded to a dangerous gas leak.

At Greater Nashua mental Health on Monday, initiating rescue operations under extremely hazardous conditions.

Facing an explosion and fire, subjecting three of these heroic firefighters to serious injuries.

They remain in our prayers.

"Applause" Or people like Aisha Mustafa and Katie Tewksbury, Manchester nursing students whose quick thinking, teamwork and courage saved the life of a stranger.

Or Edward Parker and Hubert Buchanan, who endured captivity as prisoners of war in the armed forces during World War Two and Vietnam.

It's easy to take them for granted, but we owe so much of what we have to those who have served.

So thank you.

Thank you to those in this room for serving your fellow citizens.

To those at home who serve the public in a litany of different ways.

You are making a tremendous difference for the state of New Hampshire.

Thank you.

Thank you.

"Applause" I stand before you today convinced that the state of the state is strong, that our shared prospects for tomorrow are bright and proud, that our work is making New Hampshire even stronger, even safer, and more prosperous than ever before.

We are proud of our New Hampshire tradition of being first, from being the first to rebel against British tyranny with the Pine Tree Riot and the first colony to adopt its own constitution, to our first in the nation primary, which, by the way, we are never giving up.

"Applause" It's only fitting that today, 250 years since that first constitution was adopted.

New Hampshire continues to lead the nation in so many ways.

We are number one for public safety.

Number one for tax payer return on investment.

Number one for economic opportunity.

Number one for economic freedom.

Number one for child well-being.

Number one for home internet connectivity.

Number one for health care.

Number one for Medicaid mental health services.

We have the lowest tax burden in the nation.

And just this past year, we passed Vermont to become the number one state to raise a family.

Last month, we were named the healthiest state in the nation.

In total, U.S.

news ranks New Hampshire as the number two state in the nation.

Now, I don't know what Utah is doing, but I want Utah to know we are coming for you because we.

"Applause" Getting here was not an accident.

Leading is in our blood.

It's who we are.

And over the past year, we have worked to deliver on the promises we made to make our state even stronger.

We came together to get the cell phones out of the classroom and give our kids the chance to be kids and focus on learning every day.

We expanded education freedom so that every family can choose the best learning environment for their kids.

"Applause" We took the housing crisis head on, passing more than a dozen pieces of legislation, overhauling state, permitting reform, and cutting red tape to speed up construction.

We ended our state's disastrous bail reform experiment, and we banned sanctuary cities.

And so we've not gone the way of our neighboring states.

We balanced our budget.

"Applause" We balanced our budget while protecting those who depend on us.

We fully funded the developmental disability wait lists, protected Medicaid eligibility, and funded schools at higher levels than ever before.

"Applause" We implemented changes to modernize our operations, increase efficiencies, and welcome new suggestions from our state's Commission on Government Efficiency.

And we kept our promise to protect the state's largest tract of land, the Connecticut Lakes Headwater Forest.

By negotiating a new, strong agreement that puts the North Country first and ensures continued logging and access to recreation.

It's also important, as we talk about what we've done, to talk about what we have not done.

And what we didn't do is raise taxes.

"Applause" We are the envy of New England and a beacon for good governance nationwide, because we have not succumbed to the lie that more money for government is better.

We have succeeded because we have held the line against an income tax, against the sales tax, against an interest and dividends tax, and against a death tax.

And instead, we have relied on the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of our people to meet the needs we have and to provide for those who depend on us.

"Applause" We are the live free or die state.

But when you look at the states around us, we show them what it means to live free and prosper.

But make no mistake, we are never more than one election away from giving it up.

From going the way of our neighbors.

From Massing up New Hampshire.

"Applause" Just look at the neighborhood.

I want you to look at what they're doing down in Rhode Island as we speak.

They have a big budget deficit as the end of the Biden era spending spree comes.

Rather than do what we did and take a hard look at spending and recalibrate.

They are pushing a new millionaires tax to cover their 50% growth in spending since the pandemic, and the last state in the country to enact an income tax just so happens to be one of our neighbors.

And we're going to pick on our friends in Connecticut for a moment here.

Since Connecticut enacted an income tax.

They've raised it four times.

And where does Connecticut stand when it comes to property taxes?

Third highest in the nation.

So let this be a cautionary tale for the future of New Hampshire.

There is no getting around the fact that property taxes in New Hampshire are unsustainable.

In my budget address last year.

I challenged our local officials to take a hard look at spending and what they are doing, rather than increasing local taxes.

Our towns and municipalities need to get serious about fiscal responsibility.

But even more misguided are those in this room who argue that the solution to higher tax, high property taxes is to raise other taxes.

Let me be clear about this.

If your solution to high property taxes is to institute new taxes, new taxes that punish families and businesses, you can kiss the New Hampshire Advantage goodbye.

"Applause" The simple fact of government is that government likes to spend your money.

And raising taxes only ensures that the government gets more of your hard earned money.

That's it.

If we ever accept that argument in New Hampshire, it will be the end of our distinct advantage over our other fellow New England states, an advantage that just in the last year brought six companies up from Massachusetts and 500 jobs with them.

Now, you may have seen the news, but little New Hampshire has Massachusetts bragging about retaining a single company.

Imagine that conversation.

Can you imagine it having that conversation ten, 20 years ago?

Massachusetts is handing out millions of taxpayer dollars to stop companies from fleeing north.

And we are welcoming these companies with open arms, not big giveaways like the Bay state doles out.

But even with this success, I know we can do better.

Something I've come to realize over this past year is that our unique New Hampshire strengths could be more known and better known outside our state.

And as we begin this new year, I am focused on showcasing all our state has to offer in a much bigger way.

Our Department of Business and Economic Affairs has an incredible story to tell about why life here in New Hampshire is about as good as it gets anywhere, and why you should come here.

Raise your family, start your business, and live your life right here in New Hampshire.

We need to do a better job of telling that story and think differently about marketing ourselves.

To that point A quick aside about the Hampton Rest area on I-95, the one I pulled when I sat down and saw that the building plans were modeled off what we would see along the new Jersey Turnpike with all national brands and no New Hampshire businesses.

I said, are you crazy?

We have a golden opportunity to put a flag in the ground and show this incredible, the incredible number of people that go past that area and through that area, exactly what this state is all about.

And that's what we're going to do.

"Applause" That's what I mean when I think about when I talk about us thinking differently, another way I want us to think differently is about how we drive economic development.

Economic development is more than marketing ourselves and attracting others here.

It's aligning our critical structures of workforce, housing and childcare to create the most advantageous environment for businesses to start, grow and succeed.

These structures are important individually, but together they form the basis for what it means to be a good place to locate your company.

The number one area we need to succeed to keep our state on the right track is housing.

Doing so will help us grow our workforce, attract more businesses, and bring more families to New Hampshire.

We want our seniors to be able to afford to stay in their homes, or to choose a home that better fits them as they age.

We want businesses to be able to recruit and retain the best and brightest to come and work here.

And as parents, we want our children to stick around and build their future here.

Last year was the most ambitious year for housing laws in state history, and I was glad to work with all of you in this room to make that happen.

Thank you.

I appreciate your work.

"Applause" Together, we passed laws to speed up construction, including a new lean 60 day permitting process to make sure the state isn't a barrier to progress on the issue.

We cut outdated red tape that was standing in the way of new building.

We improved the system to finance energy efficient housing developments, and we expanded opportunities for new types of housing like accessory dwelling units that allow families to stay together or allow a loved one with a developmental disability or an aging parent to stay in place.

But to be independent or give young people out of college or out of school a place to start while they're saving for that first down payment.

We enabled businesses to be able to convert empty office houses and, excuse me, empty office offices to much needed housing, which helps more people live in the community where they work, revitalizes our downtown, and gives us a new tool in our toolbox to help this housing crisis.

And just last week, we took our first look at how we're doing when the Bureau of Economic Affairs released housing production data for the past year.

And guess what?

It was the highest total in 20 years.

"Applause" This is an early sign that momentum is building, but we are going to continue to work on increasing our housing supply.

I know there's an appetite to do even more, and we will keep thinking creatively to keep New Hampshire growing.

We must continue to prioritize our workforce training programs to ensure that we meet the needs of businesses today and in the future.

Our community college system ranks in the top ten in the country, and they do a tremendous job of partnering with local businesses to ensure that we are growing our workforce in critical areas.

Last year, we invested in dual and concurrent enrollment programs to help put more individuals on the path to good paying careers in the trades, in health care and beyond.

As we look ahead, we need to make sure that it's easy and easy as possible to transfer credits within our community college system and make sure that you can transfer credits easily to our university system so that students don't run into added cost and added roadblocks.

"Applause" One of the downward pressures on our families and our workforce is the expanding cost of childcare.

I know this burden for so many leads to some very tough conversations around the dinner table where people are talk and parents are talking about the value of a parent working versus whether they can afford childcare and comparing the costs.

As a state, we are looking at ways to ease this burden.

The budget we passed last year fully funded the childcare scholarships and also reduced administrative burdens for those scholarships.

We are looking at ways to make the program run better and reduce barriers so that we can have new providers that can access those scholarships.

We are also getting the private sector and nonprofits at the table to talk about how we can work together to expand childcare in New Hampshire.

Just yesterday, I was at a ribbon cutting at the Merrimack YMCA where they're expanding.

They're not only renovating, but they're expanding their child care facility and their their learning programs.

It's a wonderful place.

And it also happens to be the largest of its kind in the country.

It's amazing.

"Applause" Similarly, we see boys and girls clubs across New Hampshire expanding child care offerings, and we must empower other nonprofits and businesses to do the same.

I would like to see a tax credit for companies investing in childcare for their workforce, to incentivize more businesses to consider helping meet this need for their employees.

What makes more sense than having childcare co-located with a business.

"Applause" The quality of life that we enjoy here in the Granite State is one of the intangibles that makes residents proud.

It leads curious visitors to ask, how do you do it?

What makes it different here?

Last year, we did important work together to keep our state the safest in the nation.

We finally ended the failed bail reform experiment that created a revolving door for dangerous criminals.

Hurt innocent people, and in some cases, ended lives far too early, like that of Marisol Fuentes Huaracha.

We mourn alongside with the people of Berlin Maisol's tragic murder.

This is a solemn reminder of the importance of advocating for and supporting those affected by domestic violence, and the importance of the work we do here to protect the people of the Granite State.

We backed our first responders that do such important work by restoring benefits that had been promised for them, for their retirement.

We increased penalties for human trafficking, improved protections for crime victims, and established a domestic violence fatality review committee that is already working on, first of all, the number one case, Marisol Fuentes, so that we can learn from those prior tragedies and make sure that they never happen again.

"Applause" We renewed our commitment to delivering justice, no matter how long time has passed.

By strengthening our cold case unit and ensuring that they have the resources necessary to pursue these cases, cases with the urgency and care that they deserve.

Keeping New Hampshire the safest state in the nation also means making our roads safer.

I'm grateful to Councilor Steven, Attorney general Formella, Commissioners Quinn and Cass, and everyone who served on my highway safety task force last year, and the important recommendations that they came forward with.

One of their top recommendations is to tackle the culture of impaired drivers refusing to submit to a breath alcohol test.

Which is why I'm calling on the House and Senate to double the administrative license suspension from six months to one year for drivers refusing to take a breath alcohol test.

"Applause" We will keep working together to address the dangers of impaired driving, distracted driving, Wrong-Way driving and any other issue that puts Granite Staters at risk.

The heart of our tourism and recreation industry is the beautiful land that we are fortunate to all call home.

New Hampshire's outdoors anchors our lives.

Live free or die spirit.

Some feel the call of the mountains.

Others the ocean.

Our lakes, our parks, our ski mountains.

Hiking trails, rock faces, snowmobile and ATV trails.

Or just the plain old wilderness, you name it.

We've got it here in New Hampshire, and I'm hell bent on protecting the look and feel of our state because I think it is what sets us apart.

"Applause" When I took office, I promised we would uphold the conservation easement negotiated for the Connecticut Lakes Headwater Forest in 2002, and we delivered on that and more.

Our agreement reached last month not only protects, but advances the interests of our communities that depend on this vital resource for timber, as well as for recreation.

I want to thank Councilor Kenney.

I want to thank the Coast County commissioners and our North Country legislators for helping us obtain this important agreement.

Thank you.

"Applause" And I want everyone to know we will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that this agreement is followed.

Furthermore, I'm renewing my call to the legislature to send me a moratorium on new landfills and a process that takes into account community input when siting these landfills.

"Applause" We cannot let places like Forest Lake in Dalton become a dumping ground for out-of-state trash.

We can't let it happen.

It's critically important that we protect the natural beauty that draws thousands of visitors to our state, provides ample recreation, and showcases who we are as a people.

Which brings me to an area of our lives here in New Hampshire.

That is not where we want it to be, and that is electric rates.

Let's understand why we are here.

Our neighbors that govern a lot differently than we do, are busy pushing up regional rates with their net zero religion and a lack of pragmatism and focus on the consumer, while at the same.

"Applause" At the same time, they are battling to block new energy projects that were lower costs for all in the region.

Projects like the Constitution Pipeline here at home, our Public Utilities Commission has been too willing for too long to go along with the wishes of big utilities, boosting their bottom line instead of being focused on keeping rates as low as possible for the residents of this state.

The Commission must provide transparency to residents when it comes to their electric bills and put the needs of ratepayers first.

"Applause" Looking toward the future of energy in New Hampshire.

We can build on the successes of our homegrown power.

There are numerous groups, lawmakers, stakeholders that are all looking into the next steps of nuclear.

Today, I am directing our Department of Energy to build pathways to foster the next generation of nuclear power right here in New Hampshire.

"Applause" I've asked the department to bring together stakeholders, lawmakers and organizations focused on nuclear generation to ensure we have everyone at the table and that we are in the forefront of adopting this new technology.

Our most critical duty as a state is to meet the needs of those to whom we have been entrusted.

Our education and health care systems provide for the good of all people, from all walks of life, across the Granite State.

They are strong.

But my administration wants to make sure that they're even stronger.

We are taking challenges on head first and doing the hard work to ensure that we not only maintain, but improve our performance.

And this really starts with our kids.

What we are doing to prepare our kids for life and ensure that they're ready to enter the world, is critical to our long term success as a state.

Today we have one of the best education systems in the country.

Our schools consistently ranked in the top ten.

We're seventh in the nation in funding per student, and we have a lot to be proud of when it comes to the strength of our schools.

And that is thanks to our teachers.

And there's in our support staff in all different learning environments from across this state.

As many of you know, my husband, Joe is a math teacher, so teachers are near and dear to my heart.

So I want to take a moment to thank every teacher in this state and all the support staff that help them for what you do on behalf of the students and the children of this state and our future.

Thank you so much.

"Applause" Last year, we expanded opportunities for families with universal education, freedom, giving more kids the opportunity to succeed in the learning environment that works best for them.

And we.

And we also made historic investments for special education with more funding for these important programs than ever before.

And one of the accomplishments that I'm most proud of is that we got the cell phones out of the classroom.

"Applause" I know it's been an adjustment for our students, even in my household.

I've heard an earful from my teenage son because he hears it from his friends.

So I'm definitely taking the heat on this as well.

I visited schools to see firsthand how this bell to Bell, ban is working.

And here's the exciting news.

Teachers told me that even those who are skeptical as students have admitted, the lunchroom is louder.

Kids are talking to each other in the hallway.

Cyber bullying is down.

Classroom focus is better.

And most important, kids can just be kids.

No screens, no Snapchat, no TikTok during the school day.

"Applause" I visited, (Inaudable female yelling) I think she said, thank you.

"Applause" So one of the places I visited was McCarthy Middle School in Nashua.

And guess what they're doing?

They're checking out library books again and even requesting new titles from their favorite authors.

Can you imagine reading for fun?

I love it.

"Applause" As good as our accomplishments and national rankings are, I think there are still challenges we need to be honest about when it comes to delivering the promise we make to the next generation.

Outcomes matter more than anything else.

And our math and reading scores need to be much higher.

We owe it to our kids.

"Applause" Low reading scores are a challenge here and across the country.

And I believe a smart first step for us in addressing this is to dig in to our districts that are standouts and ask them, what are they doing differently?

What can we learn and apply from their example?

How can we help all of our schools raise the bar for reading?

Which is why I'm instructing Commissioner Davis to undertake a new reading initiative to discover what we can learn from our schools that have the highest number of students reading at grade level, and apply these best practices to every school statewide.

"Applause" I grew up in New Hampshire.

I went to our public schools.

And I'm proud of the education we're providing for our kids.

But let's face it, the credit really goes to all the parents and all the teachers and all of those who are every day working to make this possible on the front lines of our schools.

We are going to make sure that you have the support you need to keep doing it and to do it even better, and that our kids have every opportunity to succeed in their lives.

When I took office, I promise that I would be a governor for all of New Hampshire and that we would protect our most vulnerable citizens who depend on the state for their needs.

With our budget that protects our region, leading Medicaid eligibility levels provides full funding for developmental disability services.

And with our creation of the Go North initiative to provide hundreds of millions in funding for rural health care initiatives, we are delivering on these promises.

We funded one of the strongest Medicaid programs in the country.

Despite a difficult budget environment, protecting services and maintaining New Hampshire's eligibility levels, which are tops in New England.

We ensured no waitlists for disability services.

And we are strengthening our mental health system, a lifeline for people at every corner of our state.

We also funded uncompensated care for our community mental health centers so that no one is turned away when they're looking for help.

We preserve funding for nine, eight, eight and fully funded our doorways and recovery friendly workplace programs, which are giving a hand up to people in treatment and recovery from addiction.

Looking ahead, we're focused on making sure we can sustain these critical services, tackle the challenges that arise and take advantage of new opportunities to keep our state the healthiest state in the nation.

I've made no secret about my concerns with the back of the budget cuts that were made to the Department of Health and Human Services, but I am working closely with Commissioner Weaver on how we meet those budget targets responsibly, without affecting services.

The creation of the Go North initiative and our New England leading fundraisers fundraising.

We receive the most money in New England from from the the Rural Health Transformation Grant.

We're very proud of that.

And and this has the potential to be a game changer for the state.

I'm thrilled to have Donna Loso, who graciously put off her retirement, to lead this effort to ensure that health care access in our small towns and rural areas is equal to our more developed areas.

Thank you, Donnelly, for taking that on.

"Applause" With this historic level of funding, we will invest in innovative technologies to make care easier to access and to improve patient outcomes, from expanding telehealth in primary care specialties in obstetrics and emphasizing a prevention first model, we are going to leverage state of the art technology to overcome the barriers to health care delivery in every corner of our state.

By focusing on primary care and making investments in local infrastructure, we can transparent transcend traditional clinic care by establishing community access points through schools, libraries, mobile clinics and we are going to grow our rural health care workforce, investing in recruitment, retention and training to encourage skilled providers to stay in our most rural areas, especially our North country.

Furthermore, I'm going to ask director de Juris of the Office of Professional License Licensing, Nurture and Certification to ensure that outdated licensing rules do not get in the way of using new technologies and growing our workforce.

"Applause" I know that together, we can deliver an even healthier future for all of our families in every part of this state.

In conclusion, I love this state.

I love its people, its communities, its small towns, its natural beauty, its safe street and its strong spirit.

Together, we are protecting what sets us apart, what beckons people here and ultimately, what uniquely makes us the Granite State.

I want to thank you for your time this morning.

May God bless you in your work.

May God bless the state of New Hampshire, the greatest state in this country, in the greatest country on earth.

Thank you.

"Applause"