Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

I truly understand how important it is to have affordable and accessible childcare for Maine parents. You know, when I met and married my husband, Stan, he was a widower with five daughters, ages 4 to 16. So overnight, I became the stepmother to five girls, while at the same time serving as the elected District Attorney -- for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties -- a full-time job.

Parents across the state of Maine need consistent, affordable care for their children, not just so they can go to work, but so their children can learn and grow in a safe place, especially in the early years before they're old enough to go to school.

Research shows how very important those earliest years are -- they tell us that a child's brain forms over a million new neural connections every second during their earliest years of life. Early childhood education is critical to teach those early skills like recognizing letters and sounds, and understanding and managing emotions, and building relationships with others -- socialization that children need as they grow. That's why my administration has invested more than $145 million in state and federal funding to strengthen the child care system in Maine and start and expand Pre-K programs in Maine for all who want it.

Recently, I visited child care facilities and early childhood programs in Sanford, and East Millinocket, and Windham. I visited the new child care center in Windham with infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms and outdoor spaces for kids to explore. That was built with $250,000 in federal funding from my administration. This project in Windham is just one of nearly 300 child care facilities and family child care providers who received grants through my Jobs Plan.

RSU 14, serving students in Raymond and Windham, also got a grant of more than $110,000 through my jobs plan to expand Pre-K at two local child care programs. And the district got another $50,000 through the American Rescue Plan from the Maine Department of Education to open and furnish a brand new Pre-K classroom at Raymond Elementary School.

Creating safe places where kids can learn and grow does more than just support kids. It ensures that parents can go to work, that they can earn a living, that they can contribute to a strong economy. So I am proud of the high quality child care and early childhood education programs that my administration has helped create over the past several years, more than more than 6,000 child care slots across the State of Maine.

That's a lot. But I also know that child care providers have challenges. As someone who helped raise five daughters, and as someone who is now a grandmother to five kids, I deeply appreciate the work that childcare providers do every day. I know it's not easy.

But to all of our childcare workers statewide: I thank you for all you're doing to support our workforce, to strengthen our economy, and to set our kids on a path to lifelong success.

Our children are our most precious assets and our highest priority. My administration will continue to support high quality care to Maine's children and families for as long as I am Governor.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, falls are a serious and growing public health concern and are the leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths among older adults; and

WHEREAS, falls often result in serious injuries such as hip fractures and head trauma and cause a loss of independence, significantly impacting the quality of life for older adults and their families; and

WHEREAS 1,566 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, as well as 7,399 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, and 71,853 from World War II, though thousands from World War II are assessed as unrecoverable deep-sea losses; and

WHEREAS, the families and friends of unaccounted for Vietnam War Veterans, as well as countless fellow Veterans and other Americans, still await recovery and identification of their remains or clarity regarding their fates; and

WHEREAS, domestic abuse and violence is a serious injustice and public health crisis that affects people and families of all races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and income levels; and

WHEREAS, each year nearly half of all homicides in Maine are related to domestic abuse and violence; and

WHEREAS, support and help are available 24/7/365 to anyone affected by domestic abuse, through the programs of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and the statewide domestic violence helpline; and

WHEREAS, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the rights of free expression, including the freedom to read, write, speak, publish, and access information without government interference or censorship; and

WHEREAS, libraries – as trusted public institutions – embody these constitutional principles by ensuring that people of all ages, backgrounds, and beliefs have open access to a broad range of ideas and perspectives; and

WHEREAS, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federal grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education and careers; and

WHEREAS, GEAR UP Maine was founded in 1998, and since then has helped prepare over 29,000 students to pursue education and career pathways they otherwise may not have been able to; and

WHEREAS, manufacturing is essential to the economic vitality of Maine, supporting nearly 1,900 businesses, employing over 56,000 people, and contributing billions of dollars annually to the state's economy; and

WHEREAS, Maine manufacturers create a diverse array of products, from precision aerospace components, advanced composites, and marine vessels to food, beverages, and forest products, strengthening both our local communities and our national economy; and

WHEREAS, Farm and Sea to School programs enrich the connection communities have with their local food producers by bringing fresh, locally produced and harvested food into schools throughout Maine; and

WHEREAS, Farm and Sea to School programs benefit both our students and food producers by increasing fresh, whole food consumption and improving health outcomes while also increasing revenue and customer base for Maine food producers; and

Career and Technical Education programs, or CTEs, equip young people with skills and hands-on experience to make sure they can get good-paying jobs and have rewarding, life-long careers.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Despite the important role that CTEs play in the lives of young people and in building a skilled workforce to strengthen our economy, for decades, Maine just didn't modernize or expand these workforce training programs or even provide them with modern, appropriate equipment.

Maine needs more plumbers, more electricians, more truck drivers -- more people overall in the trades -- and that's why I've worked so hard to make historic investments in career and technical education centers throughout my career. In fact, back when I was attorney general, I settled a case with Bath Fitter Company and used the funds from that settlement to begin new plumbing programs at four different Maine high schools. And when I became governor, I continued to make investments in our CTE system so it can serve more students with better equipment.

Through my Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, we've invested $20 million -- federal funds -- to expand career and technical education centers -- the first meaningful investment in decades. That included $4.5 million distributed to 23 different CTE programs to purchase and upgrade equipment so that Maine students are ready for careers in today's highly skilled industries.

Sanford Regional Technical Center used their grant of nearly $117,000 to purchase equipment for their Engineering Architectural Design and Machine Tool programs, among other things. The Sanford School Department was also awarded $321,000 Pre-K expansion grant through My Jobs Plan that funded the construction of three new Pre-K classrooms at Sanford schools and funded the expansion of the Pre-K program at the Sanford CTE from half-day to full-day.

Well, this past week, I visited the Sanford CTE to see how students are doing using the equipment that our investments helped make happen. I had snacks prepared by the culinary arts students as we toured the pre-K learning and early childhood education classrooms. I practiced driving a police car with law enforcement students on a new driving simulator that was paid for by the job plan funds. A really remarkable instrument.

And I visited with students who were learning the building trades like plumbing and electrical, and carpentry, as they worked building a house. I visited the business program, and the video production program, and learned how many kids at the CTE there are earning credits towards college in these programs. I ended the tour by speaking with students in STEM classes, studying things like advanced technology.

I'm so excited to watch as the students I met this week graduate from Sanford Regional Tech and put their new skills to use in good-paying jobs that will make rewarding careers for them and that will benefit our economy overall.

I'm very proud of those students in Sanford and from the area schools, and I'm proud of the nearly 11,000 students at the CTEs--a record high. That's up from 8,000 seven years ago.

My administration will keep doing everything we can to support students of any age to earn the credits and credentials, and certifications, or college degrees they need to succeed in our state and make Maine the best state to live, work, and raise a family.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s historic exhibition hall, the Maine Building, was constructed in 1925 on the Avenue of States at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds, home of The Big E, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, to showcase the best of Maine to fairgoers from across the Northeast and beyond; and