Governor’s Column - December 29, 2006
by Governor Matt Blunt
Looking Back
As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, I believe it is appropriate to look back and reflect on the time that has passed. For me these reflections begin with family. Melanie and I have so many great memories of spending time with our son, William Branch, who will turn two in 2007. This year he was very excited about all things pertaining to Christmas - particularly the idea that Santa Claus would come and leave gifts in our home. He asked for and received a toy piano that now provides constant background music for our family.
It has been a great year for Missouri and I have been honored to serve as your governor. I promised Missourians that if they put their trust in me I would lead our great state in a new direction creating a better place to live, work and raise a family. I am very pleased to report that we continue to move Missouri forward by increasing education funding, enacting a pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda, keeping agriculture strong, protecting our children from sexual predators and respecting the sanctity of human life.
I promised not to withhold education dollars from Missouri students but to increase funding to our public schools. Since 2005 our state has increased funding for elementary and secondary education by nearly a third of a billion dollars. In my first year in office we did something that critics said could not be done when we built a new school funding formula to ensure children's needs come first and we have done this without a tax increase.
In 2006 we delivered a significant 20 million dollar increase in funding for Missouri’s two and four year higher education institutions, and my Lewis & Clark Discovery Initiative has provided the opportunity to significantly increase scholarship funding for students, enhance education and research opportunities and pay for much needed building projects on campuses across the state.
I promised Missourians that together we would aggressively work to improve our state’s economic outlook. When I came into office Missouri was facing a 1.1 billion dollar budget deficit. I immediately directed state agencies to work to get the most out of our limited resources, to improve efficiency and to provide the best possible services at the least possible expense. By making prudent and responsible spending decisions we have moved from a budget shortfall to a surplus without imposing a tax increase on Missourians.
We have improved our economic outlook by passing aggressive litigation reform, workers’ compensation reform and proactive recruiting tools like the Missouri Quality Jobs Act. There are thousands of new business opportunities in Missouri, and every day more are being created or moving here. These businesses are creating thousands of high quality, family-supporting jobs.
I promised Missourians that we would work to ensure that Missouri agriculture remains strong. We have taken proactive steps to position our state as a leader in the use of alternative fuels. In 2006 we passed a 10 percent ethanol standard requiring that gasoline sold in Missouri be blended with 10 percent ethanol by 2008, fulfilling a commitment I made to Missourians when I was running for governor.
I promised that by working with your elected representatives we would take steps to protect Missouri’s children from sexual predators. Missouri now has a version of Jessica’s Law that mandates a lifetime sentence with a minimum of 30 years for serious sexual crimes that are committed against young Missouri children and calls for lifetime monitoring for this group of sexual offenders.
I am pleased that since taking office I have been able to sign strong pro-life legislation that respects the sanctity of human life, honors the values of Missouri and reduces the number of abortions in our state.
We have many challenges ahead in the New Year, but I am committed to keeping my promises to Missourians and to lead our state to a better future.