(crowd applauding) - This is my 8th state of the state speech.

So in preparation for this, I went back and I read them: tedious, sometimes sobering, and a challenge to do better.

So with that prospect in mind, I continue.

- It's unusual to have a chance to be in this office and then 28 years later, come back and do essentially the same function but in a very different context.

The problem when I came back was much clearer, much more focused.

Good afternoon.

Good to see you.

It's been a while.

- [Questioner] How was Southwest?

- Southwest was good.

It was a bumpy landing.

And that may be emblematic of where we are today.

We're in for a bit of a bumpy ride because the spending by the state exceeds, by 16 billion, the revenue that we expect to come in.

But even though that's a big problem, we've got a big answer.

- And I think one of the things that made him so effective in his second tour as governor was that he remained what he'd always been, the un-politician's politician.

And that persona was A, authentic to him, and B, had come to seem like something very precious in American life, and people reacted very well to that.

- 17 is not four.

19 is not eight.

And 21 is not seven.

That is real.

That's real.

That's stuff we're not doing.

Now we're gonna wipe out that with more cuts and the taxes, that's the plan.

Now, is it hard to believe that government is telling you the truth?

Well, look, I've been here a long time.

I know what the hell I'm doing.

I'm a truthful guy.

This is the way it is.

If anybody has a better idea, I'll take it.

(dramatic music)