California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. delivered his 16th and final State of the State address in Sacramento Thursday, and elected officials representing the Santa Clarita Valley weighed in with their comments.

Senator Scott Wilk, R-Antelope Valley, issued the following statement:

Scott Wilk

“Today Governor Brown’s State of the State glossed over issues impacting life for every day Californians; ironically many of the hardships our citizens face are a direct result of policies created under his leadership.

“Since passage of his get out of jail free policies, violent crime and property crime have skyrocketed while police are forced to play ‘catch-and-release’ with criminals who would previously have been behind bars.

“The Golden State is home to the 6th largest economy in the world yet when the cost of living is factored in, 1 out 4 Californians now live in poverty. Our gas tax, sales tax and income tax are the highest in the nation and we continue to have one of the most unfriendly business climates in all of the country. California is home to the best and brightest, but advancing policies that make it harder for its citizens to thrive is not a good state for our state.”

Dante Acosta

Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) issued the following statement:

“Today’s State of the State speech was far more about who wasn’t mentioned than who was. Not mentioned were those who make up the highest-in-the-nation poverty rate. Also not mentioned were the millions struggling to afford the historically high cost of housing. Similarly ignored were my constituents paying some of the highest fuel costs in the nation for the right to spend much of their life in traffic.

“I will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento in a bipartisan fashion to solve the problems that continue to face our state. Our future is bright if we work together to grow our state from the ground up in our communities and not from the top down in Sacramento.”