State of Nebraska Archives: on Budget & Economy
Ben Sasse:
Reform entitlement programs & live within our means
Government should be promoting prosperity, protecting property, and practicing frugality, rather than spawning dependency, redistributing wealth, and spending recklessly. What does this mean?- Longstanding and essential entitlement programs should
be reformed and thereby preserved, while unaffordable, new entitlement programs must be repealed.
- Government should live within its means and should not unfairly shackle one generation with the debts of another.
Source: 2014 Senate campaign website, SasseForNebraska.com, "Issues"
Nov 14, 2013
Ben Sasse:
OpEd: Criticized for giving up seat on Agriculture Committee
Having the group's support also could help Sasse respond to criticism over his decision to give up a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee and instead serve on the Judiciary Committee. That move temporarily left the farm-focused panel without a
Nebraskan for the first time in nearly 50 years. [Senate opponent] Chris Janicek highlighted that issue in a statement and suggested that it shows the Farm Bureau is out of touch with its members.
Source: Omaha World-Herald on 2020 Nebraska Senate race
Dec 9, 2019
Bob Kerrey:
Balanced budget amendment would double NE unemployment
Kerrey all but ridiculed Fischer's backing of a balanced-budget amendment to address the nation's debt, saying such an approach was overly simplistic. "I've looked at your plan," Kerrey said. "Your balanced budget amendment would double unemployment in
this state. It's a fact. This is not me exaggerating here."Fischer shot back that without controls on congressional spending, politicians "will spend every dime they can get their hands on," adding that
Nebraska has a constitutional requirement to balance its budget every year.
"First of all, you balanced the budget in 2009 and 2010 with Nebraska's share of federal stimulus money," Kerrey retorted. "That was the second highest use of stimulus money
to balance the budget of any state in the nation. The federal government would not have that flexibility under the Fischer plan, under her constitutional amendment."
Source: Beatrice Daily Sun on 2012 Nebraska Senate debate
Sep 28, 2012
Bob Kerrey:
We balanced the budget in the 1990s without an amendment
KERREY: Senator Fischer's plan would take spending [down] to 18% of GDP. That would at least double and maybe even triple unemployment as a consequence of the cuts that would be required by that amendment. We don't need a constitutional amendment.
We balanced the budget in the 1990s by making difficult decisions, many of which Senator Fischer now objects to. But it got the job done. We balanced the budget; we were paying off debt. But to impose a constitutional amendment would be devastating to
the state of Nebraska. FISCHER: I support a balanced budget amendment. Here in Nebraska we balance the budget every year. It's required by the [Nebraska] constitution. We need to do that at the federal level as well.
Any time that you don't have controls on Congress, on spending, on politicians, they will spend every dime that they can get their hands on. We need to make the tough decisions, we need to control spending, that's how we can move this country forward.
Source: 2012 Nebraska Senate debate excerpts
Sep 28, 2012
Carol Blood:
Deteriorating infrastructure slows our ability to compete
We contribute to the success of our farmers and businesses when we properly maintain our bridges and roads. Our communities benefit when we create connectivity, have dependable utilities and necessary transportation options that meet our current needs,
and broadband internet to connect people to opportunities. I want to address the ongoing deteriorating infrastructure that slows down our ability to compete in an increasingly global marketplace.
Source: 2021 Nebraska Governor campaign website ElectCarolBlood.com
Oct 19, 2021
Chris Janicek:
Government will have to provide much more stimulus aid
The federal government is addressing the financial strain on people and small business with disaster stimulus aid. I consider this just a down payment on much more aid to come that will be necessary to offset the set-back to our economy.
I would advocate right now for expanded SNAP (food) benefits for all citizens in addition to monthly financial help to keep us at home. This is not an individual problem and it will take all of us to share in the responsibility of our lives and economy.
Source: KOLN/KGIN 1011-NOW on 2020 Nebraska Senate race
Apr 23, 2020
Chris Janicek:
Out-of-control spending has to end
Our federal spending is out of control. With the tax "cuts" and job "creations" act of 2017 we added $1.7 trillion to our debt and deficit. With the current coronavirus pandemic we are spending trillions more.
I will work to spend your tax dollars more efficiently, implement new revenues and to cut cost across the board. This out-of-control spending has to end.
Source: Norfolk Daily News on 2020 Nebraska Senate race
Apr 23, 2020
Dave Heineman:
Use $1.2 billion in cash reserves to reduce over-taxation
The State of Nebraska has $1.2 billion in cash in its checking and savings accounts. That's right. As I stand before you today, the State of Nebraska has $1.2 billion in cash. Nebraska is over-taxing its citizens right now, and we need to change that.
Our choices are clear. We can sit back, do nothing and put Nebraska's economic future at risk or we can act and secure a better tomorrow for Nebraska.
Source: 2014 State of the State Address to Nebraska legislature
Jan 15, 2014
Deb Fischer:
Congress spends every dime they can get their hands on
Kerrey all but ridiculed Fischer's backing of a balanced-budget amendment to address the nation's debt, saying such an approach was overly simplistic. "I've looked at your plan," Kerrey said. "Your balanced budget amendment would double unemployment in
this state. It's a fact. This is not me exaggerating here."Fischer shot back that without controls on congressional spending, politicians "will spend every dime they can get their hands on," adding that
Nebraska has a constitutional requirement to balance its budget every year.
"First of all, you balanced the budget in 2009 and 2010 with Nebraska's share of federal stimulus money," Kerrey retorted. "That was the second highest use of stimulus money
to balance the budget of any state in the nation. The federal government would not have that flexibility under the Fischer plan, under her constitutional amendment."
Source: Beatrice Daily Sun on 2012 Nebraska Senate debate
Sep 28, 2012
Deb Fischer:
Balanced budget amendment forces tough decisions on cuts
KERREY: Senator Fischer's plan would take spending [down] to 18% of GDP. That would at least double and maybe even triple unemployment as a consequence of the cuts that would be required by that amendment. We don't need a constitutional amendment.
We balanced the budget in the 1990s by making difficult decisions, many of which Senator Fischer now objects to. But it got the job done. We balanced the budget; we were paying off debt. But to impose a constitutional amendment would be devastating to
the state of Nebraska. FISCHER: I support a balanced budget amendment. Here in Nebraska we balance the budget every year. It's required by the [Nebraska] constitution. We need to do that at the federal level as well.
Any time that you don't have controls on Congress, on spending, on politicians, they will spend every dime that they can get their hands on. We need to make the tough decisions, we need to control spending, that's how we can move this country forward.
Source: 2012 Nebraska Senate debate excerpts
Sep 28, 2012
Don Bacon:
Reduce our domestic spending, and reform our entitlements
I will support a Balanced Budget Amendment. We are half way on the road to Greece and we need elected officials who will fix this terrible problem. One of our Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs said our budget debt is a national threat, and I agree.
We need to reduce our domestic spending, and reform our entitlements. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. We need to reduce the size of our bureaucracies in Washington, D.C.
Source: 2016 Nebraska House campaign website DonBacon2016.com
Nov 8, 2016
Jim Pillen:
Expand broadband access to every corner of our state
Nebraska is at a growth crossroads. We have an exciting opportunity to grow our state, our tax base and the opportunities for future generations. To harness our potential, we have to invest in statewide infrastructure.
That means expanding broadband access to every corner of our state and improving roads in every direction.
Source: 2022 Nebraska Gubernatorial campaign website JimPillen.com
May 12, 2022
Jim Pillen:
There is no room for wasteful government spending
There is no room for wasteful government spending when I am Governor. I fundamentally believe that people should keep more of the money they earn, and that the government isn't the answer to every problem.
I know how hard families, farmers and small business owners work for every dollar they earn-and the government shouldn't take a single cent more than is needed.
Source: 2022 Nebraska Gubernatorial campaign website JimPillen.com
May 12, 2022
Mike Flood:
Stop socialist giveaways that will destroy our economy
Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi want to grow the size and power of government, raise our taxes, control our elections, and foist a mountain of new debt on our kids and grandkids. The radical, socialist agenda they're pushing has already driven up prices,
fueling the highest inflation this country has seen in four decades. I'll fight the Biden-Pelosi agenda at every turn, stopping their attempts to bankrupt our country with socialist giveaways that will destroy our economy.
Source: 2022 NE-1 House campaign website MikeFloodForNebraska.com
Jul 19, 2022
Mike Johanns:
Growing the economy will balance the budget over time
The state of the nation's economy was an issue. "We need to return to pay-as-you-go spending. Which means what we do in our family budgets everyday and that means not spend more money than we have," Kleeb
said. "Grow the economy, pull back on spending and good things are going to happen," Johanns said. "And if you sustain that over a period of time you will not only balance the budget but just as I did as mayor you can actually start to rebuild that."
Source: [Xref Kleeb] 2008 Nebraska Senate debate
Aug 24, 2008
Mike Johanns:
I'm the only candidate who's actually dealt with the budget
Johanns said, "I'm the only candidate who's actually dealt with the budget." He said he also was the only candidate who has worked out bipartisan solutions as an elected official.Kleeb frequently tried to link
Johanns to failed policies in Washington and Lincoln. Kleeb said the only way to change the status quo was to elect new candidates like him. "The greatest risk we have is that nothing will change," said Kleeb.
Source: 2008 Nebraska Senate debate reported in Omaha World-Herald
Sep 16, 2008
Peter Ricketts:
$500 million to construct a canal reservoir system
After our people, water is Nebraska's greatest natural resource. To secure Nebraska's water supply, I am recommending $500 million to construct a canal and reservoir system from the South Platte River. If we fail to secure our supply from the
South Platte River, we could expect to lose 90% of the water that currently comes to us from Colorado. We must act to preserve, protect, manage, and steward our water supply for our future Nebraskans.
Source: 2022 State of the State Address to the Nebraska legislature
Jan 13, 2022
Scott Kleeb:
End pork-barrel spending
Because of unbridled spending, every child born in America today is already saddled with $30,000 of debt. We cannot continue to mortgage our nation's future and pass off trillions of dollars in debt to our children & grandchildren. Scott Kleeb, a fiscal
conservative, believes it is a moral imperative for Washington to stop unchecked deficit spending. That's why Scott will fight for:- A principled, pay-as-you-go approach to spending. For the last two years, Congress has made a great effort to retur
to the pay-as-you-go approach to spending. This means spending only the money you have, not the money you wish you had. Most Nebraskans already use this approach to balancing their checkbook each month.
- Ending pork-barrel spending. Washington has
allowed special interest groups to line their pockets with our tax dollars through earmarks. Scott Kleeb believes the time has come to increase transparency in earmark spending so the American taxpayers know where their money is going and why.
Source: Campaign booklet, Nebraska's Brand of Change, p. 4
Aug 19, 2008
Scott Kleeb:
Return to pay-as-you-go spending
The state of the nation's economy was an issue. "We need to return to pay-as-you-go spending. Which means what we do in our family budgets everyday and that means not spend more money than we have," Kleeb
said. "Grow the economy, pull back on spending and good things are going to happen," Johanns said. "And if you sustain that over a period of time you will not only balance the budget but just as I did as mayor you can actually start to rebuild that."
Source: 2008 Nebraska Senate debate reported in Lincoln News
Aug 24, 2008
Scott Kleeb:
Bush & Johanns created current failed policies
Kleeb frequently tried to link Johanns to failed policies in Washington and Lincoln. Kleeb said the only way to change the status quo was to elect new candidates like him. "The greatest risk we have is that nothing will change," said
Kleeb, who blamed the nation's budget deficit, energy troubles and economic woes on the Bush administration, which once included Johanns.
Source: 2008 Nebraska Senate debate reported in Omaha World-Herald
Sep 16, 2008
Shane Osborn:
Combat spending instead of kicking the can down the road
Shane Osborn says he opposes this week's bipartisan budget plan, suggesting it "will only continue to pile on debt and further hinder economic recovery.""With a national debt of more than $16 trillion and current spending levels that are
utterly unsustainable, the time to address the federal budget crisis is now," Osborn said in a news release. "Once again, Washington is kicking the can down the road rather than getting serious about combating spending," he said.
Source: Lincoln Journal Star on 2014 Nebraska Senate race
Dec 12, 2013
Shane Osborn:
Nation can grow out of fiscal woes by expanding the economy
The Republican candidates gave a glimpse during the first debate of the campaign of their plans to get the federal budget under control. Ben Sasse says entitlement reform is the only way to achieve fiscal stability. Shane Osborn says the nation can grow
its way out of its fiscal woes by expanding the economy.The candidates were asked how they would work with Democrats to reduce the deficit. Sasse said both Democrats and Republicans in Washington have to understand that much of the nation's debt is
the result of the growth in entitlements. However, Sasse did not say what entitlements he would cut or how he would go about changing Social Security and Medicare. "We're guilty of generational theft," said Sasse, president of Midland University in
Fremont.
Osborn also indicated that he would support entitlement changes, but he did not give any specifics. "We have to grow the economy. It's the only true way out of it," said Osborn, a former Navy pilot and former state treasurer.
Source: Omaha World-Herald on 2014 Nebraska Senate debate
Jan 29, 2014
Shane Osborn:
Free enterprise is the key to national prosperity
Question topic: Free enterprise and the right to private property turn mankind's natural self interest into the fairest and most productive economic system there is, and are the key to national prosperity.
Osborn: Strongly Agree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Nebraska Senate race
Jul 2, 2014
Theresa Thibodeau:
Trillions in social spending is lunatic's impossible dream
No one knows how much debt we can legitimately sustain before the whole thing collapses, but at $30 trillion and climbing, we are quickly approaching that number. We have spent trillions on Covid. We're going to spend a couple more on infrastructure,
and there are those who would spend trillions and trillions more to right all of the wrongs of the world. It is the impossible dream of a lunatic, and yet an entire political party is just chomping at the bit to do just that. They must be stopped!
Source: 2022 Nebraska Gubernatorial website TheresaForGovernor.com
Feb 27, 2022
Jim Pillen:
Say "no" to excessive government spending
An issue at the forefront of Nebraskans' minds is that of exorbitant property taxes that are burdening voters. Sen. Blood has said that she believes the solution to this problem is actually pretty simple. "We have to do two things;
first, we have to fully fund our public schools, and second, we have to stop unfunded and underfunded mandates that are a burden on our local governments."
Pillen's views on the property tax solution oppose those of Sen. Blood, with Pillen saying that the new governor would have be willing to say "no" to excessive government spending. "I'm a believer that we can all be inspired, so that as Nebraskans we
need to do a better job of inspiring each other and making sure that school boards, county governments and city governments; that we all look in the mirror and say that we can all make a difference on our tax problems."
Source: KPVI TV-6 (NBC) on 2022 Nebraska Gubernatorial race
Oct 17, 2022
Jim Pillen:
Agencies must focus on what is needed, not what is nice
I'm introducing a budget that restricts the growth of state spending to an annual average of just 1.3% over the biennium. With an inspirational systems approach of running agencies, we will improve services to Nebraskans and cut the cost of operations.
We have asked agencies to tighten their belts and focus on what is needed, not what is nice. Needs are our focus, and we are leading by example. In the budget I'm presenting the Governor's Office will not see one penny more than the prior budget.
Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Nebraska legislature
Jan 25, 2023
Jim Pillen:
Infrastructure needs are more important than ever before
Infrastructure needs for Nebraska are more important than ever before. To grow Nebraska, we must address roads and broadband. My budget includes $100 Million dollars to leverage an additional $400 Million in federal funds to improve our bridges
and roads. Our team has also created the Nebraska Broadband Office. We have to get broadband across Nebraska completed. It will be the sole focus of the Nebraska Broadband Office.
Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Nebraska legislature
Jan 25, 2023
Peter Ricketts:
Delivered historic tax relief by controlling spending
Part of it is controlling the spending side, you know, how have we been able to deliver this historic tax relief? Well, it's because we've kept our spending down to 2.8%. So if you look across the eight years of budgets that we've done, the budget has
only grown 2.8% annually, compared to the 6.5% it was growing before I took over. And when your revenues grow about 4.5%, and you keep your expenses lower than that, that's how you have the ability to provide this type of tax relief.
Source: Nebraska Public Media on 2024 Nebraska Senate race
Jan 12, 2023
Preston Love:
Critical that we utilize and leverage federal funds
I will first and foremost be a strong advocate for Nebraska's unique needs in the federal budget appropriations process.
It is critical that we utilize and leverage federal funds to support agriculture, infrastructure, and community needs here in Nebraska. I believe we can provide these critical services while also spending responsibly.
Source: KOLN/KGIN 10/11-NOW on 2024 Nebraska Senate race
Apr 10, 2024
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026