As the leaders and decision-makers of this great state, it is our responsibility to strive for perfection.

In my first year as governor, we solved some of the problems that had begun to undermine the Open Records Act. We gave the act teeth by providing criminal penalties for knowing violations.

I want business to prosper and make a profit caused by business expansion and prosperity.

I am committed to making Georgia a model for open and honest government.

Georgia is in an enviable position today, but we can't rest on our laurels.

Enhancing revenues will help us improve education and solve our infrastructure problems.

By creating a Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, we will give local governments a framework for working together on an issue that affects our whole state.

But the fact is, no matter how good the teacher, how small the class, how focused on quality education the school may be none of this matters if we ignore the individual needs of our students.

As the population of Georgia increased dramatically, so did development.

And this week, I am proposing legislation to strengthen our Open Records laws to make public access to our public records surer, faster, and more comprehensive.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

And one of the things I've tried to do in my first months in office is to give more Georgians - reporters and members of the general public alike - a closer look at how their government works.

Neither political party is clean when it comes to tactics that divide our people.

Business and the state have a common interest; not an adversarial interest.

We will never forget those like my great-grandfather who fought at Vicksburg.