00:00 - Good morning, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us.

00:03 - I hope everyone was able to enjoy some breakfast.

00:06 - It is a relatively extra packed house, so, you know, bear with us here.

00:11 - We'll get everybody seated.

00:17 - Before we get started,

00:18 - I want to make sure that you are aware of some information that is at your seat.

00:22 - We made sure that everyone received one.

00:24 - And if you have done one before,

00:25 - but you have some extra information you'd like to share with your chamber.

00:29 - We do not, you know, care if you send out another survey as well.

00:33 - Our strategic plan is underway, and one of the big things we're trying to do

00:36 - is make sure that we continue to be the chamber that does things,

00:39 - and we continue to do what we do is what you want us to do.

00:43 - So if you could take a few moments throughout this morning, if you haven't

00:46 - already complete that survey, we've made sure there's pens there as well.

00:49 - Just kindly leave it on your table or if you're so inclined,

00:52 - you can drop it off on your way out, but we would be greatly appreciated.

00:55 - We have a goal of a set number of these surveys we want to obtain,

01:00 - so that we have the majority of your interest for what is happening.

01:04 - We want to take a moment to introduce our,

01:07 - honored guests that are here and dignitaries.

01:10 - So we have representation

01:11 - this morning from Berwick Industrial Development Association.

01:15 - The borough Lewisburg may be joining us.

01:17 - They're not here just yet.

01:19 - The borough of Milton, the borough of Watson town.

01:22 - We also have representation from Delaware Township and Lewes Township.

01:26 - And we also have representation from Congressman G.T.

01:29 - Thompson's office.

01:30 - And also Congressman Dam news offer users office

01:34 - in person today with you in state Representative Joe Hamm, State

01:38 - representative Mike Stender and State Senator Linda Schlegel Culver.

01:42 - At this time, I'm going to ask

01:44 - Ryan Workman, our communications director, to come up.

01:48 - How many of you know that the central PA Chamber of Commerce supports students

01:51 - coming to these events and actually pays for the students

01:54 - and their associate from the school to guide them?

01:56 - Does anybody know that?

01:58 - Okay. A couple well, now you all do.

02:00 - So if you have students that are attending any of the local districts

02:03 - that you think would find this to be beneficial and informative,

02:06 - ask them to reach out to their teachers, to their guidance counselors.

02:10 - We would love to have them to continue to come, but Ryan is going to share with you

02:13 - the students that are here with us this morning. Brian.

02:19 - Good morning everyone

02:21 - at table two from Milton Area High School.

02:24 - We have Maia and Bella Poynter

02:28 - and their instructor Sean Moore at table three from Warrior Run.

02:34 - We have instructor Scott Hoffman with students Landon Tilson,

02:39 - Griffin, Bauer, Cohen Zuckerman, and Michael Royle's.

02:43 - And at table four, we have students from Sun Area Technical Institute,

02:48 - Abigail Benner and Alicia Cruz with office manager Jody Marshall.

02:54 - And also joining us today is Loyalsock Township High School student

02:58 - Jacob Stopper, who is job shadowing state rep Joe Ham today.

03:02 - Welcome everyone.

03:09 - So at the end of the morning, we do a Q&A session for the students to know.

03:13 - We typically get the best questions from the students, so no pressure,

03:17 - but you might want to pay attention because we're really going to be excited.

03:20 - There's been prizes too. No pressure Senator,

03:22 - but we have given prizes to great questions from students too.

03:25 - So it is a really great opportunity.

03:27 - But also the adults. We would love to challenge you to ask questions.

03:30 - That's why you're here, correct?

03:31 - Not just to hear what's being said, but to also ask about concerns

03:34 - that you may have,

03:35 - or maybe share some appreciation

03:37 - or things that have been done that these folks really need to hear.

03:40 - This morning.

03:41 - Sponsor is a relatively new member of the Central Chamber,

03:44 - having joined the central PA Chamber family in September of last year.

03:48 - Kam strategies is a leading consulting,

03:51 - lobbying and procurement firm in Harrisburg,

03:54 - navigating government and private funding opportunities can be challenging.

03:59 - Anybody have that experience?

04:01 - And private funding opportunities can also be challenging,

04:04 - but their strategic contacts and expertise position you for success,

04:08 - ensuring your voice is heard and your goals are achieved.

04:12 - At Camp Strategies, they turn challenges into opportunities.

04:16 - Kurt Mosser is a retired member of the PA House of Representatives,

04:20 - who also served as a county commissioner for seven years.

04:23 - He's now the president of Camp Strategies.

04:25 - How many of you saw him this morning is like, how do I know him?

04:28 - I've seen him before.

04:30 - For the first time at a central PA Chamber of Commerce event.

04:33 - I'm very pleased to introduce to you Kurt Massacre.

04:42 - What do I got to push forward for?

04:46 - Hi, I'm Kurt.

04:46 - I'm a recovering politician.

04:51 - Retired like three, three years ago.

04:53 - A little better than three years ago, I guess. And,

04:57 - Harrisburg said, please come back down here.

04:59 - Somebody got to work. Keep an eye on the senator.

05:01 - So that was always my job in the House.

05:04 - And then once he moved up to the big house and,

05:06 - she she's a wonderful representative for our area.

05:10 - Absolutely loved Linda.

05:12 - There's nobody more thoughtful, more caring about her district in Harrisburg.

05:16 - And, I could

05:18 - I could tell jokes for what the story is Linda and I had over the years, but I,

05:22 - I won't, the real reason I came back to Harrisburg

05:25 - was I told my wife I'm going to be home a lot more.

05:28 - And she said, you've got to be kidding me, right?

05:32 - So I retired from,

05:36 - the House of Representatives

05:37 - spent 12 years in the House, six years of those in leadership,

05:42 - and seven

05:44 - years as county commissioner here in Northumberland County.

05:48 - Loved coming up to this area, loved this area.

05:50 - Didn't really know it before I became county commissioner, but

05:53 - I love spending time up here.

05:56 - When you're campaigning, it's it's often funny.

05:58 - The one thing that I truly remember about campaigning up here is the same day

06:02 - the Duart Blueberry Festival was the Mount Carmel Church picnic was.

06:07 - And that's quite a quite a drive to go back and forth who we are.

06:11 - I'm Curt, I think I'm obviously I've been introduced enough.

06:16 - My team is here with me.

06:18 - Rob Slaby, who was a former Coal Township manager, and my son Glen, who,

06:23 - spent 12 years practicing law, the Department of State, Department of,

06:28 - Environmental Protection.

06:33 - So I felt like this, I'm still in business.

06:35 - We've been in the family restaurant, farm

06:37 - market business, farming for longer than as long as I'm.

06:42 - As long as I'm alive.

06:43 - Our youngest business is 38 years old.

06:49 - Anybody wants to buy a restaurant?

06:50 - We got a few of them for sale.

06:54 - Well, we do.

06:54 - We do government relations and lobbying,

06:57 - regulatory and legislative guidance.

07:01 - These guys throw in this this,

07:04 - this little quip here, has government gone batty?

07:07 - Because,

07:08 - when I first came to the House, it's one of my favorite stories

07:11 - about how government really works.

07:14 - I had a coal miner in my district

07:17 - who wanted to open a small strip mine, and he came to me and he's like,

07:22 - Kurt, I'm opening this small strip mine.

07:25 - Before I can do it,

07:27 - I got to do a bat study to see if these endangered bats are there.

07:31 - It's going to cost me $30,000.

07:33 - And the worst part is, my guys are going to be off of work for six weeks.

07:38 - I said, you've got to be kidding me.

07:39 - I don't understand.

07:40 - This is I said, Come to Harrisburg.

07:43 - I'll bring the the game Commission over.

07:45 - And I want to learn more about why this is so.

07:48 - The game Commission

07:49 - came to my Harrisburg office, these two guys from the mining company,

07:53 - and it's a small operation, came to my office in Harrisburg.

07:57 - And I said to the game commission, explain this to me.

08:01 - He said, well, there's endangered bats in the area.

08:04 - Doesn't mean they can't mine.

08:05 - But we have to do this.

08:07 - They have to do this study to see if they're on the mine site.

08:10 - I said, what do you mean?

08:11 - That doesn't mean that they can't mine.

08:13 - I said,

08:14 - well, if they find a habitat or if they find bats on this mine

08:19 - site, they're going to have to build a habitat off the mine site.

08:24 - I said, what's the habitat?

08:26 - They said, it's a pile of rocks.

08:29 - I said, well, here's a thought.

08:31 - How about we assume there's bats?

08:33 - We build the habitat and they go to work tomorrow.

08:37 - And the head of the game commission said, yeah, we could do that.

08:41 - I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.

08:43 - Why are we here?

08:44 - This is why government is where government is.

08:47 - But that's just.

08:48 - And my guys just loved to hear me tell this story over and over and over

08:51 - again.

08:52 - We do procurement and state contract negotiation and navigation,

08:56 - trying to find funding, trying to find grants is a hard thing.

09:01 - We help entities across the state find funding

09:06 - and we help businesses, get results in Harrisburg

09:09 - and beyond.

09:12 - Who we help small and large businesses across Pennsylvania,

09:15 - manufacturers, local industries, government

09:18 - entities and authorities, organizations navigating state and local governments.

09:26 - Why do they work with us again?

09:29 - Government programs, regulations, funding opportunities are complicated.

09:34 - We understand how Harrisburg really actually works.

09:38 - Strong bipartisan relationships across Pennsylvania and locally.

09:42 - One of the best things of when I started this company,

09:46 - I had just started, I was walking the halls in Harrisburg

09:49 - and I'll bet you it was probably a dozen

09:52 - Democratic lawmakers came up to me and said, what are you doing?

09:55 - And I said, started my own firm, here's what I'm doing.

09:59 - And they to a man said, if you ever need anything from us,

10:02 - you've always treated us with respect. Please come.

10:04 - We'll get it done for you on our side of the aisle.

10:06 - That really made me feel well.

10:07 - And I think I guess they made me know that I did things right.

10:12 - We have proven grant writing abilities again.

10:13 - Rob, 16 years in township government

10:17 - did a lot of grants, and we're doing we can continue to do those

10:22 - and we focus on results that help your business

10:24 - grow.

10:27 - How government actually works.

10:29 - You call a government office.

10:31 - They say you need a different office.

10:32 - That office says you need a form.

10:34 - The form requires three other forms.

10:37 - Someone suggests calling Harrisburg, and then we can step in and help.

10:41 - Sort of is the way it works.

10:45 - I, I was famous in Harrisburg for saying when they were proposing

10:50 - a regulation or a law, they would say, oh, it only costs this much.

10:55 - I said, the only people who say it only costs

10:57 - this much or it's all they only have to do this.

11:01 - Or the people who aren't doing that or paying that.

11:04 - It's you people in Harrisburg who have never signed the front of a check

11:08 - and don't know what these people are going through in the real world.

11:14 - We have practical, practical

11:16 - government and business experience again, relationships built over decades.

11:21 - The governor actually sat in front of me for two years in this.

11:24 - In the statehouse.

11:26 - We had too many Republicans.

11:28 - I know that's not possible.

11:30 - We had too many to fit on our side of the aisle.

11:32 - I've sat on the Democratic side

11:34 - for my first term, and the governor sat right in front of me.

11:38 - The former auditor general sat right beside

11:40 - him, former speaker, somebody behind him.

11:43 - And I take credit for all.

11:47 - We have clear communications with clients and government officials

11:50 - and focused on moving legislation, projects, approvals and funding forward.

11:55 - And I'll just also mention that

11:58 - even with this, I my wife again said I'm spending way too much time.

12:01 - So we started another firm and we're doing, fundraising,

12:06 - for nonprofits and for,

12:10 - political candidates.

12:14 - And that's my contact information.

12:18 - I would love to help any businesses that need,

12:21 - something in Harrisburg if you,

12:24 - you know, one of the reasons I got involved in

12:26 - politics was I got my tax bill, and I was mad as hell.

12:29 - And I thought, well, I can do one of two things.

12:31 - I can sit in the sideline and harp about it, or I can get involved and do it.

12:35 - And I ran for county commissioner and and was successful and actually lower taxes.

12:40 - But I understand how businesses work and how too many regulations

12:43 - are hurting businesses and would love to help any businesses that might need help.

12:49 - Getting regulations change or getting rules changed in Harrisburg

12:52 - or getting funding.

12:53 - If you have a local government entity that needs help navigating navigating that

12:58 - grant

13:00 - bureaucracy, we would love to to help.

13:02 - Thank you all.

13:10 - Thank you again, Cam strategies.

13:12 - These events would not be possible without a sponsor.

13:14 - So we're very grateful.

13:16 - And as I said, you just joined late last year and he's already involved.

13:19 - That's how you get the most out of your chambers by being involved.

13:23 - If you didn't get his contact info, don't worry.

13:25 - Jessica will send a thank you for coming today and we'll have his info.

13:28 - You also can find him on our website as well in the membership directory.

13:32 - So now I'm going to ask a question

13:35 - who thought they were going to hear David Rowe today?

13:39 - Okay. That's good.

13:40 - One person that's not back.

13:41 - All right. Who thought they were going to hear Congressman damn user

13:45 - maybe 4 or 5.

13:46 - All right.

13:47 - Well we got something way better. And,

13:51 - girls got to stick together I'm telling you.

13:54 - So another another cute question.

13:56 - Who registered in advance to that?

13:59 - Thank you, thank you, thank you.

14:01 - We had nearly 20 people that didn't register, and things happen.

14:05 - I know, but sometimes we think it's just me.

14:07 - It's just one more person.

14:08 - But it's you and the other 19 one persons.

14:11 - We have to really respect our venue, so we have to tell them weeks ahead of time

14:15 - how many tables, how many chairs, how many handouts, how much food.

14:18 - So just in all situations, if you can register in advance for our

14:22 - events, please do so. We will want nothing worse

14:25 - than we got here and there's no one able to sit.

14:27 - We didn't make the press sit at the sidelines.

14:29 - They're not able to sit at a table today

14:31 - because we wanted to ensure that everyone had a seat.

14:33 - So just a favor to the staff here because we want it to be

14:36 - the most enjoyable experience for those who registered, those

14:38 - who had a last minute decision.

14:40 - So keep that in mind.

14:42 - Winston Churchill said to improve is to change, to be perfect is to change.

14:46 - Often by that standard,

14:48 - today's legislative event should be nothing less than perfect.

14:52 - The idea of changing the speaker three times in the last couple of weeks

14:55 - has been nothing but challenging.

14:58 - Months ago, we had State Representative David Rowe committed to speak.

15:01 - We were really excited.

15:02 - We did some radio ads, some newspaper ads, and then one of his relatives

15:06 - had something really wonderful

15:08 - that's going to happen today, and he needed to take care of that.

15:11 - Then we reached out and Congressman Mueller was, yes, I would love to speak.

15:14 - I had to been a while.

15:16 - He got called overseas.

15:17 - And so then we were looking for a third speaker.

15:20 - Linda said, absolutely, I'll do it.

15:22 - Always willing to help out.

15:24 - Then Congressman said, my trips been canceled overseas.

15:27 - I can now come to speak.

15:30 - Sorry, but we already got someone.

15:32 - We've already changed the radio ads and the print ads for three times,

15:35 - and they're getting a little irritated with us.

15:37 - So Margaret Thatcher said, if you want something said, ask a man.

15:41 - If you want something done, ask a woman.

15:45 - That leads me to introduce to you today's speaker, Senator Linda Schlegel.

15:49 - Culver State Senator Linda Schlegel Culver was elected to serve residents

15:53 - of the 27th district in a special election in January 23rd,

15:58 - and reelected to a full term in November of 24.

16:01 - Linda was previously elected to serve seven terms, representing

16:04 - the people in the 108th district in the state House of Representatives.

16:08 - She is currently the chair of the Senate Education Committee

16:11 - and Vice Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.

16:14 - She also serves on the appropriations, Aging

16:17 - and Youth, Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure,

16:21 - Intergovernmental Operations, and Local Government committees.

16:25 - Makes you wonder how we see her at so many places, and how she was able

16:28 - to make sure that she could bail the fellows out and be here today.

16:32 - Please join me in welcoming our dear friend at the Central Chamber,

16:35 - State Senator Linda Schlegel Culver. Linda.

16:45 - So good morning, everybody.

16:48 - I always say driving in central Pennsylvania

16:50 - on a morning like today reminds me of why I live here.

16:54 - I love being here. So as you heard,

16:57 - we had quite a few schedule changes and I couldn't help myself.

17:01 - So I kept harassing Tuesday all week.

17:03 - And I call her and she'd answer, hello?

17:07 - And I'd be like, just kidding.

17:08 - I just had a question.

17:10 - So when I got up this morning around 530, I'm like, oh,

17:13 - I just want to call her, and just freaking out this morning.

17:17 - But, but then I started thinking, oh my goodness,

17:20 - what if I wake up sick and then I'm really going to freak out?

17:23 - So I was walking around all night waiting to see what was going to happen.

17:27 - So happy that I wasn't, so I just.

17:31 - I know they've been through the whole chamber team, so

17:33 - can we just give them a round of applause for pulling this off this morning?

17:38 - We, And at

17:40 - one point this morning, I think we thought that,

17:44 - Congress Congressman user may be able to join us,

17:46 - but while he was here, he'd be juggling multiple events.

17:49 - Unfortunately, he, I think was still in DC trying to make his way back.

17:53 - But James May is here from his staff.

17:55 - I'm sure James would love to talk to you, greet you and take any concerns you have.

18:00 - Back to the, Congressman.

18:02 - But I have to say, it's been the running joke in my family all week.

18:06 - Because the radio is still advertising that it was congressman, me

18:09 - or my husband, because.

18:11 - Good luck on.

18:12 - You're off to disappoint half the crowd this morning.

18:15 - So, so thank you for having me here.

18:20 - So, I think, though, the story of how we run from David to

18:25 - the end, to me is a really good example of how we work well together.

18:30 - And the importance of that is we're always keeping our constituents in mind.

18:34 - And it's not just with events like this, it's with concerns.

18:37 - It's about big issues. It's with policy.

18:40 - We continue to work together.

18:43 - So I just want to point out this morning, you know, Representative Stender

18:46 - and Hammer here, if you think you weren't next on that list

18:49 - to speak today of something happening to me, you're wrong.

18:53 - And that was from Senator Gore's office and and Coffman from Congressman.

18:56 - Gaetz office. You are on the list next.

19:01 - But I think

19:01 - we understand that value of collaboration, and it does serve you better.

19:05 - So I appreciate every single elected official and staff person in the room.

19:10 - For your dedication to the constituency and to this area.

19:14 - We are a very strong delegation and I'm thankful for it.

19:17 - So I'm also thankful for my district director, Terry Campbell,

19:21 - who's here, who keeps me on a pretty tight schedule.

19:24 - And I had a weird week last week.

19:26 - One day she called me and said,

19:28 - you ever have a morning where everything went right?

19:30 - Everything.

19:32 - Apparently it wasn't.

19:33 - She calls me, says, where are you? What?

19:35 - I'm like, well, I'm doing this.

19:37 - I had a great morning. I had an extra hour.

19:39 - I got all this work done.

19:40 - You're supposed to be here right now.

19:42 - That's not good.

19:44 - So I was running a half an hour late the next day, though.

19:46 - Somehow I was running an hour early.

19:50 - But it was a great day

19:50 - because I got to see so many things that had

19:52 - I went on in my normal time, I would not have gotten to see.

19:55 - So there's a plan for everything we do, is what I'm thinking.

19:59 - I also want to thank, our sponsor today, Cam Strategies.

20:03 - If you wonder what's Cam strategies?

20:05 - Well, it's cr it's my answer.

20:07 - I just don't know what the A's are.

20:09 - What is the Allen.

20:12 - There we go.

20:13 - But I want to thank them for being here.

20:15 - As you know, Kurt's had a long history here, and he didn't say

20:18 - we came in together in the class of 2011.

20:21 - And there's a camaraderie when you come in together as a class, in the legislature.

20:26 - And he did sit on, on the other side, because there wasn't enough room,

20:29 - you know, they split the center aisle, but he was only there one term.

20:33 - They moved him to the back of the room after that.

20:35 - So I don't know what he was doing, but they moved him after that.

20:39 - But thank you for continuing to serve, for taking your experience

20:42 - and continuing to serve this valley.

20:44 - I think it's really important.

20:47 - But is always a pleasure to be with all of you.

20:49 - We have employers, we have community advocates and leaders.

20:53 - We have teachers and we have students.

20:56 - And it's about how strong we are as a region that we're all here today.

21:01 - But I'm really excited.

21:02 - Not that I'm not excited to see all of you, our students,

21:07 - they are here from Milton Center, Evotec we are run

21:10 - and we also have the Susquehanna Valley Technical Institute,

21:13 - which I'm sure you're going to be hearing more on.

21:15 - In the coming months.

21:17 - But, I want to thank your teachers, and administrators for believing in you

21:22 - and for bringing you here today to experience.

21:25 - I've spoken at two of the schools to, I think, mostly seniors, well informed.

21:30 - And if they aren't on an issue, they become informed,

21:34 - they ask great questions.

21:36 - And I, I feel comfortable with the future

21:39 - because I know we have strong leaders here with us

21:41 - that aren't afraid to ask the hard questions

21:43 - and do what's best for their community.

21:44 - So that's pretty impressive.

21:46 - And TJ, I think if we offered lunch so they didn't

21:49 - have to go back to school, they would hang out with us today.

21:53 - But they're smiling, so yeah, maybe they would.

21:56 - But it's been a little while since I've spoken with you,

21:58 - but TJ went over my committees.

21:59 - But I am the chair of the education committee now, and any

22:04 - legislator in Harrisburg will tell you they don't want that committee.

22:08 - And, if anybody

22:10 - knows how it works, when I was told I got them.

22:13 - Really?

22:14 - Because usually you have to have seniority.

22:17 - Usually you had to have served on the committee.

22:19 - I had neither of those things on my in my favor.

22:24 - And I think

22:26 - the most shocking thing for me is I knew it was going to be hard.

22:30 - But my first two weeks,

22:32 - there were seven issues that came up pretty big.

22:35 - But I think I'm going to talk about the first two.

22:40 - What happened was

22:42 - I got a report my first week that my third graders

22:46 - were reading at about 33% proficiency, a little bit better in math.

22:51 - Oh my gosh.

22:53 - And then my eighth graders a little bit better, but still not over 40%.

22:58 - Talk about alarming.

22:59 - And there were so many other issues from early childhood education,

23:03 - to our post-secondary education,

23:06 - to fairness and equity, in funding for schools.

23:10 - We're working on that,

23:11 - and we're ticking off this list one by one,

23:13 - because you can't change everything at once.

23:15 - But we are trying.

23:17 - But if you heard all my committees,

23:19 - I think one thing you need to know is they're pretty diverse.

23:22 - Or you would think that they are, but they are not.

23:26 - Government.

23:27 - I think every issue is connected to the other issue.

23:31 - They all mesh and nothing happens in a silo.

23:35 - Nothing exists in a silent.

23:37 - And if you approach a piece of legislation that way, you're missing so much,

23:42 - and you're missing the opportunity to make it a really good piece

23:44 - of legislation, but you're also creating a lot of unintended consequences.

23:49 - Because if there's one thing you should have learned through Covid is

23:52 - there's not an essential business.

23:54 - They are all essential and one business that impacts another business,

23:58 - and they're all related to each other.

24:00 - So I think that's what's important.

24:01 - As we cover that,

24:02 - we look at the big picture, we look at the long game, and we look at

24:07 - how all the issues are in dependent upon each other

24:10 - so we can make those good decisions.

24:12 - But one of the most important things in that equation

24:15 - is hearing from our stakeholders regarding an issue

24:19 - that the decision making process is never good

24:23 - without participation, with each and every one of you.

24:26 - That is what's most important.

24:28 - Do you see a piece of legislation pass and you say, how did they do that?

24:32 - What were they thinking?

24:33 - Well, we are thinking, but you don't know

24:36 - who it impacts unless people are paying attention and people are talking to us.

24:40 - So I think that's what most important.

24:42 - If you aren't doing that with us,

24:44 - there are a plethora of us in this room today who would love to hear from you.

24:47 - And we hear good and bad, right? It's okay.

24:50 - But remember, when you're screaming at us, we're probably not hearing

24:52 - what you're saying.

24:53 - We're hearing that you're screaming at us and trying to figure out why.

24:55 - Why is that? They're so mad at me right now.

24:58 - And when you walk away, we're like, what was the issue they were mad about?

25:01 - Because you're trying to figure out why they're so mad at us.

25:02 - So just talk to us.

25:04 - That's probably the most important thing you do, but know that

25:07 - your input adds value, to the conversation that we're having.

25:11 - And if you think we're not thinking of you

25:12 - and we're taking that vote, we are thinking of you.

25:15 - It's the most important thing that we can do.

25:17 - So when I talk about employers across our area, I hear many

25:21 - of the same concerns.

25:23 - But I'm going to focus on one of them this morning.

25:25 - And it is the workforce concerns.

25:28 - I hear we need train workers.

25:30 - I need a workforce with good soft skills.

25:33 - I need a workforce that shows up.

25:36 - Those are the important things we have.

25:37 - So when we talk about finding people with the right skills, the right

25:40 - preparation, and the right mindset to succeed on a job.

25:45 - As chair of the Senate Education Committee,

25:46 - I see that issue maybe from a slightly different viewpoint.

25:52 - Workforce development does

25:53 - not in when someone graduates from high school

25:56 - or starts looking for a job, it begins much earlier.

26:01 - It begins in the classroom.

26:02 - It begins with reading and math proficiency.

26:05 - It begins with career exposure, technical training,

26:08 - apprenticeships, dual enrollment and whether students can see

26:12 - a future for themselves and the community they grew up in.

26:16 - I don't want our students leaving.

26:18 - I don't want you leaving.

26:19 - I want you staying here.

26:21 - I want you to make Pennsylvania strong.

26:22 - It is an incredible state, but we don't talk about it often enough.

26:28 - It's why I believe education policy and business

26:30 - policy workforce policy completely go hand in hand.

26:34 - And for many years, those conversations weren't happening.

26:37 - If we want Pennsylvania to compete, we cannot only talk about just jobs.

26:42 - We also have to talk about preparation.

26:44 - We have to ask whether students are leaving school

26:48 - with the knowledge, skills and the opportunities they need to succeed

26:51 - and whether employers have a pipeline

26:54 - of workers who are ready to help in high demand careers.

26:57 - That is one reason I placed such a strong focus

27:00 - on practical, student centered education.

27:03 - Early learning.

27:05 - Our earliest little learners, are a big part of that conversation.

27:08 - Have any of you in show hands, been in to a preschool or even a daycare setting?

27:15 - Are you

27:15 - just amazed at how their little brains are just going, going, going?

27:19 - They're trying to soak it all up and they're trying to learn

27:21 - because that is our open window of opportunity.

27:24 - Age 3 to 5 is the biggest one for their neurons in their brains to develop.

27:30 - So that is when we start cultivating our workforce.

27:34 - If a child is not reading well, early and everything becomes harder

27:39 - later on in their lives, strong reading skills are absolutely the foundation

27:43 - for success in absolutely every subject

27:47 - and ultimately for success after graduation.

27:50 - The catch phrase I always run through my head when I hear it.

27:52 - The first time I hear it, I was like, what?

27:55 - And I had to say it a few times.

27:57 - So from kindergarten earlier, depending on, you know, what exposure

28:00 - you have to third grade, you learn to read.

28:04 - Those are the years were teaching you to read

28:06 - from fourth grade to the rest of your life.

28:09 - You read to learn.

28:11 - Do you see me say that again?

28:13 - You learn to read from when everybody teaches,

28:16 - but we always say K through three.

28:18 - And then from fourth grade on, you read to learn.

28:22 - If you can't read, you're not learning.

28:24 - And that is the scariest thing for me when I see these scores for these kids.

28:29 - So to me though, when I got

28:31 - those scores, I'm like, this is unacceptable.

28:35 - This is just alarming.

28:37 - And alarming in a way where I think maybe we can get to those third graders,

28:41 - but the eighth graders is what really alarms me.

28:44 - How do we get to them?

28:45 - How do we get them reading, and how do we teach them to do that?

28:49 - Because when you're not using those neurons,

28:50 - they start to shut down and close.

28:52 - I'm not saying we can't.

28:54 - I'm saying it is a huge challenge that lays before us.

28:58 - So not being able to read, think about that.

29:01 - It impacts the workforce.

29:03 - It impacts a person's ability to earn income.

29:06 - It impacts the tax base, and it impacts the health of our communities.

29:10 - So it is the foundation for all.

29:13 - And I would be remiss, scary

29:15 - if I didn't talk about your daughter, who's a reading expert across the nation.

29:19 - Talk about somebody who gets reading and who's always sending me good pointers

29:23 - on how we can improve Pennsylvania.

29:25 - So thank you for sharing. Your daughter with us.

29:27 - That last year's school code.

29:30 - I have to tell you, because if you're a teacher and you're mad at me,

29:33 - I had this really nice, simple bill to fix a little issue with CTE.

29:37 - That was missing the code before it on how they receive their grants and plan.

29:42 - Pretty simple. Right?

29:43 - Until they amended it with the school code.

29:46 - Nobody wants any code amended to their bill.

29:49 - And I said everyone's like, how do you feel about it?

29:52 - What?

29:53 - I am the chair of education.

29:54 - I don't have a choice here.

29:56 - I'm going to be taking this code bill.

29:58 - And code bills are things that you love, and there's things that you don't.

30:02 - It's just it's very large. It's very encompassing.

30:04 - But some of the provisions in it were including a requirement for schools

30:08 - to move forward with evidence based reading instruction.

30:12 - Some of our schools never truly changed,

30:14 - and that would be most of our rural schools.

30:17 - But more urban schools really changed it over.

30:19 - So along with those measures, we did more to support career

30:23 - and technical education and teacher education flexibility.

30:27 - Because as you know, that is now an in-demand career.

30:29 - We're having folks getting in trouble, folks, to go into it.

30:32 - It matters because if one student's ready for the workforce, we need to make sure

30:36 - that they must first succeed in school.

30:39 - Career and technical education, though, is another area

30:42 - where the connection between education and the workforce is especially clear.

30:47 - CTE works because it gives students real skills, real direction

30:51 - and real opportunities.

30:53 - And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about, T Ross Brothers, investing

30:58 - in the school district who has a program there that they're teaching schools.

31:02 - These skills they're managing, they're in charge.

31:04 - It is so wonderful. They just redid the library.

31:06 - And I don't know what the next project is.

31:09 - But businesses here are already investing in our students.

31:12 - Other than just the traditional education.

31:15 - These schools are preparing young students for careers in manufacturing,

31:19 - construction, health care, information technology, transportation

31:23 - and other essentials.

31:24 - And I have to tell you, we have more than 75,000 students enrolled in CTE programs,

31:29 - and those students are preparing for the jobs

31:32 - that you, as a workforce are looking for.

31:35 - On Wednesday of this week, we had students from across

31:38 - the Commonwealth with their CTE schools, showcasing their schools,

31:43 - talking about their chosen fields and their plans for the future.

31:47 - I didn't even know

31:48 - some of those fields existed until the students were talking about it.

31:52 - But they were excited about their futures.

31:55 - They had really strong plans for graduation,

31:58 - and they had a really strong entrepreneurial spirit.

32:01 - Some of those kids had a plan.

32:03 - And then I'm starting my own business.

32:05 - I want to take business classes

32:06 - while I'm working because this is what I want to do.

32:09 - They took advantage of their time, and when they were done

32:12 - showcasing, they had a one pager, which is very popular in Harrisburg.

32:16 - Everything we do, we went on a one pager

32:17 - so we can pull it up and talk about the topic,

32:20 - and they lobbied legislators afterwards

32:22 - on the things that they thought could make their education better.

32:25 - And excel.

32:27 - I actually have it with me if anybody wants to see it.

32:30 - But our very own son, Erivo tech was there.

32:34 - Now, none of the students here today were with us

32:36 - because that probably would've been two days out of school.

32:39 - But they

32:41 - already they showcased so many things that they did.

32:45 - So anybody who's looking for an employer, I think you have one student

32:49 - with either day, two students with you today.

32:52 - You might want to talk to them before you leave here because they are in demand.

32:56 - They're ready and they're what you're looking for.

33:00 - So I, along with many of my colleagues who have publicly raised concerns

33:05 - about the attention and the funding we've been giving kids,

33:09 - I would say over the last 20 years, at one point,

33:12 - everybody was pushed to go to a four year college.

33:16 - And we're sort of backing off that now because that's not the best course

33:19 - for every child.

33:21 - And I think every child is individualized, and we have to figure out

33:24 - what's best for them.

33:26 - But we need to create more ways for students to move effectively

33:29 - and efficiently from education to employment.

33:33 - And this is where PA comes in.

33:35 - It's a grant program.

33:36 - The program provides a $5,000 grant

33:39 - for students in high demand fields.

33:42 - It helps the students with the cost of their education.

33:45 - It helps. Well, and here's the best part.

33:48 - If you agree to stay in Pennsylvania and it's not a lot of time,

33:52 - it's for every year, receive the grant you always that year.

33:56 - So if you only get it one year, you'll miss one year.

33:57 - If you're here, use it for years.

34:00 - You always for years.

34:02 - But the beauty of it is, is we designed it.

34:04 - So if you receive it that one year,

34:05 - you receive it every year thereafter till you finish your education.

34:09 - Education is expensive, as you all know, and we want them to succeed.

34:12 - We want them to go into these programs.

34:15 - The idea behind it was, though,

34:19 - that the workforce is here for you.

34:21 - We're training them, we're keeping them.

34:23 - They're invested in this commonwealth.

34:25 - So I think it's really important for them.

34:27 - But the most important thing for the student, it helps them plan

34:31 - and it helps them be able to finish their degrees.

34:33 - How many students don't end up finishing their degrees?

34:35 - They have to drop out their junior year.

34:38 - And I'm always like, you're so close, they can't afford it anymore.

34:41 - So this was a way for us to try and keep this high demand careers here.

34:46 - I also support measures that strengthen the system around workforce.

34:49 - Development.

34:51 - And we have a Senate bill about workforce development.

34:53 - I know this is going to sound crazy when I say this,

34:55 - but it helps local workforce boards get more timely information.

34:59 - We're not giving it to them timely.

35:01 - Think about that when we heard that.

35:03 - So it's happening in the job market.

35:06 - So when we can better connect workers with openings and better understand

35:11 - what training actually leads you to those employment.

35:15 - It's coming out so late now.

35:16 - Universities and technical schools are trying to catch up, but

35:20 - our data has been behind.

35:21 - So we're going to try and make sure that data is up to date and real time.

35:25 - If we want better results, we need better information.

35:27 - And that's how we're looking at it.

35:29 - Another issue that continues to plague

35:30 - us is available affordable and quality childcare.

35:34 - The issue matters because workforce

35:36 - participation is not just about whether a job exist.

35:39 - Parents need to be able to go to work without having a worry.

35:44 - Is their child safe?

35:45 - Is their child care for,

35:47 - and know that it's there for them, not my neighbors watching them.

35:50 - A neighbor doesn't want to do it.

35:51 - Today, I give great credit to the Pennsylvania Chamber,

35:54 - and every chamber has been partnering with them.

35:56 - They are seeing the impact it is having on the workforce.

35:59 - And they are working on ways in which to create,

36:03 - more openness and get rid of some of the barriers

36:06 - and some of the things they first found is we have some pretty ridiculous

36:09 - regulations on the books when it comes to childcare providers,

36:12 - and they've been

36:13 - engaging them in conversation about how do we make this easier for you,

36:17 - how do we pay them more?

36:19 - And there's a study coming up, but it's a Senate bill that would create

36:23 - a child workforce commission that looks at why are we having shortages?

36:28 - How do we pay them more?

36:31 - How do we recruit more?

36:32 - How do we retain more?

36:33 - We've been trying,

36:36 - but it's been really difficult when you can go to Walmart or Target

36:39 - and make ten more dollars without investing in a child.

36:42 - You know, emotionally becoming attached.

36:44 - It's much easier to do that.

36:46 - And at the bottom line, people need to support themselves.

36:49 - And we want people to come into these careers and support themselves.

36:51 - So we're still working about that.

36:55 - I've also spent time asking questions about how do we better

36:57 - connect classrooms learning for real careers.

37:00 - During budget hearings this year, I raise a few questions about readiness,

37:04 - including the Certified Teacher Registered Apprenticeship Initiative.

37:07 - Any of you going into teaching?

37:11 - We're going to get some teachers out there.

37:13 - They get paid now a stipend to student teach.

37:16 - We realized it was a real barrier for them.

37:19 - And we're doing,

37:20 - more with apprenticeship initiatives and the school to work program.

37:24 - The questions, though, are,

37:26 - for me were a broader picture.

37:29 - Students need that practical pathway and they need to learn

37:32 - what employees actually need in them.

37:35 - So the Senate education is exploring, I think,

37:40 - better ways or how do we strengthen apprenticeships?

37:42 - We don't know that it's legislation.

37:44 - We just know that we need to continue to support the schools

37:47 - and getting these students out,

37:48 - having them learn about careers and not pick a major

37:52 - and get halfway through and decide, oh, I don't like this at all.

37:55 - Have them know I love this and I want to pursue this.

37:59 - The other thing we just dropped

38:01 - that was not overly popular at this point, but we're exploring it.

38:05 - If you've noticed, every state around us is starting to do

38:07 - three year bachelor degrees.

38:10 - Ohio is

38:11 - the latest one to do it, but they mandated it.

38:14 - So we've been watching it.

38:16 - We've been talking about it.

38:18 - But this week or last week we did.

38:20 - We better drop a co-sponsorship memo

38:22 - because it's important to the education committee.

38:24 - We're not telling institutions of higher learning.

38:26 - You have to do this.

38:28 - We're telling them we're putting a tool in your toolbox.

38:30 - And if this works for you, you do it because we think

38:33 - there's going to come a day.

38:34 - We're going to have students leaving

38:35 - and going to the states around us for the three year degree.

38:39 - As you know, legislation is not quick.

38:41 - So we wanted to make it so the schools wanted to do it.

38:43 - They could do it.

38:45 - And for them themselves are telling us it's about 18 months

38:47 - once they start to talk about the idea until they develop and implement it.

38:51 - So I think that's pretty important for us.

38:53 - So we'll see how that goes.

38:55 - I got some calls with some pretty alarmed universities, after we dropped it, but I

38:59 - said we didn't want anybody describing it and saying we were mandating it.

39:03 - We wanted it to be just a tool in the toolbox.

39:06 - So the other thing I think we need to talk about is students,

39:11 - and children, we need to start meeting them where they're at

39:14 - and teach them how they're learning.

39:15 - Best kids learn completely different than when most of us were in school.

39:20 - And it means that every pathway

39:23 - to success doesn't look exactly the same.

39:26 - It means supporting

39:27 - community college, you know, training schools, post-secondary education.

39:32 - And as we work on education to workforce issues, I know

39:35 - we cannot ignore the broader environment that employees are.

39:39 - Employers are working in business needs predictability,

39:44 - a climate where planning, investment and growth are possible.

39:49 - In the 202526 budget,

39:51 - we included reforms because that's another big issue.

39:54 - We continue to hear about, set timelines for when they can give you a permit.

39:59 - And certain instances don't get alarmed because this is not all instances.

40:03 - If they haven't acted on it, it automatically you get your permit,

40:07 - but it's only certain instances.

40:08 - So I know it alarms some people for not changing the gate safety issues.

40:12 - We're not trying to negate why we have a permit.

40:14 - We're just saying you need to do this so we can move business here.

40:17 - Businesses have left, gone to other states, got their business and built it.

40:21 - And in a time where they were waiting for their permit in Pennsylvania.

40:25 - So we're hoping that that helps.

40:27 - Pennsylvania's corporate net income tax.

40:30 - This budget should go down to 7.49, and in

40:33 - 2031 should drop down to 4.99%.

40:36 - It's been an issue with budget negotiations

40:39 - because as you know, we're a little tight on funds.

40:42 - And we're trying to figure out

40:43 - if we can keep that going, but we've made that a priority.

40:46 - These kinds of changes matter because employees need

40:49 - certainty about costs and timelines.

40:52 - And of course, we have infrastructure.

40:55 - And energy infrastructure is always my favorite topic to talk about,

40:58 - but I'm only going to touch on it.

40:59 - We need reliable roads, dependable utilities, and affordable energy,

41:03 - and they all affect how an employer can grow

41:06 - and whether regions like ours can compete.

41:10 - These are important issues.

41:11 - But think about it.

41:12 - No matter how strong our infrastructure is, and our energy policy,

41:17 - it only goes so far if we don't have the workforce to fill those jobs.

41:20 - And if you think they don't ask that when they come here,

41:22 - they ask us that question.

41:24 - And we too often times hear what you're behind.

41:27 - You're never going to be able to fill our workforce.

41:29 - So we're really as a commons, really trying to get ahead of that one.

41:32 - We don't want our students leaving. We want them staying.

41:35 - We want to make Pennsylvania one of the states that everybody envies.

41:39 - If you talk about energy, we export energy.

41:42 - We are sitting on a ton of energy here.

41:45 - And if you want to talk about energy, you should have genial here.

41:48 - He's our resident expert on energy in the Commonwealth, and he spews facts

41:53 - about energy, that you'd be amazed to hear about how Pennsylvania operates.

41:58 - I'm going to briefly touch on the budget,

42:01 - doing much better than last year.

42:04 - We've already had meetings around.

42:06 - And when I say we our leadership teams with the governor's office,

42:09 - that had not happen at this time last year.

42:11 - So that's very much improvement.

42:14 - The House actually passed the budget over to the Senate.

42:17 - If any of you are, reliant on any money in the budget,

42:21 - what just passed was basically just moving it along.

42:25 - Don't get yourself, committed or relying on that money.

42:29 - At this point, negotiations are still ongoing.

42:33 - It was just a first step in getting it moving so we could continue the process.

42:37 - I am going to bring up what I call the,

42:39 - I don't know what a white elephant in the room or the bomb in the room.

42:43 - I am data centers.

42:44 - I'm only going to briefly touch on it.

42:46 - I'm just going to ask, by show of hands, how many people in this room

42:50 - think that they're using. I.

42:53 - It's better than I thought.

42:55 - I'm here to tell you.

42:56 - Every single one of you are using it whether you want to be or not.

43:01 - If you go to a doctor's office, if you get an X-ray,

43:04 - if you order online, if you use GPS, if you ask Siri for a recipe,

43:10 - if you I'm sure there's so many ways that we're using it

43:14 - that were unaware of,

43:17 - so we did a hearing on AI,

43:19 - because schools are using it and students, I know none of you are doing this,

43:23 - but some students were using it to write papers.

43:26 - And it's really evident when a student does that.

43:30 - But they didn't think it was because it sounds really great. Right?

43:32 - It makes you sound smart.

43:35 - So we did a hearing on it, and we had all kinds of testifiers

43:38 - and talking about it, and my fear is myself included.

43:43 - I think there's about a generation of us

43:45 - or a decade of us that had AI but didn't understand how to use it.

43:49 - Right.

43:49 - We were just kind of slowly starting to use it.

43:53 - But a lot of folks were using it to,

43:56 - I, I think for them,

43:59 - instead of using it for what we really intended it for was to, to help

44:03 - you think you know better or expand your mind more and use it as a tool.

44:09 - The universities are now making sure every major, regardless of what it is,

44:13 - is trained and understands AI because it will be in every field

44:17 - and that they're not using it to think that they're using it

44:20 - to enhance what they can do.

44:24 - But the one thing that the head of,

44:26 - Penn West said she was ahead of there, I

44:30 - and as you know, anybody who's in anything technologies uses this very calm person.

44:35 - So she said it in this very calm way that alarms me beyond words.

44:39 - At first she said,

44:42 - hey, I

44:44 - could be might be as big as the Industrial Revolution.

44:48 - I was like, what?

44:50 - And then she said, I'm so sorry, I need to correct myself.

44:53 - I'm like, thank goodness it's going to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution.

44:58 - So when she said that, I was like, so it'll be everywhere.

45:02 - Like it will impact every part of our lives.

45:05 - There's just no stopping it.

45:08 - It is already here.

45:11 - So it brings me to my next thing data centers.

45:14 - Just showing hands.

45:16 - And I know I should ask this question.

45:17 - How many people do not like or adverse

45:20 - to a data center?

45:23 - It's much less than I thought.

45:25 - I thought it'd be a lot more.

45:29 - So I just did.

45:30 - Because how many people here fully understand data centers,

45:34 - right.

45:34 - Very few people. Right.

45:36 - And, and part of the problem is it's data centers and technology.

45:39 - Right? It's always changing. It's always evolving.

45:42 - So I did a, two weeks.

45:44 - Well, about a week and a half ago, I had Penn State Conservation, who's

45:47 - been studying it, do an hour long,

45:50 - you know, I guess it was called so I don't screwed up data centers.

45:53 - Why here? Why now?

45:55 - It was very educational.

45:57 - If you didn't have the opportunity to watch it,

45:59 - we have it out on our Facebook page on our website.

46:02 - I encourage you to do that.

46:03 - I learned so much,

46:05 - but we're going to try and do them quarterly because it's always changing.

46:09 - And there was so much we couldn't get to. There's so much to learn.

46:12 - But I'm here to tell you this same thing Penn State did.

46:16 - I feel the same way.

46:17 - I don't know whether a data center in your neighborhood is good or bad.

46:22 - I don't know that I'm still trying to understand data centers.

46:25 - I do know it's a matter of national security.

46:29 - I do know people in the United States don't want their data stored

46:32 - outside of the United States.

46:34 - And I do know we all use it.

46:36 - So it's not like we can stop it because we're all using it.

46:40 - But what I want is I want us to understand it.

46:43 - I want us to make good decision based on that.

46:46 - And if a data center wants to come into your community,

46:49 - I want you to be able to know why you want it, why

46:52 - you don't want it, and to ask really good questions

46:55 - so that you can in 20 years, say, I need that right decision.

47:01 - I the

47:01 - one thing I was amazed about, is I know the Netherlands is doing it,

47:05 - and they're a little bit ahead of us with this,

47:08 - data centers are now looking at old cold mines,

47:10 - not just to put it on top, but to put it underneath.

47:14 - As you know, data centers need to be cool.

47:16 - And the ground temperature is 52 degrees constant.

47:19 - And they love it.

47:19 - Well, the Netherlands has one, and there were some dignitaries

47:23 - here from the Netherlands, I think a week ago, talking about it.

47:26 - So therefore you can't see it.

47:28 - It's underground.

47:29 - They're using less electricity.

47:31 - And there I think people should be concerned.

47:34 - I think you should be asking questions.

47:36 - The industrial revolution.

47:39 - It is important that we are paying attention.

47:42 - It will impact us one way or another.

47:45 - So I'm going to

47:46 - transition now to something much more personal for me.

47:49 - I introduced a bill.

47:50 - It's a tax credit for a living living organ and tissue donors,

47:55 - just a little over five years ago was actually March 30th.

47:58 - I survived five years with my kidney.

48:01 - My very sweet sister gave me my life back,

48:05 - and allowed me to be a really productive society, a member of society.

48:09 - But I want that chance for everyone.

48:13 - So the tax credit would be up to $10,000.

48:16 - I know what you're thinking and would allow a deduction for travel,

48:19 - lodging, medical expenses, and lost wages.

48:23 - I know you're thinking $10,000.

48:25 - How many people are going to do this?

48:26 - Not as many as you would think. So,

48:30 - from the data we got from the Department of Revenue,

48:32 - if you didn't read it right, because some of my staff

48:35 - did, and I'm like, that cannot be what this cost.

48:37 - So I took a look at it

48:40 - at max capacity that we

48:41 - we can show it would be about $200,000 a year to the bottom line of the budget.

48:46 - I don't take that lightly.

48:47 - It's a small number in the big picture of the budget.

48:50 - However, we believe the savings, equates

48:54 - to so much more, people that are not working can go back to work.

48:59 - Medical appointments, county transportation.

49:02 - Maybe they get food stamps, housing, dialysis.

49:06 - Dialysis alone.

49:07 - If it's a kidney transplant, $78,000 a year in Medicare and Medicaid costs.

49:12 - But I'm not taking it lightly.

49:14 - And we're going to prove that it's

49:15 - saving the taxpayers money before we get it through appropriations.

49:19 - But I need you to know a couple of things.

49:21 - Every eight minutes, someone is added to the transplant list

49:24 - in Pennsylvania today, 5700 ish people, because something

49:29 - was probably added since I got the data are on the waiting list.

49:32 - 17 people die each day

49:36 - waiting for an organ or tissue transplant.

49:39 - The bad news is trends are showing this is not getting any better.

49:43 - More and more people yearly.

49:45 - That trend is growing that people need some kind of transplant.

49:50 - But let me tell you one thing one donation can save eight lives,

49:55 - and one donation of tissue

49:57 - can save up to 75 lives.

50:00 - I ask that if you're not an organ donor

50:03 - on your driver's license, that you just consider it.

50:06 - You read about it,

50:07 - you consider it and know the lives that you could actually save at for.

50:12 - So I'm going to transition out of that.

50:13 - But just that was my plug.

50:16 - We we have a

50:17 - lot of people that need to save lives, and we do become productive citizens.

50:20 - That's the what miss misnomer.

50:22 - Everyone thinks, oh, you get a transplant,

50:24 - you can never work or be productive again.

50:25 - That's completely untrue.

50:28 - But at the end of the day, I believe that this community,

50:31 - this region, is really well positioned to grow.

50:34 - We have hardworking people.

50:36 - We have really strong communities.

50:38 - We have excellent schools, dedicated teachers

50:43 - and respected employers and students

50:46 - who just want the chance to succeed.

50:49 - Our job in Harrisburg is to support that.

50:52 - We need to strengthen what we're doing with

50:54 - practical, thoughtful policy.

50:57 - For me, that means keeping a strong focus on the connection between education

51:01 - and our workforce.

51:02 - It means making sure students can read well,

51:05 - learn well, and graduate with real options.

51:09 - And if we do that well, we're not just helping students.

51:12 - We're not just helping employers.

51:15 - We are strengthening the long term future of this region

51:19 - and of the Commonwealth as a whole.

51:21 - So thank you to the Central Chamber for bringing us all together.

51:25 - This morning. Apologies for all the changes.

51:28 - But that shows how nimble you are.

51:30 - And to all of you today, thank you for sharing your time with me this morning.

51:34 - Please know we are always available for your ideas, your questions, your concerns.

51:39 - Typically we share them, but I say this all the time.

51:42 - Never assume we know what the problem is.

51:45 - Never assume we already know and are not doing anything about it.

51:49 - If I'm not experiencing it or someone hasn't talked to me about it,

51:52 - we may not know it is important to do that communication.

51:56 - And last I the students what I always say this when I'm with you, I work for you.

52:01 - I report to you, as does every other elected official.

52:06 - So, safe travels today and I will be open for any questions.

52:11 - Anybody have any questions?

52:12 - We could stand up and thank.

52:21 - You just don't let us down.

52:22 - Somebody else pushed.

52:26 - There we go.

52:28 - So we talked about the efficiencies,

52:30 - different from the,

52:33 - we to the.

52:39 - Media.

52:40 - What's your writing and the overall at this

52:44 - year?

52:45 - A lot of these books.

52:49 - That was our first on

52:51 - the numbers were trending down before that did not happen.

52:55 - I made it worse, but the numbers are trending down for them.

52:59 - So what happened is they changed how they're teaching children how to read.

53:03 - And they went to pictures.

53:06 - But what they figured out is now some pictures were removed.

53:09 - Students were putting the words,

53:12 - so we went back to structure literacy

53:14 - and the one they called the Mississippi Miracle,

53:17 - Mississippi was, I believe, the lowest performing students for reading,

53:22 - and they went back to structure literacy.

53:25 - I I'm not sure how you were typing both of us in here with top structure, but this,

53:31 - we're going back

53:33 - now to make sure our students can we're getting some electricity

53:36 - from some schools.

53:38 - But we did find some of our most rural areas adapted

53:41 - what they were told they had to adapt to, what were some teaching, what they were.

53:46 - So a lot of you receive the education in this room that you need to be

53:50 - a successful people, that some kids cannot.

53:54 - So it is

53:56 - okay.

53:57 - So your principal, you might want to know.

54:06 - Why I'm here from campus.

54:07 - Absolutely. Trump.

54:08 - And I agree that childcare is a huge concern in the American global context.

54:13 - Probably the most common concern to hear about

54:15 - those are the 11 prohibits them from pursuing jobs.

54:19 - That means taking more hours depending on.

54:21 - Here we go.

54:22 - We looked into opportunities to resolve those issues,

54:26 - but the regulatory hurdles to even consider opening the door,

54:32 - before the work day or

54:33 - after school care are just tremendous.

54:36 - And really, life has pushed us from pursuing it.

54:39 - What are some ways the state can work to resolve some terms, like one

54:44 - one childcare places report shutting down

54:47 - resulted in many companies of the 1940s

54:50 - over a period of weeks and we could have stepped in and help that.

54:53 - But the

54:56 - just the hurdles with regulations

54:58 - were just too much work to find out more state regulations or federal state.

55:03 - So let's talk after this, but let's get you in touch with the chamber.

55:07 - And let's see

55:08 - the lack of some of the.

55:12 - Thank you.

55:14 - What else?

55:19 - Do you.

55:27 - So again, thank you so much

55:28 - to Kurt and his team cam strategies for sponsoring this morning.

55:32 - We're very appreciative.

55:33 - Also thank you to everyone coming out.

55:35 - As you can tell, it's a full house.

55:37 - We're really excited.

55:38 - The next two legislative events are scheduled again.

55:41 - Register Register to register.

55:42 - They will be sold out.

55:44 - Auditor General Timothy Day four brought a packed house

55:47 - before, and then one of my personal favorites is going to be here.

55:52 - Dave, Sandy's going to be here in the later part of the year.

55:55 - And, let me tell you, those two gentlemen don't get to this area

55:58 - that often for you to be able to speak to and to be able to interact with.

56:02 - So if you want to come registrations open, it's already filling up.

56:06 - Another big thing.

56:07 - How many of you all been to our annual meeting before?

56:10 - Okay.

56:11 - So you know, it was at the Silver Moon all these years and that is no longer

56:15 - there is some development going on there.

56:16 - And we've moved the annual meeting, the annual meeting location

56:20 - has been announced. The date has been announced.

56:22 - Registration is open and filling up.

56:24 - We have had a challenge that we can only hold 200 to 225 people.

56:29 - Now we can hold 300, but I'm sure we're going to surpass that again.

56:33 - So if you want to come, you got to register because 300 is the number.

56:38 - The last few years we made extra seats, overflow seats.

56:41 - You didn't get a program.

56:43 - You did this years 300. Is it.

56:45 - So if you don't make the cut,

56:47 - unfortunately you'll have to read about it in the magazine.

56:50 - Speaking of, if you got the magazine today, be on the look out.

56:54 - There's a survey coming out.

56:56 - And first and foremost, please, by all means, so that we can do

56:59 - what you want us to do.

57:00 - Fill out that quick survey at your table.

57:03 - Even if you're a board member, even if you're a sponsor,

57:07 - even if you're a first timer and you're never been to an event before.

57:10 - Please, please, please, we want to know everyone's input so that we can do

57:14 - what is important for you and do the work that you need us to do.

57:18 - Also, if I could just have our Board of directors and any membership

57:21 - and engagement committee members just stand up

57:23 - and if you have any questions, concerns or you want to talk

57:26 - to someone about the chamber, look to these individuals.

57:29 - They can assist you.

57:30 - They're all board directors.

57:31 - And, they're here to help you as well, to help guide the chamber.

57:34 - So if you have questions, reach out to them.

57:37 - My staff is always available as I am as well.

57:40 - We thank you so much.

57:41 - And I want to tell you have a great weekend.

57:43 - Also, this would not been possible without the work of the team

57:47 - and all of our partners that we kept juggling changes.

57:49 - So I think it's been a very successful event

57:52 - and we're very appreciative to all of our partners.

57:54 - It wouldn't have been possible without God making sure we were all taken care of.

57:57 - So God bless and have a great weekend.

58:14 - And.