2011 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Jobs


Rick Scott: High unemployment compensation deters job creation

Another government program with good intentions and potentially dangerous side-effects is our system of unemployment compensation. In times of high unemployment, the system provides a critical safety net. But its rising costs, which are borne by the very employers who are struggling to stay in business, threaten to create even more job losses. The costs of unemployment insurance cannot be allowed to deter job creation. By working with the legislature, we will bring those costs down.
Source: 2011 State of the State speech to Florida legislature Mar 8, 2011

Robert Bentley: As new governor, job creation is my first priority

My highest priority for Alabama is creating jobs. Stimulating our economy and job creation for the people of Alabama is, and will remain, the focal point of my administration.

I am creating an Office of Small Business Development. We will continue to aggressively pursue businesses that bring new jobs to our state. That means providing work force training and resources to support companies. Under the Full-Employment Act business will be given a one-time tax credit for each new job they create.

Source: 2011 State of the State speech to Alabama legislature Mar 1, 2011

Pat Quinn: Illinois Jobs Now! and Employer Training Investment Program

Our greatest asset is our human capital. Illinois' workers are smart, resourceful, and hardworking. But we can't become complacent. We must invest in our state's workforce to meet the changing needs of business, so that Illinois workers always have the education, training and skills necessary to compete with anyone around the world. That's why I am proposing to increase support for the Employer Training Investment Program.

Shortly after I became Governor, we enacted our job recovery initiative-- Illinois Jobs Now!--a $31 billion job recovery program to rebuild our roads, bridges, water systems, railroads, airports, and schools. We are in the middle of the largest road-building program in the history of Illinois. So far, we have repaired 4,800 miles of roads and 500 bridges--with a lot more to come. We are creating jobs. Capital projects to date have created 142,000 short-term and permanent jobs. Altogether we will create and retain more than 400,000 jobs over the course of the program.

Source: Illinois 2011 State of the State Budget Address Feb 16, 2011

Martin O`Malley: Recovery & Reinvestment Act creates jobs; spend more locally

It all comes back to jobs. Building a more reliable power grid creates jobs. Rebuilding roads and renovating schools creates jobs. Building and restoring bridges creates jobs. Rebuilding water infrastructure and revitalizing community colleges creates jobs. Building science labs creates jobs. The Recovery & Reinvestment Act--signed courageously by President Obama and implemented openly and transparently without the waste, fraud and abuse that the naysayers predicted--has helped us create and save more than 15,000 jobs in the most recent quarter. And through our Capital Budget we can help create and retain 15,000 more. This includes jobs building and refurbishing schools, with the $250 million investment we're once again proposing for school construction.
Source: 2011 Maryland State of the State Address Feb 3, 2011

Scott Walker: Create 250,000 jobs via special legislative session

The unemployment rate in December dropped to 7.5% but that is still 3 points worse than it was just 3 years ago. We must do better. Coach Vince Lombardi once said, "Success demands singleness of purpose." We are defining success for this administration by our ability to shape an environment where 250,000 jobs are created.

Every action of our administration should be looked at through the lens of job creation. That is why--moments after taking the oath of office as your Governor--I called a special session of the Legislature to focus on jobs. Already, we are sending a clear message that Wisconsin is open for business! That singleness of purpose is why we hit the ground running on our very first day and why by our second day we had already introduce legislation to improve Wisconsin's economic environment. All told, we introduced 8 pieces of legislation to instill in our state an environment that encourages job creation, and to send the message to employers that now is the time to start hiring.

Source: 2011 Wisconsin State of the State Address Feb 1, 2011

Jerry Brown: Strip away regulations that prevent job creation

At a time when more than 2 million Californians are out of work, we must search out and strip away any accumulated burdens or unreasonable regulations that stand in the way of investment and job creation. But let's not forget that Job #1--make no mistake about it--is fixing our state budget and getting our spending in line with our revenue. Once we do that, the rest will be easy--at least easier because we will have learned to work together and earned back the respect and trust of the people we serve.
Source: 2011 California State of the State Address Jan 31, 2011

Terry Branstad: Reduce burdensome regulation by public/private job team

I will be bringing forth legislation to transform our current Department of Economic Development into a public/private partnership. This will be a partnership that unshackles our economic development efforts from an alphabet soup of bureaucratic programs and brings the best practices from both sectors to recharge our job creation mission. And I intend to give that new partnership new tools to market our state to job creators.

[We'll] eliminate impediments to job growth. While tax policy can take us a significant way forward in our effort to compete for new jobs, much of that work can be undone by a bureaucracy that fails to understand the critical relationship between burdensome regulation and job creation. The rules and regulations identified throug this process will be the first subjected to our proposed rolling sunset and I will further order all future proposed rules and regulations to contain a jobs impact statement so we can identify those that cost jobs before they impact our Iowa employers.

Source: 2011 Iowa State of the State Address Jan 27, 2011

Brian Sandoval: $10M for deals via Nevada Jobs Unlimited

Nevada Jobs Unlimited will pursue strategies that grow jobs within existing Nevada businesses, as well as recruit companies from out-of-state. But we will do so with a new sense of urgency, coordination, and accountability. Collaboration and tighter performance indicators will be the metrics of this new system. We are also proposing a $10 million Catalyst Fund to provide much-needed resources to close deals, finance infrastructure, and spur the growth of new jobs. The Fund will be continued in futur budgets only if it delivers the kind of success we expect. Our proposal builds upon the foundation laid by the New Nevada Task Force, which has provided new ideas for the future of our state's economic development activities. Our future lies in business sectors like technology commercialization, bioscience, renewable energy development, and defense sector expansion. Innovation will drive tomorrow's economy, and so it must drive our decision-making as we rebuild our economic development infrastructure.
Source: 2011 Nevada State of the State Address Jan 24, 2011

Jack Markell: Job Creation Infrastructure Fund: tax credits for job growth

We must be prepared to make the infrastructure investments necessary when we see significant opportunities to put Delawareans back to work. I am proposing a Job Creation Infrastructure Investment Fund that will allow us to seize the best opportunities fo investing in future jobs in ways that our Transportation Trust Fund currently cannot. And to drive home the message that Delaware is the best place to start and grow a business, we must promote job-creating capital investment. For businesses large or small that are willing to put Delawareans to work in a new or expanded manufacturing facility--whether it be for traditional manufacturing, or for clean energy--we will provide tax credits to support that job growth. We must continue to create a business climate that puts our neighbors back to work and that puts Delaware back at the forefront of making things again.
Source: 2011 Delaware State of the State Address Jan 20, 2011

Susana Martinez: Cover some salary when businesses hire unemployed workers

When people are out of work, we must provide a safety net for the unemployed worker to ensure people can continue to feed their families. But we must do more than just hand out unemployment checks. We must also help people get back to work. That's why I propose encouraging small businesses to hire unemployed workers by covering part of their salaries for the first six months through the unemployment fund. This will help the state by getting people off the unemployment rolls; it will help small businesses by making it easier for them to grow. And it will help families by getting more New Mexicans back to work. And we must refocus our mission outward--on helping small businesses grow. That's why we'll cut wasteful programs that do little for job creation. And redirect resources to open an Office of Business Advocacy within the Economic Development Department. We'll do more, with less. This office will help small businesses break through regulatory roadblocks.
Source: 2011 New Mexico State of the State Address Jan 18, 2011

John Hickenlooper: Sustainable jobs are created by the private sector

Our top priority must be jobs. Sustainable jobs are created by the private sector. Our task must be to support that job growth, while also maintaining the highest ethical and environmental safeguards. Listening to Coloradans, understanding the vision that every county has for its economic future, is the first step. We need to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive in Colorado. The economic plan we are proposing is not a top-down, government mandated scheme. It's a bottom-up, community-based initiative that will reflect the priorities of your constituents. On my first day as your new governor, I signed executive orders designed to spur job creation, attract investors and cut red tape.
Source: 2011 Colorado State of the State Address Jan 13, 2011

Earl Ray Tomblin: $20M for Unemployment Compensation Fund

Unemployment compensation programs around the country have been in a financial crisis. To make sure that we do not have to [take extreme measures] in the future, I am proposing legislation that would allow the Unemployment Compensation Fund to borrow up to $20 million from our Rainy Day Funds. This will assure employers that they will not be subject to tax increases and let employees know that the State is serious about making sure that their benefits will be there while our economy recovers.
Source: 2011 W.V. State of the State Address Jan 12, 2011

  • The above quotations are from 2011 Governor's State of the State speeches.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Jobs.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Andrew Cuomo on Jobs.
  • Click here for more quotes by Jack Dalrymple on Jobs.
Candidates and political leaders on Jobs:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018