The
State of the State Address is a
speech customarily given once each year by the
governors of each of the
states of the
United States (although the terminology for this speech differs for some states: in
Iowa, the speech is called the
Condition of the State Address; in
Kentucky,
Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and
Virginia it is called the
State of the Commonwealth Address.). The speech is customarily delivered before both houses of the
state legislature sitting in
joint session, with the exception of the
Nebraska Legislature, which is a
unicameral body. The speech is given to satisfy a constitutional stipulation that a governor must report annually, or in older constitutions described as being "from time to time", on the state or condition of a
U.S. state.