Governor Nathan Deal’s 2014 State of the State Speech

ATLANTA  —  Here is the full text of Governor Nathan Deal’s State of the State Speech:

Lt. Governor Cagle, Speaker Ralston, President Pro Tem Shafer, Speaker Pro Tem Jones, members of the General Assembly, constitutional officers, members of the consular corps, members of the judiciary, my fellow Georgians:

In January 2011 when I addressed this body in my first State of the State address, this Capitol building and much of our state was engulfed in the worst snow and ice storm in several decades. In hindsight it was analogous to the deep freeze that had descended on the economies of the United States and Georgia, which is sometimes referred to as the Great Recession. While the economic calamity did not manifest itself overnight, as did our winter freeze, nonetheless it caught our nation as unprepared as any icy city without snow plows.