Eric Greitens in 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches

On Crime: Fight Ferguson Effect with Blue Alert to empower police

They'll tell you that it's harder to recruit people to become police officers, and the officers who are on the job feel less empowered to proactively police. I want to establish a Blue Alert system, so that we can find and bring swift justice to anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer. And my administration will work to pass the toughest laws in the country for anyone who assaults a peace officer. We need to make sure that our state highway patrol, that our corrections officers, have nonlethal tools like TASERs and adequate body armor when they are called to go into harm's way.

On Families & Children: Let parents decide how to spend special needs funding

Arizona was the first state in the country to try these accounts, and the program has been a success. Parents are much happier with their children's educations, and children are able to get the kind of education that meets their needs. Special needs families know their children best. And it is time we gave control back to those parents, to select the best possible education for their children.

On Jobs: Right to Work instead of Project Labor Agreements

The people have sent us a message: We must do everything in our power to put people back to work in good, high-paying jobs. That's why we must join 27 other states and sign Right to Work. That's why we must do away with expensive Project Labor Agreements that drive up the costs of construction and slow down important projects in our communities.

We must repeal our state's version of the Davis-Bacon act, which drives up the cost of important construction work that needs to get done. It hurts rural workers. It sets back rural families. We will eliminate these ineffective and outdated laws. And we will tap into the ingenuity and hard work of Missourians, because Missourians are ready to work.

On Technology: Replace 1959 COBOL systems with online government

We need a modern government that allows people to do more on-line instead of making them wait in line. We also need to remember that many essential government services, whether it's law enforcement, transportation, or education, are delivered by people.

And our best state employees are being hurt by a big bloated bureaucracy. In Indiana, they have 46 state employees per 10,000 people in their state. In Illinois, they have 47 state employees for every 10,000 people. In Ohio, they have 55. And in Missouri? We have 92 employees for every 10,000 people in our state.