State of the Commonwealth Address - 2019

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Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin delivered his 2019 State of the Commonwealth & Budget address Thursday night.

"The state of the Commonwealth is strong, very strong," Gov. Bevin said to a joint session of the Kentucky House and Senate. "We have much to celebrate tonight."

The governor touched on the big issues facing the state including school safety, jobs, education funding, and the pension system.

Gov. Bevin said it is obvious more work needs to be done to pulling the pension system out of debt. He said the solution to the problem is to start by "paying what we're supposed to." He also said he's proud of lawmakers funding the annual payments.

"This is the first administration supported in turn by legislation that came out of this body that has ever funded 100% of the ARC (Actuarially Required Contribution)," Gov. Bevin said.

Bevin championed the amount of money that is being funneled into Kentucky's schools and praised the legislature for their work to pass a school safety bill.

The governor also defended some of the pro-life legislation making its way through the General Assembly this session.