By Taylor Rapalyea
Staff Writer

After being forced to reschedule due to a snowstorm last week, Governor Deval Patrick delivered his final State of the Commonwealth speech on Monday night, preceding President Obama’s State of the Union.

Patrick emphasized the advancement of Massachusetts as a place of economic, educational, and medical competitiveness, but maintained that there are still serious obstacles such as the widening wage gap.

Patrick also took the opportunity to push the issue of raising the minimum wage in a line that was met with widespread applause.

“To those who are reluctant to raise the minimum wage, I ask only that, before you resolve to oppose it, consider whether you can live on it,” challenged the Governor.

Patrick’s theme of the evening was, “Let’s keep going,” a phrase he repeated throughout the night. He cited aspects of Massachusetts that had improved immensely over the past year, but noted that multiple things needed to improve the state economy and foster more job creation.

The Governor promised to continue his trend of investing in education and infrastructure to encourage job growth across the state.

“Economic growth matters – not just because it creates wealth, though that is good, and not just because it expands a given industry or reduces unemployment rates, though that is also good,” said Patrick. “Growth matters because it creates opportunity, and opportunity is fundamental to who we are.”