Gov. Chris Christie is scheduled to give his 2016 State of the State speech in Trenton Tuesday. We'll be using this page to provide the full text of his prepared remarks.

Follow along as we annotate the speech using Genius -- click on the highlighted text for fact checks, previous coverage and additional context. If you're viewing this on our mobile app, click here to join in.

Christie's speech, annotated:

Lt. Governor, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Legislators, friends -- and my fellow New Jerseyans:

This is the sixth time I have delivered my annual report on the condition of our state, as required by the Constitution of New Jersey.

Before my first visit to this chamber as Governor, I received a number of warnings from across our state's political class.

I was warned not to come here and waste my time talking about real reform.

I was told to under promise as a way to over deliver -- or at least break even.

I was warned by the chattering class not to pick battles with special interests -- only to pick the fights I could definitely win.

And no matter what, I was told not to raise expectations of actual governing -- because New Jersey was basically ungovernable.



When I arrived here, what did I find?

New Jersey was broke, economically depressed and failing. Decades of bad governing had turned our state into an economic basket case. We had grown zero net private sector jobs in eight years. Zero. We were dead in the water.

The victims of addiction deserve treatment, whether they're in the community or incarcerated. If we can break the cycle of addiction anywhere, we should break it.

So I've directed Commissioner Lanigan of the Department of Corrections and Commissioner Connelly of the Department of Human Services to implement the first licensed substance abuse treatment program at the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Next year it will re-open for its new mission. We are doing this because every life is a precious gift from God. Again, we must give all our citizens the chance to reclaim their lives.

Completion of a licensed treatment program will also allow inmates to be eligible for help upon release, providing an important safety net for offenders transitioning back into the community. The program is yet another way to reduce recidivism and helps all of our people to become productive members of society again.

Enhanced access to care is time and time again one of the most critical issues raised as I've traveled around the state speaking with providers, victims and their families. This is true in fighting drug addiction, and it's true in helping all those affected by mental illness.

Today, I'm very proud to announce a historic financial commitment of more than $100 million to increase access to care for mental health and substance use.

We're going to provide more competitive reimbursement rates for services and providers.

As demand for services continues to grow, we also need to widen access. Increased reimbursement rates will help improve critical services and provide more treatment capacity. The investment we're making will change lives and get more people into treatment earlier, instead of the emergency room or prison later. It's the fiscally responsible thing to do -- and it's the morally right thing to do.

For someone going through a mental health crisis, they're going to get better care in a treatment facility, not in a prison. We've already trained 2,500 first responders in nine counties on how to recognize and deal with difficult situations, so they can then decide whether it makes more sense to direct someone for treatment. Now we'll pay to train more. By expanding our training program we can help more people to get help faster. Another way to prove we believe every life is precious.

And to really make progress, we also need to provide access to better coordinated care.

Nearly two years ago I commissioned Rutgers University to analyze the characteristics of our most expensive Medicaid patients. What they found was totally clear. Within the top 1 percent of the most-expensive Medicaid patients, more than 86 percent have a mental illness, substance abuse issue, or both. If we can help people get access to coordinated care for their physical conditions, mental health and addiction issues, we can deliver more effective treatment and lower the long-term cost to the state.

To do this we're going to increase funding for three regional Accountable Care Organizations which are working to identify high-cost patients and coordinate their treatment for physical and behavioral health. Through a modest increase in funding, we can reduce unnecessary stays in hospital and avoid crowding up the ER.

So these are some of the important steps that we need to continue caring for some of New Jersey's most vulnerable people. This is a top priority for me this year, as well as for the remainder of my administration. Let's work together to save lives.

I also want us to continue getting our economic house in order. Together, we can continue to deliver the hard reforms New Jersey needs to drive new growth, jobs and investment.

Yes, we've made huge progress on the road to recovery over the last six years. But we've still got a long way to go. Decades of fiscal mismanagement and opposition from some folks in this legislature have slowed the pace of reform.

We need to make New Jersey a better place to do business. We need to get the burden of taxes and red tape off people's backs. We need to help more of our citizens to achieve the prosperity and security they deserve.

Over the last six years, we've seen the incredible benefits that flow to communities when we simplify our tax structure. When we're disciplined about the way our state functions, we can create the right economic framework in which the middle class, businesses and communities can reach their full potential. When we reined in property taxes by putting a 2 percent hard cap and passing interest arbitration reform, we put power back in the hands of communities.

When I signed into law in 2011 more than $2.3 billion in targeted, job-creating business tax cuts, we gave business the shot in the arm it needed to sustain the recovery and we have seen 224,000 new private sector jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in over seven years.

Now we need to take the next step, to turn recovery into sustainable long-term growth and opportunities for New Jersey.

Today, I'm calling on you to join me in abolishing the Estate Tax that penalizes the next generation and harms the long term economic future of our state.

Right now, New Jersey imposes an estate and inheritance tax.

Fourteen states currently have estate taxes, and six have inheritance taxes. But only New Jersey and Maryland have both. We're outliers. And we also have the lowest exemption threshold in the country. It makes New Jersey unfair and uncompetitve.

The estate tax isn't just something that affects the wealthy, it's penalizing middle class families who want to pass down the family home to the next generation. Our tax structure incentivizes people to move to other states as they age -- and when they do, to take their businesses and capital with them. In a recent survey by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, more than 67 percent of people said that estate and inheritance taxes influenced decisions about the future of their business and where they will live in their later years.

We need to fix this now. We need to stop punishing the next generation and hurting middle class families.

In the last six years, we've changed the face of education of New Jersey. And we've given our young people a fighting chance for the future.

We've made the largest investment in education in New Jersey's history. More than a quarter of our 2016 fiscal year budget is being spent on direct aid to our schools, and we have some of the highest per-pupil spending in the nation.

We made historic, bipartisan changes to the oldest tenure law in the nation.

We worked with teachers to bring performance-based pay to schools in Newark.

We focused aggressively on improving the lowest performing schools across our state, including intervention to turn around failing schools in Camden and passing the Urban Hope Act.

In partnership with our community colleges, we launched the College Readiness Now Program to help at-risk students graduate from high school and to get prepared to attend college. 19 community colleges partnered with more than 60 high schools across the state, serving 900 high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 97 percent of the students completing the program in Atlantic and Cape May Counties enrolled in Atlantic Cape Community College as freshmen.

And we've attracted the best charter school operators, expanding the number of charter schools in New Jersey to 89 -- 39 new schools since we took office.

And it's charter schools that I want to focus on now.

Charter schools have been a resounding success for our state.

The number of students attending charter schools has nearly doubled during the course of my administration, and in districts like Newark and Camden nearly 30 percent of public school students are attending public charter schools.

What we've seen, over and over again, is young people with incredible potential being able to get the boost they need to go and achieve their full potential. Over and over again we've had examples of inspirational teachers, who thanks to the resources provided through well-run charter schools, have been able to make a huge difference for their communities and for a new generation.

Today, in this room we have an inspiring teacher who embodies everything we could wish for from our education system.

Allison Cuttler teaches math at the Uncommon Schools' North Star Academy in Newark. She's done incredible work to get more students at North Star interested in STEM subjects and careers, and she started her school's AP Computer Science class as well as their 'Girls Who Code' club. More than one quarter of African American students in New Jersey who passed the AP Computer Science exam last year came from her class, and the pass rate for her classes matches the national average. In December she received a Milken Educator Award. And today, for all her transformational work, she receives the thanks of a grateful state. Thank you Allison.

Now if we want to continue supporting people like Allison, then we need to continue improving our charter school system here in New Jersey. If we choose to keep investing in and supporting innovation in our education system, there's no reason we can't achieve many more success stories. There's no reason we can't have great schools in every community.



In November, I convened a roundtable in Newark with state and national charter school leadership. I wanted to listen and learn about what we need to do to enhance charter school growth and success in our state.

This is what I heard. Charter schools in New Jersey have been successful in spite of our regulatory environment -- not because of it. We've achieved some early successes with our charter schools, but we're not making it easy for them. Instead of giving charter schools the autonomy they need to deliver great education outcomes, we're regulating them using almost all of the same regulations that apply to traditional public schools. It's not good for innovation and it's not good for attracting more innovative charter school operators to our state.

Today, I'm announcing that my administration will aggressively prioritize regulatory relief for charter schools. We're going to explore ways to create greater flexibility in the teacher certification process for charter schools and we're also going to explore ways to make it easier for charter schools to find facilities. And we will pursue the regulatory reforms we need to encourage development of more charter schools to serve our most at-risk youth, including students with autism or development delays.

Education is key to our long-term success as a state and as a country.

It's undeniable that we've made a lot of progress in New Jersey over the last six years. There are things we've achieved that can be an inspiration and model for reformers in other states and at the national level. So let's keep going forward together. There will always be naysayers, the talking heads in the media and the unabashed partisans who think only liberal Democrats achieve anything worthy of praise. I've ignored those folks my whole career and I will continue to do so. They are the same folks who I said I shouldn't be U.S. Attorney. The same ones who opposed me for Governor in 2009. The same ones who called me a one-termer. Their record speaks for itself.



This is our path forward from here. The state of New Jersey is strong. If we work together, we can make it even stronger. But we can also make it smarter, more efficient, more resourceful -- and more compassionate. And if we are not careful, we can make it weaker if we give in to the selfish special interests. I will say no and I pray you will join me.

I have spent the last thirteen years of my life as US Attorney and governor of this state fighting for fairness and justice and opportunity for the people of this state. Every day I wake up and think about how to make New Jersey better, and how to make our country better. I feel so privileged to have served these last 13 years. I thank the people of New Jersey for the chances they have given me.

I believe our best days lie ahead. But if we want to win the future, then we need to face it boldly. We can't shirk from the difficult decisions and hard conversations we need to have. We can't choose to only pass the easy reforms or the ones that the media or the special interests like.

Government service is an enormous privilege and a special opportunity. Look around us. This great hall should inspire acts of sacrifice and greatness, not pettiness and self-service. We can do better by remembering who gave us these jobs - not the campaign contributors, not the folks who occupy the palaces on State Street - - the everyday heroes of New Jersey life. They work and struggle to make their lives better over the hurdles that life places before them. Let's not have those that serve in this chamber and what you do be another hurdle in their lives. Let us be the powerful who clear the hurdles for them that they cannot clear alone. We can do that by putting ourselves in their shoes; not by putting ourselves deeper in their pockets and their lives.

We must try and make things better for all, not just the monied few who roam these halls as if they own them. They think they've bought them. They're wrong -- but only if we make it so. Because all of us have been blessed with the strength and resources and wisdom to do the right thing.

Let's try. Let's work hard. Let's do better than you did yesterday. Let's say what needs to be said. Let's make New Jersey a better place to live, for all our people.

I've never had a greater honor then being Governor. I will never stop fighting for those who elected me. I will never stay silent to injustices. I will never settle for less -- from any of us. That is who I am because that is who New Jersey taught me to be.

Thank you and God bless you and God bless the great State of New Jersey.

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Samantha Marcus and Stephen Stirling contributed to this report.