DOVER – In his weekly message, Governor Markell looks ahead to the work of lawmakers as they begin the second half of a two-year legislative session and looks back at the some of the significant accomplishments of the 2011 legislative session.   Last year, lawmakers passed and the Governor signed into law a number of efforts critical to Delaware’s success.   In his address, the Governor names some of those efforts.

• Efforts to help get people back to work like the New Job Creation credit
• Legislation that allowed Bloom Energy to pick the former Chrysler factory as its new manufacturing hub
• Encouragement that led companies like Capital One to choose Delaware as a place it wants to put hundreds of people to work
• Efforts to help our state’s kids go to even stronger public schools, including a bill to help local school districts attract top talent.
• Significant new commitment last year to early childhood education, which is what helped Delaware win the federal Race to the Top contest
• Legislation to improve public safety – including the new Fund to Combat Violent Crimes and efforts to crack down on repeat DUI offenders
• Legislation to improve our state’s longer-term financial health through collaborative reforms around our state’s employee pension and health care costs.
• Passage of another responsible and balanced budget

“It was a strong start to a two-year session, but the work is by no means done,” said the Governor.  “ The next few weeks we’ll be working with the legislature to unveil some new initiatives  so that we keep making progress on core issues to create jobs, improve schools and govern responsibly.  Those priorities remain our state’s priorities and will be a significant focus the rest of this session. ”

“I know how seriously our legislators take their responsibility to serve their constituents and how committed they’ve been to finding ways to work together to get things done, instead of letting smaller differences derail results. I hope that same spirit of resolve – that same shared commitment – continues to define how we tackle the challenges ahead and how we can keep working together to keep Delaware moving forward.”

About the Governor’s Weekly Message:

At noon every Friday, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form.  The message is available on:

YouTube: http://youtu.be/x3udvrKPWx4
Delaware.Gov: http://governor.delaware.gov/information/podcast_video.shtml
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Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: New Legislative Session Begins

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