tech talkin govs

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, governors from Illinois, Mississippi, and New Hampshire discussed their state’s past economic, educational, and workforce achievements and laid out their vision for this year, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy presented his proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget, building upon his State of State address and proposed initiatives delivered last month. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called for a $700 million investment in quantum (see separate article), Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves focused on how to make his state the new manufacturing hub for America, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy provided more details on his proposal for AI-focused activities. In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu called for continued fiscal prudence, bipartisan solutions, and empowering the private sector to maintain his state’s current and future successes.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, governors from Connecticut, Maryland, and Wyoming discussed their state’s past economic and educational achievements and laid out their vision for this year as the states return to revenue and funding normalcy after years of federal pandemic aid ends. Connecticut’s governor announced that UConn and Yale are collaborating on quantum computing research, and he called for the funding of a biotech hub in New Haven. Maryland’s governor called for investments in the industries of the future (with proposed funding for life sciences, biotech, data centers, and cybersecurity). Wyoming’s governor discussed the state’s position in an “all of the above American energy policy.”

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Oklahoma and Tennessee were focused on economic and educational opportunities through tax cuts and education reforms. In contrast, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey focused her address on furthering her state’s recent successes and competitiveness in workforce development and announced that her top priority this legislative session was focused on continued educational reforms, including the implementation of an education savings account program. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro laid out his economic and educational plans for making Pennsylvania competitive in the technologies and industries of the future.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Alaska, Michigan, and Maine were issues of opportunity, affordability and housing. Michigan and South Carolina governors proposed initiatives and programs that seek to assist in providing access to post-secondary education, their states’ economic competiveness, and securing jobs of the future for their residents. The following highlights have been excerpted from State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 24, 2023 and Jan. 30, 2024. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Hawaii, Massachusetts and North Dakota were addressing the cost of housing. Hawaii and Massachusetts governors discussed addressing climate change, and North Dakota’s governor called for the creation of a new office focused on rural communities. The following highlights have been excerpted from State of the States or budget addresses given between January 17, 2023 and January 23, 2024. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, New Mexico Governor calls for $170 million to bolster hydrogen, geothermal and next-generation battery storage. Rhode Island Governor proposes building a new life science school at the University of Rhode Island and cybersecurity bond to grow Rhode Island College’s cybersecurity program. Meanwhile, West Virginia’s governor proposes increasing spending to attract people to move to the state.

With the start of the new year, governors have begun to deliver their State of the State addresses, laying out proposals for new programs and discussing the conditions of their states. As states’ revenue levels return to more typical levels, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, are taking a more cautious, or constrained, view of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. Many governors also appear to be more restrained in their addresses this year, speaking more to the previous year’s successes, suggesting lawmakers tighten their state’s fiscal belts while providing targeted investments into key or signature programs, as well as previously proposed initiatives, rather than rolling out new programs, except in the innovation space related to semiconductors and recently announced tech hubs.  

After a busy election season that saw gubernatorial elections in 36 states, newly elected and re-elected governors delivered their annual State of the State addresses, kicking off new programs and reviewing the conditions of their states. SSTI reviews the speeches every year and covers news of new developments and initiatives the governors have highlighted as they relate to the innovation economy. New programs are laid out here in the governors own words as excerpts from their State of the State or budget addresses. Not all governors delivered a State of the State, and some that did may not have revealed new innovation-related initiatives and so are not included in our coverage. Common initiatives among the governors that touched on innovation included an emphasis on workforce, education and broadband; water issues for Western governors; and, clean energy.

The last of the governors have delivered their State of the State addresses. With 36 gubernatorial elections this fall, many governors appeared to be more conservative in their addresses this year, speaking more about past accomplishments rather than rolling out new programs. This week features comments from California, Louisiana, Nevada and Ohio’s governors as their addresses related to the innovation economy.

As state budgets move into the legislatures for final negotiations and approvals, the last of the governors have addressed their constituents and put forth their proposals. While a renewed sense of hope is seeping into the latest addresses, governors are still cautious and guarded in proposing new programs. Broadband, small business, education and workforce initiatives continue to be among the innovation-related initiatives announced by the state leaders, with the intent that those efforts will also boost the economic recovery of the states.