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Setting the state budget is one of the most important tasks we undertake at the state Capitol - because after all, it's the people's money - not the government's.

The budget doesn't have much control over the government. Then again, the government doesn't have much control over the budget.

I am a governor who left office with a smaller general fund budget than when we started.

Some states like Nebraska have thus far responsibly managed their budgets, even in tough times, and I could not ask Nebraskans to pay for poor governance elsewhere.

Putting the budget ahead of the policy is the wrong way to do it. It's too often the way it's done in Washington.

It is time we passed a balanced budget amendment and return this government to limited spending.

We have this idea of bureaucracy in local government, and it's generally things that we're frustrated at. It doesn't work the way we like it to work.

We need to find a way of having a conversation across the parties on how you fund local government.

Remarkably, there are leaders in Washington who don't understand why it's so important for us to have a budget.

Government spending clearly needs some adjusting. But a budget is a statement of our priorities, and balancing our spending on the backs of our nation's seniors is not the right approach.