On Thursday January 21st, Governor John Baldacci delivered his eighth and final state. He noted that Maine was facing some extreme challenges and fiscal struggles. He spoke of the turmoil incumbent in these issues and  the need to seek new solutions and new directions for our state government, our industries and our economy.

Within this message was a call to address our energy needs and break our dependence on foreign oil. Another component of his address was the need to improve Maine’s home energy needs through weatherization. He spoke of the promising opportunities in wind power and its auxiliary industries.

He also spoke of the importance of changing our state government and his efforts to consolidate services and departments. He referenced the number of jobs supposedly eliminated from state employment and the cuts to funding.  The changes incumbent in this course has set many communities, school systems and counties on a new and uncharted path, the results are yet to be determined but the changes will offer some interesting opportunities for discussions and hopefully creative results.

Unfortunately at one point the governor felt a need to inject a sharply political point into his address and advocate against the upcoming June referendum on the tax package passed by the Democratic members of the Legislature on the final day on last session.  I feel although it was his right to speak to this matter it was an inappropriate moment to inject a political announcement into his address on the state of our state.

The Governor also spoke to some other issues related to health and wellness, the tradgey in Haiti and Mainer’s who have been serving overseas in the mid-East. He touched on the large amount of Maine lands now in conservation and a plan being worked on

Below is a link to read the text of his address:

http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Gov_Speeches&id=89383&v=Article