prior was $54 million. Schweitzer consistently held one of the highest approval ratings among governors in the nation, with polls regularly showing a rating of above 60 percent. Schweitzer was elected chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2008. As governor, Schweitzer emphasized early childhood education, and in 2007 signed into law a voluntary full-time kindergarten program. In 2005, Schweitzer signed into law "Indian Education for All" funding, which provided for the first time funding for schools to fulfill a mandate passed in 1999 to teach tribal history in Montana schools. Under Schweitzer, from 2009 to 2012, Montana achieved the country's highest rate of increase in the proportion of its population with college degrees. The increase was attributed to a variety of initiatives backed by Schweitzer, including increased investments in the state's two-year community college system (including an increase in state funding, allowing two-year colleges to freeze tuition), better skills and practical training, additional online courses, a dual enrollment program for high school students, and reforms to make it easier for students to transfer academic credits, such as from a two-year to a four-year college. During his term as governor, Schweitzer focused on expanding Montana energy production, including both fossil fuels such as coal and oil and renewables such as wind. Schweitzer helped arrange financing for the Rim Rock Wind Farm, which opened in September 2012 as the state's largest wind farm. He strongly supported the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project, which was opposed by environmentalists. In 2008, Schweitzer expressed support for a "25x'25" proposal to transition at least 25% of U.S. energy production to renewable sources by the year 2025. In 2009, after General Motors voided its contracts with Stillwater Mining Company for the development of platinum and palladium mines in Montana following GM's reorganization in bankruptcy, Schweitzer strongly criticized GM's decision to withdraw from the project. Schweitzer called upon the Obama administration to force GM to continue with the project and expressed concern that the cancellation would harm Montana's mining industry and create a national security risk, as platinum and palladium were mined in only two other nations (Russia and South Africa). As governor, Schweitzer was an outspoken opponent of gun control proposals, and enjoyed the support of the National Rifle Association. In April 2009, Schweitzer signed into law the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, a bill that attempted to declare guns manufactured and possessed in Montana as exempt