Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) – Governor Gary Herbert gave the annual State of the State speech Wednesday night at the state capitol.
He promised a modest but well deserved raise for teachers and cleaner air.
To much applause, he also railed against the federal government.
But remember, the governor is up for re-election this year, as are many of the legislators.
Which, perhaps, raises the question - are State of the State speeches necessary?
Year after year, governor after governor, the State of the State is still hanging around.
They are speeches full of words that begin with the letter E - Education, Environment, Economy.
And never in the history of Utah has any governor ever said that the state of the state sucks.
They all say, more or less, what Governor Herbert said Wednesday,
"The state of the state is strong."
So we asked capitol creatures - is the State of the State necessary?
Those who wouldn't go on camera said no.
Those that would – like Rep. Ken Sumision - said something like this:
“You know that's a very interesting question."
And Sumsion is running for governor.
As for those outside the capitol, asking them about the State of the State left some in a state of apparent confusion.
We asked one young woman, "Do you know what the State of the State is?”
She said, “No I don’t know what that is.”
Then we asked, “So, you wouldn't be watching it?”
To which she replied, “No. Wait. Is it on YouTube? I haven't seen it on anyone's status updates."
So to answer our own question - was this year's State of the State necessary?
Surprisingly, the answer is yes, absolutely.
Because this year, the governor honored our brave men and women in uniform, including the family of Agent Jared Francom who died in the line of duty three weeks ago.
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