January, the season for State of the State addresses:

- State of the State: Gary Herbert runs to the right - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

On Tuesday night, President Obama kicked off his re-election campaign with one of the most baldly political State of the Union speeches in memory. On Wednesday night, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert emulated the president with his State of the State address.
Herbert is fending off election-year challenges from his political right in the Republican Party, and his speech obviously was intended to shore up his credentials as a movement conservative. It offered the red meat that states’ rights ideologues love, seasoned with attacks on “an overreaching, out-of-control, and out-of-touch federal government.” ...
... Herbert sounded like he was ready to order the National Guard to fire on Fort Sumter. ...

- State of the State - Deseret News Editorial

... He spoke at some length of various conflicts with Washington and the federal bureaucracy, including those over land management, energy development, health care and other areas where state and federal policies intersect and sometimes collide. While it may be in vogue to disdain the federal government, such policy battles are often impractical, protracted and distracting from more actionable items of local governance. ...

- Missouri leadership lacks big ideas - St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial

... [Gov. Jay] Nixon, a Democrat, once again embraced Missouri's cost-cutting race to the bottom, proposing a budget that cuts higher education by 12 percent while repackaging the same tired, old business incentive handouts that have done little to rebuild the state's economy. ...

- Gov. Chris Christie says 'New Jersey is back.' Is it? - Newark (N.J.) Star Ledger Editorial

Don’t you hate it when the preview to the movie is actually better than the movie? ...

- Snyder blows chance to sell Michigan 3.0 - Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press

... Gov. Rick Snyder's second state of the state address, delivered Wednesday night, was a real letdown, especially given the vision and powerful agenda that was the spine of his first address a year ago. ...

- Mighty Sam Brownback hasn't struck out (yet) - Kansas City Star Editorial

... Any tax plan that hurts a government’s ability to provide or ensure quality in those areas will hurt growth more than help it. Which brings up the outright mistake in Brownback’s plan: a 2 percent annual cap on growth in government spending. ...

- State of state hopeful, but high-speed rail needs to sidetrack - San Jose Mercury News Editorial

Gov. Jerry Brown's indomitable optimism shone Wednesday through his second State of the State speech, and we hope he's right about California's resilience. However, in defense of those "dystopian," "declinist" naysayers he scorned -- wait, was he talking about us? -- we will note that the governor went on to outline massive barriers to resurgent prosperity. ...

- After a year, some progress but bitter divisions remain - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Editorial

... [Gov. Scott] Walker can lay claim to some significant achievements, but the elephant in the Assembly chamber Wednesday was the polarizing effect his policies have had on Wisconsin politics. ...