He's normally in the office before seven each morning and doesn't finish working until after 9:00 p.m. most nights. Many days he's on the road, making stops all over the state, to stay in touch with the people he serves. Every weekend, he spends some time at home in Pikeville, with his family. Despite the long hours and hard work, it's a job he says he loves. The job is Governor of Kentucky, the man who holds it is Paul Patton.

Governor Patton says his philosophy and his goal as Kentucky's leader is to create opportunities for every Kentuckian, to improve the quality of life in this state and secure the future for our children so that they can pursue their dreams right here in Kentucky.

Paul Patton was born at home in Fallsburg, Kentucky on May 26, 1937. He was one of three children of Ward and Irene Patton. Both parents worked to support the family and save for the children's education. Ward taught at a one-room schoolhouse and later worked for what was then the C & O Railroad. Irene was the cook at the school cafeteria. She also helped out at summer 4-H camps that her son enjoyed attending.

Paul graduated from Louisa High School in Lawrence County in 1955 and went on to the University of Kentucky, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 1959. To help pay for his education, young Patton worked in the campus cafeteria.

After graduation, literally working from underground up, Paul Patton spent the next 20 years building a successful coal business.

He then turned his attention to public service. He began his new career as Deputy State Transportation Secretary in the administration of Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. in 1979. From 1981 to 1983, he also led the Kentucky Democratic Party. In 1982, Patton made his first run for public office and was elected Pike County Judge-Executive.

As County Judge, Patton established Kentucky's first county-wide garbage collection program. He began oil-recycling in Pike County and started a work program for welfare mothers in day care centers.

He won reelection, but in 1991 Patton returned to Frankfort as Lt. Governor. He became the first Lt. Governor to serve as an appointed cabinet secretary, heading up the Economic Development Cabinet. He made history by writing a jobs program that has put tens of thousands of Kentuckians to work by allowing the state to attract new industries and help existing companies to expand. He is credited with rescuing nine thousand jobs at Louisville's General Electric Appliance Park through his jobs program.

Patton also authored a book, titled Kentucky's Approach to Economic Growth. The book explains his working knowledge of the state's economy and his commitment to creating new job opportunities. The key to economic development, Patton believes, is education. He has served on the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and the Task Force on Workplace Literacy.

On his first day in office, the governor appointed one of the most diverse cabinets in Kentucky history, crossing lines of gender, race and political party to select the best and brightest from across the Commonwealth to help lead his administration. Six women, three African Americans, and five Republicans were appointed to the sixteen member cabinet.

In his first 100 days, Governor Patton developed a strong working relationship with the state legislature and has been praised by the media for his openness, by making his daily schedule public.

In a bipartisan effort with the legislature, Governor Patton established a structurally balanced budget that preserved Kentucky's $200 million budget reserve, cut state debt by $300 million and found increased revenues to support over $100 million in capital construction projects across the state.

Under his leadership, Kentucky's economy is growing, the state's unemployment rate is lower than the national average and per capita personal income growth is higher than the national average.

The governor is implementing over $200 million in tax cuts on pensions, inheritances, personal income and provider taxes on physicians. This year, under Governor Patton, tax refund checks were in the mail earlier than before.

One of the governor's long range goals is to raise the standard of living for Kentuckians above the national average. He has proposed pay raises for teachers and state employees, and recently signed into law a prevailing wage bill that he believes will insure quality state construction projects built by skilled Kentucky workers. His administration is also committed to dealing with reform to the workers' compensation system, in a special session of the legislature by January of 1997. The governor also wants to become the higher education governor by providing more educational opportunities and more skills training to prepare Kentucky's workforce for the jobs of the future. He has formed a special task force on post secondary education and challenged the group to come up with new and innovative ways to improve the educational opportunities for all Kentuckians. The governor supports the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, and is waiting for a report from the Task Force on Public Education, due by September of 1997. That joint effort of the legislative and executive branches is reviewing KERA, the progress of its implementation and reviewing any possible need for changes.

He has proposed major revisions in the juvenile justice code and has appointed a new commission of juvenile justice to oversee reform of the juvenile justice system through tough but compassionate treatment programs for juvenile offenders. Two new juvenile detention centers will be built, one in Western Kentucky and one in the northern part of the state. The governor's goal is to have a juvenile holding facility within 60 miles of every county seat by the end of his term.

The governor and first lady Judi Patton have worked tirelessly to combat child and spouse abuse. A package of legislation dealing with domestic violence, championed by the governor and first lady, has been called a model for the rest of the nation by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

The Commonwealth is also in the forefront of efforts to help victims of crime and has been praised for the establishment of the VINE program, that will notify crime victims when the person who hurt them is released from custody.

In response to a series of church burnings in Kentucky, the governor has committed the full resources of state government to prevent, investigate and prosecute church burnings and related hate crimes. He is committed to a swift response to all violent acts directed at houses of worship and to the enactment of tougher penalties for those convicted of these heinous acts.

A tough new law that bolsters the enforcement of Kentucky's ban on tobacco sales to minors won passage in the legislature this year under the leadership of Governor Patton. The governor made it clear that he wants to reduce underage access to cigarettes while avoiding potentially devastating FDA regulation of tobacco. He continues to fight against FDA regulation for Kentucky's tobacco farmers.

Governor Patton has taken on welfare reform, envisioning a new welfare system in Kentucky that requires work for assistance, but at the same time protects the children of welfare families and restores individual self-esteem and family values.

On the environmental front, Governor Patton has taken a balanced approach of preserving Kentucky's natural resources while considering the interests of business and industry. "I want a clean environment," the governor says, "but I want it in a way that allows our businesses to grow and prosper."

The governor's proposed EMPOWER program is underway with unprecedented funding approval from the legislature. The goal of the program is to reengineer the way state government operates, to make government more efficient and responsive and better able to serve all the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Governor Patton's administration is responsible for an initiative called Renaissance Kentucky, designed to help towns across Kentucky restore the commercial and residential appeal of their downtown cores.

Recognizing tourism as Kentucky's third largest industry, Governor Patton has established the Tourism Development Cabinet, and steered legislation through the 1996 General Assembly that will help recruit major tourist attractions to Kentucky, through the first-time use of a sales tax credit to qualified businesses.

As his administration moves forward, Governor Patton will continue to be a very activist governor. "I intend for this administration to be remembered 20 years from now as one that changed for the better the way government operates and serves its people. I want to set Kentucky on a course so that our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to realize their dreams."