Gov. Andy Beshear will give the 2025 State of the Commonwealth at the Kentucky Capitol Wednesday.
You can watch a livestream here beginning at 7 p.m.
The speech will wrap up the second day of the 2025 General Assembly and mark the governor’s first notable public policy comments of 2025, after a busy 2024.
Beshear was inaugurated for a second four-year term in December 2023 after winning again in the election that November, and was one of several people seriously considered to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate after she was named the Democratic nominee for president.
Beshear emerged as a notable national voice for the party amid election season, speaking out against Vice President-elect JD Vance ahead of Election Day and authoring a New York Times op-ed a week later calling on Democrats to focus on results over culture wars.
Beshear has traditionally used the speech to paint a rosy picture of economic progress in the commonwealth while pushing legislators to pass policies that he believes will move the state forward, but those policies generally don’t align with the GOP’s priorities. The governor has indicated, however, that he won’t oppose a bill cutting the state income tax from 4% to 3.5% next year, which the chambers are expected to pass.
But he spoke out last year against bills that would have limited diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and offices at public universities in Kentucky. Those bills did not pass, but outgoing Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, and successor Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, have both said they expect new legislation on DEI to be filed this year.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: LIVE: State of the Commonwealth 2025 address from Frankfort, KY