Text of the 2025 State of the State Speech

Opening

Good afternoon, and thank you for welcoming me to Legislative Hall.

To Lieutenant Governor Gay, President Pro Tempore Sokola, Speaker Minor Brown, Members of the 153rd General Assembly, Members of the Judiciary, other elected officials, Members of the Cabinet, and my fellow Delawareans: I’m grateful for the invitation and opportunity to join you in this chamber today.

And I want to especially thank House and Senate leadership for scheduling this session during my son Levi’s nap time.

I want to recognize some of our local elected leaders who are here today. Thank you to Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson, Kent County Administrator Kevin Sipple, and Marcus Henry, the second-best County Executive New Castle County has ever had.

To Mayor Christensen of Dover, Mayor Branner of Middletown, and Mayor Culotta of Milford, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us today, and thank you for your endless work to deliver for Delawareans.

To every Delawarean, thank you. I am humbled to stand before you as the 76th Governor of this great state.

Right now, as I speak, there are thousands of educators, across all of our communities, working hard to teach our next generation. And eleven years ago, I was one of them.

And to now stand here — as a former public school teacher, a former US diplomat, a small
business owner, a husband, a dad — and now, as your governor — is truly the honor of a lifetime.

Because this is Delaware. A state where a teacher in a classroom who believes in his students and that things can change, can take a chance and fight to make a difference.

I know this honor comes with responsibility.

The responsibility to keep Delawareans healthy and safe.

The responsibility to improve our schools.

The responsibility to reduce costs.

The responsibility to protect every person who calls this state home.

Today, that responsibility is more vital than ever.

For years, we’ve seen a federal government that, for all its flaws, provided stability and support to states and communities.

That stability has now been shaken. That support is unraveling. And we are already feeling the consequences.

Families are still facing increased costs at the grocery store, while their retirement savings disappear.

And too many Delawareans who once trusted the federal government to guard their freedoms are now witnessing that very government reaching to strip those freedoms away.

On that note, we owe a debt of gratitude to Senators Coons and Blunt Rochester and Congresswoman McBride, for fighting so hard every day in Washington for Delawareans. And we especially thank Attorney General Kathy Jennings. To the Delaware Department of Justice attorneys and staff – Thank you for your round-the-clock work protecting our residents and ensuring that no one in our nation is above the law.

I also want to welcome and congratulate the new members here at Legislative Hall: Senator Cruce, Senator Seigfried, Representative Ortega, Representative Ross Levin, Representative Snyder-Hall, Representative Kamela Smith, Representative Burns, and Representative Gorman. As a fellow new guy here, I look forward to working with each of you.

I also want to thank former Governor Carney. You know, last week I was being introduced, and they kept mispronouncing my name as Governor Mayer. It’s good to know that here in Delaware, we truly do have A Governor Mayor.

To my parents, Bob and Ellen, who are here today — thank you. It has not always been the easiest road. Fourteen years ago, I got off the plane and came home from Iraq, uncertain what my future had in store for me. But you always stood by me. Thank you for your love, your guidance, and for supporting your son, who just a few years ago had this crazy idea of running for office.

And to my wife, Dr. Lauren Meyer, your First Lady — thank you seems insufficient. You might very well be the busiest mom in America, so thanks for making it down here in person today. What you do every day for your patients, our family, and our state — it’s extraordinary. YOU are extraordinary.

In building this year’s budget, our team is managing swings in revenue and expenses in the tens of millions of dollars — sometimes from one hour or day to the next, sometimes from one headline out of Washington to the next.

We are also managing expectations from Delawareans and Delaware organizations that have seen their state government funding double or triple in recent years with the support of one-time federal pandemic funds and other budgetary increases. The times have rapidly changed. Federal pandemic funding has completely stopped. And financial projections suggest a return to pre-pandemic funding levels.

At a time when our country sometimes seems ready to split in half, I am asking all of you here today – so many of us who get pulled to one side or the other by partisanship and words of division – to join with me in putting Delaware and Delawareans first.

No matter what happens in D.C., Delaware has to deliver.

We must close the gap between our stated values and the actual outcomes we produce.

We have to make the math work. We have to get results. And we have to protect the Delawareans who rely on us the most.

As public servants, we each have our own ideas on how best to serve our constituents.

That means that, sometimes, we are going to disagree on how to solve the biggest challenges of our time.

And that’s good! That’s healthy. That’s democracy at its most basic level.

But I know that on so many core Delaware values, we agree.

We agree that government should be transparent and efficient.

We agree that government should make life easier for people, not harder.

We agree that every Delawarean should have access to the highest quality public education, affordable health care, stable housing, good-paying jobs, and grocery and utility bills that don’t break the bank.

That’s why I’m here today, asking for your partnership. Your collaboration.
Together, we can navigate these challenges.

Together, we can build a state that not only endures, but emerges stronger, more equitable, and more prosperous than ever.

Let me take a moment to speak directly to those in this chamber offering unconditional support to the current leadership in Washington: you cannot have it both ways.

You cannot offer your full throated support for a federal administration that is slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in critical funds to our state and promoting tariffs that are crippling our economy, and then, in the very next sentence, rise in opposition to responsible and hard decisions we’re making here in Delaware to meet those challenges.

In other words, you can’t give more fuel to the arsonist with one hand, and then with the other hand point your finger disapprovingly and say we aren’t putting the fires out fast enough.

We have to be able to work together. We have to be responsible in that work.

Hear me now, Delaware – we will not run from a fight and we will never let someone else define who we are, who we love, or what we as a state value.

For we are indeed a state of neighbors. If our neighbors are under threat, we’re all under threat.

Early Wins

Because we don’t run from a challenge, we roll up our sleeves and get to work.

We don’t make promises. We make plans. And we turn those plans into progress.

On my very first day as Governor, minutes after I was sworn in, I signed my first executive order to increase youth apprenticeships and internships across state government.

We aren’t going to waste time when it comes to improving the lives of Delawareans, particularly our kids.

Since then, thanks to the advocacy of many in this chamber, we signed executive orders that increase transparency in state government, improve our food and nutrition systems, and streamline permitting for affordable housing.

As the lowest-lying state in the nation, with coastal areas that are starting to show the effects of climate change, our administration, led by DNREC, is collaborating with local governments on resilience and how we can better protect every part of Delaware.

Working with Senator Hansen, Representative Heffernan, Representative Phillips, and Representative Ross Levin, we have an energy package making its way through the legislature that will help bring down costs for Delawareans.

Thanks to Lieutenant Governor Gay, Senator Townsend, Representative Griffith, Secretary Patibanda-Sanchez, and leadership in both chambers, we are boosting our corporate franchise, protecting one-third of our state budget, and ensuring Delaware’s Court of Chancery remains a crown jewel of America’s legal system.

At a time when the federal government is doubling down on tax cuts from 2017, where the majority of the benefits go to the wealthiest, we’re readjusting the scales to ensure the richest pay their share and working-class Delawareans get a fair shake.

When our budget passes, we will reduce income taxes for 92% of Delawareans, the first reduction in our state income tax in decades, and add new brackets for those making more than $125,000, a quarter million dollars, and half a million dollars a year. I especially want to thank Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn-Harris and Rep. Sean Lynn for championing this issue.

Our budget will eliminate $50 million in medical debt for hardworking Delawareans, giving much-needed relief to those struggling to cover the costs of basic care.

And…while we are on the subject, we need to get legislation on my desk that ensures that medical debt will not hurt someone’s credit score. A medical emergency cannot be what prevents someone from buying a home, a car, or sending their kids to school. Thank you, Senator Mantzivinos and Representative Williams, for your partnership on these critical efforts.

I want you to think for a moment about the history of our country’s military, a complex history, filled with the never-ending struggle for racial justice. Individuals who fought for our country overseas, then returned home to a nation that would not fight for them. Black infantry during the Civil War in Massachusetts and Kansas, the Tuskegee Airmen, and so many others, fought for the America they wanted, not the America they had.

And if we are being honest, our Delaware National Guard’s history is reflective of our nation’s struggles.

But we are making progress. For the first time, I stand before you with an African American leading our Delaware National Guard. General Benson, thank you for your service and your leadership.

Now, let me take a moment to speak directly to our veterans: As Representative Carson likes to say, 99% of Americans wake up each morning to enjoy their freedom and democracy. And 1% wake up each day to preserve and defend that very same freedom and democracy.

There is no excuse for that service not to be honored here at home.

Fifteen years ago, I was a US diplomat, living on an Army base in Mosul, Iraq. I had a front row seat to the heroism and teamwork of American veterans. US soldiers are shining examples of bravery, selflessness, and service. Every day, they put themselves in harm’s way, literally risking their lives for the freedoms we celebrate.

Representative Carson and I are collaborating on an amended version of House Bill 1 that I urge both chambers to pass. Let’s work together to get Delaware’s veterans the Cabinet-level advocacy and support they deserve.

Education and Child Care

Eleven years ago, after returning home from diplomatic service, I stood in a seventh grade classroom on the East Side of Wilmington, and I was pissed off. Pissed off because my students deserved more. My fellow educators deserved more. Pissed off that the kids and families I served never really had a fair shot.

For Delaware to thrive, we must revamp the systems that train our next generation of leaders. That means investing in our classrooms, in our educators, and in our kids. That means rethinking old systems, like our funding formula, to create more efficient and equitable schools.

We are working tirelessly to build an education system worthy of our students and their families, worthy of this moment, and focused on the problems of the future.

That means taking a hard look at what we’re doing, doubling down on what is working, and moving away from policies and programs that aren’t.

This work must begin, not when kids start school, but at birth.

I’ve heard it loud and clear from childcare providers, and from families like mine that have small children: We need more staff, more seats, and more accessible and affordable child care.

No Delaware family should be going broke just so a qualified and trained adult can keep their kid safe.

Just think – if every child in our state entered kindergarten ready to learn, we would see reading and math scores improve and kids thrive — thanks to our investments in their most critical years of development.

Over the next four years, we will look to expand access to affordable child care and support our child care providers.

I know many in this room are strong partners in that endeavor, including our Lieutenant Governor Gay, our Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, and our Majority Whip Elizabeth Lockman.

And once children reach kindergarten, they must join the best K-12 public school system in the nation.

But our outcomes, particularly our reading and math outcomes, are unacceptable. We should be the best state in the country, and our country should be the best in the world.

When I saw our last fourth and eighth-grade literacy scores, I declared a literacy emergency in our state.

Because a society that cannot read is a society that cannot succeed.

The solution is not one size fits all; it will take all of us: schools; libraries; community centers; healthcare partners; mentors; businesses; all rowing in the same direction.

We will win the future through measurable, intelligent, and targeted literacy interventions.

I was thrilled back in January to nominate Cindy Marten, an elementary school teacher, principal, superintendent, and national literacy expert, to be our Secretary of Education.

In partnership with her and her team, our proposed budget invests in expanding and implementing proven literacy practices in struggling classrooms.

Lucky for us, there are plenty of teachers and schools who also know what’s working. We have three principals with us today: Toriano Giddens from Towne Point Elementary in the Capital School District, Zachary Huber from Phillis Wheatley Elementary in Woodbridge School District, and Tracy Roberts from my alma mater, Harlan Elementary in Brandywine School District.

These courageous educators are leading the charge, rethinking how to best help their students recover from pandemic learning loss.

In the last two years, Towne Point’s third grade reading scores jumped 24 percentage points, Phillis Wheatley’s third grade reading scores jumped 14 points, and Harlan has seen third grade reading scores jump 22 percentage points.

Each of these schools has not only clawed its way back to pre-pandemic levels, but surpassed them. Thank you to these leaders, their staff, and every educator who wakes up each morning determined to improve the lives of their students.

However, student success is not dependent on attention or money alone. One thing that does not help students succeed is cell phone use in schools. From bullying to TikTok, there is no reason for any student, at any level, in a Delaware public school, to be using a cell phone in class.

The research shows the developmental, emotional, social, and educational harm of cell phone usage by children. That’s why my administration will work with districts and charters to get cell phones out of classrooms and students focused on what really matters.

I’ve been lucky to have taught with some of the best teachers. When I was teaching 11 years ago in Wilmington, one of our top teachers, a former teacher of the year, left for a better deal in Maryland public schools, to secure the necessary salary to support his family. It’s something I think about a lot. On my watch, we win by retaining our top talent. And nowhere is that more important than retaining educators in our classrooms.

That’s why Representative Williams, Senator Sturgeon, Senator Pettyjohn, Representative Michael Smith, and others have led the Public Education Compensation Committee and developed a plan to raise educator salaries. Our proposed budget will invest over $75 million toward this goal to outcompete our neighboring states and make Delaware the best place to teach.

We will keep pushing ourselves until we no longer chase surrounding states regarding educator pay. They should be chasing us.

And when we allocate resources to education, to our kids, who should decide how it’s spent?

During my time as New Castle County Executive, we started our own program to give teachers part of the education budget, so they can decide how to use it best in their classroom. Over 1300 Delaware teachers participated in this first-in-the-nation program. It was so successful that it was replicated in over 117,000 classrooms in nine states, from Hawaii to Connecticut.

I have always believed educators know best what their students need. Take, for instance, Maddie Geller, a literacy teacher at Lewis Dual Language Elementary School in Wilmington, who is with us today. Give it up for Maddie and all the educators who go above and beyond to serve their students and communities.

Right now, Ms. Geller has a plan to provide her students with a brand new set of decodable books for learning phonics. These books will allow her students to work independently, increasing both their literacy skills in two languages and overall confidence.

She is trying to get her project funded at DonorsChoose.com, one of several nonprofits that enable teachers to design innovative educational programs in their classrooms and then receive funding directly from people all over the community.

Our proposed budget provides $6 million – half from the state, half from private supporters – to fund thousands of projects like Ms. Geller’s, allowing Delaware educators to direct money where they know it needs to go.

Now that’s putting money back in our classrooms and maximizing tax dollars for our students.

To ensure equity across our state, however, we must acknowledge that a 21st-century school system deserves a 21st-century funding formula. In other words, we must ensure every school receives the targeted help it needs to thrive.

Thank you to Senator Sturgeon and those on the Public Education Funding Commission, working to update our school funding formula.

We cannot ask our schools to prepare our students for the future with a funding model from the 1940s. Our students have waited long enough for a system that will help each of them achieve their full potential. That is why I am calling on the legislature to pass a holistic funding reform framework before you begin your summer vacation. Let’s get this done!

Public education must be the great equalizer in American society, an opportunity for every family to dream big about their future, but only if we direct resources equitably to address the real needs of kids and families. And we must do so with urgency.

We cannot continue to simply identify problems.

It’s time to act.

It’s time to innovate.

It’s time to choose progress over process, and to deliver, not delay.

Housing

Few things are more important to deliver to Delaware families than housing. Every Delawarean has a right to safe, stable, and affordable housing.

The rent is still too damn high.
We have a housing shortage which has already reached crisis levels.

With stagnant wages and so few homes on the market, fewer families than ever have the ability to achieve their American dream.

Too often, our reaction to affordable housing is to say why we can’t, not why we must.

The time has come to take decisive action to address our housing shortage, lower costs, and cut through red tape.

Our housing policy will streamline regulation and create smart, efficient systems to approve new and renovated housing for police officers, teachers, waiters, nurses, and our workforce of tomorrow.

But this also means protecting our most vulnerable. Especially when the federal government seems content to leave them behind, we must invest to give Delaware’s most vulnerable residents pathways to stability and prosperity. It’s not just the right thing to do. Done right, strong rehabilitation and support systems actually save money for all Delawareans.

That’s why, next week, I will sign an Executive Order to reconstitute the Delaware Interagency Council on Homelessness. Director Matt Heckles will lead this body to deliver to our most vulnerable friends and neighbors the comprehensive support they need to get back on their feet.

I also want to thank Senator Huxtable and Representative Johnson, who led the Affordable Housing Production Taskforce. I am not a big fan of task forces, but their recommendations are action-oriented and set a path forward to address the massive shortage in quality housing for working people across our state.

In our proposed budget, we are making investments to increase workforce and affordable housing in Delaware, in cities and towns across the state, and replenishing the Housing Development Fund, providing critical support to Delawareans who need housing.

Health Care

In addition to our challenges around affordable and accessible housing, affordable and accessible health care remains elusive for too many in our state.

It is important to me, as a Delawarean, that the House pass Senate Bill 5, a Constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom in our state.

In 2025, no Delawarean should have to wait months and months to see a specialist or struggle to find a primary care doctor taking new patients.

We are scrutinizing every regulation that prevents medical practices from expanding in Delaware. We must attract, grow, and retain the doctors and nurses we desperately need.

Our ER wait times are exorbitant, healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, and there are too few doctors to see those who need care.

As you know, my amazing wife is an Emergency Room doctor.

Just about every day, she tells me a new story about a grandmother who couldn’t afford her medication, a father who waited too long to seek care and whose work injury is now infected, or a family who is so far in medical debt to pay for their son’s cancer treatment that they’re on the verge of losing their home.

Expanding access to healthcare, especially for communities that have been traditionally underserved, is at the core of our administration’s work.

Even in these trying budget times, as we hear of federal cuts to state health programs, we are expanding the usage and services provided by our Division of Public Health mobile health units. These units will go into more communities and provide on-the-ground healthcare in places often underserved and overlooked.
However, we need short-term and long-term solutions to strengthen healthcare accessibility across our state, and one of those long-term solutions is expanding medical education opportunities in our state through a new medical school.

While on the campaign trail, I met a young woman outside Dagsboro who said she was looking forward to medical school.

She went to high school and college in Delaware. She said that if it were up to her, she would stay right where she was, in the state she has loved since she was a child. But Delaware doesn’t have a medical school, so her only choice was to leave. Data shows there is a good chance she will never come back.

Because Delaware is one of only four states that does not have a medical school.

We have a shortage of qualified medical professionals, particularly in Sussex and Kent Counties. We must make Delaware a great place to train doctors, nurses, and medical support staff, recruiting and retaining the best and brightest.

That’s why, last month, I named Dr. Neil Hockstein as our new chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission. Dr. Hockstein is one of Delaware’s most talented specialists, providing life-saving cancer treatment to so many of our friends and neighbors.

I’ve asked him to lead the effort to expand medical education for students from Delaware and to attract students to Delaware.

Dr. Hockstein, we thank you for your service to our community and your leadership on the Health Care Commission.

But health care is not just about going to the doctor. Dad, I can hear you telling me – You are what you eat and food is medicine. Here in Delaware, Food is Medicine is a priority.

One way we do that is through supporting Delaware’s vibrant agriculture sector. Grow local and eat your vegetables.

We are also partnering in innovative ways to truly use food as medicine.

Take our Farm to Pharmacy Pilot. Medicaid and Medicare patients with diet-related chronic conditions pick up fresh, locally sourced produce at the same place they receive healthcare.

This Farm to Pharmacy program allows patients to access fresh produce alongside their medications, health education, and wellness services wherever they usually go, like at Focus Pharmacy, a trusted, family-owned pharmacy in Smyrna.

Focus Pharmacy in Smyrna also purchases directly from Delaware farmers, improving patient health and boosting our local agricultural economy.

The Farm to Pharmacy Pilot is a model for the future of healthcare, built on prevention, community, and the power of Delaware’s farmers.

Dr. Tee Warren, owner of Focus Pharmacy, and Kimberly Robbin, owner of Atlantic Apothecary in Camden, created the Farm to Pharmacy program and are with us today — please join me in thanking them for bringing healthcare and nutrition to Delawareans.

This also brings me to medical professionals who deliver health in our most urgent moments: our brave paramedics.

Our paramedics are doing extraordinary work every day, bringing cutting-edge mobile emergency rooms to your door, doing lifesaving blood transfusions on the side of the road, and making snap decisions that save the lives of so many Delawareans.

In our budget this year, we proposed the highest increase in investment in our paramedic service in decades. Partnering with each county government, this investment will get paramedics to your door faster. Even during the most challenging of budget years, we will continue to invest in lifesaving first response and emergency services.

I’m also excited to back Representative Morrison’s bill to create an Office of Suicide Prevention, something that’s long overdue in our state.

And while we don’t yet know what future changes to Medicaid will look like, my pledge to you is that the health and well-being of Delawareans is my top priority every day that I am your Governor.

Your First Lady is adamant that every Delawarean deserves the highest quality American healthcare, innovative 21st century care, from cradle to grave, from the emergency room to the operating room, from smart, preventative, value-based care to end-of-life care. And she’s going to make sure we deliver.

Efficient and Transparent Government

Each day since I became your governor, I have been in awe of our state employees.

I’ve been inspired by what I know we can accomplish, working together to build an innovative, efficient, and responsive state government.

A government that can get big things done.

A government that can respond quickly to threats and emergencies.

And a government that is both able to reflect on its actions, and look to new places for ideas and answers.

Government that can articulate and execute a vision for our future, a more just future, a more abundant future, a future distinctly different from the realities of our past and present.

And a government that cuts some programs and costs, using a scalpel, not a chainsaw. We will remake our state government so it works better for you.

Take workforce development. Our state spreads workforce development across multiple state agencies, and too often we do things simply because that’s how they have always been done. We will streamline these efforts into a single office, with measurable goals and transparent funding.

We have an outdated unemployment insurance system.
Let’s update it and strengthen it.

We have complicated permitting processes that make it difficult to grow our housing supply.
Let’s modernize them.

Fixing systems like these may not be flashy – or easy – but it makes a difference in people’s lives.

I am committed to eliminating bureaucracy and creating a government that people trust, and that solves the problems of today by pulling us closer to the tomorrow we all deserve.

And regarding transparency and public accountability, this state needs an independent Inspector General who will uncover fraud and inefficiencies, return money to the taxpayers, and give all of us confidence that there is real accountability in government.

Because here’s the thing: People work damn hard for their money and they want to see their investment spent wisely. They want to see a return on their investment.

Every Delawarean should feel pride when they see the work we do on their behalf and the investments we make in them and their families.

At a time when the federal government is slashing education, health care, arts, libraries, and services for veterans, I want you to know you have a governor who does believe in spending smart for you.

You should feel like you are getting a good deal, with excellent roads and affordable homes, clean air and clean water, and schools that prepare our kids for the economy of 2050 and beyond.
And when we talk about the importance of government efficiency and effective collaboration, we see evidence of good work already being done right here in Delaware, just in the past few months, in response to bird flu.

Thanks to an effort led by Secretary Clifton, we were able to limit bird flu to only three cases in our state! Collaboration across sectors is what keeps us safe and ensures that our food supply chain can continue to thrive.

This incredible state response to a national outbreak is a shining example of what fast-moving and efficient government can accomplish when we work together.

Economic Development

Delawareans deserve to prosper in a 21st-century economy, with innovative products delivered across the globe.

We will focus our economic development dollars on strategic investments in both small businesses and growing industries. In life sciences and material chemistry, in financial technology and agriculture — we are truly global leaders. With innovative and strategic investments, we can expand economic opportunities for tens of thousands of Delaware families for generations to come.

Over the last several years, we have seen exciting developments. Thanks to the efforts of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership and others, businesses continue to choose Delaware.

I hope you will join me in thanking Senator Walsh, Senator Pettyjohn, Representative Bush, and Representative Yearick for their tireless service on the DPP.

But our focus cannot just be on recruiting new companies. The best way to grow an economy is to create and expand companies right here at home.

One untapped gem for our state is the Port of Wilmington. Under my administration, we plan to actually get the long-discussed expansion done, creating thousands of good-paying union jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact for the state.

This also means providing creative support for startups in our state, creating a climate for small businesses to grow and thrive, and using incentives to lift Delawareans.

We must also work to expand manufacturing opportunities. From spacesuits to chocolate to components in nearly every cell phone, so much is actually made in Delaware. We must remove regulatory barriers to production and ensure Delaware is indeed the best place to create and grow a 21st-century manufacturer.

And for companies that are here or looking to come here, we have some of the best higher education institutions in the nation.

The University of Delaware is a hub of innovative leadership. Delaware State University continues to lead with its Early Childhood Innovation Center. And Delaware Tech provides critical workforce development to countless industries.

Now, let’s talk about the green elephant in the room, and that is the delayed opening of Delaware’s recreational marijuana market.

This industry has the potential to produce tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue, money meant to be invested directly into our schools, libraries, and communities.

Money that could be used to cover federal funding shortfalls and address historic inequities created by a drug war.

Instead, the FBI’s insistence that Delaware’s original recreational marijuana law is insufficient is just another egregious example of federal bureaucracy stifling state-led innovation.

We appreciate your leadership, Majority WHIP Osienski, to address this quickly through legislation, and we will continue to push the FBI and the Department of Justice to act.

One thing I can assure you – we will name a new Marijuana Commissioner within days, we will cut through federal bureaucracy, and we will work with urgency to meet the promise of our state’s recreational marijuana law.

Closing

In closing, in this time of tremendous challenge and division across our nation, there is tremendous opportunity for Delaware.

Everywhere I go, I hear the same things. People don’t want handouts – they just want a fair shot. They want a government that works, a responsible government that is honest about our past and willing to provide real opportunity for our future.

We may have to tighten our belts and take a hard look at how we currently do things. But we also have the chance to evolve. To innovate. To rethink and reimagine old systems. To take steps and introduce programs that genuinely lead the nation. At a time of such change, some states will win. Let’s win.

Together, we can…

…Build a world-class school system.

…Build affordable and stable housing.

…Invest in healthcare that every family can access.

…And streamline government by eliminating red tape.

Together, we will fight for fundamental rights.

And together, we will restore your faith in Delaware’s ability to make big things happen.

Because our state is hopeful, our state is fearless, and the state of our state is strong!

We are ready to meet this moment and prove to the world that Delaware does deliver.

May G-d bless the extraordinary heroes in our National Guard.

May G-d bless our state.

And may G-d bless our United States of America.

Thank you.