OP-ED: Gov. Beshear: The Commonwealth Is Strong and Growing Stronger

Earlier this week I delivered my fifth State of the Commonwealth Address to Kentucky families and reported that Kentucky is strong - and it's growing stronger.

We are making progress like we have never seen before, and the rest of the country is noticing. Right now, all eyes are on Kentucky. We've earned that attention through achievement - by getting things done, and by breaking record after record after record.

Over the past five years, we've announced over $35 billion in private sector investment in us - in Kentucky. I'm proud to say this is the largest investment amount, by far, under any Kentucky Governor.

Over the same period, we've broken our job-creation records, announcing over 59,800 new, good, full-time jobs for our people. When you add in our tourism development projects, that number grows to more than 64,000 jobs.

We've broken our all-time exports record, meaning business in Kentucky is now global. We've broken our tourism records, celebrating the two best years for this industry back-to-back, and we fully expect 2024 will have been the best year ever for Kentucky tourism.

At the same time, we've expanded access to health care and invested in cleaner water. We're building and repairing our roads and bridges. We are installing high-speed internet across Kentucky. And we are keeping our promise to those affected by natural disasters in the West and East.

Put simply: We're not looking at the same Kentucky anymore.

That's why we're taking this moment to reintroduce ourselves - to leave the stereotypes of the past behind us and to welcome the world to our New Kentucky Home, where the pace of business is fast, but the pace of life is just right.

Kentuckians have much to be proud about. And the great part is how we've gotten here: by finding common ground, by applying common sense and then making good things happen for our people.

This starts with recognizing that when most Kentuckians wake up in the morning, we aren't thinking about politics.

We wake up thinking about our jobs and whether we make enough to support our families. We wake up thinking about the next doctor's appointment for ourselves, our parents or our kids. We wake up thinking about the roads and bridges we'll drive on that day. We wake up thinking about the public school our kids attend. And we wake up thinking about how safe we feel in the communities we call home.

Yes, there are a lot of big, important issues facing our country. But if you are staring at the cost of your child's prescription and wondering how you are going to pay for both it and your family's dinner, the offense of the day in Washington just doesn't seem that important.

That is why I am going to stay laser focused on addressing our families' most critical worries.

During my address, I issued this warning: We must stop the attacks on our public education system if we want Kentucky to reach its full potential. We need to do the hard work to strengthen and improve our public schools.

To do so, our educators need better salaries. They deserve it; our kids deserve it. We should get it done.

To do so, we must enact universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds. Pre-K provides proven, lifelong gains. And right now, we are failing our kids.

More than half of our Kentucky kids - 54% - are showing up for kindergarten unprepared. Those students were behind before they ever walked into a public school. Think about that, and then think about the positive impact of extending universal pre-K to roughly 34,000 more Kentucky children.

Universal pre-K is also the single most impactful policy that can boost our workforce. Many parents are ready to get back to work, but the high cost - and in some places, total absence - of child care makes that simply impossible.

Universal pre-K will strengthen our education system; it'll grow our workforce; and it'll boost the entire economy. It's time to make this a reality for our kids.

I also asked lawmakers to help keep Kentucky's momentum going by simply taking the way Kentuckians live their daily lives and applying it to Frankfort. Kentuckians are always ready to help one another, without asking who someone voted for or where they get their news.

These small acts of love - they grow. The kindness we show others - it compounds.

We will continue to win by leading with our Kentucky values and if we commit to doubling-down, to pushing out all the toxic noise we hear on TV and social media.

Finally, I asked members of the General Assembly to be thoughtful, even prayerful, about the bills they choose to pass this session. I shared the story of how God chose Mary, an unwed teenager, whom he favored above all others. He chose someone people in those days would judge, would look down on, would pass legislation against. To me, God's selection of Mary is a profound statement about how we should treat one another, about being able to see the face of God in those others might judge.

I asked lawmakers to be thoughtful of how legislation treats those suffering from poverty or addiction, how it treats the homeless or the hopeless. Do we make more room at our tables or in our prisons? The difference between the carrot and the stick is the difference between feeding and beating.

This year, and every year, I hope and pray that God grants us the wisdom to see beyond the anger of today to the possibility and promise of tomorrow.

- Gov. Andy Beshear

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