HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday outlined his 2006 agenda that again emphasizes job creation, energy projects, expanded access to education and affordable health care.

The Democratic governor also plugged his proposed ethics ballot measure to prevent state elected officials and their staffs from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office.

His hour-long speech to his Cabinet and staff in the ornate governor’s reception room was largely a recap of the priorities Schweitzer has pushed since taking office in January 2005 and, for the most part, advocated in his 2004 campaign.

One of Schweitzer’s few new initiatives was his vow to urge county attorneys and courts to enforce the laws guaranteeing anglers, hunters and hikers access to streams and public lands. Too often, he said, out-of-staters are buying large ranches and homes and denying Montanans their legal right to access.

Schweitzer also said he would sponsor a school readiness summit in June so the state can build a better early childhood statewide system. Although one solution might be full-day kindergarten, Schweitzer said he wasn’t ready yet to make a financial commitment.

He and First Lady Nancy Schweitzer, both with science backgrounds, will launch an initiative to help spark K-12 students’ interest in science and math. It will begin with signs along the highways pointing out the geological history of areas of the state, he said.

Summing up his speech, Schweitzer said, “The greatest concern we have across Montana is strengthening families.”

Reaction to the speech was mixed.

“It was very short on specifics and not much as far as content goes,” said House Republican Leader Roy Brown of Billings. “A lot of it seems to be Republican issues. We’ve been promoting job growth in Montana for a long time.”

Jack Copps, spokesman for the Montana Quality Education Coalition, which organized the successful lawsuit challenging the state’s school funding. Schweitzer’s comments were mostly “more of the same.”

“We appreciate any initiative that (Schweitzer) puts forward, but what’s really important is that schools recover from a decade of under-funding,” Copps said. “We really need to drive some money to schools to restore programs.”

Here were the highlights of the governor’s speech, by topic:

- Economy and jobs. Schweitzer said 1,700 jobs were created or retained in 2005 through state government assistance. He’s shooting for 1,000 this year.

- Energy. Schweitzer said he would keeping pushing for development of a coal-to-liquid plant and coal gasification facility in the state. He said he will show off Montana’s assets to executives or travel anywhere to speak to corporate boards.

“If you don’t ask, you’re not going to get a date,” Schweitzer said.

- Education. Schweitzer noted he had increased ongoing revenue to state K-12 schools by nearly $125 million between the regular and special legislative sessions.

“We’re not done yet,” he said.

Brown pooh-poohed as “mostly nothing” Schweitzer’s new education initiatives calling for road signs, a conference and the promotion of science.

“If a Republican governor had proposed that, I think there would have been a huge uproar,” the GOP House leader said.

- Affordable, accessible health care. Schweitzer said he is committed to getting 2,000 more Montana children covered on the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which now covers 12 ,000 kids. He said he would continue to work on the Insure Montana program, passed in 2005, to provide health insurance to small businesses through pooling and tax credits.