Maryland Gov. Wes Moore delivers second State of the State address
ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. Wes Moore promised again to not leave any Marylander behind.
In his State of the State address Wednesday, Gov. Moore outlined some of his priorities not only in the coming year, but also the rest of his term.
Meanwhile, critics say he's not saying enough to meet them where they're at.
Partnerships were the key theme in the address. Gov. Moore started the address on a strong note, saying over his first year in office the state added tens-of-thousands of jobs, brought record funding for education, and helped finalize the FBI's move to the state.
"These aren't just our wins, they're Maryland's wins," he said.
Gov. Moore plans to continue the momentum and announced there will be a way to measure his administration's work through a new state plan. It'll set an agenda for the rest of his term.
"Our state plan is about more than big aspirational targets. We've laid out specific, actionable, realistic and measurable goals," he said.
While he held off on revealing details of the state plan, Lt. Gov. Arena Miller said it was built on constituents' feedback.
"We got feedback from them, just like we received feedback from community leaders, elected officials, the legislature," Miller said, "So, the state plan really is like the blueprint for us in the administration and how we're gonna govern."
Gov. Moore said this year will be about four pillars: safety, affordability, keeping the state economically competitive, and a state that serves.
Republican leaders say they're happy the governor touched on pressing topics, but say they want concrete details of the administration's plans.
Also hoping for relaxed governmental involvement.
"A lot of the solutions that their administration comes out with, though, is more government," said Sen. Justin Ready, the Senate Minority Whip. "Different types of government programs instead of, as he talked about, looking at what's working, what's not."
Gov. Moore said he's ready to put in the work, so long as it's done in partnership.
"Marylanders do hard things and they want us to accomplish hard things in partnership. This will be Maryland's decade," he said.
The new state plan will be outlined in detail at a town hall for state employees Thursday.