Over the last years, the challenges the state has faced haven’t disappeared, but Pennsylvania has made significant progress.

Pennsylvania has created 200,000 new jobs, improved more than 20,000 miles of roads and restored more than 1,900 bridges.

The state has also restored $1 billion to our schools and made sure that children’s opportunities were not restricted by their zip code as well as turned a $2.5 billion deficit into a surplus.

Governor Wolf went on to say that they expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 720,000 Pennsylvania residents and increased enrollment in the CHIP program so that it serves 180,000 children.

He also noted that 4,200 homeless veterans are off the streets and into permanent housing and that the state has helped tens of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities get care in their homes.

“And while we’ve had plenty of fierce arguments in Harrisburg, that hasn’t stopped Democrats and Republicans from working together to legalize medical marijuana, modernize our liquor system, make our pets safer, and pass comprehensive pension reform that puts our fiscal future on sounder footing,” said Governor Wolf.

“Our differences haven’t stopped us from putting a down payment on criminal justice reform with the Clean Slate bill, instituting new protections against domestic violence, and passing our first gun safety law in decades.”