Governor Murphy today shared his vision for the future of New Jersey delivering his sixth state-of the state address before a joint session of the legislature in Trenton as is typical for these speeches the governor touched on his administration's accomplishments citing the economy and affordability touting some 200,000 jobs created under his watch along with a slew of tax cuts and the anchor property tax relief program among them but he also unveiled a few new proposal as he enters the final two years in office allowing 16 and 17y olds to vote in Schoolboard elections targeting unpaid medical debt which according to the state affects one in every 10 residents the governor wants to give patients more time to negotiate a bill and get financial help before debts are sent to collections he's also on board with formally revamping the state's affordable housing program and went back to his Progressive Roots urging lawmakers to back a bill that'll cover out of pocket abortion costs but the initiative that likely raised the most eyebrows Murphy's hopes of launching what he calls an AI moonshot to make the state a hub for artificial intelligence growth here's what he had to say to make New Jersey the best place anywhere to raise a family a state with greater afford affordability lower taxes for working families and the best possible quality of life a state where new new Industries are blooming and small businesses are booming a state with safer communities and the best schools in the entire country and a state in which our fundamental rights from voting rights to Reproductive Rights and every right in between are secure without question now we all know that these are not simple times as many of our neighbors tell us this is an era of unease and uncertainty we live in a world rocked by two full-on Wars a surge in hate crimes inflation High interest rates the aftermath of a pandemic and the tail end of supply chain disruptions and in the face of these challenges building a stronger fairer more resilient and more inclusive New Jersey has never been more necessary so as we begin a new legislative session let us unite together to continue addressing the biggest challenge facing our families the fact that for too many the cost of living is too high but we can turn things around for our families I know that because we have done it before in the face of strong headwinds we unleashed historic economic progress for New Jersey since the last Administration we have more than doubled the growth rate of our state's economy and at the same time we've created nearly 200,000 jobs pulling people out from under crushing medical debt is vital but so is protecting them from falling down that hole in the first place in that Spirit today and with great respect I'm calling on our legislature to enact a new package that will help families avoid being caught in a medical debt trap and at the same time require every single medical bill to be clear and transparent so when I talk about making New Jersey the best place to raise a family that also means ensuring every woman has the freedom to start a family on their own terms here in New Jersey before that Dreadful Do's decision came down we codified the right to an abortion we had long ago restored funding for Planned Parenthood and Family Planning Services after 8 years before us of zero funding and later this year thanks to the leadership of Senator Shirley Turner and assemblywoman Verina Reynolds Jackson T Trenton Zone we will take another step women will be able to walk into a New Jersey Pharmacy and buy birth control without a prescription here in New Jersey we understand that as A Philip Randolph said and I quote him freedom is never given it is one and we are winning freedoms for everyone first I continue support passing same day voter registration in New Jersey nobody should ever be denied access to The Ballot Box because they missed a deadline or forgot to send in paperwork same day voter registration will help prevent that and it will Empower every voter to have their say on Election Day additionally today again with humbly I'm also asking the legislature to send to my desk a Voting Rights bill that would allow 16 and 17y olds to vote in local Schoolboard elections so now in 2024 it is time for New Jersey to lead the world once again in shaping a new emerging realm with Incredible promise generative artificial intelligence today with AI I believe we are at the dawn of a new era much like we were 30 years ago with the internet think about it this way if a governor back in 1994 talked about the transformative potential for the internet you might have yawned looking back we have long since stopped yawning and that is why I'm talking about generative AI today because it is just as big and frankly overwhelmingly likely a whole lot bigger and few places are better positioned to lead the way globally with in AI than New Jersey and truth is we're already a leader in the field.