by Keith Burton - GCN 1/21/08 In a tradition that spans the history of the State of Mississippi, Governor Haley Barbour delivered his vision of the future of Mississippi in his state-of-the-station speech to lawmakers Monday evening. In a speech who's prepared text spanned over 4,100 words, Barbour said Mississippi is better off than in its past but faced numerous challenges, many associated with what he sees as connected to a slowing U.S. economy. But he said he was confident that the state will weather the changes as it has done in the past. "I will say of you freshmen,
you’ve come to the Legislature at a time of great "It is said that in the Chinese language the symbol for crisis is the same as the symbol for opportunity. If that’s so, it’s an appropriate symbol for this year. We have the wind at our backs, but there are storm clouds on the horizon," Barbour told lawmakers early in his presentation. Barbour outlined the challenges as being well-met and that the state of the state was "Good, in some ways, very good" but the path ahead would be difficult. "There is a can-do attitude in Mississippi. As I said last week at the Inauguration, not only did the country and the world see the spirit and character of our people after Katrina; we learned so much about ourselves . . . about our strength and courage . . . about compassion and community. We have been moving forward together, and people recognize it. Most people are very bullish on our state and our future. Nevertheless, we have to recognize the national economy has been softening. Serious troubles in the financial markets have not only generated pessimism but also have caused a real credit crunch. Reduced availability of credit will make economic development harder." This, coming from a governor who is known for pushing economic development was quite sobering. And watching the crowd during the speech on Mississippi Public Television, it seemed the state legislators knew the governor was serious. The governor promised that his administration would continue to focus on the Coast's Katrina recovery and he noted that despite the homeowner grants and progress to date that the recovery was not moving fast enough to satisfy him, or the many Coast residents who have yet to recover from the August 29, 2005 storm. "Beyond the issues to come before this legislative session, we’ll continue to focus on two main goals: To continue and expand the surge of job creation that has taken place these last couple of years; and to complete the recovery from Katrina and get every area on the Coast well into rebuilding and renewal," said Barbour. For More Information: Complete Text of the Governor's 2008 State-of-the-State Speech Text of Democratic Party's Response to the Governor's Speech
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Governor
Barbour Outlines His Vision of the State of Mississippi