Four years ago, we had a government we could not afford. Together we developed a long-term strategy to put our fiscal house in order. What we did years ago enabled us to strengthen our economy and make our state more competitive. Revenues have increased to the point where we have had budget surpluses for the past two years. That's enabled us to invest in our priorities.
Unemployment is at the lowest it has been in nine years.
Income tax receipts have increased by more than 20 million dollars over last year despite the fact that we're cutting the income tax for the third year in a row. Our state is more business friendly than ever before. The answer is yes according to a Florida consulting firm that ranked Rhode Island number one in the nation for having the qualities that corporate executives say are most desirable. I've always said that it's my goal to make Rhode Island the most competitive state in the Northeast by the year 2000. Well, we're making it nationally.