Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to deliver her annual Condition of the State address Tuesday, Jan. 11, her office recently announced.
Reynolds plans to deliver her annual Condition of the State address in the House Chambers at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines beginning at 6 p.m., according the announcement issued Jan. 3.
Iowa PBS will carry the address in a livestream online. The address also may be watched on the governor’s Facebook page.
The governor has not yet released her remarks as prepared for delivery, which last year didn’t happen until the day of her address.
This year’s Condition of the State address will be Reynolds’ fourth since she was elected Iowa’s 43rd governor in 2017. Reynolds previously was Clarke County treasurer and served about six years as Iowa’s 46th lieutenant governor in the run-up to becoming the first woman elected to the state’s highest office.
About a year ago, Reynolds delivered her third primetime address to Iowans on the Condition of the State. In her address at the time, Reynolds outlined her goals for the then upcoming 2021 legislative session, goals that included expanding broadband internet and affordable housing for Iowans.
The constitutionally required annual address usually is presented to the General Assembly and Iowa’s judicial branch, with Iowans effectively listening in.
In last year’s address, Reynolds also broke with tradition to speak directly to Iowans about the previous and first-pandemic year.
“It’s been a year — and I’ll let you fill in whatever adjective you want,” she said in her remarks as prepared for delivery at the time. “COVID-19. Civil unrest. A drought. A derecho. We’ve been beaten and battered in about every way imaginable and some unimaginable. But together, we’ve met every challenge with bravery and outright grit.”
Reynolds also referred to “no shortage of character in the people of Iowa.”
“And despite what we’ve been through — or maybe because of it — the condition of our state has never been stronger,” she continued.
