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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to deliver first State of the State speech Thursday

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Posted at 9:26 AM, Jan 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-10 14:56:36-05

DENVER – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will deliver his first State of the State address Thursday morning at 11 a.m. at the state Capitol in Denver.

Polis, a Democrat, is expected to lay out the pillars of his administration’s goals for the year in his first major policy speech as the state General Assembly begins its annual 120-day lawmaking session.

Polis was sworn-in Tuesday as Colorado first Jewish governor and its first openly-gay male governor, where he outlined a “Colorado For All” message he said would be inclusive of all Coloradans and include progressive policymaking that builds off the legacy of his predecessor, former Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Democrats control Colorado’s governor’s office and the state House and Senate for the first time since 2013 and have the ability to pass whatever measures their caucus can agree on without any support from Republican lawmakers if they so choose. But both Polis and Democratic leaders have said they are keen to continue writing bipartisan laws, though their Republican counterparts have said they are wary.

In his speech, which begins at 11 a.m., Polis is expected to speak for between 30 and 45 minutes and touch on a host of policy measures he hopes to accomplish this session. In an interview Tuesday, Polis said many of the topics are similar to those he discussed during his campaign.

“We look forward to elaborating on that and making the case to both the general public and the legislature about how we can save people money on health care, improve our schools, reduce corporate giveaways and reduce the income tax rate, and put out state on a path to 100 percent renewable energy – which are our big goals both on the legislative side and through executive action,” Polis said.

Denver7 will stream the full speech on TheDenverChannel.com, on our social media sites and on all your favorite streaming devices beginning at 11 a.m. and will have more coverage throughout the day.