“I’d like to thank Senate President Miller, House Speaker Busch and the members of the General Assembly for completing work on the State’s FY2013 budget. 

“With their leadership and willingness to come together, we have placed our State back on the path to fiscal stewardship, and avoided devastating cuts to our shared priorities of job creation, education, affordable college, care for our most vulnerable Marylanders, and public safety. 

“We cannot afford to go back. There is too much at stake. Because of the choices we’ve made together, Maryland is one of only eight states to maintain its Triple A bond rating, certified by all three rating agencies. Our investments have built the best public schools in the nation four years in a row; expanded health care to over 300,000 Marylanders (nearly half of them children); protected job creation and innovation; made college more affordable for more families; and driven violent crime down to a 35-year low.  

“In times of adversity, the people of our State do not make excuses, we make progress. Together, we have chosen to move forward.”