Gibbons plans speech

Gov. Jim Gibbons will make a “state of the state” address on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m., his subject the state’s economy.

The state constitution requires the governor to report on the “condition of the state” only in odd-numbered years when the Nevada Legislature is in session: “He shall communicate by Message to the Legislature at every regular Session the condition of the State and recommend such measures as he may deem expedient[.]” These speeches are known informally as the “state of the state.”

But in the 1980s, Gov. Richard Bryan began giving election-year versions of these speeches, a practice occasionally used by his successors.

Gibbons is expected to announce the date of a special session of the legislature during his speech. In Nevada, the governor controls the agenda of a special session.

State legislators, meanwhile, have been meeting on job creation, particularly in infrastructure, to beef up the state’s economy and employment outlook.