Governor Maggie Hassan Sworn in for Second Term as the 81st Governor of New Hampshire

Press Release

Pledging to continue working across party lines to build an innovation economy that lifts up all Granite Staters, Governor Maggie Hassan today was sworn in for a second term as the 81st Governor of New Hampshire.

"Together, we can lay the foundation of a brighter economic future with stronger wages and more opportunity to climb the ladder of success. A future where innovative businesses are creating more good jobs, and where more of our young people are staying and thriving," said Governor Hassan in her Inaugural Address.

The Governor emphasized that in order to make progress for our people, businesses and economy, we must always be looking to find new bipartisan solutions and approaches.

"We know better than to think that any one political party has all the answers," Governor Hassan said. "At every step of the way, we must ask ourselves how can we reach the middle ground that fuses our individual ideas into something greater, something that will strengthen the economic future of all of our people? How can we find new solutions and approaches, the ones that nobody has thought of yet?"

Governor Hassan underscored that while we have made real progress in building a stronger, more innovative economy, we remain at the beginning of our work to ensure that all of our citizens are included in our shared success and prosperity.

In outlining a new vision for the future, Governor Hassan highlighted the importance of helping innovative businesses create more good jobs, expanding middle class opportunity, and working to attract and retain more young people in our state.

"To widen the doors of middle class opportunity, we must approach these next two years with a relentless focus on ensuring that every Granite Stater who works hard can find success. On building a more innovative economic future that lifts all of our people, in every corner of our state," Governor Hassan said.

To strengthen the foundation of a more innovative economic future, Governor Hassan emphasized that there is that must be done to build on all of the advantages in the Granite State.

The Governor stressed the importance of modernizing how science, technology, engineering, and math are taught in schools; continuing to hold down the cost of higher education; making the state even more responsive to the needs of new businesses; maintaining the commitment to ensuring access to affordable, quality health care; building a stronger, more affordable energy future; finding a consensus way forward on rail; and finally restoring and increasing New Hampshire's minimum wage.

"To those who say we can't come together to do these things and more, I say to them: you don't know the Granite State. That's what we do here," Governor Hassan continued. "What it will take, throughout our work together, is moving past the inevitable arguments, identifying our challenges, and then finding the solutions that nobody has thought of yet, the New Hampshire solutions that will help build a more prosperous future for all of our people."

Governor Hassan highlighted the example of Deepika Kurup, a sixteen-year old sophomore at Nashua South High School, whose ingenuity paved a new way forward to confront the scarcity of clean drinking water across the globe. Deepika devloped a system to purify water using solar energy and earned the title of "America's Top Young Scientist." Deepika and her family attended the inauguration as guests of the Governor.

The Governor concluded her Inaugural Address with a call to embrace the strong Granite State tradition of refusing to accept that there is a limit to what can be accomplished.

"With that same stubborn determination, we too can do remarkable things. That's who we are as Granite Staters, and that's who we must continue to be. I look forward to that challenge, and to the brighter economic future that we will all build, and share in, together."

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