AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci said Tuesday night he has no answer to questions about how long the recession will last and how deep it will go, but he expressed confidence that Maine would weather it successfully.

“But the sun will rise on Maine, and Maine will raise herself for the United States of America,” Baldacci said in an upbeat State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature and other dignitaries and carried on statewide television.

“There’s a new era of opportunity and prosperity on the horizon. And we will get there together,” he said.

Baldacci made references to previous economic hardships the state has endured. During the Depression in 1933, then-Gov. Louis Brann told Mainers to be ready to “part with some things we have grown to like” and “pack only the essentials.” Baldacci said the same advice might apply now.

A gap in the present budget was filled “with little regard for partisanship,” leaving state government a little leaner, Baldacci said.

“We packed a light bag for the rest of this year,” said the governor, adding that “we can only afford to pack the essentials” for the next two-year budget, which must address a gap that’s approaching $1 billion.

Federal stimulus money is already being funneled into job-creating programs and projects including highways and bridges. Baldacci made a pitch for his previously announced $306 million bond package that will work toward the same end as it leverages more than $380 million from other sources.

He urged defeat of an initiated referendum that would repeal the school consolidation law he pushed through in 2007.

Baldacci also listed a litany of other proposals for the months ahead, including paying down a debt to the state’s hospitals, setting up a voucher system for newly unemployed workers who need health insurance, and creating a Maine Universal Wellness program to help people reduce health risks and prevent disease.

Baldacci proposed using $3.5 million in one-time stimulus funds to train new doctors in Maine. Tufts University would partner with Maine Medical Center in Portland, and the University of Vermont would team up with Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and the University of Maine at Orono to create medical schools.

“Now we’re not building any new buildings,” Baldacci said.

Baldacci also spoke of steps the state’s taken to become more energy efficient but said more must be done. According to the state’s 2008-2009 energy plan, estimated total state tax revenue in 2008 – $3.04 billion – was less than half the amount sent out of state annually to pay for petroleum products.

The governor said the state must invest in renewable energy and build a new electric grid that’s more reliable and can better connect Maine with the rest of the Northeast to new sources of power. He called for a $7.5 million fund to promote the development of offshore wind energy.

Proposed energy generation and transmission projects would bring more than $5 billion in private investment, said Baldacci. If the state meets its goal of adding 3,000 megawatts of wind power, the state would see another $7.5 billion in energy investment, he said.

In last year’s State of the State speech, Baldacci also announced a Wood-to-Energy initiative to bring Maine-made sources of heat to homes and businesses. Now, wood has replaced oil in a school in Franklin County and more schools may follow, the governor said Tuesday.

“When Maine was at the peak of its economic strength, our industries were able to harness the power of our rivers and the resources in our forests to produce cheap electricity,” said Baldacci. “Those resources drove Maine’s industrial revolution. And those same renewable resources can power a new revolution for our state.”

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