“Well, what’s there to oppose in that?” a reporter asked me a moment after Gov. Peter Shumlin concluded his 34-minute State of the State address Wednesday afternoon.
What, indeed?
For the second time in as many years, the second-term governor dispensed with tradition and focused his legislative session-opening remarks on a single topic: in this case, what he called “the rising tide of drug addiction and drug-related crime spreading across Vermont.” (See Mark Davis’ account of the State of the State.)
But unlike last year’s education-themed inaugural address, into which Shumlin shoehorned an array of policy priorities, this year’s speech barely strayed from the topic at hand. And unlike the typically jingoistic and self-congratulatory remarks governors tend to make on such occasions, Shumlin’s address was a solemn and somber affair, rarely punctuated by applause.
But if you measured the gov’s success Wednesday by the frequency of standing ovations, you missed the point. Because Shumlin hit it out of the park.
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It’s good to know that when the Governor throws the ball, not every journalist runs barking after it.
What’s there to oppose? How about the waste of time that was the state of the state. What is Shumlin’s agenda and plan for this session… to address opiate adiction? That’s it? No fixing underfunded pensions? No cuts to offset a $70 million shortfall? No education funding reform? No making Vermont affordable? No nothing… that’s what Shumlin’s State of the State was…. a great big nothing burger.