In her address to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Jan. 15, Gov. Sarah Palin (R) touted the revenue benefits of the multi-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline deal she helped engineer last year. She also called for significant new education spending, increased energy conservation and alternative power use and lower business license fees.
She urged lawmakers to streamline the state’s health-care business rules and promised to study policies other states have adopted to encourage businesses to provide health-care benefits for their employees.
To increase the number of health-care providers in the state and lower costs, Palin urged lawmakers to do away with requirements that companies apply for so-called certificates-of-need before building new facilities.
On education, she urged lawmakers to approve a spending bill early in the year so schools could make plans without having to issue “pink slips.” Palin also proposed a new apprenticeship program to train high school graduates and university students for jobs in construction, engineering and health care — professions in great demand in Alaska, she said.
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Facing an estimated $1 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) listed several higher-education initiatives in her Jan. 14 speech to the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Napolitano laid out plans to double the number of bachelor’s degrees issued by state colleges and universities by 2020. The governor, re-elected to a second term in 2006, is calling for a fixed, four-year tuition rate beginning with next year’s college freshmen. Beginning in 2012, Napolitano wants to offer a scholarship program to give all the state’s high school graduates with a B average or higher a free ride to state colleges and universities. And Napolitano is reviving a measure introduced last year to raise the age students can drop out from 16 to 18.
Napolitano also asked lawmakers to require the state to get 15 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power. And she asked them to approve a ballot measure to increase transportation funding.
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Facing a projected $14 billion budget deficit, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged lawmakers to "face our budget demons" and approve a constitutional amendment to rein in spending.
The governor, however, argued that the bleak budget picture should not imperil his proposal to overhaul health care.
“Now, I understand the concern that we have now a deficit, and that our plan is maybe too daring, or too bold, or expensive,” Schwarzenegger said in his Jan. 8 address to the Democratic-controlled Legislature. “But sometimes you have to be daring, because the need is so great.”
The California Assembly in December had approved the governor’s health-care package aimed at covering 3 million more uninsured residents, but the Senate had yet to vote on it. (The Senate later rejected the plan.)
Schwarzenegger said a constitutional amendment that would impose a spending cap would end the “binge and purge” nature of the budget process. The governor proposed a similar idea in 2004, but state lawmakers rejected it. Such a plan would require voters’ approval.
On the education front, the governor announced California would be the first state to use powers under the federal No Child Left Behind education law to intervene in school districts that failed to meet student achievement levels.
Schwarzenegger said he would continue to push for more partnerships between state government and private industry to help fix the state’s crumbling infrastructure. He estimated the state faces $500 billion worth of infrastructure needs in the next 20 years.
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In his address Jan. 10, Gov. Bill Ritter (D) proposed what he called “the most revolutionary shift in education policy this state has seen in years” — one that treats all primary and secondary students as potentially college-bound.
Noting that a third of Colorado’s college freshmen need remedial course work, Ritter proposed making students from preschool to high school verify what they have learned through “a seamless system of expectations, policies and tools.” Ritter proposed extending all-day kindergarten to 22,000 more children and sending 70 counselors to middle and high schools to help students get into college.
Ritter repeated his hope for all Coloradans to have “quality, affordable health care,” though he didn’t make specific proposals for universal coverage. He called on the Democratic-controlled Legislature to expand health care to 17,000 more children and enroll more families in Medicaid.
The governor retained as a second-year priority a focus on renewable energy, including a plan for cheaper and more efficient home-heating.
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Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell called for “fiscal caution, fiscal restraint” in her Feb. 6 address, even though Connecticut was enjoying a modest budget surplus as other states were awash in red ink.
“We cannot spend what we do not have — and we cannot enact something that will result in budget holes and tax increases next year or in the following years,” she told the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Rell also renewed her call for a property-tax cap on cities and towns, an idea that lawmakers rejected last year.
In response to a brutal murder last summer in Cheshire in which a woman and her two daughters were killed by two parolees, Rell proposed imposing a "three strikes" law for those convicted of three violent felony offenses. Rell also called for removing the possibility of a case review after 30 years. “Now it’s three strikes for violent felony convictions and you’re truly out.”
The Cheshire murder prompted the Legislature to convene a special session last month on criminal justice issues that led to new penalties for home invasions.
Rell also called for splitting the scandal-plagued Department of Transportation into two agencies, one focusing on highways, the other mass transit.
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Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) asked lawmakers in her address Jan. 18 to create a registry of health disparities among minorities and ethnic groups, provide cervical-cancer vaccine to all uninsured girls and launch a homeland-security initiative that would fingerprint every fourth-grader in the state. Minner also asked the politically split General Assembly to ease the First State’s already business-friendly tax code.
This was Minner’s last address. She is term-limited and cannot run for re-election when her term expires January 2009.
Delaware is one of nine states committed to joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a group of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states that aims to reduce greenhouse gases in the region. Minner asked lawmakers to pass a law endorsing that agreement. She also sought additional conservation and alternative-energy measures for state government.
Among her funding requests, Minner recommended continuation of a full-day kindergarten and a health program designed to reduce infant mortality, and expansion of a two-year scholarship program to include four-year bachelor's degrees. She also asked for more assistance for students ages 16 to 18 who have dropped out or been expelled from high school.
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FLORIDADespite a $2 billion budget deficit, Gov. Charlie Crist (R) called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to spend $124 million to expand health care to the uninsured and pitched a $200 million economic development package for solar, wind and other renewable energy.
In his March 4 address, Crist noted that “challenging times will require us to meet the demands of declining revenues” and reiterated his call to dip into the state’s reserves to balance the budget.
On the health-care front, Crist proposed $60.6 million be targeted for enrolling more than 46,000 additional children in the KidCare program and another $63.9 million for a three-year pilot program that provides preventive and primary health-care services to the uninsured.
The governor also said he wanted to focus on childhood obesity and improve schools by providing teacher bonuses.
Crist broke with tradition and gave the address at 6 p.m., rather than during the morning. It was also televised in a bid “to open another window” so that Floridians could see the workings of their state government, Crist said.
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Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) gave an upbeat Jan. 16 state-of-the-state speech before a Republican-controlled Legislature on the same day he released a $21.4 billion budget that would update the state’s water system and give homeowners a small tax cut.
Under the budget, Georgia – mired in a drought for the past two years – would allot $120 million to build reservoirs and water and sewer improvements.
Perdue also proposed to eliminate the portion of the property tax that goes to the state, decreasing each household’s tax by about $30. The move was a surprise because when his 2006 gubernatorial opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor (D), suggested the same thing, Perdue’s camp dismissed the plan.
The governor’s budget also includes money to increase the number of state troopers, help local governments finish their transportation projects and improve the state’s trauma centers. Perdue proposed to partially fund the trauma centers with a bigger fine on “super speeders.”
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In her sixth annual address, delivered to lawmakers Jan. 22, Gov. Linda Lingle (R) asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature to approve the purchase of an embattled, 850-acre resort. Turtle Bay resort on Oahu’s North Shore has met stiff opposition to expansion plans that local residents say will spoil the rural nature of their community. State ownership of the property would preserve the Hawaiian way of life, she said.
She also sought investment in education programs she said are needed to transform the state’s economy from one “based too narrowly on land development to one based on the infinite talent and intellectual capacity” of Hawaii’s people. Lingle proposed new public school courses to prepare young people for jobs in animation, digital media, game development and writing and publishing.
The popular governor also asked lawmakers to help Hawaii — the most oil-dependent state in the country — develop alternative energy sources. She proposed a new government entity to encourage new business ventures “from wind to solar, from wave and ocean thermal to biofuel, from algae to even energy from space!”
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IDAHO
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) targeted tax relief, crowded prisons and college scholarships in his Jan 7 address.
He renewed his call to decrease the sales tax on groceries for the poor — a tax-credit proposal that state lawmakers rejected in 2007. Otter also urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to phase out the personal property tax.
As an alternative to the state’s practice of shipping prisoners to other states to relieve overcrowding, Otter called for spending $70 million on a new prison for the mentally ill and for converting a warehouse at the Idaho Correctional Center into a 304-bed drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation center.
Other big-ticket items included a proposal to spend $50 million for college scholarships for low-income students and $20 million for a comprehensive study of every Idaho aquifer. He also called for a 5 percent pay increase for state employees.
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ILLINOISReviving the economy in Illinois was the central focus of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) Feb. 20 address to the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
The governor toned down his rhetoric in this year’s speech, compared to past years when he assailed the education bureaucracy, the business community and lawmakers themselves. He called for consensus this year, following a contentious and incomparably long legislative session last year.
Blagojevich said if Democrats and Republicans could find consensus on an economic stimulus package in Washington, D.C., Illinois lawmakers could compromise as well.
His ideas for boosting the economy included a $300-per-child tax credit, tax cuts for companies that pay the state’s corporate income tax and the passage of a long-stalled capital bill to improve the state’s infrastructure.
But in a budget released the same day, he called for taxes on companies that don’t provide their employees health care, a proposal that drew ire from the business community.
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Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) spent most of his Jan. 15 speech urging lawmakers to overhaul the state’s property tax system. For the General Assembly, where Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate, it is the “one paramount assignment, one act for which it will be remembered,” he said.
“We must resolve to stay at it until success is achieved,” he said.
Repeating his property-tax plan first outlined to lawmakers in October, Daniels said he wants to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to start paying for services now funded through local property taxes such as child-welfare protection and many school-related expenses. Daniels also called for strict limits on local governments’ spending and borrowing, an overhaul of the property-assessment process and a property-tax cap for homeowners.
The governor said the changes would reduce property taxes $1.19 for each $1 in new taxes.
The proposal has met stiff resistance from local government officials, but Daniels said one of the benefits of the changes would be reducing local government.
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During his “condition of the state” address Jan. 15, Gov. Chet Culver (D) emphasized the need for lawmakers to limit new spending this year, while he proposed new initiatives in health care, education and the environment.
On the health-care front, Culver said he supported a smoking ban and more physical activity in schools. Culver also called for an expansion of state-run health insurance to an additional 7,500 people.
“Why shouldn’t every Iowan get the same type of insurance coverage that elected officials get? Well, that’s my goal,” he said.
To pay for more environmental protection activities, Culver urged the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to double the state’s nickel-a-bottle deposit for bottles and cans. One cent of the deposit would go to programs protecting the environment, he said.
Culver plugged renewable fuels and an effort to reduce odors around livestock farms.
On education, the governor proposed expanding early childhood education to make it available to all Iowans by 2010.
Culver said he wants to raise new revenue to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure, but he ruled out a gas tax hike. He also announced his support for building a new prison in Fort Madison, to replace the existing penitentiary there.
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Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) focused her Jan. 14 speech on calling for more early childhood education, improving health care and developing more clean and renewable energy.
Sebelius told the Republican-controlled Legislature that an educated workforce is a key to future economic prosperity and proposed adding money to pay for all-day kindergarten.
The governor, in her second term, also asked lawmakers to ban indoor smoking in public buildings statewide and to approve a 50-cent hike in the state’s cigarette tax to help fund health care.
Kansas also should play a greater role in developing biofuels for the nation and should cut greenhouse-gas emissions by using more renewable sources of power and improving energy efficiency, she said..
Past chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association, Sebelius was chosen to deliver her party’s response to President Bush’s State of the Union address on Jan. 28.
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KENTUCKY
Making his first state-of-the-commonwealth address, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear on Jan. 16 bluntly warned legislators: “The revenue outlook is grim.” Vowing not to raise taxes, Beshear said his administration would address the state’s unprecedented budget shortfall — estimated at nearly $900 million over two years — by trimming government spending and making state agencies more efficient and responsive.
Beshear offered few specifics on the budget and made no reference to his own proposal to increase revenue by allowing casino gambling in the state.
Despite the state’s dire fiscal outlook, Beshear said he would not abandon goals to lower prescription drug prices for seniors, increase college aid and improve secondary education to send more students to college. He also called for the politically split Legislature to approve an ethics package that includes limiting the governor’s power to pardon.
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MAINE
In his Jan. 9 address, Gov. John Baldacci (D) asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature to stretch Maine’s flagging revenues without raising taxes or dipping into financial reserves, and without cutting education funding or programs for the needy.
At the same time, he called for expansion of the state’s groundbreaking universal health-care program, Dirigo Health; greater use of wind power; and smaller state government.
To help reduce costs, Baldacci called for cuts in two departments: health and human resources and natural resources. He also said he would seek lower prescription drug prices for state workers by pooling purchases among the top three state unions.
To expand Maine’s Dirigo program, Baldacci called for market reforms to make coverage more affordable and asked lawmakers to help him find “less contentious and more sustainable” funding for the program.
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Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature Jan. 23 to help him fight violent crime, unclog the state’s roadways by investing in mass transit, and crack down on the mortgage banking industry. He also proposed greater protections for the state’s sensitive Chesapeake Bay areas and new measures designed to conserve electrical power and lower energy costs.
To fight crime, O’Malley called for greater use of DNA identification of violent criminals, use of Global Positioning System technology to track juvenile offenders and more juvenile detention and treatment centers.
The first-term governor apologized for recent tax hikes and cuts in service, and promised to help families at risk of losing their homes by lengthening the time it takes for banks to foreclose and increasing oversight of the lending industry.
Saying “deregulation has failed us in Maryland,” O’Malley vowed to find ways to lower energy prices, limit greenhouse gases and improve power generation through stepped-up regulation.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Gov. Deval Patrick (D) used his Jan. 24 address to push the Democratic-controlled Legislature to legalize casinos, the first-term governor’s No. 1 revenue-generating initiative. He also renewed his 2007 request for $1 billion to fund life sciences — including controversial embryonic stem-cell research — a program he said would create 250,000 new jobs.
Two other bills — one promoting renewable energy sources and conservation and another providing broadband services to the state’s western and central regions — also would create jobs in the Bay State, where he said some 125,000 people are looking for work.
Patrick also asked for record-high spending for public schools, all-day kindergarten and extended-day learning programs. To fight crime, he asked for tougher gun laws and use of technology to track released offenders.
Funding for these programs — plus a 13 percent business-tax cut and property-tax relief for nearly half a million households — will come from closing gaps in the corporate tax code and new casino licensing fees, Patrick said.
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In her speech Jan. 29, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) tweaked the battle lines in Lansing, where clashes with the Legislature last year led to a brief shutdown of state government and to sweeping changes to the state’s tax structure, including a hike in the income tax.
“If there’s one thing we showed the people of Michigan in the last year, it’s that we know how to fight. Now we need to show them that we can fight for them. Together,” she told members of the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate.
Michigan’s economy is reeling because of layoffs in the manufacturing sector, particularly automakers and their suppliers, so Granholm encouraged lawmakers to support alternative energy as a source for new jobs.
Granholm also proposed giving tax credits to companies that created more jobs in Michigan and investing state pension dollars in local start-ups.
On education, she called for raising the school dropout age to 18, increasing funding for pre-kindergarten and encouraging high schools to work with universities and major hospitals.
She also said she would find enough money to hire 100 more state troopers and tear down 1,500 dilapidated houses where criminals lurk.
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) warned the Democratic-controlled Legislature during his speech Feb. 13 not to pass any tax increases — a day after Democrats unveiled a plan to hike gas taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements.
“I still have an important tool to restrain taxes and spending. I call it the taxpayer protection pen, otherwise known as the veto pen,” he told lawmakers.
Transportation and infrastructure improvements were already a flashpoint between Pawlenty and Democrats last year, before a heavily traveled bridge in downtown Minneapolis collapsed in August. Pawlenty’s message suggested the dispute isn’t going away, even though he called for a bipartisan solution to overcome a “stalemate that has existed for three decades.”
The governor said the state’s method of taxation was outdated, based on a 1960s economy, and needs to be updated to encourage business growth. He also proposed capping local property taxes.
Pawlenty, who has made alternative energy the focus of his tenure as chairman of the National Governors Association, said the state should continue to “Americanize” energy production to reduce reliance on potentially hostile foreign countries and boost Minnesota’s economy.
MISSISSIPPI
With the economy entering an uncertain period and federal Hurricane Katrina money ebbing, Gov. Haley Barbour (R) called for legislators to show fiscal discipline in his Jan. 21 speech before the politically split Legislature. Lawmakers will have to make tough choices, he said, and some good programs will be unfunded.
Barbour said the biggest funding challenge will be Medicaid, which faces a large shortfall. The governor also wants to shore up the state’s “rainy day” fund.
Barbour said his budget, however, will fully fund education under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. He also plans to set aside money to give a raise to teachers who have been on the job for 25 years, and to fund a program that tests each first-grader for dyslexia and other learning disorders.
The governor also named two goals: to finish rebuilding the coast still struggling with Katrina damage and to expand the job creation of recent years. He said he opposes authorizing any new debt, unless it relates to creating jobs.
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MISSOURI
Gov. Matt Blunt (R) used his Jan. 15 address to recommend spending an additional $400 million on health care and education, while cutting tens of millions in taxes.
The centerpiece proposals of his speech to the Republican-controlled Legislature were a $348 million program to insure low- and middle-income working parents, and more than $137 million for the state’s replacement program for Medicaid.
In all, Blunt’s budget would add up to the largest budget in state history and would increase spending at a rate double the expected rise in revenues. The increases are a reversal for the governor, who slashed Medicaid spending during his first year in office and removed more than 90,000 people from the state’s health-care rolls.
A week after Blunt gave his address, he shocked many when he announced he will not seek election for a second term. He was facing a tough race against Attorney General Jay Nixon (D). Blunt said he achieved virtually everything he set out to accomplish when he ran for governor.
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NEBRASKA
Gov. Dave Heineman (R) focused on several new tax cuts in his fourth state-of-the-state address on Jan. 15, including nearly doubling a property-tax credit approved last year.
Heineman also proposed to the nonpartisan Legislature increasing business tax credits for companies that create at least 75 new high-paying jobs in the state.
At the same time, the governor suggested transferring $15 million from the state’s general fund to cover an expected shortfall in transportation funding. He also proposed pumping $10 million into new technology for the University of Nebraska system.
Heineman said he plans to thrust the state into the ongoing national debate over immigration, with a call for the state and local governments to require more verification of people seeking public benefits.
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Gov. John Lynch (D) Jan. 23 called for a new “wellness” program for small businesses and a tax credit to help lure new businesses to the northern part of the state. But he said a slowing economy will prevent launching expensive new programs.
“Barring an emergency, I will not support any bills that require additional spending this year,” Lynch told the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Lynch urged lawmakers to create New Hampshire HealthFirst, which would require insurance companies to offer a wellness insurance plan to small businesses. Rhode Island passed similar legislation last year, he said.
Citing a string of company shutdowns in Coos County, Lynch proposed the state provide a $1,000 tax credit for businesses for each of the next five years for each new job that pays twice the minimum wage.
He also reiterated his call for a constitutional amendment on education funding that he said would allow the state to focus aid to needy districts.
Lynch spotlighted the state’s Jan. 8 presidential primary. “(B)ecause of our engaged citizens, our record-breaking turnout, and our willingness to let the people decide — New Hampshire should and will remain the first primary in the nation.”
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NEW JERSEY
“It is up to those of us in this room to change the ‘credit card’ culture of New Jersey’s finances,” Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) told legislators during a somber Jan. 8 speech focusing heavily on the Garden State’s more-than-$30-billion debt.
Corzine proposed to the Democratic-controlled Legislature a four-pronged plan to confront what he called the “financial emergency” facing the state: freezing state spending at current levels, tying future spending to revenue growth, dramatically increasing tolls on the state’s roads and requiring voters to approve all future debt that doesn’t have a dedicated revenue source.
Acknowledging that the most controversial aspect of his plan is the toll-road component, Corzine called for a 50 percent hike in tolls starting in 2010, with subsequent hikes of up to 50 percent in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Corzine said his proposal would allow the state to eliminate $16 billion in debt in “one fell swoop” and was better than huge increases in income or gas taxes. He also vowed not to sell or lease state roads to the private sector, calling instead for a nonprofit “public benefit corporation” to manage — but not own — the roads.
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Gov. Bill Richardson (D) delivered his Jan. 15 state-of-the-state address fresh off the campaign trail after dropping his presidential bid.
After disappointing finishes in the Iowa presidential caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Richardson returned to propose universal health care to the Democratic-controlled Legislature. His plan calls for all New Mexicans to have health insurance by 2010. The state has the second-highest rate of uninsured in the nation.
The governor also said he will revive a bill to give same-sex couples some of the legal benefits that married couples have. Nine other states allow gay partners to enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships, while Massachusetts is the only state that sanctions same-sex marriage.
Richardson said ethics and campaign-finance reform also would a priority during the 30-day lawmaking session.
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After a year of partisan battles with the Legislature, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, struck a more conciliatory tone in his Jan. 9 address, outlining an ambitious package to cut property taxes, expand health-care coverage and fund higher education by privatizing the state lottery.
“Join me in good faith. I will meet you with an open hand, an open door and an open mind,” Spitzer appealed to lawmakers. Many of Spitzer’ first-year accomplishments were overshadowed by clashes with Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. Democrats control the Assembly.
One of Spitzer’s boldest proposals is for New York to be the first state in the country to lease its lottery to private investors in a plan to fund an endowment for higher education.
On health care, Spitzer proposed using state money to cover 400,000 extra children through the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program after the Bush administration last year said they were ineligible because their families earned too much. He also unveiled a “Doctors Across New York” program that would provide grants to physicians willing to move to the state’s inner cities and rural areas. They would use the money to repay their medical school loans.
Building on last year’s $1.3 billion property-tax cut, Spitzer announced he has formed a bipartisan commission to study why New York taxes are so high and whether capping property taxes levied by school districts might be a solution. He also pitched a $1 billion fund to create jobs in upstate New York.
On energy, Spitzer said he would push “15 by 15,” which would set a goal of reducing statewide electricity use 15 percent from projected levels by 2015.
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Gov. Ted Strickland (D) asked lawmakers to give him more control over the state’s schools and to approve $1.7 billion in borrowing to jump-start Ohio’s flagging economy in his address Feb. 6.
Strickland, who centralized control over the state’s colleges and universities last year, said putting schools under his control, instead of that of the state board of education, would improve accountability. “The most important duty of the state should not be overseen by an unwieldy department with splintered accountability,” he said.
The governor also proposed allowing qualified high school seniors to study at local colleges to earn college credit at no cost.
In a speech that dwelled heavily on the economy, Strickland chided subprime lenders for not cooperating with his administration in drafting rules to soften the mortgage crisis.
His bonding plan would pay for renewable-energy projects, infrastructure improvements, downtown renewals, biomedical research, open-space preservation and aid to local governments to build sewers and streets.
“Watching, wishing and waiting will not create Ohio jobs. But a bold and balanced investment in Ohio will,” he said.
Strickland also proposed to the Republican-controlled Legislature consolidating veterans programs under a new Department of Veteran affairs. He said he has ordered $733 million in cuts to deal with an anticipated budget shortfall.
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As Oklahoma celebrates its Centennial year, Gov. Brad Henry (D) laid out his proposals to boost public education by adding five days to the school year, raising teacher pay and adding graduation coaches to lower high school dropout rates.
Henry, in his second term, also asked the Republican-controlled Legislature to increase the requirements for physical education in the schools to help combat childhood obesity.
During his Feb. 4 address, the governor also urged a 5 percent raise for state employees. Transportation funding also should be a priority and the Sooner State needs $2 billion over the next decade to pave the state’s economic prosperity, Henry said.
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In his Feb. 5 budget address, Gov. Ed Rendell (D) touted Pennsylvania’s finances but warned that a downturn in the national economy would affect struggling residents.
Rendell called for swift passage of a one-time tax rebate of up to $400 for 475,000 “working families” — a proposal similar to a national economic stimulus plan approved by Congress on Feb. 7.
Rendell tied two of his signature issues — energy independence and expanded access to health insurance — to the state’s economy. He urged Pennsylvanians to cut their dependence on foreign oil by using biofuels produced in the Keystone State, and said universal access to health care would drive down costs for individuals and businesses. “It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the smart thing to do,” he said.
The governor asked the politically split General Assembly to approve a new education funding formula that would pour $2.6 billion over six years into schools that a recent state study said were not spending enough on students. He also urged lawmakers to fund bridge improvements by borrowing $600 million over three years.
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RHODE ISLAND
Addressing a Democratic-controlled Legislature Jan. 22, Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) said Rhode Island was at a “tipping point” because of an uncertain economy and budget crisis. He proposed to reduce spending by $300 million by making cuts in three areas: social services, employee salaries and benefits and payments to cities and towns.
The governor told lawmakers he wants to shrink the period that people can receive welfare services from five years to two years. He also wants to change Medicaid so that more senior citizens receive long-term care at home instead of in a nursing home.
He plans to cut 1,000 state jobs and change public employees’ pay and benefits so they are more in line with those of private-sector employees. For example, Carcieri proposed to drop the state’s “overly generous” retiree health plan and move to a 401(k) pension plan.
He suggested forcing municipal governments to make similar personnel changes as he proposed for the state, and recommended the jurisdictions consolidate services and reduce overhead costs, especially in school systems.
Carcieri said his plan would result in no new taxes.
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Gov. Mark Sanford (R) repeated his goals for the state during his Jan. 16 speech before the Republican-controlled Legislature: restructuring the government, installing tougher drunk-driving laws and increasing tax cuts.
Sanford, who perennially tries to cut spending, pushed for lawmakers to pass a law limiting government spending. He also proposed again to end the state budget board and bring its duties under the executive branch.
The governor proposed tightening the state’s DUI laws and increasing the state’s 7-cent, lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax to be able to cut state income taxes.
Sanford also asked the Legislature to repeal tax breaks aimed at specific businesses, calling them unfair to small businesses. Last year, lawmakers passed an incentives package to draw mega-sporting goods store Bass Pro Shops to the state.
Sanford backed incentives for high school students to graduate early: $2,000 to each student who finishes high school a year early and $1,000 for a semester early. This would cost the state less than keeping these students in school, he said.
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Gov. Mike Rounds (R) highlighted the state’s energy potential in his annual state-of-the-state address Jan. 8 and urged legislators to restrain spending on education and transportation.
Rounds proposed new incentives to boost bio-diesel production and said he supports the construction of a major new oil refinery and a petroleum pipeline running from Canada through the Midwest. Both the refinery and pipeline have drawn opposition from residents and some local governments over environmental concerns.
The governor also outlined before the Republican-controlled Legislature his budget proposals, focusing on a 2.5 percent increase in education spending and criticizing school districts for keeping too much money in reserve. On transportation spending, Rounds suggested cutting spending for the state highway patrol as one way to cover for the shrinking amount of state and federal gasoline tax dollars.
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Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) compared running state government during a national economic slowdown to being the captain of a ship in stormy waters in his address Jan. 28.
Before a politically split Legislature, the governor announced plans to cut crime, increase jobs, improve health and expand education in a $27.9 billion budget, which is about $170 million less than the current budget.
Bredesen’s most detailed plans involved education. He asked for $25 million to set up more pre-kindergarten classes across the state, and suggested lowering the 3.0 GPA threshold that college students have to maintain to keep their Tennessee Hope Scholarships to 2.75. Republicans have opposed similar proposals in the past.
Although Bredesen did not include any additional money for the state’s colleges and universities, he suggested using lottery income to increase needs-based scholarships.
The governor’s budget also includes $12 million to find more alternatives to nursing homes for elderly senior and disabled people, $29.3 million for a jobs-creation initiative, and money for more prison beds and increased DNA collection from criminals.
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Health insurance and education topped Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s (R) priorities in the first state-of-the-state speech in Utah’s newly remodeled Capitol on Jan. 22.
While hailing the state’s economy and praising its resilience amid national uncertainty, Huntsman identified Utahns’ lack of health insurance as a problem “crying out for a fix.” More than 300,000 residents have no health coverage, the governor said, challenging the Republican Legislature to work toward major changes that will expand access — though he offered few specific proposals.
Huntsman also called on lawmakers to make “historic investments in education” to lure more teachers to the state, both in primary and secondary schools and in colleges. He asked legislators to raise teacher salaries and give principals more power “to reward the good teachers and replace the bad ones.” He said students must take too many standardized tests and proposed a year-round school year for students who need extra help.
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Gov. Jim Douglas (R) called for tax reforms and environmental measures and asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature to make affordable health care its top priority in his Jan. 9 speech. For the most part, the governor proposed tweaks to current programs, rather than new initiatives.
Douglas recommended lowering the top and middle-class income-tax rates but increasing the capital-gains tax on investment income. He also suggested the state cut property taxes and increase school construction projects by leasing the lottery to a private concern, an idea sure to spark debate.
On health insurance, Douglas called for programs to prevent obesity, reduce insurance costs for small businesses and allow more young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance plans.
Douglas also recommended cutting carbon emissions in the rural state by setting up a database to link commuters to carpools and helping businesses set up vanpools. He also proposed to double the number of park-and-ride spaces over the next decade.
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Gov. Tim Kaine (D) used his Jan. 9 address to call for tighter gun laws, increased mental-health funding and repeal of the state’s much-maligned abusive driver fees. He also urged lawmakers to enact new protections against identity theft, to make it easier to use absentee ballots and to pump more money into pre-K and higher education.
In response to the tragic shooting deaths by a mentally ill student at Virginia Tech last year, Kaine asked the politically split General Assembly to close a loophole in existing law that allows firearm purchases at gun shows without conducting a background check.
To reduce identity theft, Kaine called on lawmakers to ensure consumers are notified when sensitive data is compromised and allow them to freeze their credit report to prevent thieves from opening credit in their names.
Kaine sought repeal of steep traffic fines designed to promote safe driving and boost transportation revenues. The six-month-old fees drew a firestorm of protest and have not resulted in fewer accidents, he said.
To making voting easier, Kaine said absentee ballots should be made available electronically to soldiers fighting in Iraq and to all citizens who cannot travel to the polls for any reason.
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Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) — facing a tough re-election bid this year against Dino Rossi, the Republican she narrowly defeated four years ago — used much of her address Jan. 15 to tout her administration’s achievements, including converting a budget deficit into a “huge surplus” in three years.
Under her watch, Gregoire said, Washington added 218,000 jobs and last year recorded the lowest unemployment rate in state history. But Gregoire hinted at the possibility of “less prosperous times” in the future and urged lawmakers to avoid expensive programs and leave at least $1.2 billion in the state’s "rainy day" fund.
Gregoire asked lawmakers to build on a recent crackdown on sex offenders that followed the murder last year of a 12-year-old Tacoma girl. Gregoire called for a program that would automatically e-mail families when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood.
The governor also called on the Democratic-controlled Legislature to authorize drunk-driving checkpoints. Washington is one of 11 states that do not have such checkpoints.
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Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) used his Jan. 9 speech to announce a campaign to stop student bullying, a first-in-the-nation health-screening program for kindergarten pupils and a free prescription-drug program for uninsured workers. He also asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature for better mental-health counseling for returning Iraq soldiers and a tougher anti-drug program.
Revoking the driver’s licenses of students who commit a serious offense, like assaulting a teacher, would be one way to curb school violence, he said. The kindergarten health program could be funded with State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) dollars and should include follow-up exams in second, fifth and eighth grades, the governor said.
The free prescription-drug program would rely in part on donations, and improved mental-health counseling for returning veterans would come from churches and other community organizations, Manchin said. West Virginia’s crackdown on illegal drugs would include educational programs, “drug courts” and rehabilitation programs to help abusers become productive members of society, Manchin said.
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WISCONSIN
In his address to the State Assembly Jan. 23, Gov. Jim Doyle (D) unveiled proposals designed to brace Wisconsin for an economic downturn.
He said small businesses should be able to purchase private insurance through a state agency, as companies in Massachusetts can do now. Doyle also said insurers should not be able to base their rates on where customers work or on pre-existing conditions.
The governor urged lawmakers once again to ban smoking in public places, especially because neighboring Minnesota and Illinois enacted bans last year. “Wisconsin should not become the ashtray of the Midwest,” he said.
He also called for an unspecified hike in the minimum wage.
In education, Doyle suggested requiring high school students to take three years of both math and science. He also said he wanted to change the way teachers are paid to reward those "who take on the hardest assignments, who advance their skills and who help their students achieve success.”
Last year, the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House deadlocked in budget negotiations. But Doyle said the final result showed that the parties could reach common ground.
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WYOMING
Wyoming’s economy is booming, and the national subprime mortgage crisis has not affected the state as it has many others, Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) told the Republican-controlled Legislature in his Feb. 12 speech. But, he cautioned, “the abundance we enjoy requires discipline.”
Freudenthal stressed the need to balance environmental concerns with those of the energy industry, the major source of Wyoming’s economic strength. He said the state should become more energy-efficient as a way to cut operational costs, and he urged lawmakers to expand wind energy and carbon sequestration, a process that stores carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
The governor pushed a pilot project to help cut health-insurance costs for working families, though he stressed the project would not amount to an expansion of coverage.
He also asked lawmakers to approve property-tax relief for the elderly.
Aside from budget items, Freudenthal pushed bills to reduce business fraud in the state and make dogfighting a felony. Wyoming is one of two states (the other is Idaho) where dogfighting is a misdemeanor.
To read the full text, click here.Staff writers John Gramlich, Eric Kelderman, Christine Vestal, Daniel C. Vock and Pauline Vu contributed to this report. 
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