The economy, workforce and climate change continue to surface in governors' state of the state addresses. While today’s strong economy allows most governors to reflect on how the states have grown, preparing for the next downturn continues to be a point of concern.

In 2019, the administrations and legislatures in many states grappled with if and how to adjust state economic development initiatives to leverage the federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) program. The actions of 12 states that implemented new activities are described below.

A trio of plans focused on economic development at the state level were released this month. Noting that it is at an economic crossroads and facing serious challenges, Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development has issued a new 10-year economic development strategy for the state. Massachusetts has also proposed a new economic development plan, focusing on four key areas, while a new report in Maryland is targeting clean energy as an opportunity for the state to invest in the future.

Maine’s plan

Ten states from across the country have been selected as part of a unique program designed to grow and strengthen their manufacturers. Over the course of the next year, interdisciplinary state teams will meet together in Washington, D.C., and separately in their home states, to develop and refine strategies impacting manufacturing industries.

Although uncertainty and fear about the state’s fiscal situation continue to grow, New York’s 2021 budget stands strong in its commitment to deliver a green economy and resilient communities, preserve natural ecosystems and ensure access to clean drinking water. The State of New York has recently approved its budget for the fiscal year of 2021, which includes investments focusing on environmental resilience, conservation, green energy, and carbon-free transportation.

Educating the next generation of workers, ensuring they will have the skills necessary for the jobs of the future and paying attention to the actions that will affect the climate are all on the agendas of the latest round of governors giving their state of the state and budget addresses. A focus on skills can be seen in addresses from governors in California, Maine, Michigan, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. States are also continuing with initiatives to forward attention on climate change, as reflected in Maine’s climate agenda and Michigan joining other states in the Climate Alliance.

More than half of the nation’s governors have given their State-of-the-State addresses, and in this week’s coverage of the addresses, we complete our review of those that addressed their constituencies through January. As the COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for greater broadband connectivity and affordability, we again see the state leaders focusing more attention on building out those capabilities. Diversifying state economies also plays a role in Alaska, Hawaii and New Mexico, while opportunities for development through renewables features in addresses from Nevada and New York.

As governors continue to roll out their State-of-the State addresses in the month of February, we continue to see a heavy focus on recovering from the pandemic. Given most state’s fiscal condition, governors have been generally hesitant to roll out new initiatives during this time, although broadband continues to receive attention, especially with the renewed attention surrounding its importance during the pandemic.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced more than $763 million for economic development projects throughout the state as part of the regional economic development council (REDC) competition. The program, which tasks leaders in 10 regions to determine economic development priorities, has awarded more than $6.1 billion across 7,300 projects since its inception in 2011. In each region, funding went toward projects such as infrastructure, main street revitalization, feasibility studies, strategic planning, microenterprise funds, and workforce development.

Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched a new effort to streamline the state’s workforce development programs. The $175 million Workforce Development Initiative will consolidate the state’s fragmented workforce development funding opportunities. Using the state’s 10 regional economic development councils (REDC’s) to suggest and prioritize projects, the initiative will offer awards in three competitive categories: public-private partnerships that expand infrastructure and capacity for state universities to meet employer needs; programs to expand employer investment in workforce pipelines; and, workforce solutions that provide flexible funding for innovative workforce development projects such as those targeting advanced industries or underrepresented populations.

Five additional state plans for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) have received approval from the U.S. Department of Treasury, bringing the current total of announced states to 19.

New York City  Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that the city is planning to double its $500 million investment in the LifeSci NYC commitment, to reach a total of $1 billion invested in life sciences over the next 10 years.

In general, the effect of the pandemic on states’ budgets due to the wave of business, retail, and commerce shutdowns, as well as other reduced economic activity across the nation, is not entirely known, or too early to forecast; however, a number of states are beginning to experience the initial impacts of a substantial downturn. With several states having already enacted their 2020-21 budgets, special sessions are expected later this year to deal with declining revenues. Others ended sessions early without a new fiscal year spending plan in place.

The circular economy, a phrase meant to redefine economic growth beyond the current “take-make-waste” extractive industrial model, is gaining attention around the world as a way to produce more positive environmental and social benefits. Over the past few months, three cities have announced efforts to promote circular economy startups.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced nine additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont. This is in addition to the five states approved earlier this year: Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan and West Virginia.

Since the inception of cryptocurrency mining over a decade ago, the state of New York has become a hotspot for the digital coins, encompassing 19.9 percent of the total U.S. hashrate, or the collective computing power of miners. However, concerns over the environmental impacts of, and high electricity demands for, these mining operations have been increasingly thrust into the spotlight.

New York City and the state of Illinois have both made moves recently to shift more of their economies to 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.

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.

New York became the first state to enact a temporary ban on new cryptocurrency mining permits at fossil fuel plants in a move aimed at addressing the environmental concerns over the energy-intensive activity. The legislation, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will impose a two-year moratorium on crypto-mining companies seeking new permits to retrofit some of the state’s oldest fossil fuel plants into digital mining operations.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they discuss the innovation economy, the following highlights have been selected from five of the eight State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 17 and Jan. 28, 2025, by the governors from Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin.

FYI This Week, a science policy newsletter from the American Institute of Physics, reported in their November 25 article Commerce aims to commit CHIPS money before Trump returns that “Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said … she is trying to allocate all the semiconductor manufacturing and research funds appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act before President Joe Biden leaves office." Since Raimondo made that statement, the U.S.

With the start of the new year, most governors deliver State of the State addresses or Budget addresses laying out their priorities for the coming year. With revenues for many states relatively consistent with forecasters expectations, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, continue to maintain cautious or constrained views of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. As a result, many governors in SSTI’s analysis of addresses delivered so far this season, are speaking more about previously implemented programs and their continued successes rather than rolling out many new programs.

A recent Executive Order from the White House could jeopardize the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund and put at risk investments in small businesses. The EO calls for the “non-statutory components and functions” of several governmental entities, among them are the CDFI and the Minority Business Development Agency, “to be eliminated ...

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) recently announced that it is awarding Fordham University $3 million from its Greenlight Innovation Fund. The university will also receive additional funds, including a $1.1 million grant from Councilman Oswald Feliz, to create the Bronx Green Job Center (BGJC), a workforce development and entrepreneurship hub that aims to create an equitable green-job pipeline in the Bronx.