As I observe my six-month anniversary in office, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what my administration has done to make Kentucky a better place to live, work, and raise families. I was elected governor with a mandate to change the culture of state government, to restore hope to this great Commonwealth. While we still have a way to go, I believe we have already done a great deal to accomplish this task.

My first task after taking office was to streamline state government. I condensed 14 state cabinets down to eight; thus saving nearly a half-million dollars in cabinet secretary level salaries. I then hired the most qualified group of cabinet secretaries ever assembled in Kentucky's executive cabinet.

Less than one month after inauguration, my administration addressed the $302 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2004 by bringing government spending under control and realizing efficiencies in all cabinets. I also presented a tight, balanced budget for the next biennium, as well as a tax modernization plan that would revitalize Kentucky's antiquated, loophole-ridden tax system and lower taxes for 98 percent of Kentuckians.

However, because Kentucky House of Representatives Democratic leaders chose not to work in a bipartisan, bicameral way, neither a state budget nor the tax plan received a vote. House Democrat leadership failed every Kentuckian on the final night of the 2004 General Assembly by leaving Frankfort without performing their constitutional duty: passing a state budget.

I have abolished the former Kentucky Racing Commission, which was plagued with questionable business practices, and formed the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority. The Authority has also been given a new mission to not only regulate racing, but to promote our signature industry.

I have also asked each cabinet secretary to recapture hundreds of ProCurement cards used by state employees for small purchases. In the past, hundreds of state employees were handed these cards with little management. So far we have recaptured more than 1,300 cards and reduced the spending limits on the remaining cards by more than $16 million. We have requested an update of a 2000 draft audit of ProCurement Card controls as well, to ensure these cards are not being abused.

This administration is the first in the U. S. to create a cross-cabinet approach to branding. The cabinet secretaries and the agriculture commissioner selected one firm to move Kentucky forward with one vision and one brand. This collaborative approach will strengthen our economic development efforts and save at least $2.5 million.

We have announced a criminal investigation in the alleged embezzlement of tens of thousands of dollars in state funds by a former employee of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. An investigation is also under way in light of the discovery of nearly $500,000 in un-cashed checks and credit card orders stashed away in the desk of an employee within Kentucky Correctional Industries, a department within the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

To protect the safety of workers in the Kentucky State Resort Parks, I have requested an audit of the existing safety program to cut down on work-related injuries and thus the cost associated with it. In 2002 and 2003, there were 354 total injury claims. We want to bring that number down significantly. We have also scaled the number of P-9 workers (contract, temporary positions) from 60 to 10 in the Department of Parks, saving more than $1 million.

Another example of waste prevalent throughout state government was the fact that prior to this administration, there was little or no management over the 535 vehicles owned and 68 leased by the Parks Department. We discovered that 71 of these vehicles were completely inoperable, some without engines or doors, yet we were still wasting taxpayer dollars to have them insured.

Dumpsites at Lake Barkley State Resort and other parks had left untouched to damage and destroy the land for decades. I directed the cleanup to begin, for if we continue to let this environmental problem languish, the price tag of the damage it causes will continue to grow.

Clearly, my administration is working diligently to make Kentucky a more attractive place to live and a more competitive place to do business. I thank you for having faith in my ability to get the job done and I ask you for your continued support.

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Ernie Fletcher, a Republican, was elected governor of Kentucky in November after serving for four years in the U.S. House.