What we saw today was a debate about priorities. Do we spend money on security at football games or do we use that money for troopers on the street? Do we pay to house a state plane or do we utilize the private sector and save hundreds of thousands of dollars? The taxpayers won some today and lost some today. Our elected officials officials have to be constantly reminded they work for the people and these are not their dollars to spend. If you look at where we are today versus just a few short years ago, the debate is starting to sway and I am encouraged that a consciousness of government spending continues to grow.

That said, we still have some work to do.  As we saw with the override of the Governor’s veto regarding stimulus funds, there are still too many in the legislature committed to spending every taxpayer dollar they can find. That’s not a prescription for being a responsible keeper of the people’s money, nor does it encourage the kind of good government the people of this state both want and deserve.

My very best,
Nikki