By Justin Sweitzer, includes “… In essence, Weinberg said, balanced budget requirements don’t go far enough since they still allow states to rack up debt over the long term. Truly balanced budgets, she said, will require states to run surpluses in order to pay off their large sums of debt. That tough financial stewardship, Weinberg said, will be marked by ‘hard choices’ — decisions that will only get more difficult if states continue to plunge further into debt.”