State of the State Address January 11, 2010 | AZPM

Story by Christopher Conover

This afternoon, Governor Jan Brewer will deliver her first official State of the State Address to a joint session of the legislature. A year ago, Brewer used her inaugural speech as something akin to a State of the State. In that speech she focused on the growing budget deficit, urging the Arizona Legislature to pass a temporary increase in the state sales tax in order to help reduce the budget shortfall. State lawmakers refused to pass the governor’s temporary tax increase nor could they get the necessary votes to send the question to voters.

Now a year later, the Governor Brewer is expected to once again address an even more dire budget situation, calling on lawmakers again to come up with ways to make money for the state. In recent days, she’s previewed her speech. One of the big topics has been energy production, particularly solar. She wants Arizona to be the leader in solar production. Brewer wants lawmakers to come up with incentives to get more solar companies into the state. She is also talking about bringing new nuclear power plants into the state as a way of generating energy and possibly bringing in more tax revenue.

Watch the speech live on PBS World or live AZPM video stream. You can also catch an audio replay at 6:30 p.m. on KUAZ Radio.