By: Nicholas Sohr

Gov. Martin O’Malley will give his State of the State address at noon today before both houses of the Maryland General Assembly and other assorted state government poobahs.

If this speech follows O’Malley’s recent public remarks — and those made by President Obama in his own state of… speech — we can expect to hear a lot about jobs the economy today.

The governor has put initiatives billed as job creators at the top of his legislative agenda for 2010 and has made a mantra out of “jobs, jobs, jobs” in his recent speeches.

A programming note, this is the third date set for O’Malley’s speech. His first, last Wednesday, fell on the same day Obama was to deliver the State of the Union. The second date, Feb. 4, happened to be the day Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will resign from office facing her lengthy legal battle.

Also on tap today are hearings before a Senate committee on a pair of tax credits. The first, one of O’Malley’s bills, would give businesses a $3,000 tax credit for each unemployed Marylander they hire. Businesses would be able to claim up to $250,000 each, and the program would be capped at $20 million.

A second bill, introduced by Sen Alex X. Mooney, a Western Maryland Republican, would revamp the state’s film production incentive program run by the Department of Business and Economic Development. Mooney’s bill would shift it to a tax credit worth 30 percent of certain filming costs. Some productions, like broadcasts of sports games, and costs, like salaries over $1 million, would be exempt. So, sorry Tom Cruise, or whoever has to pay Tom Cruise.