No one in government should ever think that the citizens they work for can't or won't scrutinize their actions.

What I am proposing this year are not lofty concepts far removed form the daily struggle so of ordinary Georgians. They are proposals that directly effect the lives of the people we serve.

We live in a state with a wonderful climate and plenty of natural beauty, from the shores of Cumberland Island to the Chattahoochee River to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We changed the names of our technical schools to colleges, we expanded the eligibility for HOPE scholarships for technical training, and we added some formula funding.

We are all one - or at least we should be - and it is our job, our duty, and our great challenge to fight the voices of division and seek the salve of reconciliation.

Traffic is only one of the side effects of growth.

The time has come to end social promotion in our schools.

The First Amendment rejects red tape, cover-up and double-speak.

So today I say, the outlook in Georgia has never been brighter.

One thing I learned a long time ago as a prosecutor is that it's tough to get people to obey a law if there is not penalty for breaking it.

Repeating a grade needs to be the last resort, not an automatic response to a child who is struggling to learn.

There is no country on earth with a stronger tradition of protecting the public's right to know.