Governors Outline Their Budget Priorities in "State of the State" Addresses

By: Elizabeth Tansing, Director of State Government Relations, Food Marketing Institute

With President Donald J. Trump’s recent address to a Joint Session of Congress, there is no better time to highlight the similar speeches occurring across the states. With the exceptions of Louisiana and Ohio, whose governors will address their constituents later in the year, 48 governors have laid out their budget plans either through a “State of the State” speech or simply a “Budget” address. These speeches offer a glimpse into the Governors’ priorities for the legislative session. With 33 Republican governors, themes tend to trend right with slashing income taxes, property taxes and eliminating red tape for businesses, but most states are looking to improve their infrastructure, increase job growth, bump up funding for K-12 education, reform pensions, address opioid addiction, attract tourists and fill budget gaps.

Not every governor specifically stated how they were going to pay for tax reform or new or increased funding, but those that did suggested broadening the tax base to eliminate unnecessary loopholes; a DMV license increase, an expansion of the tobacco tax, a motor fuels tax hike and a rise in road tolls – the latter two justified as being able to snare out-of-staters, just passing through.
 
Trends typically flow throughout regions of the country, and it is always interesting to see how everything shakes out. FMI has compiled the key highlights from every “State of the State” address delivered so far in 2017 into one document. View the 2017 Governors’ State of the State Addresses.