announcer: over four days c-span's cameras had unprecedented access to the floor of the u.s. house as california republican representative kevin mccarthy became the 55th speaker of the house. it was history in the making with unscripted moments from the house floor like we always have for the past 43 years with complete, uninterrupted, unbiased coverage of congress. the hollywood reporter wrote c-span is america's hottest tv drama in 2023. the wall street journal says the house speaker drama as one winner, c-span. from the washington post c-span has become much watched tv. on one thing you can be sure, c-span will be there thanks to the support of these cable and satellite companies. c-span, your unfiltered view of government powered by cable. announcer: washington governor

jay inslee declared the state of our state is strong before his address before lawmakers. he urged them to act to address gun-control, homelessness, and affordable housing. governor ensley -- inslee's speech is half an hour.

>> 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] >> 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. think about this. 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 these policies 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. and 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 you this, the state of our state is a strong. and i am happy. [applause] if we continue building on the investments and policies we have started, we can continue to build a 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. where communities are welcoming

and safe for all, all people have a constitutional right to reproductive freedom, and people struggling with mental health or substance use no longer feel unseen and unheard through the cracks. building a washington that fits this vision is entirely within our grasp this session. we can set the bar this high 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 and prices skyrocket beyond what what people can afford. and until we fix our housing crisis, thousands of people will remain homeless. today we are short 81,000 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. we need a fix that provides a level of speed and scale, beyond anything we have done in the past. when it comes to building

affordable housing, our housing trust fund has been our primary tool for decades, but we can only adjust that a little bit every year. we've been adjusting it up since 2013, $50 million at a time. it simply is not enough. 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. simply moving a person experiencing homelessness from one street corner or city to another is not a real solution. now what is working our efforts -- are 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 pace we have to sustain and accelerate at scale. i've seen success of these programs in several housing projects i have visited including a few months 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. she told me -- he told me 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 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 in a 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 the 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?

well it is because we know that substance use 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 sort of 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. so 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 development as well. we know the residential zoning restrictions block developers from building denser, more

affordable options, and we said 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 of people will remain homeless. i believe the people in the state of washington are with this. let's go big. let's get it done this session. [applause] another issue confronting families and communities across washington is behavioral health. i have mentioned that we launched an effort to transform our behavioral health system, we had a century old model that

was not working, 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 use disorder. while we are still building and my budgets contain funding to keep every part on track including the new 350 bed forensic hospital, we've got work to do. much like our housing crisis, that's is not enough particularly when it comes to forensic services. we are seeing an unprecedented increase in demand for restoration services. a 60% increase in court orders since 2018. 145% 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 have added hundreds of forensic beds since 2015. we plan on adding hundreds more but even with all these investments this unprecedented growth in court orders and referrals is not manageable or sustainable. nor is our criminal justice system effective for what they need to restore their lives. we should be prioritizing diversion and community-based options rather than the criminal justice system as an avenue to mental health care particularly because competency 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. lawsuits and lawyers will not fix this problem. i will be asking 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 also are continuing our efforts in education. we know meeting and social and emotional needs of our students is an extremely important effort. i commend this legislature for making historic investments, increasing funding for schools, to hire more nurses, counselors, psychologists and social workers, which is always important but particularly as we are coming through covid. my budget continues those additional investments. i am also hopeful we can increase funding for special education.

i proposed $120 million to better support school districts, they meet the needs of every students, 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, peer 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 students navigate the challenges of covid and beyond. thank you to these educators. [applause] on another positive note, what effort we have made tremendous

progress on is climate, and when we see that tremendous damage climate change is causing in the state, it is understandable to feel despair at times. but i think we are also entitled to feel deep pride in what we have accomplished together. the tremendous pace of innovation, together with the policies we adopted because of your leadership ought 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 we are doing 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. just last week, our 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 also need to expand our research and development 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 a global leader and in the global forefront of clean

tech innovation. go cougs. i hope you can help on this. [applause] i am not about to -- i'm not above pandering to sam hunt, i admit to that. on the investment side, 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. heat pumps for low income families, charging stations across the state. will allow us this year to transform how we invest in transportation in our communities. heat pumps for low income values -- families, charging stations

across the state. free transit for youth, grants to cleanup air pollution, the list goes on. again because of the work that you have done. the cca will provide an estimated $1.7 billion that will be used for projects to drive down initiatives, create jobs, and give people cleaner air and make communities healthier. this act is also helping us invest in the strongest salmon recovery action in the states history. we know salmon are iconic to our state. and certainly to the tribes culture and way of life. this will fund a new voluntary grant program that offers land owners assistance to protect and recover these habitats statewide. here's a sad truth.

unfortunately climate change will continue increasing temperatures of our waters and killing salmon for years to come. regardless of some of our best efforts. we need to minimize that but we have to face this reality. providing shade that helps cool rivers and streams is even more radical in the years to come. -- critical in the years to come. as a 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 and salmon extinction this session. [applause] i know the list of things we intend to accomplish as long but

i have a couple more things i'd like to touch on. the first is public safety. that phrase public safety evokes different meanings and ideas amongst people. i think we need to escape the trap that public safety is about any one thing. mental health or gun safety or to treatment or law enforcement. the fact is we need them all. one thing we know is that gun violence is a significant driver. this isn't a surprise considering that the gun lobby has worked for decades against common sense gun safety measures. in washington state, voters and legislators have been willing to take on the gun lobby. we've enacted several measures to strengthen background checks and limit the kinds of weaponry used in the mass shootings.

this year, we need to continue that work in three ways. first, one of the most meaningful measures and affective measures that we can take is requiring the people have safety training before they purchase a gun. we expected that people have some a sick training. we accept training and multiple parts of our lives. should expect that they will have a basic training when they buy a gun. this has worked in other states. it's time to put it to work in washington. [applause] second, we must increase accountability among manufacturers and dealers and give families and victims 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 a military assault weapons. [applause] these weapons are designed for the sole purpose of destroying lives, the lives of schoolchildren, law enforcement officers, concertgoers, nightclub patrons, and 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 proof to them that to the gun lobby doesn't make the rules in washington state, we do. [applause]

of course gun safety laws are 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. last summer we were joined by dozens of chiefs and sheriffs to propose new training centers. these facilities will allow us to train more recruits and help law enforcement agencies recruit people from within their diverse communities. sometimes the right response isn't necessarily by law enforcement officers. i applied to the incredible work underway to implement our new 988 system. unlike most states, this

legislature had the foresight to see this as much more than just a crisis hotline. we are using this opportunity to create a true behavior health crisis response system. your continued support puts us on a path to ensure people facing a mental health and substance use or suicidal crisis can be connected to mobile responders or culturally competent behavioral health providers peered think you for making this work possible, i print -- appreciate your eight or ship. let's keep it up. there's one other important priority we have to address. that's the rights of washington people seeking reproductive care. [applause] we know the dobbs decision

upended decades of precedent that assured people across the country had some measure of constitutional protection. for abortion care and contraception. that protection is gone. it's gone for more than half the people in our nation. the new republican majority in congress this weekend made further abortion -- abortion restrictions one of their top priorities. in washington state, we are fighting to make sure that this right remains protected. we must protect patient data and privacy. we must protect access from the threat of health care consolidation and cost barriers. we must protect patients and providers from persecution from vigilantes and activist politicians and antichoice states. and finally, and most

importantly, we must pass a constitutional amendment that expressly establishes a fundamental right to reproductive freedom in the great state of washington. [applause] before i close i want to make a personal comment to you. i want to express my personal thanks to you and to your families for your service this session. you have each left your earth and home to come here -- perth

and home to serve your concessions. when you do so, i know you will strive and toil to enact policies you will even. and yet you may never know many of the actual people you've helped due to 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 and 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. they will all be there by the hundreds and thousands. taken care of because of your efforts. ask the end of the session, i am

confident you will feel the deep satisfaction of those who know that they have made a difference. we have emerged through two great threats, to our personal health and to our body politic. because of the combination of scientific genius and sound decision -- decision-making, we are no longer dominated by a virus. because we stood up to those who dared to dismantle democracy it is a joy to say with assurance and confidence that democracy is intact in washington state. [applause]

now, it is our blessed opportunity to exercise the power of democracy. not with half measures, empty gestures or latitudes. 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 worth -- to work. thank you. [applause] thank you.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. the are funded by these television companies and more him a including charter medicatis. broad band is a force for empowerment. that's why charter has invested billions, building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter, is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service. along with these other television providers peered giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> c-span's washington journal, everyday we are taking your calls alive on the air on the news of the day peered we will discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, we will take a look at u.s. immigration and border policy including the president's recent visit.

then, we have a competitive enterprise institute. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern on sunday morning on c-span. or on c-span now are free mobile video out. jo the discussion with your phone calls, face become its, text and tweets. -- facebook comments, text and tweets. >> on august 24, emmett till visited a market in greenwood mississippi where he was accused of's -- flirting with a white store clerk. his cousin was with him when the incident happened and to four days later when emmett till was abducted. sunday on q&a, reverend parker, co-author of a few days full of trouble, recounts the events

that led to emmett till's murder as efforts to get justice. >> i left him in the store. shortly after, he came in with him. nothing happened while they were in the store. they came out of the store and once they were out of the store, miss bryant comes out of the store. mh loves to make people laugh. he was a jokester. whistles, to make us laugh. and when he did that we could have died. he had to have understood the atmosphere in 1955. a black man whistling at a white woman. that was death in itself. >> reverend wheeler parker junior with his book, a few days full of trouble. sunday night at 8:00 eastern