JOANNA ALLHANDS

Who said it: State of the State bombshells

Joanna Allhands
opinion columnist
Previous Arizona governors have said some pretty crazy things in their first State of the State speeches.

Think State of the State speeches are boring?

Hardly.

Arizona's past six governors have been known to drop bombshells in their speeches, many of them in their first year. Like Gov. Doug Ducey, who outlined his economic and education priorities Monday, many were facing massive budget deficits and serious questions about Arizona's future.

Test your knowledge below about who said what. Want to learn more about each of these quotes and why they were significant? Scroll past the quiz for answers.

Now, here's the rest of the story:

Fife Symington

''We cannot expect to revitalize our economy if we continue to saddle our people with additional tax burdens.''

– Republican Fife Symington said this in 1992 as he unveiled a $60 million cut in income taxes. He didn't get what he wanted, though a package passed that cut $20 million in taxes.

My, how times have changed. Lawmakers applauded Governor Ducey for drawing a hard line on preserving tax cuts in his inaugural speech.

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Rose Mofford

"I believe we must invest these sums in order to give Arizona the cutting edge in competition -- competition for jobs and economic development."

– Democrat Rose Mofford made her first speech in 1989, where she proposed a $255 million tax increase to help rectify a $350 million budget deficit. Many lawmakers called the proposal dead on arrival.

Though a similar proposal is probably equally DOA today, a similar debate has resurfaced on what will make Arizona most competitive.

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Jane Dee Hull

''We are improving the quality of our school buildings. Now we will improve the quality of what happens inside those buildings.''

– Republican Jane Dee Hull made this plea in 1999, as she proposed $116.8 million in new spending over the next two years for public schools.

Sounds eerily similar to the debate being waged now over a court order to boost education funding, not to mention Ducey's proposal to direct more dollars to classrooms.

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Janet Napolitano

"Those who came before us missed their opportunity to move Arizona forward when they had the resources to do so."

– Democrat Janet Napolitano in 2003, blaming former leaders for the state's $1.4 billion budget deficit. As you might expect, her first speech was not well received among lawmakers who were already criticizing her early use of executive orders to accomplish goals.

Napolitano also said in that speech that education would be a top priority of her administration and that lawmakers should balance the budget without tax increases or leaning heavily on "the backs of children." Oddly enough, after she left office, many Republicans blamed her for expanding spending.

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Evan Mecham

"It will be an act of courage for you to let the court of last resort, the people, make the decision."

– Republican Evan Mecham made headlines in 1987 when he announced he had made good on a campaign promise to rescind the Martin Luther King Jr. state holiday. Mecham urged lawmakers in his first State of the State to let the people decide whether they wanted the holiday.

The controversy was just an opening salvo for Mecham, who only lasted about a year in office before being impeached.

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Jan Brewer

"We must raise some additional revenue."

– Republican Jan Brewer in 2010, scaling back her call for a temporary sales tax increase to help close the budget deficit. (She later convinced lawmakers to send the measure to voters, where it passed.) Brewer's subsequent State of the State speeches contained more bombshells, including a call to expand Medicaid and her executive order to abolish the embattled Child Protective Services agency.