dave heineman gu. he will speak about some of the speakers we are delighted to have with us over the next few days. i admire the governor's dedication to the great state of nebraska and to the association. i can say without a doubt that it has been a pleasure to work with dave heineman, to get to know him. ours has been a true partnership during difficult times. i am grateful for his leadership. nga has two business meetings a year. there is what we hold in "the other washington" in february, and the annual meeting in summertime. this year for the nation's governors has been filled with many challenges. we had been asked to do more with less, people are struggling to make ends meet at home, state finances are just now starting to recover. but we have not yet recovered in full, and we still have to make very tough choices while investing in our future so that we have an economic future that is second to none. many of us, and our citizens have endured natural disasters and times have been hard. still the

i can say without a doubt that it has been a pleasure to work with dave heineman.urs has been a true partnership during some very difficult times and i am very grateful for his leadership. we have to business meetings a year. -- two business meetings i year. one that is held in february and one that is held in the summertime. we are excited to have all of our colleagues join us here in utah. this year has been filled with many challenges. we have been asked to do more with less. people are struggling to make ends meet at home. state finances are just now starting to recover. we have not yet recovered in full and we still have to make some very tough choices while investing in our future so that we have an economic future that is second to none. many of us and our citizens have endured natural disasters and times have been truly hard. the governors are called upon to lead it through these challenging times. as governors, we all face very similar situations. many are often very similar. for example, whatever challenge i might have been the state of washington, i feel