January 09, 2014 10:57 AM UTC

State of the State Discussion Thread

• 1 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: Today's State of the State address in its entirety, courtesy 7NEWS:

​UPDATE #2: Gov. John Hickenlooper greets the "Dogged Honey Badger," possible upcoming gubernatorial election opponent Scott Gessler:

UPDATE: AP's Ivan Moreno:

Gov. John Hickenlooper harkened back to a year of tragedy, massive wildfires and historic floods during his annual State of the State address Thursday, telling lawmakers that "Colorado does not break" and imploring them to collaborate to improve the economy and pour funding into education.

"This past year, Colorado has been scorched. Colorado has been flooded. Colorado — once again — endured senseless inexplicable violence," Hickenlooper said, adding that Colorado did not allow tragedy to define the state.

"Colorado does not shutdown. Colorado does not quit," he said to applause.

9NEWS:

Hickenlooper celebrated the health care coverage website created for the state.

"The General Assembly, with bipartisan support, created Connect for Health Colorado," Hickenlooper said. "While other states have struggled with enrollment and implementation, Colorado has outperformed the national exchange and most states. More than 139,000 residents now have health insurance who didn't have it before."

Hickenlooper is known as an ally of the oil and gas industry. But he's hinting that he wants to see stronger penalties and fines for improper drilling.

7NEWS:

Hickenlooper said Colorado’s oil and gas industry contributes $29 billion to our economy.

"Critical to the success of the oil and gas industry is that operators recognize their moral and legal obligation to protect our air and water," Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper said Colorado brokered the nation’s strongest frack fluid disclosure rule in 2011.

"We are proposing the nation’s first-ever methane capture rule, making Colorado the leader in the nation for controlling emissions," Hickenlooper said.

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Gov. John Hickenlooper's fourth time speaking the speech. Watch this space for coverage.