booktv.org. >> middle and high school students it's time to get out your phones and start recording for your chance to win $100,000 in total cash prizes for the grand prize of $5000 light entering cspan's studentcam video documentary contest. for this year's competition we are asking students to picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress and tell us what your top priority would be and why. create a five to six minute video showing the importance of your issue from opposing and supporting point of view. be bold with your documentary. don't be afraid to take risks. there still time to get started. the deadline for entries is januar 202 here for competition rules and tips on how to getedisit our website at studentcam.org. ..

media.com support c-span along with other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. washington governor jay inslee declared the state of the state is gone during his state of the state address before lawmakers. he urged them to act big to address gun-control, homelessness and affordable housing. jay inslee's speech is half-an-hour. [applause]

>> mister president, madam speaker, mister chief justice, distant wish to justices of the court, members of the legislature, tribal leaders, state and local officials, members of the consular corps, particularly the ukrainian honorary council valerie halivoradko, we stand with ukraine in the state of washington. [applause] [applause] >> my fellow washingtonians,

after two years of delivering the state of the state virtually, it is really great to be back together again and i want to tell you, you all look great, you haven't aged a day in two years. good news here. we have big challenges of this session. as leaders we will be called upon these next few months to act with decisiveness, ambition, audacity. the good news is here in washington state, ambition and audacity are both embedded in the state's dna. as i was giving thought to the challenges we face this session, i realized we aren't facing anything we are not ready for. i was thinking about my comments today, it is just something that we are ready to do. when you think about the things we passed in recent years that are now becoming real and we

need them to become real, people are eager to see bold and inclusive leadership in action. five years ago we launched our transformation of our behavioral health system. today, that effort is resulting in dozens of new facilities opening throughout our state that offer more kinds of care in more places for more people. two years ago we funded a new type of rapid acquisition housing, speeding up our ability to create supportive housing. in a matter of weeks and months, instead of years and decades. the climate policies we passed in recent sessions are going into effect. not only are they driving down polluting emissions, they are creating thousands of clean energy jobs across our state. two years ago we passed a working families tax credit that starts next month, this

will put as much is $1,200 in the hands of 400,000 washington families and the list goes on. paid family leave, broadband access, connected learning and the best financial aid program for students in the nation. here in our state, we invest in our people and we invest in our communities. it is a reason we have been rated the best state in america, the best economy in america, second best for business, third-best state for workers. we can't be number one in everything, but we sure come close every year. this is not an accident. it is because of the work we do in these chambers and because of that work, and because of the work of millions of washingtonians i can proudly

report to use this, the state of our state is a strong. and i am happy. [applause] >> if we continue building on the investments and policies we started, we can build washington where anyone is housed, schools are safe from gun violence and students receive mental and educational support they need, the existential crisis of climate change is met by unmatched innovation. communities are welcoming and safe for all, all people have a constitutional right to reproductive freedom, and people struggling with mental health or substance abuse, seen and unheard through the cracks. building in washington that

fits this vision is entirely within our grasp this session. we can set the bar because we know we are able to achieve it. homelessness is an example, states across the country are seeing an increase in homelessness and washington is one of them. why? we know there are multiple reasons. some people face behavioral health challenges or chemical addiction issues. the fundamental underlying challenge is we do not have enough housing in our state for our people and it is a difficult irony of having such a strong economy, well-paid workers flock here for jobs, forcing lower paid workers to compete for housing and when there's not enough housing for all rent perhaps and prices skyrocket beyond what we can afford and until we fix our

housing crisis, thousands of people will remain homeless. today we are short 80 one thousand housing units and worsening by the thousands each year. our population grew 1 million people but housing grew 313 units. we will need another million units in the next 17 years. again, until we fix our housing crisis, thousands will remain homeless. the way we fix it provides a level of speed and scale, beyond anything in the past. when it comes to building affordable housing, a primary tool for decades, but we can only adjust that a little bit there. we've been adjusting it up since 2013, $50 million at a time. if there's ever a time to go big, it is now.

i understand the frustration of those who wonder why this problem hasn't been solved yet and understand the allure of easy answers to homelessness but we all know there are no easy answers. a person experiencing homelessness from one street corner or city to another is not a real solution. what is working our efforts like the rapid acquisition program you launched two years ago allowing us to create thousands of supporting housing units, at a pace that was never possible before. this is a case we have to abstain and accelerate at scale. i've seen success of these programs in several housing projects including a few weeks ago i met a young man, at a

sheltered village in vancouver called the outpost. tory told me having a private space all his own that was secured and access to services was the difference he needed to get effective treatment and get back on his feet. it literally saved his life. i met a woman named millicent and her daughter last year, they lost their home right before covid and couldn't find another place and they could afford but they found stability in seattle. i would like you to meet millicent mckenna, thanks for being here today. [applause] >> their stories, stories like tory's are not unlike most of the 25,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in our state.

when you are only one paycheck or car repair away from a missed rent payment it can feel impossible to find another option and housing market like ours. i will say again, until we fix our housing crisis, thousands of people like these folks will remain homeless. this is why i am proposing a $4 billion referendum that will significantly speed up construction of thousands of new units that will include shelter, supportive housing and affordable housing. this will be combined with additional behavioral health support and substance abuse treatment and employment services and more. why? it is because we know that substance abuse treatment and mental health support can work when you combine it with secure stable housing. this is not a 1-time effort to buy a 1-time fix where the money just disappears. this investment will turn into

a true asset. once built, will provide a pipeline of affordable housing for tens of thousands more people every year and most importantly a bonding referendum allows us to act now, not bit by bit over the next 30 years. this referendum will forward our ability to build importantly and offers it at the scale and speed we need. scale and speed are not necessary. for market rate develop and as well. we know the residential zoning restrictions block developers from building denser, more affordable options and we have to finish the job we started last session to address middle housing and increased housing density within our communities. there's a way to do this that respects the unique character of towns and cities and also responding to the reality that we are growing changing state. until we fix our housing

crisis, thousands will remain homeless. the people in the state of washington are with this. let's get it done this session. another issue confronting families and communities across washington is behavioral health. we launched an effort to transform behavioral health system, and we've been building new community-based systems, closer to their homes, we made thousands of new beds available to patients across washington for care that ranges from crisis stabilization to substance abuse disorder, while we are still building and my budgets contain funding to keep

every part on track including 350 bid forensic hospital, we've got work to do. much like our housing crisis, that's is not enough particularly when it comes to forensic surfaces. we are seeing unprecedented increase in demand for restoration services. the 60% increase since 2018. one hundred 45% increase in inpatient referrals since 2015. this is not sustainable. this state has been and will continue doing its part to shore up capacity. we added hundreds of forensic beds since 2015. we plan on adding hundreds more but even with all these investments this unprecedented

growth, not manageable or sustainable. the criminal justice system, what they need to restore their lives. we should be prioritizing diversion in community-based options rather than the criminal justice system as an avenue to mental health care particularly because services only treat people to get well enough to be prosecuted. this has been a frustrating -- [applause] -- this has been a frustrating point of contention for families, lawyers, judges, advocates and for me, we have to find a better way. lawyers will not fix this problem. i will ask local leaders to join me in crafting a better plan for defendant's mental health and public health safety. while we do these things we

continue our efforts in education. we know meeting and social and emotional needs is an extreme important effort, we commend the legislature for making historic investments, increasing funding for schools, to hire more nurses, counselors, psychologists and social workers, particularly as we are coming through covid. my budget continues those investments. i am hopeful we can increase funding for special education. i proposed $100 million to better support school districts, they meet the needs, no matter how complex their needs. the budget proposal increases k-12 spending by $3 billion. we know the circumstances have been very difficult for student

educators, school bus drivers and all the others who work in our schools. i hope you can join me in a moment of recognition for these people who were so instrumental in helping navigate challenges of covert and beyond. [applause] >> on another positive note, what effort we made a menace progress on climate and when we see the trauma does damage climate change is causing in the state, it is understandable to feel despair at times. we are also entitled to feel deep pride in what we have accomplished together.

the tremendous pace, with the policies we adopted because of your leadership out to give us significant doses of hope when we need it. when i travel and meet with other government leaders around the world, they know about the work in washington, they know we are leading america on this noble effort. and we passed several landmark policies transitioning us to clean transportation, clean electricity, clean buildings. last week, clean fuel standard and capital investment programs went into effect and we are doing this in a way that ensures overburdened communities will experience the economic and health benefits of this transition. now, our focus shifts to implementation and investment. when we do this, we need more

capacity to permit clean energy projects in a timely manner and we need to bolster our transmission infrastructure to reliably deliver clean energy throughout the state. we need to expand our research and develop and capacity. it was just fantastic, last month, to talk about the potential for a new institute for northwest energy futures at washington state university. this institute will put the region to be in the global forefront of clean tech innovation. i hope you can help on this. [applause] >> i'm not above pandering to sam hunt, i admit to that.

this is a really big deal, our state's new capital investment program allowed this year to transform how we invest in transportation and communities. for low income families, charging stations across the state. hybrid electric fairies, free transit for a you, grants to clean up air pollution, the list goes on because of the work you have done. the cca will provide an estimated $1.7 billion that will be used for projects to drive down, create jobs and give people clear air and make communities healthier. this is helping us to invest in the strongest recovery actions in history. to all washingtonians, and the

culture and way of life. this is a new grant program that offers landowners assistance to protect and recover habitats statewide. here is a sad truth. climate change will continue increasing temperatures of waters and killing salmon for years to come regardless of our best efforts. you need to minimize that and face this reality. providing shade, is more critical in the years to come. as legislators, when future generations look back at you and your efforts, 40 to 50 years from now i know they will be proud that you took action that gave their generation a chance.

let's do just that, let's boldly continue our fight against climate change. [applause] i know the list of things we intend to accomplish is long. the first is public safety. public safety evokes different meanings. that we need to escape the trap that public safety is about any one thing, mental health or gun safety or drug treaor law enforcement. the clear fact is we need them all. gun violence is a significant driver, this isn't a surprise considering the gun lobby has

worked for decades against common sense gun safety measures. washington state, voters and legislators have been willing to take on the gun lobby. we and acted several measures to strengthen background checks and put limits on the kinds of weaponry used in mass shootings. this year we need to continue that work in three ways, first, one of the most meaningful measures and effective measures we could take is requiring people have safety training, basic safety training before they purchase a gun. we expect people, we ought to expect people have some basic training. we accept training in multiple parts of our lives so we should expect that they will have basic training when they buy a gun. this has worked in other states and it is time to put it to work in washington. second. [applause]

>> we must increase accountability among manufacturers to get families access to justice when those entities fail to do their duty and third, the time has come for the legislature to ban the sale of military style assault weapons. these weapons [applause] these weapons are designed for the sole purpose of destroying lives, the lives of schoolchildren, law enforcement officers, concertgoers, nightclub patrons, people gathering in houses of worship. we owe our children the assurance we are doing all we can to keep them safe. let's pass all three bills and prove to them that the gun

lobby doesn't make the rules in washington state, we do. [applause] >> of course, gun safety is not the only thing we need. we want to help local law enforcement agencies to be able to hire and train more officers, they need more officers on our streets and in our neighborhoods. some are joined by dozens of chiefs and sheriffs to propose a new regional training center, in these new facilities will allow us to train hundreds of more recruits and help law enforcement agencies recruit people from within their

diverse communities. sometimes the right response isn't necessarily by a law enforcement officer so i applaud the encarta work underway to implement our new 988 system. unlike most states, this legislature had the foresight to see this as much more than a crisis. we are using this opportunity to create a true behavior of a crisis response system and your continued support puts us on a path to ensure people facing a mental health substance abuse or suicidal crisis can be connected to mobile responders or culturally confident behavioral health providers. thank you for making this work possible. appreciate your leadership. keep it up. [applause]

>> there is one other important priority we have to address and that is the rights of washingtonians seeking reproductive care. [applause] >> the dobbs decision last here on the national level appended decades of precedent that assured people across the country had some measure of constitutional protection, constitutional protection for care and contraception. that protection is gone with half the people in the nation. the new republican majority in congress this weekend made further abortion restrictions one of their top priorities so in washington state, we are fighting to make sure this right remains protected.

we must protect patient data and privacy. we must protect access from the threat of healthcare consolidation and cost barriers, we must protect patients and providers from persecution by vigilantes, activist politicians and anti-choice states. and finally, most importantly, we must pass a constitutional amendment that expressly establishes a fundamental right to reproductive freedom and the great state of washington. [applause]

>> before i close, i want to make a personal comment to you all, i want to express my personal thanks to you and your families for your service this session. you have each left your hearth and home to come here, to serve your constituents and further the progress and success of our state and when you do so, you all strive and toil to enact the policies you believe in and yet you may never know many of the actual people you have really helped in your work. you may never know the single mom you helped out of homelessness but she will be there. you may never know the teenager in a mental health crisis that you helped, but they will be there.

you may never know the person who was not a victim of gun violence because of your actions but they will be there. by the hundreds of thousands. taken care of because of your efforts. at the end of this session, i am confident you will feel the deep satisfaction of those who know that they have made a difference. we have emerged recently through two great threats, one to our personal health, and our family's health, and one to our body politic. because of the culmination of scientific genius and sound decision-making in our state we are no longer dominated by a virus. and because we stood up to those who dared to dismantle democracy it is a joy to say

with assurance and confidence that democracy is today intact in washington state. [applause] >> so now it is our blessed opportunity to fully exercise the power of democracy, not with half measures, empty gestures or platitudes but with the boldness and ambition that is fitting to the unlimited capacity of the evergreen state. we have a special state, we have a special moment. let's realize both, let's get to work, thank you.

[applause] >> thank you. thank you. [applause] >> this afternoon congressman adam smith discusses defense policy and military readiness in the year ahead. he is the top democrat on the house armed services committee. from the brookings institution live coverage starts at 2:00 p.m. :00 pm on c-span2. you can also watch on our mobile video apps c-span now or online, c-span.org. start this year off shopping our new year's sale. log on now, c-spanshop.org, c-span's online show, shop and outer monday and save 20% on our collection of c-span

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