Under the leadership of Gov. Kay Ivey, the Alabama we live in today is more prosperous, more educated, and more protected from the whims and demands of the liberal cultural elites than ever before.
We are experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in state history and are reaching the point of having more jobs available than workers who can fill them.
Toyota/Mazda, Polaris, Remington, Hyundai, Honda, Airbus, Boeing.
These are just a few of the dozens upon dozens of new and expanding industries that have chosen to locate in Alabama and provide jobs and opportunity to our citizens in recent years.
It is no secret that Alabama continues to lead not only the southeast but the entire nation in economic development measurements, and the state’s Department of Commerce could fill a room with all of the “Silver Shovel” awards and other industrial recruitment honors it has captured over the past few years.
And, as the head of the Alabama Military Stability Commission, I was proud to see that our quality of life has resulted in the U.S. Space Command being headquartered in Alabama, which will bring additional employment opportunities and federal investment to the Tennessee Valley region.
Our governor realizes that if we are going to continue our forward progress and provide even more jobs, hope, and security to Alabama’s families, our attention must begin to focus upon ensuring our workforce is prepared to fill 21st century jobs. Because workforce development has been a centerpiece initiative during my time as lieutenant governor, I have worked with Gov. Kay Ivey to enrich career tech programs in our K-12 system and expand worker training opportunities throughout our community college system.
Here, in Alabama, the majority of our citizens understand that jobs are abundant, opportunities surround us, and wallets can be quickly fattened if you are willing to work.
And just like our economy, Alabama’s public education system is going through a period of rebirth and renewal.
When I was first elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2014, the state’s spending on K-12 public schools, community colleges, and four-year universities totaled roughly $5.9 billion. The 2023 education spending plan that was recently passed totals $8.3 billion, which represents the fourth consecutive year of record investment in teaching our children, and we are achieving results.
Alabama’s high school graduation rate, which just a few years ago ranked worst in the nation has soared to first in the nation, and our “First Class” pre-kindergarten program has once again been judged the best in the nation for the sixteenth consecutive year.
Our schools and classrooms are proving to be just one battlefield in Alabama’s multi-front war against the lunacy of the “woke” agenda, historical revision, and the oppressive dogma of political correctness.
We have forbidden “Critical Race Theory” from being advanced in our children’s classrooms in order to ensure they will never be taught that the United States is an inherently racist nation or that any one group among us is lesser than others.
We are forcefully fighting the insane notion that we, not God, get to determine our gender, and Alabama has enacted a law that prohibits doctors from poisoning our children with puberty blockers and other body-destroying drugs when someone convinces them they are something that they are not.
And we have recognized the God-ordained worth and value of unborn life by passing the nation’s strongest law prohibiting abortion, which will allow us to take immediate action as soon as the scourge of Roe v. Wade is overturned.
None of these accomplishments occurred because of simple luck, coincidence, or the stars happened to align in a precise path.
They are the result of the direct involvement, hard work and active efforts of Gov. Ivey, who I have come to know and admire during my four years working alongside her as lieutenant governor.
Across every positive metric, Alabama has improved, progressed and advanced, and that is the reason why none of her primary opponents have been able to make a compelling and convincing case for replacing her.
An already special place to live, work, worship and raise children has been made even better under Gov. Ivey, and I believe the best is yet to come. My family and I plan to cast our ballots to give Gov. Ivey a new term in the May 24 Republican primary election, and we encourage you to join us in doing the same.
Will Ainsworth is the lieutenant governor of Alabama
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