Individual liberty is a foundational principle for our country. One of the biggest threats to our personal freedoms is the expanded size and scope of government at all levels. Before World War II, government spending in the United States was about 12 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today, combined federal, state, and local government spending is about 35 percent of GDP. Regulation is another measure of how much government has grown. According to the Mercatus Center at ... read more
Weekly Columns
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Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity
December 18, 2018 -
Building a Culture of Life
December 11, 2018Nebraska is the best place in the world to live, work, and raise a family. One of the things that sets apart Nebraska as the Good Life is the state’s generations-long commitment to pro-life values. Our pro-life values evidence themselves in many ways. Hundreds of Nebraskans volunteer at crisis pregnancy centers every year, helping provide crucial support for expecting mothers. As you drive Nebraska’s highways and byways, it is common to see “Choose Life” or “Abortion stops a beating ... read more
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Building Nebraska’s Brand Internationally
December 04, 2018Trade has been front of mind for Nebraskans and Americans across the country over the last couple of years. President Trump has put a new focus on getting the best trade deals for our country, and has succeeded in securing new agreements with Canada, Mexico, and South Korea. His administration is also holding bilateral trade talks with the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
November 26, 2018Nebraska’s economic story over the last few years has been quite remarkable. For two years, we have had the most new investments per capita of any state in the nation. We achieved three years of over 1 million nonfarm jobs in the state for the first time ever. We have consistently seen low unemployment across the state, ranking fifth nationally for the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. We have seen the third highest wage growth among all states since 2014. A recent study showed ... read more
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Tackling the “Insuperable Monster”
November 20, 2018With two months until the 2019 legislative session, conversation about legislation will be ramping up at the State Capitol and across Nebraska. One of the perennial topics confronting Senators is the issue of property taxes. The Tax Foundation ranks Nebraska as having the 11th-highest property taxes in the nation. As we prepare for session, it’s important to remember the history around this issue, why progress has been challenging over the years, and what can be done to cut ... read more
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Let’s Keep Growing Nebraska
November 13, 2018Growing Nebraska has been the vision of my administration during my first four years. Whether it is achieving one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, winning awards for the most new investments among all states, or leading the nation in fiscal restraint, we have been successfully building the environment to encourage growth. Over the next four years, we have the opportunity to build on that vision. By developing our people, running government like a business, cutting taxes, ... read more
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Honoring Nebraska’s Veterans
November 06, 2018Every year, Veterans Day provides an opportunity for Americans to come together and honor the men and women who have served in our armed forces. This Veterans Day marks a special day in our country’s history: The 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Nearly 60,000 Nebraskans served in the war and 751 lost their lives in service to our state and our country.
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Government at the Speed of Business
October 30, 2018Over the last few years, our team at the State of Nebraska has invested a great deal of time and effort in helping state government operate at the speed of business. What does that mean? We set goals to deliver better results for our customers. We measure improvement and progress. And we hold our team accountable for those results.
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Lending a Helping Hand
October 23, 2018Limited government is one of the central features of the American republic both at the state and federal level. In his farewell address, President Ronald Reagan observed, “I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.”
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Cutting Red Tape for Farm Families
October 16, 2018With new technology and innovative farming techniques, modern day agriculture is more critical than ever to growing opportunities in Nebraska. Whether you work in a biotech lab, operate a combine in a field, or refinance loans at a bank, agriculture reaches into nearly every aspect of our economy, accounting for about a quarter of the jobs in Nebraska. Right now, Forbes ranks Nebraska the fourth best state for business and fourth best state for regulatory climate. Building on this ... read more
