The prepared text of Gov. Pat McCrory’s State of the State address, delivered Wednesday night:
Mr. Speaker, Lt. Governor, Mr. President Pro Tem, Members of the Court, Members of the General Assembly, Members of the Council of State and my Cabinet, and to the people of the great state of North Carolina.
Two years ago, just before arriving to deliver the State of the State address, I received a phone call informing me that Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Potts was fighting for his life. You see, during a routine traffic stop on Highway 70, Trooper Potts was shot four times. He was shot in his hands, shoulder and directly in his face. He was left for dead by the assailant; left for dead on the side of the road. After the State of the State speech I immediately traveled to Duke University Medical Center to visit Trooper Potts, his family and fellow troopers who gathered at his bedside. The terror of that evening was only the first day of suffering Trooper Potts and his family would endure. Since the shooting, there have been surgeries, grueling rehabilitative therapy and personal reassessment.
Some advised Trooper Potts to turn in his badge and to pursue a safer line of work. But Trooper Potts did not walk away. Instead, he overcame his obstacles and today, he is assigned to the North Carolina Highway Patrol Training Academy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, join me in welcoming North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Potts and his wife Lauren. I’m honored to call Trooper Potts a friend. We’ve played catch at the capitol, and that’s been a real thrill for me since Trooper Potts was a major-league pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Highway Patrol. You know, Trooper Potts still carries bullet fragments in his skull. But instead of being defined by his injuries, he conquered them and has come back even stronger. Ladies and Gentlemen, like Trooper Potts, I’m proud to report the State of North Carolina has come back even stronger. Its people are resilient, and our future is bright.
Our unemployment rate, which was the fifth highest in the nation just two years ago, has dropped substantially — the second sharpest drop in the United States. Our economy is improving; cranes are returning to our skylines; and real estate is emerging stronger. And yes, the “Made in North Carolina” brand is returning as our factories are expanding. Along the way our administration took swift action in response to serious crises. From an Ebola scare, to the Dan River spill, to this year’s very serious flu virus.
We’ve also had to respond to extreme weather events throughout North Carolina — heavy rains and flooding in Western North Carolina. A series of ice storms covering the whole state. Hurricane Arthur hit the Outer Banks, bringing flooding and knocking out the power to thousands. Nine tornadoes devastated parts of eastern North Carolina. In fact, while visiting many areas damaged by these horrific storms, I was moved by the sight of neighbor helping neighbor, and the professionalism of county and state emergency workers.
And at one tornado damaged area I was especially touched by the spirit of Winfall mayor Fred Yates. Many homes in the area were demolished. I saw firsthand the physical and psychological damage of those citizens impacted. It was overwhelming. But Mayor Yates told me his community would rebuild and get through this. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome a true leader in a crisis, Winfall Mayor Fred Yates.
You know, it’s that same spirit of resilience that helped North Carolina recover from our economic crisis. When I took the oath of office in January 2013, North Carolina taxes were among the highest in the Southeast. But working together, we passed historic tax reform that put more money in people’s paycheck. It was the first major overhaul of our tax system in nearly 80 years. And two years ago, because of our badly outdated unemployment insurance system our businesses owed the federal government $2.5 billion. But drawing upon our resilience we reformed our unemployment program. We not only aligned our benefits with neighboring states, we also devised a plan to pay off our debt this year, a full three years ahead of schedule.
Now in North Carolina, not only do we balance our budget, but when we have a debt, we cut up the credit card and we pay it off. That’s a lesson those in Washington need to learn. I want to thank our Assistant Secretary of Employment Security Dale Folwell and Secretary John Skvarla’s Commerce team for being the driving force behind this effort. Today in North Carolina, we have career centers, not unemployment offices. Because as Dale often says, we want people off unemployment and into new jobs.
As I said, two years ago, our unemployment rate was the fifth highest in the nation. So we all rolled up our sleeves, made the tough decisions, and as of today, the private sector has created nearly 200,000 new jobs. We went from the fifth highest in unemployment to the 23rd lowest, and now we’re even beating South Carolina. Despite this tremendous accomplishment there are still a lot of communities, small businesses, and individuals that are hurting, and there is still much work to be done. Therefore, my administration’s focus will be on five areas that have the greatest impact on our people.
First, ensuring everyone who wants a job can find a job in a vibrant North Carolina economy. Second, ensuring every child and adult obtains the skills and knowledge needed to become a productive citizen. Third, we will continue to connect North Carolina’s small towns with our state’s commerce centers through physical and digital highways. Fourth, improving the quality of life and public safety for North Carolina’s families. And fifth, finding efficiencies in our budget and improving government services. That’s jobs, education, connectivity, health care and public safety, as well as efficiency.
Let’s talk about jobs. As you know, the fight for jobs is global, played at the highest level, and the competition is on our heels. In California while visiting high-tech companies and venture capital firms, I ran into Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. I know he wasn’t there to tour the wine country, and neither was I. Just a few weeks ago while on an economic development trip in Europe, other governors preceded me, and I know, followed me after I visited a major company. The governors I’m competing against are good friends, and often neighbors. Like North Carolina, they have cut taxes, invested in education and built good roads. What they have that I don’t is a clear and concise job creation toolbox.
Therefore, working with the leadership of the House and Senate, we will submit for your approval a series of tools which will help us beat the competition. We need these tools passed in a matter of weeks, not months. Our plan, “NC Competes,” will promote long-term sustainable job growth and capital investment. It will encourage mid and large scale manufacturing, because manufacturing is part of our DNA. It will leverage our university research advantage to attract venture capital and a new generation of entrepreneurs, as well as help retain North Carolina’s home-grown talent. This plan is based on a series of guiding principles — principles designed to grow North Carolina while protecting our taxpayers. NC Competes recognizes the importance of economic strength in all regions but emphasizes support to areas of high unemployment. NC Competes will require strong financial safeguards to provide a positive return to state revenues.
In addition to NC Competes, we need to pass the Historic Preservation Tax Credit to continue to revitalize main streets from Wilkesboro, to Greensboro, to Swansboro. Secretary Susan Kluttz reminds us that the vitality of our state is best reflected by the vibrancy of our town centers. Last week at the Hotel Concord I was joined by Senator Fletcher Hartsell and Representative Linda Johnson, along with 200 citizens, and was reminded of the success and opportunity this initiative provides our state. Now is not the time to pull the plug on a strategy that has created jobs and new investment.
Two years ago when I stood before you, I said North Carolina had to get off the sidelines and into the energy business. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to report that North Carolina is off the bench and in the game. And we have a new quarterback, Secretary Don van der Vaart. To keep energy prices low, particularly in eastern North Carolina, we’re supporting the construction of a $ 5-billion natural gas pipeline that will run from West Virginia throughout eastern North Carolina. This year, we will begin to assess North Carolina’s energy potential both on land and offshore. We are right now working with our congressional delegation to ensure North Carolina gets energy revenue that will help pay for teachers, roads, beach renourishment and the dredging of our ports.
While encouraging these new investments, we must not forget that small business is the largest job creating sector of our economy. We must also remember that agriculture is North Carolina’s biggest industry.contributing more than $78 billion a year to our economy. We must continue to look for new ways to help our farmers who are facing increased competition from around the world and here at home. One area that continues to be a challenge to our growers is the shortage of food processing facilities in North Carolina. Our farmers have to send their products to other states, which substantially increases their costs.
So working with Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, we will name a task force of farmers, business leaders and venture capitalists to assess the need and develop a strategy for attracting more food processing plants across the state. This group will convene, recommend a plan and disband by March 2016. One key to our economy which affects agriculture and other industries is our State Ports. But as I address you tonight, we have an urgent problem at the Port of Morehead City. The Beaufort Inlet channel has an authorized depth of 45 feet.
But during the past few months, shifting sands have reduced the depth to 34 feet, forcing many ships to enter the port half empty. Or in some cases they split their loads between Morehead City and another port. We have been working closely with our congressional delegation and the Army Corps of Engineers. And I am pleased to announce that our efforts have paid off. The Corps just added $4.1 million to this year’s dredging budget, bringing the total to $8.9 million in federal dollars dedicated to this emergency. In addition, my administration stands ready to commit state dollars as needed to keep this crucial commercial artery open for business. I especially want to thank Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata and our entire congressional delegation, led by Senator Richard Burr, who has been working on this problem around the clock.
Let’s talk about my second area of focus — education. A key part of any jobs plan is a quality education so students can be competitive in a global economy. Connecting his students to the greater world is the mission of Garinger High School history teacher James Ford. Ford, once an Illinois teacher, chose North Carolina to continue his career and fulfill his teaching potential. Not only did he become North Carolina’s Teacher of the Year, but Charlotte Magazine’s Person of the Year, beating out business and civic leaders. Now that’s the type of respect teachers deserve. Ladies and Gentlemen, help me welcome a member of my Teacher’s Advisory Committee, Mr. James Ford.
Because of teachers like James Ford, we have some good news to report. Our most recent graduation rate is the highest in North Carolina’s history. With continued investments in Pre-K and continued reforms, such as NC Works, in job training at our community colleges, we can expect to see even higher graduation rates, and more people filling the skills gap in North Carolina. Still, we have to build an education system that rewards teachers like James Ford for their results-driven leadership. So that North Carolina is a teaching destination, not a layover for our state’s best and brightest. Teaching is hard, very hard. I know this firsthand. As a 20 year old student-teacher at North Rowan High School in Spencer, I thought I had the perfect lesson plan for my first day of teaching. I worked for days preparing an hour’s worth of teaching material. But I ran out of material after 10 minutes. With my adviser and all 30 students looking to me for direction, the remaining 50 minutes were the longest of my life. Teaching is hard, so to support our teachers, we must fulfill our promise to raise teacher base pay to $35,000 a year.
We also must give our teachers and students the gift of time by testing less and teaching more. My administration is finalizing a plan to reduce tests working with Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, State Superintendent June Atkinson, State School Board Chair Bill Cobey, as well as our district superintendents, principals and teachers, to distinguish which tests improve a student’s performance and which tests simply waste time. We will eliminate unneeded testing by next year. We are continuing our efforts to bring Wi-Fi to all our classrooms and long distance learning to both our children and adults.
To help our schools hire the teachers they need now, we are moving to expedite teacher certification, recognizing an individual’s experience and subject expertise. For example, my education adviser Eric Guckian taught for two years in the South Bronx for Teach For America and has a master’s degree in education from Harvard. Yet, he was required to take 18 months of courses to earn his North Carolina teacher certification. This bureaucratic process must change. We want, and should be encouraging, accomplished people who want to join the teaching profession. The bureaucracy should never, never stand between their talents and our children.
Cost must also not become an obstacle for students at our community colleges and universities. We must look at our community college and university balance sheets to make sure we’re making investments in the programs that will prepare our students for the global economy and close North Carolina’s skills gap. Now, we in North Carolina are fortunate to enjoy the benefits of the best research universities in the world.
We are leveraging the advantage provided by our public and private research universities through our Innovation to Jobs initiative that we just presented to the UNC Board of Governors. It’s designed to convert more of our research dollars into products and services that are patented and introduced into the marketplace. Increasing the commercialization of university research and connecting it to our greater economy will create more high-paying jobs. As governor, my goal is to have North Carolina become the third vertex of the National Innovation Triangle connecting North Carolina to Boston and the Silicon Valley. This effort is a top priority. Therefore I’ve asked my Chief of Staff Thomas Stith to lead this Innovation to Jobs initiative.
Let’s talk about our third focus: Transportation and Infrastructure. During the past decade or so, as I have driven down the highways of North Carolina, I’ve noticed it goes from two lanes, to four lanes, back to two lanes, to eight lanes to four lanes and then back to two lanes. And everywhere it gets wider it’s named for a politician or a DOT board member. And where the congestion choke points still exist, the road is nameless. That’s not the way we do things anymore. We’ve taken the politics out of road-building by putting in place a transportation formula that focuses on relieving congestion, improving safety and growing and connecting the economy in all parts of our state. Those changes allow us to be more efficient with taxpayer dollars. In fact, we’ve more than doubled the number of transportation projects that will be built. This new approach will create thousands of new jobs during the next 10 years.
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