As your governor, I’ve spent the last four years working collaboratively with business to help ensure we have an economically diverse state with a sustainable, vibrant economy. Together, we’ve overcome some incredible challenges and achieved some amazing results.

When I was elected, our state faced many economic challenges, including a $2.2 billion deficit and one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. But we worked together and charted a course so our state would prosper.

That $2.2 billion deficit was turned into a surplus. I fought for and voters approved the constitutionally protected Rainy Day Fund. This savings account for our state ensures that we will preserve the initiatives that help us prosper, protect our communities and stay healthy in tough economic times.

We created more than 200,000 new jobs and turned one of the highest unemployment rates in the country into 19 straight months of historically low unemployment. Exports, which totaled $33 billion before I was elected, now bring $66 billion into our state’s economy.

Fortune and Forbes magazines ranked our state as one of the top-five best in the nation to do business. Forbes noted that our state has less red tape and more businesses open per capita in Washington than in any other state in the country. The nonpartisan Pew Center on the States listed Washington as one of top-three best-managed states in the nation.

More water coming from Grand Coulee
I said from the beginning that we are one Washington, and we’ve torn down the Cascade Curtain. Empowerment zones and incentives for rural businesses promote private sector growth all over our state. We reduced unemployment insurance by 15 percent in 2007, saving businesses $465 million.

Farmers, ranchers and communities have seen the first opportunities for significant new water in more than two decades. The first installment was received this year with water from Lake Roosevelt, which will create drought insurance for farmers and cities.

These all demonstrate the current strength of our economic foundation, but our continued success depends on our ability to adapt and succeed in the global economy.

The Next Washington plan is helping our state compete in the global economy. This strategy recognizes that economic growth is driven by an educated workforce employed by small businesses in regional economies.

After only three years, Washington is a shining example of what a comprehensive early childhood education system can offer our youngest learners. We’re implementing all-day kindergarten for our most vulnerable learners, so they receive the foundational skills that will help them succeed in school and in life.

Record investments have been made in K-12 education, preparing students and teachers for the global economy. These investments have paid off, as more than 90 percent of high school seniors recently passed the WASL.

When students graduate from high school, they will have the option of attending one of our state’s colleges or universities, or enrolling in an apprenticeship program. In these institutions, students can learn everything from vocational training to the most advanced medical research in the world.

Thanks to expansions we’ve made in university enrollment, more of our children are able to learn in these institutions. We’ve opened spaces for thousands of additional students, especially in high-demand fields like math, technology, engineering and science.

We want businesses to be attracted to Washington because they know we have a top-notch workforce. And a top-notch workforce is a healthy and safe workforce.

Lawsuit compromise
We’ve taken the first of many steps to reform our healthcare system with my Blue Ribbon Commission on healthcare and medical malpractice reform.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on healthcare and follow-up legislation will reduce costs and increase the quality of healthcare in Washington. This will be done by using evidence-based medicine, expanding chronic care management, incorporating health information technology, emphasizing preventative healthcare and improving transparency.

In 2005, I negotiated a compromise between the medical and legal communities on malpractice reform, which led to the largest rider of medical malpractice coverage for doctors and surgeons to call for a 12-plus percent decrease in premiums in 2008.

Today, Washington has the lowest crime rate in 14 years. The worst sex offenders are tracked electronically and must submit their DNA to a state registry. More law enforcement and corrections officers protect our communities, and we’re starting the largest expansion of prisons in our state’s history, adding 4,000 new beds.

We’re also breaking down barriers to improve our transportation system. In 2003 and 2004, only 12 transportation projects were completed. Today, we have 129 completed transportation projects, from finishing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and SR 17 in Moses Lake to widening I-405. These projects are only the beginning, and I want to continue making up for a decade of neglect in our transportation system.

For too long, economic development and environmental protection have been defined as zero-sum games. I don’t believe we must choose between the two. We can maintain a vibrant economy and protect our environment by working together.

The Climate Change, Green Jobs bill I signed will provide incentives for businesses to cut greenhouse gas emissions and lay the groundwork to create 25,000 new jobs by 2020. All together, we can realize a net benefit of $1 billion across Washington’s economy in less than 15 years.

I’m proud of the relationships I’ve forged with all of you across this state. Our cooperation has created a strong economic foundation in Washington and insulated our state from the worst of the national economic troubles. But we can’t take anything for granted. In today’s economy, we need to build upon the successes of the past with an eye to the future.

I ask for your support so we can continue to make Washington a better place to start a business and raise a family. Let’s continue our partnership and ensure that Washington continues to thrive in the 21st century.