The following are the prepared remarks by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for the end of the legislative session in the early morning hours of Thursday. He was greeted with widespread applause from House and Senate members at 12:18 a.m. for a speech that lasted about eight minutes.
"Thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. This is an old tradition, and I'm happy to start it again.
During one of the most challenging times in our state's history, you all stepped up, reached deep, and worked hard for the people of Connecticut.
We have not always agreed on the best path, but I know that every person in this room had their hearts in the right place, regardless of party.
I should begin by thanking a great public servant, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman. I'm lucky to have you as my partner, and I thank you, Nancy, for your close counsel, your tireless work ethic, and your friendship.
I want to thank the Democratic leaders - President Don Williams and Speaker Chris Donovan, and the Majority Leaders -Marty Looney and Brendan Sharkey. You've shown courage, you've shown toughness, and I thank you for your partnership and leadership.
And I want to thank the Republican leaders and members. We've had our differences, but I have always respected your views, and in particular your commitment to supporting legislation designed to create jobs and rebuild Connecticut's economy. Thank you.
Let me say that I'm proud of what we accomplished this session, but very mindful of how much more there is to do.
We began the session by saying that we needed to focus on creating jobs, and that we needed to address our budget crisis. We have done those things, and more.
On the jobs front, you approved several important economic development initiatives that will aid in the creation of thousands and thousands of jobs in the coming years.
The First 5 initiative to attract more employers, which I hope becomes the First 50, or maybe even the First 100.
The forward-thinking and ambitious proposal at the UConn Health Center, which I'm confident will help us create thousands of good-paying, much-needed jobs in the short and long-term, and make Connecticut a leader in bioscience.
And the Bradley Airport Authority, which I think will help us maximize an underutilized resource.
As much as we focused on job creation, however, the signature effort of this legislative session was the budget. But that too was done with an eye towards job creation. As you've heard me say many times, we needed to send the business community a message that we're serious about stabilizing the state's finances.
And we did that - and then some.
To the Democrats who took my budget, made it better, and passed it - I say thank you. It was a tough vote, but it was the right vote to make. It's an honest budget that ends the games of the past and puts Connecticut on the road to a better tomorrow.
The budget also begins the process of restructuring and re-making state government into a 21st century vehicle for job creation. So while it reduces the number of budgeted state agencies from 81 to 57, it also creates a new Department of Energy and Environment, linking those two issues in a way that will allow us to create jobs, lower the cost of energy, and yes, protect the environment.
Consolidating state government on paper was the first step in reinventing government. Now comes the hard part of implementing those changes.
We all know there's one more step that needs to be taken for this budget to be locked in - the ratification of the agreement reached with the leaders of state employee unions. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people in this room when I say I hope they ratify the agreement so that we can avoid going to Plan B and large scale and long-term layoffs.