DENVER -- In his State of the State speech Thursday morning , Gov. Bill Owens said that Republicans and Democrats must work together to deal with the $850 million budget shortfall -- the state's worst budget crisis since World War II.

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2003 State of State: Owens On Taxes On Economic Stimulus Plan On Car Insurance Full Text Of Speech Support His Economic Stimulus Plan?

In his fifth address to both houses of the Legislature, Owens proposed spending $19 million to stimulate the economy but promised that as long as he was governor, taxes won't be raised.

In his economic stimulus package, Owens said $10 million should go to promote tourism, $7 million to bring companies to Colorado or to help existing employers create jobs, and $2 million to increase promotion of agriculture products.

He also said he would work to reduce government regulations that "can tie the hands of entrepreneurs with needless red tape and stifle job creation."

The $142 million in unemployment insurance funding that the state received from the federal government last spring will be used to provide benefits for unemployed workers, he said.

Owens praised the school accountability reports and said that they have become an example that other states are following.

Moving beyond high school, Owens talked about creating a College Opportunity Fund, which would change the funding equation for public colleges in the state. Instead of the state giving money directly to the school, it would allow "dollars to follow the student to the public college or university of his or her choice."

In terms of dealing with the state's worst drought in decades, Owens said Colorado should promote a flexible water policy and increase efforts to conserve water.

He proposed a statewide water supply initiative to survey all major water users and determine future water needs.

He said lawmakers should work together this year to make health insurance and car insurance more affordable.

Coloradans should be given greater choices and control over their health care decisions, he urged, and should only have to pay for a "medically necessary" standard for treatment when it comes to car insurance.

"Colorado consumers have been required to pay for hot tubs, treadmills, weight loss programs and aromatherapy. Auto policies should provide a path to repairing injuries, not a gift certificate to a fancy spa," Owens said. "For the sake of all Colorado motorists, let's bring some sanity back to the auto insurance system. Last year I signed into law legislation to extend Colorado's current system one more year. I will not do so again."

In his speech, Owens highlighted two bipartisan bills; one to protect children from methamphetamine labs by expanding "the definition of child abuse under criminal and civil law to include manufacturing meth in the presence of a child;" and the other to close a loophole that makes trafficking in child pornography illegal, whether or not it is used for a commercial purpose.

Touching briefly on crime, he said the state should have a uniform legal standard for the issuance of a right to carry permit and should build new prisons as is warranted.

"I believe we cannot afford not to build the prison's Colorado felons so clearly deserve. The costs to society of releasing that felon, in terms of increased police and court costs -- not to mention pain and suffering -- is often substantially greater."

Many Democrats felt Owens' speech was too general and didn't provide any real details, 7NEWS reported.

"I thought it was a fairly good speech. I was a little bit concerned that the governor didn't show more leadership and provide us with an additional road map about how we're going to jumpstart our economy. I would have liked to see more of that in his speech," said House Minority Leader Jennifer Veiga.

Political experts agree that this will be a difficult year for Owens to accomplish most of his goals because, like other governors throughout the country, he has to deal with a substantial budget shortfall.

Last year, Owens focused on transportation, and by the end of the hard-fought 120-day session, the Democrat-controlled Senate had given Owens much of what he wanted.