2015 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Budget & Economy
Tom Wolf:
Cut personal taxes 13%; fund schools by gas extraction tax
My budget actually reduces the total tax burden on average middle-class homeowners by 13 percent. So how will we do it? We will do it with tax reforms that are smart, pragmatic, and fair. We will do it with changes that will help eliminate the deficit,
protect the middle class, and set the table for robust private sector growth.It starts by doing what every other major gas producing state has already done. We are going to place a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas.
And we are going to tie the revenues from the tax to funding for public education.
I am proposing a five percent severance tax that is projected to generate more than $1 billion in annual revenues.
While local communities will continue to receive funding to address the impact of the drilling, the bulk of these funds will be used to invest in public education.
This is not about politics or ideology. It is simply common sense.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Pennsylvania Legislature
Mar 3, 2015
Greg Abbott:
Constitutional amendment to limits growth of state budget
We must begin the process now to create a structure to pay down our state's debt. To keep Texas the premiere model for opportunity, we must constrain the size of government and maximize the liberty of individuals. To protect taxpayers from government
growing too big, we need a constitutional amendment that limits the growth of the state budget to population growth plus inflation.Many of us have ridiculed states like California and Illinois as bastions of failed big government.
You'll be surprised to learn that Texas has more full-time state employees per capita than California and Illinois. That's shocking--it must be changed.
That's why my budget requires most state agencies to reduce their general revenue spending by three percent. Some of those cuts can come from hiring freezes and reductions in fuel and travel costs.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Texas Legislature
Feb 17, 2015
Martin O`Malley:
Tax reductions & regulatory reforms to help job creators
- High taxes, over-regulation, and an anti-business attitude are clearly the cause of our economic problems.
- 40 consecutive tax hikes have taken an additional $10 billion out of the pockets of struggling Maryland families and small businesses.
- We've lost more than 8,000 businesses, and Maryland's unemployment nearly doubled.
- We're number three in the nation in foreclosures, and dead last in manufacturing.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to listen to Maryland's hard working taxpayers and our job creators. The people of Maryland simply cannot afford for us to continue on the same path of more spending, more borrowing, more taxes, and politics as
usual. It is time for a new direction for Maryland. Our administration will work to enact the necessary budgets, tax reductions, regulatory reforms, and legislation that is necessary, to ensure that we turn our economy around.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Maryland Legislature
Feb 4, 2015
Pat McCrory:
Tax & unemployment overhaul helped economic crisis recovery
Our spirit of resilience helped North Carolina recover from our economic crisis. When I took the oath of office in January, 2013, North Carolina taxes were among the highest in the Southeast. But working together, we passed historic tax reform that put
more money in people's paycheck. It was the first major overhaul of our tax system in nearly 80 years. And two years ago, because of our badly outdated unemployment insurance system our businesses owed the federal government $2.5 billion.
But drawing upon our resilience we reformed our unemployment program. We not only aligned our benefits with neighboring states, we also devised a plan to pay off our debt this year, a full 3 years ahead of schedule.
Now in North Carolina, not only do we balance our budget, but when we have a debt, we cut up the credit card and we pay it off. That's a lesson those in Washington need to learn.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 N.C. Legislature
Feb 4, 2015
David Ige:
We are spending more than we take in; fix the imbalance
Building our [home community] begins with sound and long-term financing. It means working both the income and spending sides of the ledger. I recently submitted a preliminary budget that maintains state programs at current spending levels based on two
sobering realities:- First, we have fully committed our current funds to existing programs and services, and
- Second, we are spending more than we take in.
While we work to correct that imbalance, we need to focus our available resources
on strategic investments that grow our economy and strengthen our social safety net. In other words, we need to use the funds we have more efficiently and leverage it whenever possible.Federal officials tell me there is significant money--
about $940 million--available to the state for the right projects, proposed for the right reasons and at the right time. We also need to do a better job of collecting taxes already on the books.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Hawaii Legislature
Jan 26, 2015
Bill Walker:
Low oil prices mean millions in state budget deficit
We know that Alaska is experiencing a significant drop in revenue. The price of oil has dropped by more than 50% over the past six months. This has moved us from a $7 million-per-day deficit just six months ago to a $10 million-per-day deficit today.
This is unsustainable. It's unacceptable. We can and we will do better.This isn't the first time our young state has been through tough times. Many of you in this room served during the days of $9-a-barrel oil during the recession of the 1980s.
Today, we have fewer than 500,000 barrels per day flowing through the pipeline. The impact of the low prices is intensified by low production.
Today, we are faced with a $3.5 billion deficit, and using $10 million every day from our savings.
Some might call this a crisis. I call this a challenge and an opportunity. We have an opportunity to make impactful and constructive changes; to challenge the traditional ways of doing business.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Alaska Legislature
Jan 22, 2015
Andrew Cuomo:
2015 Opportunity Agenda: cut $1.7B taxes; add $1.5B programs
Governor Andrew Cuomo presented his "2015 Opportunity Agenda," designed to restore economic opportunity, improve and reform our education system, and restore the public's confidence and trust in our justice system.
This plan is a bold and comprehensive package of legislative reforms, state actions, and public investments that will increase opportunity for all New Yorkers and keep the State moving forward.-
Proposal #1: Cut small business taxes from 6.5 percent to 2.5 percent
- Proposals #2 & 3: Pass $1.7 billion in property tax relief for homeowners and renters
- Proposal #14: Launch a $1.5 billion Upstate New York Economic Revitalization Competition
-
Proposal #24: Create a $35 million Global NY Export-Import Development Program
- Proposal #25: Expand the Unemployment Strike Force to the top ten highest areas of unemployment
- Proposal #66: Provide assistance to our homeless
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
Mike Pence:
Amend state constitution to require a balanced budget
Fiscal discipline has been the hallmark of the past decade of Indiana governance. Our balanced budgets have led to economic growth, lower tax rates and job creation. Remarkably, Indiana is one of the few states in the country that does not have a
balanced budget requirement in its constitution. It is a tribute to the public servants in this room that Indiana has adhered to that practice in recent years even though it is not required.
A balanced budget requirement in the Constitution will assure Hoosiers that today and tomorrow Indiana will spend wisely, protect our state from an economic downturn, and unlike Washington, D.C., we won't bury our children and grandchildren under
mountains of debt.
I call on this General Assembly to begin the process of adding a balanced budget amendment to the Indiana Constitution in this session and send this historic reform to the people of Indiana.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Indiana Legislature
Jan 13, 2015
Scott Walker:
Wisconsin Comeback: lower unemployment and lower tax burden
Over the past four years, we put the power back into the hands of the citizens of Wisconsin. In turn, Wisconsin is more free and prosperous. If you remember nothing else, remember this: more people are working, while fewer are unemployed.
State government is more effective, more efficient, and more accountable, and the state's financial condition has improved. Budgets are set based on the public's ability to pay, instead of the government's hunger to spend. School scores are up and more
students are graduating, and we are helping more of our fellow citizens to transition from government dependence to work.The Wisconsin Comeback is working. There are now 7,600 more private sector jobs in Wisconsin than there were before the recession.
The unemployment rate that peaked at 9.2% in January of 2010 is now down to 5.2%. Trends show it will continue to drop this year. Budget reforms over the past four years reduced the burden on the hard-working taxpayers of this state by $2 billion.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Wisconsin Legislature
Jan 13, 2015
Doug Ducey:
Problem is over-spending; so solution isn't more spending
We can't do it without fiscal responsibility. In real life, when families or businesses take stock of how they're doing, the answer has a lot to do with the state of their finances. Well, it works the same in government.
And turning to our state's checkbook, we start with the number one billion. In dollars, that would be the difference between spending and revenue if we were to do nothing about it these next two years.
Now maybe I'm of the old school of economics, but this strikes me as a problem. And I am just not persuaded by appeals to raise taxes so that we can spend more. I look at it this way:
If the problem is spending more than we have, the solution cannot be even more spending. Instead of demanding more revenue from the people, I suggest we demand more fiscal responsibility from our government.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Arizona Legislature
Jan 12, 2015
John Kitzhaber:
State recovering from Great Recession, but not every person
We currently measure economic recovery by two things: the number of jobs we are creating and the rate at which our state GDP--the creation of wealth--is growing. By those metrics we are doing very well in Oregon. We have gained back all the jobs we
lost during the Great Recession and--as measured by growth of the state GDP--Oregon had the 4th fastest growing state economy in the US in 2012.But how does that translate to the well-being of our fellow Oregonians--to their ability to meet their
basic needs, to feed their children and support their families? The answer is: not very well. It is not that good jobs are not being created; they are--but not fast enough to replace the ones lost during the Great Recession. This is not something new.
It has been going on for a long time.
In the midst of this economic "recovery" a growing number of people are now trapped in low-wage and/or part-time jobs on which they cannot possible support a family--and with no hope of getting ahead.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Oregon Legislature
Jan 12, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018