Terry Branstad in 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches

On Education: Future Ready Iowa: 70% of Iowans beyond high school

Let's close the skills gap--which in many ways is the biggest challenge our state faces over the next decade. That is why Lt. Governor Reynolds and I set the Future Ready Iowa goal that 70 percent of Iowans in the workforce should have education or training beyond high school by 2025. Today, less than half of our workforce does.

Accomplishing this ambitious goal will create unprecedented opportunities for Iowans and better position our state to compete in an increasingly knowledge-based, digital economy. That is why we established the Future Ready Iowa Alliance, co-chaired by Lt. Governor Reynolds, which will make recommendations by Oct. 31, 2017, to assure more Iowans have the careers they deserve and employers can hire the skilled workers they need to grow and innovate.

Source: 2017 State of the State address to Iowa Legislature Jan 10, 2017

On Education: Teacher Leadership System for every public school

Together we have made progress toward our goal of restoring Iowa's schools to best in the nation through a series of landmark reforms and innovative policies. To improve Iowa's education standing, we needed to make sure our hardworking teachers had all the tools necessary to succeed given higher expectations for all students.

So, we created a new Teacher Leadership System that better utilizes the expertise of top teachers to improve education, instruction and foster greater collaboration. I'm proud to say that every public school in Iowa today is participating in our Teacher Leadership System. Sustaining these measures over time is critical to get the right results for our students and our state.

Source: 2017 State of the State address to Iowa Legislature Jan 10, 2017

On Health Care: Transform mental health system to community-based model

Together, we have transformed our mental health system to a community-based model, we obtained a federal waiver for our Iowa Health and Wellness Plan which has reduced charity care for hospitals and, like 39 other states, we have modernized our Medicaid program.

As a result, we have created a new system where more Iowans have access to mental health services closer to home than ever before; more Iowans are covered with health insurance than ever before; and more than 80 new value-added services are now being offered under our modernized Medicaid program.

We've also replaced the old Medicaid system with a coordinated team of health-care professionals to ensure patients see the right provider at the right time. As a result of these reforms and innovation, we have improved the focus on health outcomes and saved the taxpayers $110 million.

Source: 2017 State of the State address to Iowa Legislature Jan 10, 2017

The above quotations are from 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for other excerpts from 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for other excerpts by Terry Branstad. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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Page last updated: Dec 10, 2018