The Governor’s State of the State Address

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Welcome to this special hour-long edition of Arizona Horizon. Governor Doug Ducey kicked off the Legislative Session by giving his 8th and final State of the State Address. Ducey becomes the first Arizona governor since Bruce Babbit in the 1980s to serve long enough to give the 8th speech. Joining us to discuss the governor’s speech: Chuck Coughlin, President and CEO of HighGround, and Karl Gentles, partner, the Gentles Agency.

What did you think about what you heard in the speech?

Karl Gentles: “It was an interesting speech, clearly he’s taking a lap around the Capitol and touting all of his successes…heard a lot about tax cuts, you heard a lot about ‘school of choice’, heard a lot about political issues but I didn’t hear an awful lot about policy except for a few things on water…but on policy issues he was pretty thin, so the proof is what’s going to happen and what’s going to come as he rolls out his agenda for the next week.”

Chuck Coughlin: “I thought that one of the interesting things that I heard was that he talked about the economic evolution of Arizona…I moved out here in the ’80’s and it was a home-building economy, it’s not that way anymore. He’s been sort of at the forefront of that…I agree with Karl, it was a trip around the block of success stories and lightly touched on some policy ideas for some, I think specific reasons.”

Did you feel this was for a local or more national audience?

Karl Gentles: “I picked up on a lot of conversation that I thought he was talking to a national audience. He went after the Biden administration quite a lot, he went after a lot of national issues but when it came to specifically what he’s going to do in Arizona and in this last year of his term…it sounded like he was talking to a national audience and it remains to be seen why.”

Chuck Coughlin: “He mentioned the golden rule…he just didn’t happen to use that golden rule for his political opponents.”

Chuck Coughlin, President and CEO, HighGround
Karl Gentles, Partner, the Gentles Agency

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