By Steve Klamkin WPRO News

Governor Gina Raimondo is planning to deliver her annual State of the State address February 3 on a virtual basis, due to coronavirus concerns.

Governors ordinarily deliver their annual speeches to a joint session of the General Assembly in the House chamber, with members of the judiciary in attendance.

Her office says the address will be delivered remotely “in order to protect the health and safety of Rhode Islanders”, said the statement.

WPRO will carry the address February 3 at 7:00 P.M.

This year, her speech carries added significance. Raimondo is facing confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate to become President-elect Joe Biden’s Secretary of Commerce, and has declined to answer reporters’ questions since the nomination was announced.

According to her office, the speech “will focus on the work that has been done over the past six years to build a stronger, more equitable and more resilient Rhode Island through investments in job training, economic development, education, health care, environmental progress, and more.”

Rhode Island House Republicans are calling on Raimondo to give a date for when she plans to transfer power to Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee.

“This governor put him so far out in Siberia, that he didn’t know what time of day it was, let alone where our plans were in inoculations, etcetera,” said House Minority Whip Michael Chippendale.

“That’s intentional,” said Chippendale, “because her boy, (General Treasurer) Seth Magaziner is the pick for ascension to the governor’s seat. So she’s not about to let anything happen to her pick, so she puts him (McKee) in the dark and feeds him manure like a mushroom.”