Good evening, church. Hallelujah. Welcome to this evening program, the Midweek Prayer. Let us pray. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, our Father, our Creator and our Redeemer. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come before the throne of grace this evening to thank you for you have led us through this day and you have seen it fit for us to be here to worship you and to bring us applications unto you. We thank you for the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ through whom all Lord we have life in you, life now and life in eternity. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit whom we now ask, O Lord Father, that He may come and abide in our midst, O Lord. Father, we confess our sins of thought of action and in any way we have run short of their glory. We ask that He may forgive us, cleanse us and purify us because your word says that, O Lord, if we confess our sins, you're just and you're faithful. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, my Father, may your Holy Spirit enter into every heart that is connected to this pulpit physically here and even on the online media. May your will be done, O Lord. We invite you into our presence as we worship you. May the meditations of our heart and the words of our mouths be acceptable unto you. Be enthroned, be exalted. For you as O Lord is the kingdom, the power and the glory now and forevermore. Amen. Good evening again. You're welcome to this program. I would like to invite you to come in. We thank the media team that is here. We want to thank the servants that the Lord has appointed to serve today and with us here, Diana Gunga is going to bring to us the scripture reading and our elder, Luca Meyer, is going to speak the word the Lord has sent him with, with the topic of failing desire. We welcome you. Enjoy worshiping with us and enjoy praying and be here and may the Lord bless you. Good evening, church. Now it's time for the scripture reading. Our scripture reading is from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. I'll read from verse one to seven. I'm reading from the New King James Version and it says, Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened and the clouds do not return after the rain. In the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men bow down, when the grinder sees because they are few and those that look through the windows grow dim, when the doors are shut in the streets and the sound of grinding is low, when one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of music are brought low. Also they are afraid of height and of terrors in the way. When the almond trees blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden and desire falls. For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets. Remember your Creator before the silver coat is loose or the golden ball is broken or the pitcher shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Dear people, that Lord you may speak to us clearly and grant us understanding that we need. It's my humble prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. Good evening viewers and members who have come. I want to take this opportunity to thank God for the privilege and for the opportunity that He has given me to stand before you this evening to speak from the word of God. Our sister has read for us a verse from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 from verse 1 to 7 and I have entitled my presentation this evening, Failing Desire. Desire is defined as a strong wish to have or to do something. It is something that you really, really want to do or to have. And the writer of this book, the one who has written this book Ecclesiastes was a very wise man and he is talking to us at such a time like this through experience. The words that he's writing to us is not something that he is gazing or trying, but something that he himself has gone through. And that is why I just want to go through the few verses that he has written to us here in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 1 to 7. It starts by saying, remember now the creator in the days of the youth. Many a times it is a verse that we normally use when we are speaking to the youth, when we are speaking to the young people. But he's saying, remember now the creator in the days of the youth while the evil days come not. Nor the years draw nigh when those I'll say I have no pleasure in them. When Suleiman is speaking, he's reminding us of something. He's telling us to stop and consider God while still there is time, while we are still alive, that any moment you find yourself in this world when you are born and you find yourself in this world he's saying something that is coming out very clearly that you have started a journey. And this journey it may be a long journey or short, but it is a journey. This journey may end up somewhere and many a times it ends at the grave. So it's reminding us something that before you do something stop and consider God. Then he is going ahead by starting to explain some things which happen as we grow old. He's saying especially in verse three when he talks about grinders being few, which means dropping out of the teeth. Then he's saying something and windows be darkened, which means the deeming of the eyes as we grow old is explaining some things that are happening to us in our life. But there are many challenges that comes with old age. So he says the hair turning white when he talks about the almond tree shall flourish in verse five says as you grow old you will find that you don't look the same. Your life system begins to change. There are things that are changing in your life. You'll find that your teeth are now becoming few. Your hair is turning white and there are things that are happening that you will be afraid of climbing some high places because as you grow old your body system is becoming weak and weak. Then I think this is the reason why he is saying that we need to consider God when we still have some strength in us. I think he's trying to figure out what will we have to offer God then when we have reached a situation whereby we are weak, we are old and there's nothing that we have that we can say that we can offer God. And that's why I say when Solomon is speaking through experience because this man was rich by all means. He had all the things that he may need in this world but he came to realize that all these things that he had could not satisfy him. So he says here that we need to stop and consider God when we still have time. If you pause and think about a time that we are living in, I want to tell you that we are living at a time of moral madness, a time that we don't want to dainy ourselves anything we want. Anything that we want to have we don't want to dainy ourselves no matter which way we want to get it. So we are living at a time when the word of God has become detestable to many of the people. And the man of God is wandering. There's a book I read in the Bible, 2 Timothy chapter 5, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 to 5. That book is talking about Perilla's times, dangerous time, how people will behave at the end of time. People will do things that you will pose to wonder why they are doing them. And if you read that book you will find how they are stated in the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 to 5 which we are not going to read now because of time. But my topic today, the thing that I want us to get is that time comes, that desires fail. Time comes my brothers, that desires do fail. I'm reminded of a story that is a true story of something that happened not long ago of a lady. This lady was diagnosed by having the deadly disease that we call AIDS and she was a church member. She used to attend church until when now she was not able to come to church anymore. And there are ladies who would go to visit her. After church service members, the witnesses would go and visit this lady and pray with her. But this lady was doing something which is quite strange, that the lady decided to remove some of her blood and any time that this church members would go visit with her she would make sure that she prepared something for them to eat or to drink but she would mix with the blood that she had removed from her body. So she did this for quite some time until now when she was on her deathbed and the ladies went to see her and to pray with her she kind of got touched and she confessed to these ladies that I'm sorry for what I did to you. Then now these ladies were just wondering what is it that could have happened. Then she opened up and told them that you know any time that you came to visit with me if there's anything if there's something that you tasted in my house I had made sure that I mixed that thing with my own blood. My dear friends in this world that we are living in you know time comes in a critical condition. Time comes that desires fail. You know there are times you may want to omit what you have eaten. There are times you may pose to wonder. The Bible says that remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth when things are still good when you are still strong when your mind is still clear when you can still read without using these glasses. When you are not taken to the world because that time will come anyway. Then he goes ahead by saying in verse five also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fear shall be in the in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be of burden and desire shall fail. That is where I've gotten the topic of my presentation this evening because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. So as we walk around along the corridors of this world we are being reminded that we will not be here forever. A time is coming for you and for me and you may not even know it you may not even know when but it is coming anyway. So you need to stop and consider God now when still this time. I remember when my mother got sick and I took her to the hospital then after having gone through many doctors and many a lot of treatment I brought her here in Nairobi and she was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. I'm the one who brought her to the hospital. Then the doctors now decided to discharge her because they told me there was no need of her staying in the hospital for long. I will incur a lot of money for nothing. So they would rather give me, would rather discharge her so that I can take her home. You know that's my mother. So my mother was waiting after they had finished with her and she was discharged, she was waiting somewhere on the waiting room and I was called by the doctor inside. So they actually told me, Mr. Mayo, you said that is your mom, said yes. Then he told me okay I want to just help you. There's no need of keeping her here for long.  So what we'll do, we'll give you some medication, just some painkillers you can be using for a while as he waits. My friend, when I walk out from the doctor, my mother looked at me. She looked at me at my very face directly and then she asked me, my son, just tell me what did the doctor say? If I look at you and see you are weak, just tell me what the doctor said.  My desires fail. The moment I walked out of the consultation room and when I saw my mom knowing that she is no longer going to leave, and here he is asking me, what did the doctor say?  Desires do fail and it will come to fail whether you like it or not. That's why the writer of this book is telling us to stop and consider God. Before we get any older, because there are challenges that come with old age and some of us may not even get old. So you need to stop and think again. That time came. You know, it came to Adam and Eve before I even got there. Verse 7 says, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Solomon is talking about death here. He has given us admonition. He has advised us on what to do. And as I told you, he is talking from experience. This is an old man who had everything, name it. He tested life. He called it food. He had more than enough. He had more than enough. He had many. Women, he had so many of them. So he is talking from experience. None of you have or have the things that Solomon used to have. You don't, you had everything. But he reached a point whereby he is saying vanity of vanities. In fact, if you read this chapter that I'm reading, verse 13 and 14, he is saying conclusion of the matter. He is saying this is now the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandment because that is why you and me were made. Nothing else. He speaks from experience. That time came to Adam and Eve, the book of Genesis. I read it and I was amazed that time came to Adam and Eve. Those who were created in the image of God in Genesis chapter 3, verse 7 and 10, where it says Genesis chapter 3, verse 7 and 10, where it says, and the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked. Yes. And they and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves abhorrence. These were first, our first parents made in the image of God and God gave them instructions and they knew. They have found themselves now looking for the fig leaves because they have sinned. They have realized that they are naked because sin will uncover you. Doesn't matter who you are. And then they have made themselves abhorrence of fig leaves and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called out unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? What a wonderful God. What a mercy for God that we serve. One who still comes even when we have disappointed him. One who still looks for us. I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for his mercy. The one who still looks for us. I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for his love that even when I have messed myself, God still looks for me. He came in the cool of the day looking for his creatures. The Bible says very well that they heard of him coming. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. People are playing around with sin. Time is coming. Sin will uncover you. They found themselves naked and they could not face God.  I wonder the song writer sang a song wondering, saying, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Marvelous grace of my loving God. God who loves me. Yes, I may disappoint him, but he still loves me. He still comes. Adam and he found themselves in such a situation. Time is coming, my brothers, that you and me, you will give an account of what you did with Jesus Christ while on earth. That time is coming. Whether you like it or not, it is coming. Yes, it came to Judas in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter seven, verse three and five. It came to Judas. He says, then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying in verse four, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? See thou that. You know, when he was betraying our Lord Jesus Christ, he focused his eyes on the money. He was given thirty pieces of silver.  A time came that those thirty pieces of silver became so hot in his pocket that he had to return the money. Nobody was willing to take that money.  So, verse five says, and he cast down, he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. There's nothing to do with the money. It is money, wealth, sex, what? A time is coming. Of course, you wonder. I know that you have cherished all these years. I remember, sometimes back, my mom was still alive. So, do some work at the samba. Our samba was just near the road. And some five men, they were old men. They were passing by. So, my mother was trying to greet them. Telling them, how are you? They were just quiet. What's wrong? I'm trying to greet you and you are not answering me. You are just quiet. Then one of them, they opened up and he told my mom, my mother, that, let me tell you, what we have seen today, we have never seen it before. My mother wanted to hear more. This was says, this gentleman, they were not Christian. They used to enjoy the brew. There's a kind of brew that is being made by maize, maize flour and they mixed it. So, at home, there was a home, near, not far from our home. This gentleman would go and enjoy themself. This, that kind of brew is called busa. So, they normally use this. There are some sticks. Those sticks, they have some kind of, how do I put this? But they have a hole inside. So, every morning, these five men would go and enjoy the brew. Now, they sit around. That thing is put inside a pot or a drum. They sit around.   And now you begin to drink. And when they are drinking, they talk nicely. And they are praising themselves how the thing is nice. And they talk a lot. So, as they were doing that, they, they surrounded, they, they were surrounding the pot. And each, each and every one of them with this sacking stick, one of the, the muses noticed that he, the thing was not coming out as it used to come. It was like it had an airlock. So, he is trying to suck. The thing is not coming out. So, he asked his, his neighbors, his, his, his colleagues that, man, what is happening? How come I'm trying to suck, but I'm not getting the brew. How do you find it? And then the gentlemen were saying, no, me, I'm getting it. Can you come and try where I'm seated? Then another one came. He tried, ah, it's not coming. Then they said, maybe there's something wrong here. So, they called the lady. They called the lady who is the owner of the house, the one who normally makes this. But, what is happening? You see where I'm saying, Zevlani, you seated, Zevlani, you seated. If you try, you wasn't there. The thing is not coming out. So, every one of them tried at that place. Nothing was coming. So, they already came and washed her hands nicely and she dipped her hand inside the pot and realized that there was a dead cat that had drank the brew last night and now the cat was kind of, it was swollen. So, when these guys were trying to put their sucking thing, it was going directly on top of the dead cat. The thing is not coming. So, when this lady brought the cat out, the men left the place and they could not talk anymore. Their desires failed.  So, one of them told my mom, are they what we have seen today? We have never seen it before. We were enjoying the brew, but we came to realize that it wasn't the brew at all. We were enjoying the dead cat. My friends, time comes in life that desires fail. Yes. So, when you still have time, you need to stop and consider God. That's why it is true.  Our Lord is coming back. You will have to give an account of what you did with Christ while or not. No wonder, in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 6, Revelation chapter 6, verse 15 says something. It says, let me just read them, Revelation chapter 6, verse 15, it says, And the kings of the earth, the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captain, and the mighty men of every bond man, and every free man, hid themself in the dense, and in the rocks of the mountains. Then verse 16 says, and stayed to the mountains, and the rocks fallen us, and hid us from the face of him that seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. The great day of Israel is coming, and who shall be able to stand? My dear friends, time is coming, the captain, the rich men, men who have enjoyed the pleasures of this world. At time is coming, they will try to speak to the mountains and to the rocks to fall on them, because who shall be able to stand? No wonder Solomon is telling us this evening to stop and consider God, while we are still strong, while we can still think properly, while our system is still working, stop and consider God. We may have missed ourselves, but thank God for his mass, thank God for his love. Isaiah, as I finish the book of Isaiah, Isaiah tells us something in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 1 says something in verse 18 and verse 19 and 20. Isaiah says, come now and let us reason together, say the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, crimson, they shall be as wool. Then he says in verse 19, he be willing and obedient, he shall eat the good of the land. Then verse 20, but if he refuse, if he refuse, my friends, if we are big-headed, if we rebel, he says, if he refuse and rebel, he shall be diverted with a sword, the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. What a wonderful God has not left us in darkness, but has revealed everything to us in the Bible.  He is willing to reason up with us, even though we have gone astray, even though we have messed ourselves, God is calling us this evening, if we are willing and obedient, to listen, willing and obedient, to be able to eat, to refuse. The Lord has no any other way of saving us, if we have refused to listen to His Word. So this evening is my prayer that you and me accept to worship Him, to consider Him now when still this time, before the evil days come. May God bless us and keep us, and prepare us for His soon return as I pray. My kind and loving Father in heaven, what a mighty and powerful God that we serve, the Lord that loved us, the Lord that has instructed us to listen to His Word, wonderful words of life. As we walk along the corridors of this world, we need to stop and consider You. Oh Lord, may You help us. Even though we have gone astray, we thank You for Your call. We thank You for reminding us that You are willing to save us. We are only but obedient. So this evening, my dear Lord of glory, take charge and care and prepare us for Your kingdom. Remember Your people all over the world, those who are suffering in various ways, men and women who are sick, those who are in the hostels, all that they may listen to Your Word. Your Word may give them encouragement. Men and women who have lost loved ones, that's how you may be able to encourage them. Bring us more closer to You and keep us safe as we wait for Your second coming. It's my humble prayer. We thank our elder for the message and we thank our God for bringing us here. And having those who have joined to be together in fellowship this evening. It is our prayer and belief that we have been blessed by the message, feeling desire. And now this is the end of our meeting this evening. We would like to welcome you next Wednesday. God willing that you also come again so that we may share and enjoy the messages that come every Wednesday evening. So for those who are inside, may God be with you even as you leave. And those who have joined online, we also want to pray that the Lord will keep you safely until we meet again the next Wednesday. So may I request that we rise and say the grace as we live. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. God bless you.


And today I would like to talk to you about research road mapping with discourse graphs. As Eugene said, my name is Carla Kirstenow. I'm the Network Research Team Lead at Protocol Labs. And at PL, we build tools to move science forward faster. And we think that these tools are important public goods. And today I'd like to talk about one of those tools, the discourse graph, which we see as a protocol for sharing and synthesizing knowledge. And how we use it in research road mapping, which we see as a process for aligning incentives and managing information flows between researchers and research funders. Oh, this works. This is awesome. Great. So discourse graphs, a protocol for scientific coordination. What we mean by that is there's been a lot of really interesting work being done in the road mapping space, a lot of it by, for instance, the Forsyte Institute has done some really excellent work with their tech trees and maps map initiative. We had a really great talk about that a little bit earlier. And so I'd like to talk about a tool that we've been supporting at PL, which we think is a nice complement, a powerful support for road mapping efforts. We think that discourse graphs can be used to describe the present state of the knowledge frontier, find opportunities to move the frontier forward, to evaluate different research initiatives, and find leverage points in a research network. So we like to think of science as being a complex system with lots of moving parts. And we think the discourse graphs can give us a little bit of insight into those moving parts and allows us to see little points where we might be able to influence the system for maximum impact. And the work I'm talking about today is largely the creation of some of our grantees, some of the people that we've had the privilege of working with. So people like Joel Chan, who is a professor who studies creative knowledge work at the University of Maryland and the creator of this particular discourse graph protocol. And David Vargas, who is an independent developer who builds tools for thought. And Madoka Matsu, who's a molecular biologist who expanded the discourse graph grammar, the discourse graph system to meet the needs of modern experimental science. And then also, of course, the discourse graph community of practitioners who are researchers, scientists, thinkers who get together and do cool things like meet up in Hawaii and talk about image annotation and genetically engineering novel fungi. So these are the kinds of cool people that you get to work with if you're interested in discourse graphs. And as was mentioned, Joel and David were kind enough or foresighted enough to offer us an impact certificate for supporting this work. So I want to mention that, that I'm talking my book here. I'm very incentive aligned here with this talk. And this was co-issued to me and Evan. So at some point, we will of course fight to the death over ownership of this impact certificate. I've been doing my push-ups, Evan. So let me describe the discourse graph grammar before I get into how we use it in road mapping. What's really cool about discourse graphs is it's a very simple, very naturalistic system. And it replicates the parts of natural living conversations. Really, there's some vibrancy and dynamism in the protocol. So you might, you will recognize all of the parts of the graph. It has pieces like questions, asking questions, making claims about the world, adducing evidence to support those claims, and then referring to sources to provenance that evidence that you've reduced in support of the claim. So of course, the Darling of the Internet forum, the source, I made it up, is not good enough for a discourse graph. And those, let me move back a second. So here we have the nodes of our discourse graph. Now let me talk about the edges of the graph. The relations between the nodes are the relationships between these different pieces of the discourse graph conversation. So evidence informs questions. And it can be used to say support or oppose a claim. So there's a charge there. Claims can support or oppose other claims. And new questions can be informed by existing claims. And this is interesting because it means that there's sort of a little bit of pre-adaptation for the generation of new questions. You may have a claim out there that's sort of in search of a question. And it hints at the modularity and composability of the system that something that seems to be settled in one discourse graph system may invoke or stimulate new questions in a new or adjacent field in a new discourse graph system. A lot of interoperability. It's like playing Legos, and it's really fun to build. A little bit more about the data model. If you think about a discourse graph system as a system of nodes, and indeed it could be expressed in a system of postive nodes. Very simple. Question nodes express an open research question. And claim nodes synthesize observations. What that means is that they bring together a lot of different things you've noticed about the world, and you generalize them into a claim about the world. Evidence nodes, on the other hand, a little bit lower in the hierarchy, express a specific observation. So they carry with them a lot of context, a lot of specificity, and source nodes contextualize those observation nodes. So the build process, when you're creating a discourse graph, you start with a set of questions, and you collect observations to begin to address those questions. Now, I should mention that those two steps are often reversed, especially in empirical science. A lot of times we find that we make an observation about the world, we say, huh, and then that generates some questions. I think a lot of science is precipitated by, huh, more often than Eureka. So then we synthesize, we've made a bunch of observations, we synthesize them into claims about the world, and then we compose those claims into arguments and theories, and then we go off and we find new questions or hypotheses to test. And I think you'll find this is a very familiar recapitulation of the process of scientific inquiry. This is what you do, and we're just kind of breaking it up into parts and making them explicit and, you know, sort of describing them with pretty little boxes on a slide. So discourse graphs are a client-agnostic protocol. They can be implemented in anything from, like, a cork board, murder board, to a marrow board. I think some of the more popular implementations now are net book notebooks like Athens, Log Seek, Obsidian Rome, for instance, is probably the most mature ecosystem for working with discourse graphs, largely because that's where David Vargas, the open-source developer that I mentioned earlier, has developed a powerful suite of extensions for implementing the discourse graph protocol that's spreading to a lot of different clients, and David has a project where he's going to make that spread even faster. So I mentioned there's some flexibility in the protocol. I spoke earlier about the biologist, Madoka Matsu, who's sort of adapting the discourse graph grammar for experimental science. All that really means is that he's changing the terminology that we use to describe the different nodes in the graph to better reflect what goes on when you're working at the bench. So the original discourse graph protocol was developed from the needs of literature synthesis, sort of examining and dealing with the needs of the current knowledge frontier, assessing the state of the current state of the art, the current body of knowledge in a particular field. Results graphs, which is sort of Matt's twist on the subject, it's a little bit more geared toward experimental science. So the question, claim, and evidence backed up by the source of the discourse graph in the result graph is a hypothesis conclusion result, and the source of truth there is the experiment or the model or the simulation. A slight difference, but it has particular implications. What it does is it emphasizes that the source of evidence in the results graph system is the experiment model or simulation, and it makes it very clear that a hypothesis is a request for experiments, and it's a system that makes it easier to formulate well-structured requests for experiments. And we'll see how that works when you incorporate this into the road mapping system. Okay, so I've said roadmap, I've invoked the term road mapping, but I haven't really defined my terms and it's sort of like I'm burying the lead here. What I mean by our research roadmap, it's a goal-centered model, essentially centered on a breakthrough innovation. It describes significant milestones in a technological effort and the relationships between those milestones. It is meant to concentrate expert attention on a research problem. It identifies leverage points, as I mentioned, in the research system. It surfaces them, sometimes serendipitously, for expert attention. And it allows us to drive distributed coordination around a problem. It sort of makes everybody, it gives a shared context for attacking a problem, for examining a problem, evaluating it. I would say that a discourse graph is a user interface for distributed coordination. That's well with the road mapping system. It helps us to understand the current state of the knowledge frontier. That's the synthesis process. To identify dependencies and missing links between milestones and to create requests for experiments to incentivize distributed pathfinding. So the process where different distributed decentralized researchers can follow their own local incentives while keeping in mind global incentives, the global state, and the global optimum of the system. And so I'm going to describe how this works in the context of, as an example, an RFP. In fact, an RFP that was developed and funded by the CryptoNet Lab at Protocol Labs last cycle. Just using this as an example, this roadmap was derived from the RFP. The RFP was not developed explicitly as a roadmap, but I think it's a good illustration of how, because an RFP is a goal-centered research initiative, it can be represented as a roadmap. And so I'm using this example here. Any errors in the diagram are solely my own fault, and I apologize in advance to CryptoNet Lab. So the first step of building a research roadmap is to define the goal state and its properties. Ooh, I have a laser pointer. I think any time you get a laser pointer, you should also have a conference cat. So you define what is your definition of success? How does the world look different or better when you're done? In this case, CryptoNet Lab wanted better vector commitments. And then they defined the properties that constitute what is a better vector commitment, and those you can see in the purple squares outside of the green triangle, goal state. Then you draft open problems for creating the necessary properties, and those can be kind of thought of as research projects that are necessary that you've defined to address the properties that your future state needs to have. And then you might, if you're particularly kind, suggest potential directions for solving the open problems. So these are ways that you might address or ways you might approach the open problems that your grantees may make some mention of in their grant applications. Here you can see each roadmap node in the RFP generation process can be seen as being supported by a discourse graph. This is where that composability comes in. You can just sort of drop in a discourse graph at any one of these nodes to support your reasoning as you're building this graph. For instance, what is the desirable goal state? This is meant to represent an argument or a conversation that you may have internally as you're building out your roadmap. What are the essential properties of the goal state? Another argument, what research projects are necessary to enable those properties? And what are the highest impact directions to take within each research project? These are opinionated roadmaps. They express your beliefs about the path to progress here and so they should be supported with some evidence. And then finally, these are all synthesized into a roadmap and you make the crucial distinction of which properties or projects should be de-prioritized. I'll get into in a minute or two, actually just one minute, and I'll start with discourse graphs. Again, an open problem statement is a request for experiments. So while you were shifting now from the internal discourse graph-like project of creating the roadmap that you may do with a small circle of collaborators and externalizing the problem, you're inviting people to the conversation by asking them to contribute results graphs to solve the problems identified in these nodes. The nodes are still here.  This is about what's called the evidence store. It's not very easy to see in this slide, so I'm going to go to the next slide. It's already been implemented in software in a couple of different client softwares, but this is just for illustrative purposes in a little narrow board. What it does is it's a querying tool, the David-built, which allows you to attach attributes to any one of the nodes in your discourse graph. So for instance, when you're building a roadmap, those appropriate attributes might be the robustness of your confidence in a particular direction, the amount of support, the amount of evidence and support of going in that direction, the amount of evidence opposing going in that direction, and even whether they are at the lower level, whether there are sources that support or oppose a particular, support or contradict a particular piece of evidence. Now if you're doing this collaboratively, it may be appropriate to describe those bits of evidence, those attributes as distributions, which essentially could represent child-source credences about the true value of whatever you decide to attach to your discourse graph. There's a lot of flexibility here in the different implementations. And essentially what you're doing is you're building an investment thesis. We're seeing here not only can roadmaps be used to drive what we call an RFP project, but also there's meta-roadmapping, where you may roadmap the process to drive adoption of a research public good that's sort of at a different scale. So these discourse graphs are kind of scale independent. And essentially each one of these graphs represents an investment thesis for the direction that you want to, the direction that you want to support, incentivize, accelerate. And so we can see that there's a little bit of similarity and complementarity in the way that we build discourse graphs and the way we build research roadmaps. We start with a set of questions, start working with the current knowledge frontier, synthesize claims about its position, locate gaps in the frontier, estimate how important it is to fill those gaps in a comparative way, request experiments to fill the gaps, collect conclusions, re-synthesize all of our data, and push the frontier forward, and then start with new and better questions. And I think I'm contractually obligated to show this particular slide, crossing innovation chasm. Our missing effective coordination systems to make this part happen, Juan has mentioned this several times. I think I'm going to cheekily drop in the results graph protocol. It is a small but significant contribution to the types of coordination systems that we'd like to see built to move science forward and to coordinate activity around a research goal. If you're interested in these types of problems in building research portfolios and talking about research road mapping, research team, that's my team, research program managers, that's my role, research scientists, research startup operators. We also have a discord for network goods, public goods, and nerds. If you haven't joined it already, please do join us there and nerd out with us. And Joelle and Matt and the discourse graph community of practitioners, really awesome people. They are in our discord. They have their own discord. They're all over the place. If you want to read the docs there's a really nice wiki that Joelle has put together. And I should mention Madoka Matsu. If you want to work with results graphs more closely, Madoka Matsu is hiring a Siberian, which is an even cooler form of librarian to help work with the results graph syntax, results graph grammar, protocol, and community. And thank you very much.


this joint assembly is convened this joint assembly is convened pursuant to the provisions of JRS 3 which the clerk will now read JRS 3 joint resolution to provide for a joint assembly hear the inaugural message of the governor resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives at the two houses meet in joint assembly on Thursday January 10 2019 1 o'clock and 30 minutes in the afternoon to receive the inaugural message of the governor please rise and remain standing while Mexico's Consul General Graciela Gomez Garcia and Honorary Consul Dr. Jessica Holmes are escorted into the chamber by Staff Sergeant Air Lukomansky Aerospace Medical Technician Squadron Medical Element 134th Fighter Squadron 158th Fighter Wing in South Burlington, Vermont please remain standing while Quebec Delegate to Boston Marie-Claude Francois is escorted into the chamber by First Sergeant Chris Sample currently serving as First Sergeant of the 86th Troop Command located in Williston, Vermont please remain standing while Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Douglas who is escorted into the chamber by Sergeant First Class Jesse Blomgren currently serving as Combat Engineer Readiness NCO and Alpha Company 572nd BEV 86th IBCT in Bradford, Vermont please remain standing while former Governor and Mrs. James H. Douglas are escorted into the chamber by Master Sergeant Jean-Luc Perot Senior Administrative NCO for the 124th Regiment in Colchester, Vermont please remain standing while Governor Peter E. Shumlin and Katie Hunt are escorted into the chamber by Sergeant First Class Deborah Brown HR NCO with the 124th RTI out of Colchester, Vermont please remain standing while the Honorable Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court are escorted into the chamber by the Sergeant at Arms please remain standing while Treasurer-Elect Elizabeth A. Beth Pierce is escorted into the chamber by Staff Sergeant Megan Byrne Financial Management and Analyst, Knowledge Operations Management Specialist and Recruiting and Retention Advisor in South Burlington, Vermont please remain standing while Secretary of State-Elect James C. Condos is escorted into the chamber by Sergeant Jessica Smith Human Resource NCO with the Army Mountain Warfare School part of the 124th Regional Training Institute Colchester, Vermont please remain standing while Auditor of Accounts-Elect Douglas R. Hoffer and Suzanne Gorman are escorted into the chamber by Master Sergeant Mack Breuch Infantry Battalion Operations Sergeant Major in Jericho, Vermont please remain standing while Attorney General-Elect Thomas J. Donovan and Jessica McLeod are escorted into the chamber by Staff Sergeant Yulia Benson Supply Sergeant for the 40th Army Band in Colchester please remain standing while Marion Dubois, Diane Matigue Scott, Erica and Rachel Scott and Kevin and Donna Scott are escorted into the chamber by Major General Stephen Cray the Adjutant General State of Vermont. The Chair would like to recognize the Senator from Chittenden District for the purpose of making a motion. He never served in this chamber. Thank You Mr. President. I move that a Committee of Six be appointed by the Chair to wait upon His Excellency Philip B. Scott the Governor-Elect to escort him into the chamber for the purpose of receiving his inaugural message. The Senator from Chittenden District has moved that a Committee of Six be appointed by the Chair to wait upon His Excellency Philip B. Scott the Governor-Elect and escort him into the Chamber for the purpose of receiving his inaugural message. Are you ready for the question? If so, all those in favor please signify by saying aye. All those opposed signify by saying nay. The ayes have it and the motion is carried. The Chair appoints as members of this Committee Representative Noyes the member from Wolcott Representative Haas the member from Rochester Representative Beck the member from St. Johnsbury. The Senator from Windsor Wyndham District Senator Ballant. The Senator from Grand Isle District Senator Mazza. The Senator from Caledonia District Senator Benning. Will the committee please assemble and perform the duties assigned to it? The joint assembly may be at ease. Mr. President. Madam Sergeant Arms. May I present to you the Honorable Governor of the State of Vermont Philip B. Scott. Please remain standing while the State Police Honor Guard posts the colors. Please remain standing while Rep Kevin Coach Christie sings our National Anthem. Oh say can you see by the dawn's early what so proud the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars so gallows say does that star-spangled banner yet be seated we will now we will now hear from the Edmunds Middle School seventh grade chorus who will now sing America beautiful the invocation will be given by the most reverend father Leopold J. Billidoo of the Carmelite Nuns of Lowell Vermont. Governor asked me to have a little humor in the in the but I couldn't think of any way of doing that but while we have Senator Dick Mazza who's got a great voice I thought we could sing the following song all together this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine this little light of mine I'm gonna make it shine let it shine let it shine let it shine thank you let us pray really father source of all life freedom and authority come before you in solemn prayer on this inauguration day of Philip E. Scott 82nd Governor of the state of Vermont and David Suckerman as the Lieutenant Governor we thank you for the many blessings you have bestowed upon our state from its shores to its mountains to its farms towns and cities we ask that you continue to watch over this free state its citizens and its leaders now and for many years to come in a special way we ask you to pour forth your blessings upon Governor Scott and Lieutenant Governor Suckerman as well as their wives and their families as they begin anew their special service the state of Vermont bless them with wisdom courage and love as they take the prescribed oath and accepts the heavy responsibilities of our state's highest office keep always faithful keep them always faithful to their solemn pledge and enable them in your love to bear true allegiance to the state of Vermont and its Constitution by seeking the common good of all Vermont citizens and by joining hands with all our fellow citizens in the ongoing work of building a state that seeks to be a place of freedom justice and compassion for those most in need especially for the poor the marginalized and the unemployed a state that cherishes and uses wisely the resources with which you have endowed our land may Vermont founded as a beacon of religious liberty and toleration continue to uphold this most cherished freedom by welcoming in the public square faith and the values that flow from faith show us the path Lord to be builders of relationships in our state and its communities so that we may bring forth harmony from our diversity bless our governor as he seeks to create cooperation among government business service and faith communities so that together we may create opportunities for all our fellow citizens especially our young people to fulfill their god-given potential in loving homes and families and safe and effective schools lead us lord in finding ways to build trust in communities to curb violence and to protect the homeless the destitute the infirm and the elderly give our governor our legislators and all those in government service and have a greater measure of understanding as they address the difficult problems that are facing us all most of all lord give us joy and give us hope that we may be preserved in unity and freedom and in that peace the world cannot give and after enjoying the blessings of this life be admitted to those are eternal we make this prayer by holy name amen Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court the Honorable Paul L. Ryber and Diana Matigue Scott will now come to the podium the Chief Justice will now administer the oath of office to the governor-elect. I will not directly brain directly do any act or thing do any act or thing injurious to the constitution injurious to the government thereof I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute and faithfully execute the office of governor the office of governor for the state of Vermont for the state of Vermont and will therein do equal right and will therein do equal right and justice to all persons and justice to all persons to the best of my judgment to the best of my judgment and ability and ability according to law according to law so help me god so help me god I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution and I will support the constitution of the state of Vermont of the state of Vermont and the constitution in states the oath of office to the constitutional officers will now be administered by governor Philip B. Scott first the oath will be administered to Elizabeth A. Beth Piers. Raise your right hand and repeat after me... I Elizabeth A. Beth Piers I Elizabeth A. Piers solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will be true and faithful to the state of Vermont that I will be true and faithful to the state of Vermont and that I will not directly or indirectly and that I will not directly or indirectly do any act or thing do any act or thing injurious to the constitution So the government thereof, so help me God, I solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of treasurer for the state of Vermont, and will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability according to law, so help me God. I solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the state of Vermont, and the constitution of the United States, so help me God. Congratulations. Thank you. The oath will now be administered to James C. Condos, raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, James C. Condos, solemnly swear, that it will be true and faithful to the state of Vermont. And that I will not, directly or indirectly, do any act or thing, injurious to the constitution, or government thereof, so help me God. I solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of secretary of state for the state of Vermont, and will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability according to law, so help me God. I solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the state of Vermont, and the constitution of the United States, so help me God. Congratulations. Thank you. The oath will now be administered to Douglas R. Hoffer. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Douglas R. Hoffer, solemnly swear, that it will be true and faithful to the state of Vermont, and that I will not, directly or indirectly, do any act or thing, injurious to the constitution, or government thereof, under the pains and penalties of perjury. I solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the officer of auditor of accounts for the state of Vermont, and will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability, according to law, under the pains and penalties of perjury. I solemnly affirm that I will support the constitution of the state of Vermont, and the constitution of the United States, under the pains and penalties of perjury. Congratulations. Thank you. The oath will be administered to Thomas J. Donovan. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Thomas J. Donovan, solemnly swear, that it will be true and faithful to the state of Vermont, and that I will not, directly or indirectly, do any act or thing, injurious to the constitution, or government thereof, shall help me God. I solemnly swear that it will faithfully execute the office of attorney general for the state of Vermont, and will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability, according to law, I solemnly swear that it will support the constitution of the state of Vermont, and the constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Thank you. A second invocation will now be given by Rabbi Toby Weisman of the Yearning for Learning Center for Jewish Studies, Montpelier. According to Jewish tradition, each day of the week has a new light never before experienced, a divine energy of renewal and rejuvenation. We have the ability to connect with this unique light as we begin this legislative session with the inauguration of Governor Phil Scott for his second term. What can we learn together that will help our Governor and the people of Vermont begin this term with the highest intentions and best actions? In this week's Torah portion, Moses tells the people, in the future you shall tell your children with a mighty hand God brought us forth from Egypt from the house of slavery. Moses told the people then and is telling each of us now in every single generation that we have a responsibility to vividly remember, recall, retell, reenact, and relive our story of being enslaved and becoming a free people. We have the duty to take a deeper look into our lives and ask ourselves where are we enslaved and affirm that we have the power to choose to become free people every day. The Hebrew word for Egypt is meets rhyme, meaning a narrow place, a place of being stuck. And according to Jewish tradition, in order to be freed from slavery in Egypt, each day we need to actively disconnect from the stuck places in our lives. We all must take responsibility to become people who are connected to doing acts of love, justice, and compassion. Every day we are given the strength to personally and collectively free ourselves from whatever limits us from being our best. We are the people of this brave little state of Vermont and we are part of a nation. We can choose to free ourselves from Egypt, from meets rhyme, from the narrow stuck places where we find ourselves. We all have the power to choose to build a society that honors the freedom of all people, not just our own. We all must consciously acknowledge that dignity, honor, love, and compassion are divine gifts of the Creator given to each human being. All of us are created in the image of the Creator of the universe. Those of us who have the power need to ensure that these freedoms are given to each person. Dear Scott, the people of Vermont have reaffirmed our belief in your ability to lead this great state. We have all witnessed how you have steered us to build a state focused on justice, dignity, love, and compassion for your fellow Vermonters. Today we stand with you as you are about to continue on your journey as Governor of Vermont. We hope that you will set a strong example to approach any challenges with the utmost courage. We are all looking to you for your guidance, your inspiration, and encouragement to discover ways to help our neighbors and communities. Dear Scott, may you be blessed to lead the people of Vermont so that we will all be proud to tell our children how under your leadership we chose to build a society that honors the dignity of all of us. The Edmunds Middle School seventh grade chorus will now sing These Green Mountains. It is now my distinct honor to present to you the Governor of the state of Vermont, the Honorable Philip B. Scott. Please come to order. Please, as well. Just for the record, it's Red Sox. Mr. President, Madam Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the General Assembly, distinguished guests, and fellow Vermonters, I want to begin by thanking the people of Vermont for the opportunity to serve as governor and for their trust and support as we carry out the work ahead. It is the greatest honor of my life. I also want to thank my wife, Diana, my two daughters, Eric and Rachel, my mom, and my entire family for their support and love. I couldn't do this without you. This is the second time I've had the privilege of addressing you as we open the biennial session. Each time we've gone about our work against the backdrop of a national political environment that's brought out the worst in the public process. Unfortunately, this still exists today as too many value political points over policy solutions. Social media still overflows with negativity and hate, and politics as a whole still seems to divide us more than it brings us together. I truly believe that in Vermont, we can set a standard others across the nation can aspire to, and elected officials can look to as a better way, the right way to go about the work of the people. And when the work gets difficult, when tensions build, which they will, when divisions seem too deep to overcome, when we need to be reminded that they're still good in the world, look no further than the people of Vermont. We saw the good in the people of Swanton who sheltered and fed their neighbors as floodwaters forced them from their homes in the depths of winter. The good lives in the young girls and boys who were inspired when they saw a mob player native Amanda Pelkey take the ice halfway around the world in South Korea. When she was born, Hockey was a game for boys, 25 years later we welcomed Amanda home an Olympic gold medalist. The good is in the pride hundreds of us felt on a cold day in November to celebrate the return of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, and the incredible work of two Vermont artists Jerry Williams and Chris Miller whose craftsmanship will stand for generations on top of this beautiful building. The good is in Sarah Byers, the owner of Leonardo's Pizza in Burlington, giving those in recovery the opportunity to get back to work knowing full well the road may be rough but believing in the person and the journey and seeing past the stigma of addiction. The good is found in the Perry family whose combined 120 years of dedication and service in the Navy was recognized at a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut as the USS Vermont was christened, four sons, three grandsons, and a daughter-in-law all following in the footsteps of the former representative from Richford, Captain Al Perry. We saw the good in two political opponents running for the house in Memorial County, Lucy Rogers and Zach Mayo, a Democrat and Republican debating the issues, then sitting together to play a musical duet proving to the nation there is a better way. Every day we see the good in our service men and women and our first responders, our teachers and nurses and our coaches, scout leaders, mentors, and all those who serve others without expectation of praise and often too little recognition. The good is in this chamber. It's here because it lives in each and every one of our communities, the places we come from and the people we go home to. It's in our schools and churches, our businesses and farms, our forest trails and townhalls. The good, the courage to show a better path, is the same courage that allowed those who came before us to persevere through harsh winters, to carve our way of life from granite mountains and rocky hillside pastures. The good is in our hearts, it's in our minds and it's who we've always been. Today, more than ever, it's who America needs us to be and to meet the challenges ahead to best serve our monitors. It's who we have to be. Focus must remain on those we're working for and what we're working towards. To do that, we must face the economic realities that exist across the state in all 251 towns, cities and villages and the impact our policies have on each of them. We must look for common ground. Instead of highlighting or exploiting our differences, view consensus and compromise not as a weakness but as a strength. And if we can, our work, our actions, our results will aspire in renewed faith in government and give hope to every community. Together, we can work toward a more prosperous future for our state and our people, where families in every town are moving up the economic ladder with a good-paying job and a way of life they can afford. Where all kids get a quality education with the same opportunity to achieve their full potential and where we do all we can to provide for our neighbors who need us most when they need us most. An affordable Vermont with opportunity and economic growth, with great schools in every corner of the state and policies that benefit all Vermonters. This can be our legacy. We can achieve this vision, but it requires us to recognize and overcome the obstacles in our way. I know some may be tired of hearing me talk about our demographics or have given up and believed there's nothing we can do to change them, while others may not feel a sense of urgency because their own community hasn't been impacted as dramatically as others. But you don't have to take my word for it. Just ask Moody's, who recently downgraded our bond rating in part due to our lack of population growth resulting in fewer working age Vermonters. These facts in this problem can no longer be ignored. Just take our labor force as an example. Since 2009, our labor force has declined by about 15,000, 15,000 fewer people working or looking for work, 15,000 fewer Vermonters available for jobs. We know businesses are trying to fill right now, 15,000 fewer potential income taxpayers. These losses have been felt across the state, but have had the greatest impact outside of Chittenden County. Since their peak employment, Washington and Franklin counties have seen a labor force decline of about 2%. By the same measure, Addison and Orange have seen a reduction of nearly 5% and Grand Isle and Orleans have lost around 6%. Bennington, LaMoyle and Wyndham have seen their labor force shrink by 10%. In Windsor, 12, Caledonia, 13, Rutland, 14, and in Essex, it's down by almost 20%. This demographic reality is perhaps most apparent in our schools. It's like the canary in the mineshaft. In our public schools, we're now educating about 30,000 fewer K-12 students than we were in 1997. That's an average loss of three students a day for over 20 years, and that trend continues. There's not a single county that has been affected. Since 2004, which wasn't all that long ago, Franklin County's enrollment has shrunk by 3.5%, and is doing the best by far. Chittenden, LaMoyle, and Orange counties have seen declines of 12%. That has dropped by over 16 in Caledonia County, 17% in Orleans, and nearly 19 in Washington. In Bennington and Grand Isle, it's declined by 21%, and Wyndham, 23. Three counties, Addison, Rutland, and Windsor, have lost a quarter of their students in 14 years, and in Essex, they're educating 42% fewer kids. These declines are eroding quality and opportunity for our children, and this is happening on our watch. These trends not only mean fewer in our workforce and schools, but fewer customers and businesses, ratepayers for utilities, fewer available for our volunteer fire departments, and others who support the needs of our communities, and fewer to share the costs of state government with ongoing needs in areas like transportation, building maintenance, public safety, and human services, but there are other needs as well. We have a moral obligation to protect our seniors and kids and treat those impacted by mental illness or addiction. We're committed to restoring and protecting our lakes and rivers, which will cost for our monitors nearly $1 billion over the next 20 years, and we must keep the promises we made to our state employees and teachers to pay their pensions and health care costs in full. The debt we owe today is over $4 billion, and the annual payment to catch up continues to grow by tens of millions each year, but let's be clear, a deal's a deal. Each of these commitments are important, but our stagnant population is threatening every service we deliver, every program we administer, and every investment we hope to make. Even the most optimistic among us must recognize what this means. Without a different approach or major change in circumstances, our current revenues won't support our obligations, our wants, or even our needs. On the campaign trail, a Burlington business owner told me, we don't need more taxes. We need more taxpayers. The solution is really that simple, but the path to a better outcome requires our best ideas, our best work, and the courage to make real change. That's what we signed up for and what's expected of each of us. Vermonter selected me and many of you to ensure we don't ask them to shoulder any more of the tax burden. They're doing their part, and it's time for us to do ours. Despite these challenges, we have so much to offer and so much to be hopeful for. We're one of the safest, healthiest states in the country. We have a good education system, which I believe we can make the very best. We have a culture and lifestyle that's second to none. These things offer a great quality of life, which is among the best recruitment tools we could ask for. This is all positive, but we know it's not enough. So this session, let's focus on strengthening those assets to keep and attract more working families with an eye on reversing our population trends. Let's grow the economy to support jobs and organic growth, expand our tax base, and ease the burden on hardworking Vermonters. Because if we want people to move here and stay, we must make it more affordable. This is how we rise above the challenges ahead of us, improve the lives of Vermonters, and chart a new course for our future. Let's work to reinforce the things that make Vermont such a great place to live, the health of our citizens and environment, and the strength and safety of our communities. Vermont has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the nation. We rank among the top states for the health of our women and children, the number of mental health providers, and physical activity. We're also among the best in the country with low instances of violent crime, obesity, and infant mortality. Many of you in this room, as well as our predecessors, have contributed to this success. But Vermonters still struggle with a high cost of insurance, especially those in our state marketplace. That's why I'll propose health insurance reforms focused on increasing affordability for Vermonters, and specifically young people, as we work to retain and attract more of them. And during the campaign, I talked about a voluntary paid family leave plan, balancing the value of this benefit with Vermonters' ability to pay. In the coming weeks, I'll roll out that concept. I truly believe an opt-in approach puts us on a path to the goal that we all share without raising a new tax. We can also build on our work to protect our environment, communities, and kids. We rank high when it comes to air quality, but we can do more to lower emissions in our state, so I'll propose using settlement funds to help more of Vermonters purchase electric vehicles. And my budget will propose a long-term funding source for our water quality initiatives using existing revenues and a new delivery model to put this money to work on the ground. This fall, we learned from the Department of Health that some students may be exposed to lead in drinking water in our schools. Here's an area we agree on. So let's act quickly to protect our kids. In order to do that, my budget will invest in lead testing at schools statewide. And if you work with me in budget adjustment, we'll have every school tested within a year. Second, we'll continue to transform our education system, going from good to the very best in the country, supporting and educating every child from cradle to career. Many of us here today have heard countless debates about education, but far too often it's been about something other than the kids themselves. From taxpayers to teachers, the fate of buildings and debt, old districts and new districts, and rates and rebates. This has created a fear of change that's handcuffed us to the status quo and distracted from the single most important purpose of our schools, educating our kids. We must have the courage to make the conversation about giving every child the best possible chance at a good future. And the truth is, not all of them are getting equal opportunities. Here is just one example of what students are facing. Now I want to be clear, these are real middle schools in Vermont, but I'm going to call them school A and school B. Students at each are taught language arts, math, science and social studies. But school A has advanced math, like algebra one. School B does not. School A has 20 sections of art. School B has one. School A offers multiple French classes. School B doesn't have any foreign languages. School A has banned chorus music, health education, industrial arts, and family and consumer sciences. School B doesn't offer a single one of these. You might be surprised to hear that these aren't schools from opposite ends of the state. These two middle schools feed into the very same high school. This is not an isolated case. It's happening across Vermont. So we must continue to address the inequality that exists. I've heard you and believe me, I recognize a change of this magnitude takes time. But in the near term, I believe the best opportunity for progress is in early care and learning to give all kids, regardless of their background, a strong foundation. We've taken important steps. Let's build on it this year by working together to give every child an equal chance at success. Last fall, I identified a new revenue source to put toward these initiatives, which I'll detail in my budget address. If we can work together on a high quality childcare system that's affordable and accessible, along with a stronger education system, we could set Vermont apart from other states as an education destination for families. We can and will debate on policy, and that's okay. But let's focus on the merits of our ideas. Let's not resort to scare tactics. Let's roll up our sleeves and make change that gives all our kids an equal shot at success that puts their interests above special interests and builds them, hands down, the best cradle to career education system in the country. Next, we must ensure businesses can stay competitive with those in other states around our region because we can put all the best ideas on the table to attract young people and support working families. But if we don't have jobs, none of it will matter. Act 250 was created nearly 50 years ago to address a rapidly growing state. At that time, there wasn't the regulatory oversight to deal with the population expansion brought on by the baby boom and the interstate highway system. But those circumstances no longer exist. That's why I'll propose reforms to modernize Act 250 in a way that expands growth in our struggling downtowns while continuing to protect the environment because we can and must do both. This proposal builds on the work we did together last term to modernize regulation and support the development of affordable housing in our downtowns and growth centers. This year we can do even more to build stronger communities by updating Act 250 and encourage more compact development while preserving our working lands and rural character. We also know that broadband is crucial to parts of the state that are currently underserved or in some cases not connected at all. I'm sure most realize this isn't the cure-all to our economic challenges, but as we seek to attract more people to live and work in Vermont, we must continue to expand access. This session I'll put forward a package of reforms and my budget will include investments to do just that. As I travel the state, I see places struggling to survive, many a shadow of what they used to be. We've reached a point where too many are not growing, they're shrinking. Whether you're here from Reedsboro or Alberg, Island Pond, Richford, Springfield, New Port or any one of the proud communities to help write Vermont's economic history but now face tough times, know this. I'm eager to work with each of you to develop policies to revitalize all 14 counties and to ensure that hope and opportunity exists not only in Burlington but in Brattleboro, Bennington, Berkshire, Barton and all 251 towns across our state. We need to do a better job leveraging our assets. The things that make Vermont a great place to visit, work and live. Consider this, in 2017 the top towns for millennial home buyers were not New York City, Boston or San Francisco. They were Williston, North Dakota, Athens, Ohio and Aberdeen, South Dakota. Liberals appear willing to put affordability and quality of life over the conveniences and attractions of our biggest cities when buying a home. I believe Vermont can offer what they're looking for and in many instances we already do. The work we did last term in the areas of housing, education, downtown development and workforce training while striving to make Vermont more affordable for positive steps forward but we must do more. We know availability of affordable housing is a huge barrier to recruiting young workers. I hear it every day from employees and employers. Last term we work together to create more housing Vermonters can afford. Let's build on that progress by focusing on existing stock and rental units. My budget will propose a package focused on growing the housing supply by revitalizing properties and investing in existing neighborhoods. These are steps in the right direction but it's not enough to simply offer things that appeal to young people and working families. We have to do a better job telling our story and use it to aggressively recruit new Vermonters. Even if you believe Vermont is perfect it's clear we aren't doing enough to persuade people to move and stay here. Last year thanks to the innovative thinking from the legislature we lost a program offering incentives to remote workers who moved here. Just passing the law gained international media attention and as a result nearly 3,000 people inquired about the program. This showed us a couple of things. First publicity works and second people do have an interest in moving here but sometimes just need a reason to take that first step. That's why my budget will again propose a labor force expansion package that targets those likely to move in a regional sales team approach to close the deal. I hope you'll join me in supporting this effort because investing to grow our workforce is one of the single most important things we can do for our economy and to reduce the tax burden on those here now. This fall I visited employees at Eden Siders in West Charleston. My team heard that they'd had success recruiting young workers to relocate here and we wanted to learn more. I asked them why they chose Vermont. Most said they liked the sense of community we offer. Many also thought it was a good place to raise a family while some came for outdoor recreation. While there someone shared that precision composites in Lindenville wasn't having any trouble filling positions, even engineers. Now, that got my attention because just a week before I was at Collins Aerospace in Virginia and they said they were looking to hire 25 engineers but were struggling to do so. What was the secret in the Northeast Kingdom? They put a help wanted ad in a mountain biking magazine. The point is we know people want to come here. We just need to identify and reach those who do. Collectively, we have a lot of good ideas. So let's act on them together. Let's build the best education system in the country and nurture a business climate that keeps and creates good jobs so we can better compete with other states. Let's think creatively about attracting more workers and families so we have the revenue to better serve the Vermonters already here. Let's support policies and make investments that will work towards these goals and do so without digging further into the pockets of Vermonters. Because to build the future we want for our kids and their kids, we must ensure Vermont's affordable. While our challenges are great. When we work together, we can do great things. Over the last two years our record speaks for itself. To improve efficiency and better serve Vermonters, we merged the departments of liquor and lottery, a long standing goal for some legislators in this room. And we did the same in creating the Agency of Digital Services, which has saved taxpayers about four million since its creation. With your leadership, we supported foster parents and crime victims, strengthened consumer protections and are working to make prescription drugs more affordable. We modernize our licensing laws to expand the pool of drug treatment professionals and make it easier for members of the military to enter the civilian workforce. When actions in Washington put access to health care and jeopardy, Speaker Johnson, Senator Ash, Republican Party leaders from both Houses and I, stood with Senators Leahy and Sanders and Congressman Welch to protect Medicaid funding. Where else but Vermont would you see such a politically diverse group joining together to defend access to health care? And for two years we didn't raise a single tax or fee in the general fund. We also held statewide residential property tax rates level while fully funding school budgets to remove the tax on Social Security for low and middle income Vermonters and work to revitalize downtowns and villages throughout the state. We made the single largest investment in housing the state has ever seen, as well as a 70 percent increase in clean water funding and opened a treatment center in St. Albans to help eliminate long wait lists statewide, allowing more Vermonters to start on a path of recovery. We did all this and so much more by working together. It wasn't always easy or comfortable, but hard work, good work, is rarely either of these things. And we need more of it because the solutions we seek in the political environment in which history has placed us requires that above all else we focus on what it means to be true public servants. When announcing his retirement in 2005, Senator Jim Jeffords said, in no other job do you have both the freedom and the obligation to solve problems and help people on a daily basis, solve problems and help people. A simple concept and an important reminder of why we're here. As partisanship and division have eroded the trust many have in our democracy, as conflict captures headlines far more often than the good work we've done to strengthen Vermont. And as reports of our disagreements overshadow all we agree on in the progress we've made working together, let's solve problems and help people. That's our job. It's our responsibility. It's what our neighbors who elected us expect. It's what the challenges we're here to confront the man of us. And most importantly, it's what Vermont is deserved. As we open this new biennium with the hope and promise of a new year, let's commit to this work, put aside our differences, to work together, to come together, to solve problems and help people each and every day. Thank you very much. The benediction will be given by the Reverend Dr. Robert A. Potter, Senior Minister Peacham Congregational Church. I can't say that I missed the choir in the balcony. And when I saw Phil handle dissent, today aren't you glad that we live in America when you think. I've got to prepare a text. I usually speak extemporaneously, but I want to just add this, Phil. I have a son who's a pastor in St. John'sbury, Dr. Jeffery Potter, who told me the other day after being offered a big church somewhere else, I will never leave Vermont because I love this place. Just a second, I have a grandson who went to Champlain, then to Norwich, kind of runs the computer systems administration stuff at St. J. Academy. He said, I wouldn't leave Vermont for anything in all the world after having been offered a job, almost a quarter of a million dollars in Washington. Here we go. This is my fourth visit over the years to this inaugural podium. I have never been invited to thunder. What do you call it? Lureth. Hand him. I thank you for this honor, even though my friends at the town dump say government is beyond prayer and hope. I'm sure they meant Washington and not Montpelier, but when I pressed the point, I got a very articulate moan and groan. It's a new year, a new term, a new goddess, a new old symbol, same old Vermont values, same hard work. So we have gathered here today, sent by folks who, like you, want nothing but what is best for this land we love, this land where the hills give us hope, the valleys our vision and our values and the mountains our meaning. We come at a time when the national debt is seemingly as insurmountable as a camel's back, even the river runs mad in the valley. And the monsters from a very good lake would devour us anew. And the man's field may be a lonely place. But we are wise to note that the waters of Willoughby are deep and still. So should we be. Given the day 10 days away, I want to reflect once again with you on my long friendship with Dr. King. Martin Luther King spoke the day long ago at Yale and ended with these words. The moral arc of history is bent toward justice. From my long kept notes in memory, I gave this benediction that day. We must not leave this hallowed hall without the hope that is born from that arc of history. Nothing must be allowed to steal our hope, our gratitude, our joy in today's celebration. Nothing, no terrorism, no tyranny, no tragedy, no trouble. Today, tomorrow, or ever. To this point, two years ago today, after the inauguration, our new governor stood with his family just outside before the flag at half-mast in memory of his dad, who died to this life when Phil was only 11 years old. The same age as when my mother died. We both know, as do all and each of you, how precious is the past as we focus our life on the greater good. And so, as a boy in Barry, he knew that the stuff of earth under his feet was as solid as the values and the rocks for the ages from whence he came. So, with your father in the mystery of forever love, and your mother, Mary, and your family, who love you, we remind you that you are loved, Governor, you are respected with continued great expectations. I add this, to a weary world and a divided nation, the words of the Vermont motto above us, freedom and unity, tell us to find our way anew. God Almighty was not a great address from the governor. Vermonters have long known what to do in the wilderness. In the pulpit in Peacham, I've had this sign for years. We may not have it all together, but together we have it all. We know, let me say it before we leave, we know it can be lonely at the top. Alone is okay. The ride home from Mount Pylir can be lonely. In spite of the lovely landscape, then in the dark winter's night, we may not see but know is there. May we also know, in the mystery of our best moments, honoring the different ways we see things, that sometimes, somehow, somewhere, somebody loves us. And therein, may we find the courage to carry on. Governor Scott, dearly beloved, let us find that courage and carry on. Boys, Reverend Potter, share your pain. And, Governor, I share the love that you feel from your dad, and you lead us well. Will the joint assembly please rise and remain standing? Will the committee please reassemble and escort the governor from the chamber? They remain standing because it shouldn't be long before they come back. Welcome back. Please remain standing. Will the sergeant at arms please escort the honorable justices of the Vermont Supreme Court from the chamber? And please remain standing. Will the National Guard please escort our distinguished guests from the well of the house? You may be seated. There being no further business, I do hereby declare this joint assembly dissolved.