We’re hearing a lot about values in this election. To me, values – like leadership – are something you reflect every day in your behavior, year after year, not just when there is an election. Let me tell you a little bit about my values and how I’ve lived them.

I grew up in the small town of Dawson Springs as one of five children of a mother dedicated to her community and a father who was a Baptist minister.

My mom and dad worked hard to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our head. But more important were the life lessons they taught my brothers and sisters and me: a strong belief in God, a commitment to accountability for ourselves and responsibility for others, and a belief that education was the key to success.

After all, it was by the grace of God, the second mortgage on my mom and dad’s house, and a part-time job that I got to go to the UK, and eventually to law school.

And it was at UK where I also met my wife, Jane. She is not only a devoted wife of 38 years; she is also a dedicated mother to our two sons.

Throughout my career in government, as a state representative, Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor, and as an attorney and businessman in the private sector, I have looked back on my life and the experiences that brought me to where I am today. Faith, hard work, respect – and good fortune – have afforded me more success than I deserve.

I want every man, woman, boy, and girl in this state to have the same opportunity I had – the chance to be successful, to have good jobs, and to stay right here in Kentucky. I know that that opportunity starts with the same values I learned as a boy and lived all my life.

In Putting Kentucky Families First, I describe my plan to address the challenges Kentuckians across the state face every day. My plan includes:

• Respecting marriages;

• Valuing families

• Keeping families safe; and

• Promoting good citizenship among our children.

These are the values that I and so many Kentuckians believe in. I am committed to preserving and promoting them as Governor.

I. Respecting Marriages

I believe in the power of a strong marriage. And I cannot think of anyone else that I would rather have by my side to share in my life than my wife, Jane. To us, marriage is the most sacred bond we can share with another person and for that reason it is something that should be valued and respected.

There are, in fact, many benefits associated with marriage. Research shows that individuals in healthy marriages tend to live longer, have better mental and physical health, and report being happier. People who are married also have higher incomes and are less likely to be poor.

Of course, every marriage has its ups and downs; that’s part of being married. And that is why – if we really want to defend and promote the institution of marriage, rather than just pay it lip-service for political purposes – it is critical that we recognize the importance of ensuring that families have the support they need to identify problems, confront them head-on, and work to overcome them.

As Governor, I will:

• Fund marriage promotion programs sponsored by local faith-based and community organizations, like the Kentucky Association for Community Action and the Kentucky Healthy Marriage Initiative to provide couples and individuals with information about the value of marriage, teach conflict resolution skills and relationship skills to prevent divorce. These programs are intended to increase awareness about the value of a healthy marriage and what it means to individuals, children and the greater community. The Kentucky Association for Community Action also received a federal community services block grant to assess patterns of marriage and factors leading to divorce, specifically among low income individuals and families – information that was then used to develop support services to enable families to be strengthened. More information is needed on people’s attitudes and values as well as their personal belief systems to further assist policymakers in crafting policies and programs to promote healthy marriages and to strengthen families. As Governor, I will work with community organizations like these to identify funding to further their good work and implement such programs statewide.

• Take steps to minimize child support default rates and increase payment rates. I will work with Kentucky’s County Attorneys to assess the use of multiple methods of notifying non-custodial parents who enter default, developing guidelines that are easy to read and understand, expediting the review and adjustment of award orders to reflect the ability of low-income parents to pay, and promoting greater use of alternative dispute resolution to reduce court fees as Colorado and Texas have done.

• Improve the identification of serial batterers. There generally is a core group of offenders who repeatedly commit acts of domestic violence and yet somehow escape long-term punishment by revolving in and out of the criminal justice system. This group is sometimes referred to as serial batterers – people who have been named in at least two court-ordered restraining orders involving at least two unrelated victims. We must do a better job of identifying serial batterers and then prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. This includes using every prosecutorial tool available, including Violence Against Women Act sanctions and other enhanced penalties for violence to end their reign of domestic terrorism permanently.

• Form “Domestic Crisis Teams” within law enforcement agencies that are prepared to deal with domestic violence and include social workers and counselors to allow victims to receive the information and support they need in a time of crisis. The State of New Jersey passed a law in 1999 to create domestic crisis teams of trained law enforcement personnel to deal with domestic violence and neglect and abuse that have provided assistance to countless victims and improved identification of batterers. I will do the same here in Kentucky and make sure they’re adequately funded.

• Promote anti-child abuse and anti-violence programs to help school officials and co-workers learn how to spot signs of child abuse and domestic violence. Although the number of domestic violence-related calls to the state’s spousal abuse centers dropped from over 45,000 in 2002 to about 34,000 in 2004, the number of women making those calls remained about the same during that two-year period. Victims of child abuse and domestic violence don’t always report the source of their injury, which is why it is critical that teachers, school guidance counselors, health care providers, law enforcement, and emergency personnel are well-trained in – and that friends and co-workers in the workplace know – what to watch out for and how to talk to victims and encourage them to seek help.

• Encourage schools to develop anti-violence curricula to teach children how to recognize violent behavior in their home or community and what to do to stop it. For example, children could participate in role-playing activities so that they know how to spot signs of trouble; they could be asked to engage in discussions of how to raise concerns they have and whom to tell; information could be provided on what resources are available and how to access them; and activities could be offered that teach children how safely to handle a problem without fear or regret.

II. Valuing Families

I value my family tremendously. It’s wonderful to return home after a long day’s work to see my wife, or to enjoy a dinner out with my two grown sons and their lovely wives. My grandson – well, he’s the apple of my eye. Nothing makes me happier than when I spend time with him.

Although I wish I could propose legislation, create a new program or invest in a new service that would guarantee that all Kentuckians returned home each day to a strong, loving, devoted family like mine, I know it just isn’t that simple.

Many parents or guardians have to work one, two or more jobs just to provide their families with basic needs like food, clothing and health care. By the time the parent returns home from a long day of work, often their children are in bed or both the parents and the kids are too tired to spend quality time together. For too many parents, working to support their families and caring for those same families – getting children the care they need when they’re sick, spending time with them at play or teaching them the values they need to grow into happy and productive adults – come into conflict. It shouldn’t be that way: Parents should be able to support their families and nurture them – there shouldn’t be a trade-off.

And there shouldn’t be a conflict in public policy, either, between advocating family values and sticking up for the policies that ensure that working parents can earn enough to provide for their families, afford the health care their families need, and still be able to spend time raising their kids – which is the whole point of family values to begin with. It’s time to move past rhetoric and start producing results: If we as a state truly want to promote family values, then we need to start better valuing families. Here’s what I’ll do as Governor:

Pay Equity for Working Women

Women have made significant economic gains over the years. Yet even with these gains, women still don’t fare as well economically as men. And in Kentucky, women are worse off than women in many other states: According to a 2006 report, Kentucky has one of the worst economies for women and ranks in the bottom third in median annual earnings. Kentucky also ranks 47th in the nation for women’s labor force participation and 49th for women with four or more years of higher education. Kentucky needs a leader who will champion the economic advancement of women. If you’re not willing to do that, you’re not truly helping and valuing most families.

As Governor, I will:

• Publicize public and private organizations that promote equal pay practices. As Governor, I will promote gender equality in the workplace, ensure that state government is working under “equal pay for equal work” practices, and encourage the private sector to do the same.

• Create a special Governor’s designation for Kentucky businesses that show evidence that they support and comply with “equal pay for equal work” practices. Each year, I will honor companies that are actively promoting gender equity.

• Establish an anonymous 1-800 hotline that employees can call specifically to report workplace incidents against women, whether harassment or suspicion of unequal pay scales.

Fostering Family Time

Families across the country and here in Kentucky struggle every day to fit their work obligations around their family’s needs. Our families simply need more time to spend together – it produces better health, reduced crime, and improved academic performance, to name just a few benefits. In a time when people are working more and children are receiving adult attention less, it has become increasingly clear that we need a voice advocating for family time.

As Governor, I will:

• Encourage employers to provide employees up to 24 hours of unpaid leave per year to participate in school activities directly related to their child’s educational advancement, and to accompany their children’s and elderly relatives’ routine medical and dental visits. Parents should be able to attend a parent-teacher conference at least once per school year, assist their children with their homework, and keep their children current on all vaccinations and regular health check-ups. There has been plenty of research documenting the correlation between parental involvement and school improvement: Students with involved parents, no matter what their income or background, are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, enroll in higher-level programs, attend school regularly, demonstrate better behavior, and go on to postsecondary education. That’s why my plan for improving Kentucky schools includes a strong family-involvement component, too.

• Convene a Kentucky Families First Conference with business, faith-based, state and community leaders to find collaborative solutions for increasing the amount of time families spend together.

• Organize a “Dinner with the Family” campaign to encourage Kentucky families to have dinner together at least once a week and encourage Kentucky families to turn off their TVs and video games on the first day of school, to send the message that kids’ time is better spent studying or getting exercise outside. This past April, Kentuckians observed a similar “family holiday” called “TV-Turnoff Week” – an initiative sponsored by Get Healthy Kentucky – aimed at encouraging families to reduce time dedicated to watching TV. As Governor, I will promote more family time through events like these.

• Encourage and support responsible growth policies in order to reduce commuting time and create communities in which families can live and work. Cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth are implementing responsible growth policies, including Union in Boone County, Lexington and Louisville. The policies are intended to promote workable and livable communities. As Governor, I will support these efforts and work to integrate them into a comprehensive responsible growth policy for the state.

• Promote telecommuting for working parents by working with Kentucky business and educational partners. I want to work with the business community and our state’s community colleges to create telecommuting centers that provide technical support in getting businesses to set up telecommuting opportunities of their own. New Hampshire provided seed dollars to match underemployed rural area IT professionals with the needs of high-tech businesses facing skilled labor shortages through the creation of strategically located telecommuting centers. I will also lead by example by expanding telecommuting opportunities for workers throughout the state government itself.

Health Care for Kentucky Families

Finding a way to pay for health care for their families is perhaps the biggest economic challenge facing Kentucky families today. In my Keeping Kentuckians Healthy plan, I have proposed programs to provide high quality, affordable health care for all Kentuckians, starting by covering all kids. My plan details ways to control the rising costs of health care so everyone can obtain health care coverage and no one goes without. Parents should not have to work two or three jobs to be able to afford health care coverage and then worry about whether the insurance company will cancel their policy if they are late in making a payment.

Specifically, my plan will:

• Cover all kids by enrolling those who are eligible but currently not enrolled in Medicaid or the Kentucky Children’s Heath Insurance Plan (KCHIP), offering families the option to buy in to KCHIP based on a sliding payment scale for income eligible families, and allowing families above the income threshold to buy in to KCHIP at full price.

• Provide access to affordable health care coverage the self employed, small businesses and their employees, and families.

• Lower costs for everyone by investing in e-health technologies, improving patient safety and preventing unnecessary hospitalizations, investing in preventative care, and cracking down on Medicaid fraud and abuse.

Supporting Expectant and New Mothers – and Their Newborns

My health care plan also promotes education as a key component of improving the health status of Kentuckians. This is especially important for young, expectant mothers, given that Kentucky has a higher rate of premature births and low birth weight babies than the national average.

To address this issue, I will:

• Improve care for high-risk pregnancies by focusing on our highest-risk cases and expanding outreach services for prevention programs, such as risk assessments, smoking cessation programs and preventive dental care. For example, 15 percent of pregnant women in Kentucky fail to get prenatal care until after the first trimester, despite the state offering presumptive eligibility through Medicaid for pregnant women to receive Medicaid benefits, including primary care services, ultra sounds and dental care for up to 90 days until their full Medicaid benefit is determined. Obtaining prenatal dental exams are especially important as many women are unaware that the risk of gingivitis actually increases during a pregnancy due to natural hormonal changes. If untreated, it can lead to premature births and low birth weight babies as well as other complications like preeclampsia for the mother.

• Expand the HANDS Now program – a voluntary home visiting program for at-risk, first-time Kentucky parents – to increase the support for new mothers and their children by promoting healthy growth and development.

Ensuring that Every Child Has a Loving Home

Every child brought into this world deserves to be loved and to have a decent home. I will do everything I can as Governor to make this promise a reality. I will:

• Launch a statewide adoption promotion effort. Kentucky presently does not make any statewide effort to promote adoption. Each regional Community Based Services office has its own placement plan that varies from region to region. As Governor, I will embark on a public awareness campaign to locate more qualified, adoptive parents and not only inform the public that children are available, but also to raise awareness that adoption is a viable alternative to abortion. This is an especially important option for teen mothers and low income women who are faced with a decision about an unintended pregnancy.

• Create more job opportunities with better pay and good benefits through more focused job training programs to prepare workers for highly-skilled, high-wage jobs of the 21st Century, and by making higher education more accessible and affordable for individuals and families. I believe that through better health care, job creation and greater educational opportunities we can significantly limit the number of unwanted pregnancies and number of abortions in Kentucky. Studies show that as the financial status of women improve, the number of abortions decrease. In the coming weeks, I will unveil my plan for more jobs and better opportunities that will highlight my vision for creating jobs and fostering an environment for working parents, especially mothers who work outside the home, to spend more time with their kids.

• Require all pregnancy counseling programs that receive public funds to include information about adoption. As Governor, I will continue to ensure that any public or private organization that receives public funds promote adoption.

• Revamp the child placement process. A 2006 Performance Audit on Kentucky’s adoption policies found that children in state custody spent an average of over 3 years in foster care prior to being adopted. This is entirely too long. Children who are not placed in a consistent, stable environment within a reasonable period of time or within no more than 12 months are vulnerable to developmental delays. Kentucky needs to institute a new process for identifying, recruiting, processing and placing children within state custody in a permanent home and under my leadership we will.

• Declare February Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. Perhaps the best way to understand what teenagers are thinking is to ask them. Throughout the month of February, I will encourage high schools throughout the state to conduct teen forums and discussions to enable teens to share their personal thoughts, feelings and experiences, ask questions and get answers and advice, and provide information to teens about the consequences of sex to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The information we learn can be used to inform parents/guardians, educators, community leaders and policymakers about ways to better educate teens about these important issues.

III. Keeping Families Safe

Keeping our families and citizens safe is one of the most important roles of government, and it is one that I take seriously. During my tenure as Attorney General, I had a record of being tough on crime and it is a record that I will continue as Governor.

As Governor, I will:

• Institute a comprehensive “Safe from the Start” program to tackle the range of issues surrounding young children who are exposed to violence or at risk of exposure and help them and their families get the care they need. Safe from the Start is a comprehensive strategy to reduce children’s exposure to violence at home, at school, and in the community. Studies show that children exposed to violence, either as victims or witnesses, are more likely to become juvenile and adult offenders. We need to bring together law enforcement and social service providers to address and overcome the full range of violence our kids often face.

• Institute tougher penalties for sex offenders who lie about their age on the Internet with the purpose of committing a sex crime by making it a felony. This past spring, Kentucky passed a law that requires convicted sex offenders to include e-mail, instant message, chat, and other Internet communications identities in the list of registrant information required to be provided by a sex offender to the sex offender registry system. Now that we will begin tracking this information, we will be able to identify communications and punish those who break the law.

• Expand regional Drug Task Forces so there is one in every county. Funding for the Drug Task Forces comes from a mix of federal grant dollars, state funds and, in some cases, local law enforcement support. Regional Drug Task Forces offer a range of services: education, law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation – all services that are needed to effectively combat drug abuse. Yet about a quarter of all counties do not benefit from regional Drug Task Forces because not enough funding has been made available. As Governor, I will provide the leadership and investment that is needed at the state level to make sure that all of our counties are served by a Drug Task Force.

• Work with our Congressional Delegation to create a National All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System similar to the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) System. The KASPER System contains information on all the scheduled prescriptions for a particular patient for a specific period of time, including who prescribed and dispensed the prescription. The system allows health care providers, pharmacists and law enforcement officials to track controlled prescriptions dispensed from licensed Kentucky pharmacies. It is an important tool for controlling the abuse of prescription drugs.

But KASPER does not include information from out-of-state pharmacies. People who may be abusing or selling prescription drugs who are aware that KASPER exists could easily travel across state lines to purchase drugs for themselves or to sell to others. If we are going to have a meaningful impact on ending drug abuse in Kentucky we need a national prescription drug reporting system to enhance our monitoring capabilities. As Governor, I will lobby our Congressional Delegation to push for a national prescription drug reporting system like the one we use today.

• Create an Electronic Drug Registry. To further aid law enforcement in their fight against drugs, as Governor, I will work to create an electronic drug registry that will enable law enforcement, medical providers and community organizations to view names of convicted drug users and traffickers in a searchable database with the goal of reducing the spread of drugs in communities. Illinois is now pursuing a similar online database specifically for methamphetamine and I think Kentucky could benefit from a similar program.

• Fund media and public awareness campaigns to combat the spread of meth use and manufacturing. As Governor, I will pursue prevention strategies like public awareness campaigns to educate Kentuckians on the dangers of using and producing meth.

• Fully implement and fund a system of coerced drug abstinence within the probation and parole system to address directly the need to reduce drug consumption by offenders. Through this initiative, new probationers with drug histories will be subject to twice-weekly drug tests. Positive drug tests will result in swift and gradually increasing sanctions, including immediate incarceration and increasing periods of incarceration for each subsequent positive test result. Coerced abstinence exists in parts of Kentucky already; however, funding limitations have reduced its impact. For example, there appears to be no mandated schedule for drug testing – and without this important component, the system’s success is significantly jeopardized. As Governor, I will strengthen and expand our system of coerced abstinence so we can maximize its results.

IV. Promoting Good Citizenship among Our Children

I was like most kids growing up. I had my share of shenanigans, but for the most part I stayed out of trouble. My parents and teachers taught me well.

Some might disagree, but I don’t think kids today are fundamentally any different than when I was young. But the world around us has changed – and today’s kids need and can benefit even more from being taught socially positive behavior, just as we did, from the right role models. I think that that starts from the top – with a commitment to taking responsibility, playing by the rules, and practicing what you preach – that we need to restore to our Commonwealth. Only then will respect for the law, for others, and for our common values flourish in every schoolhouse and community in Kentucky.

As Governor, I will:

• Encourage greater civic involvement in middle and high schools. Studies show that citizens are more likely to participate in public life if they believe that their participation matters. The University of Louisville is actively working with the state Department of Education through their Kentucky Teacher Network of Civic Education and Engagement to increase civic involvement activities in our schools. Using exercises to reinforce problem solving skills is not only good for engaging students in civic affairs, but for handling everyday life issues that come their way. I will continue to support programs like this when I am Governor.

• Encourage all high schools to adopt a policy to require students to complete a minimum of 24 hours of community service as a requirement for graduation. All students should be inspired to create change in their community and be exposed to opportunities that empower them to become change agents. As Governor, I will encourage high schools to adopt a policy to require all high school students to complete a minimum of 24 hours of community service as a requirement for graduation.

• Promote anti-bullying efforts. Bullying hinders learning and impacts student development. While anti-bullying legislation has been introduced in Kentucky in the past, no bill has been passed. The state should pass anti-bullying legislation that includes strict sanctions and punishment for offenders to rid our schools of bullying once and for all.

• Foster school discipline. We must ensure that our kids understand from Day One that schools are a place to learn – not just facts and ideas, but proper behavior and respect for others – and that means that teachers need to be able to instill discipline in their classrooms. To do that, we need to adopt a proper Code of Conduct – a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities in the classroom – and then protect teachers from lawsuits for action they take within the law to maintain control of the classroom.

Despite the enactment of the federal Teacher Protection Act of 2001, which protects teachers from punitive damages “when they take reasonable actions against students to maintain order, discipline and an appropriate educational environment,” some states have gone further and put additional teacher protections in place. For example, Connecticut holds teachers harmless from cases where their behavior was not malicious or reckless, and Iowa further defines the types of disciplinary and protective actions that teachers may use to maintain classroom decorum. As Governor, I will pursue similar action in Kentucky to provide greater protection for our teachers.