Gov. Spencer Cox is scheduled to deliver his first State of the State address at 6:30 p.m., a speech that will seek to meet a moment of pandemic-induced exhaustion and political tumult.
You can watch it live on television or at sltrib.com, where it will be livestreamed.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Cox said little about the contents of the speech but did promise one thing: Brevity.
“We believe it is going to be the shortest State of the State speech in state history,” he said during a press conference aired by PBS Utah. A new advisory said it would be less than the 30 minutes allotted.
Prolonged exposure to other people indoors can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission, he noted, so he’s trying to limit the amount of time his listeners have to spend in the House chamber where the speech will take place.
Cox, who was inaugurated earlier this month after serving seven years as Utah’s lieutenant governor, has focused on expediting coronavirus vaccine distribution during his first weeks in office and reported earlier Thursday that state partners are close to meeting the goal of administering doses within seven days.
During his few weeks in office, the Republican governor has also presented a $22 billion budget plan and announced a state of emergency at the Utah Capitol as a precaution against any civil unrest.
This story will be updated.
