Gov. Neil Abercrombie will give his first State of the State address tomorrow, a platform where he is expected to clarify his vision for retooling state government and provide more details about how he would balance the budget.

The Democrat did not put his blueprint for "A New Day in Hawaii" into sharper focus during his inaugural address or his initial budget submission in December. He has asked for patience while his economic advisers and department directors analyze the state’s budget figures and set priorities.

Abercrombie’s theme tomorrow will likely be that everyone must pull together.

"This is a governor who wants to get things done," said John Radcliffe, a top lobbyist and longtime ally. "Where there are bottlenecks in the system, he wants to have those bottlenecks removed, and he certainly wants to build things.

"I know, and he said during the campaign, and I’m sure he’s going to mention it, that he wants to cut unemployment," Radcliffe said. "And in order to do that, a lot of people are going to have to put their shoulder to the wheel and work in ways they haven’t in the past."

Abercrombie also needs to provide some reassurance to state lawmakers uncomfortable with his lack of specifics so far. While lawmakers believe the governor has proven to be more collaborative than Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, and many praise the candor of his department directors this month at informational briefings, some are also eager for the training wheels to come off.

After warning earlier this month that a deficit-reduction plan may not be ready until as late as mid-March, the governor and his economic advisers have made progress over the past 10 days with private finance briefings with state House and Senate leaders on strategies to close a projected two-year budget deficit in excess of $700 million.

Among the options under review, according to the governor’s staff, are reducing public-worker labor costs by about 5 percent, taxing pensions on higher-income residents, scaling back state income tax deductions, altering Medicare reimbursement rates in public-worker plans, and adjusting Medicaid benefits.

The Abercrombie administration has also discussed the need to replenish the underfunded Employees’ Retirement System and contain rising costs in the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund.

Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Kaneohe-Kahuku), chairman of the Judiciary and Labor Committee, said the reluctance of the state to address defects in the public-worker retirement and health care systems in a meaningful way places a burden on the next generation.

"Ultimately, the health system is not working and the retirement system is underfunded," he said, adding that his committee will look at options.

Abercrombie may choose to use his State of the State to unveil high-priority program initiatives that were added as placeholders to the state’s six-year financial plan but were not part of his initial budget request in December.

The governor will also disclose tomorrow whether a civil-unions bill will be part of his administration’s legislative package, as many gay activists and lawmakers hope.

Abercrombie’s policy advisers, gay activists and lawmakers have written a draft that would give same-sex and heterosexual couples the ability to enter into civil unions and receive the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as marriage under state law. The bill, while similar to the one vetoed by Lingle last year, has been drafted to ensure that the rights extend to applicable health, insurance and tax codes.

The state, the bill contends, has an essential duty to provide equal protection to "individuals in loving and committed relationships who are not eligible to marry or for whom marriage is not feasible."

Hee, however, plans to hold a public hearing Tuesday on a civil-unions bill that more closely resembles last year’s version. "Better sooner than later," he said of starting the debate early in the session.

Several lawmakers said the best gauge to judge Abercrombie so far is his appointments, which Sen. Les Ihara (D, Kapahulu-Kaimuki-Palolo) described as "out of the box and refreshing."

"It hasn’t just been the political insiders’ kind of appointments, so I think that’s a pleasant surprise," he said, referring to, among others, the governor’s choice of Marc Alexander, the former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, as his homeless coordinator.

"It’s to solve problems," he said. "Whoever can solve the problem, solve the problem. I like that."

Rep. Chris Lee (D, Lanikai-Waimanalo) believes Abercrombie has done well, considering the condition of the economy and the turmoil he stepped into after taking office.

"The most important thing, I think, that I’m looking for is cooperation," Lee said. "It was often very difficult to deal with the last administration, and this time around I think their deputies and directors have been more than forthcoming. And I hope they really keep those lines of communication open."

Rep. Aaron Johanson (R, Lower Pearlridge-Aiea-Halawa) said these would be challenging times for any chief executive.

"He’s assembled a Cabinet quickly," he said. "I’ve been really pleased at how that Cabinet has been fairly forthcoming with news that most administrations don’t necessarily want to share coming right out the gate."

Johanson, a freshman in the GOP minority, said he would welcome a message of bipartisanship from the governor.

"It is a new beginning and a new day, and I would love to hear a call for unity and a spirit of bipartisanship to start us all out," he said. "These are challenging times for everyone, and I think it reinforces the nature of us all needing to work together to fix what are collective problems."