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| Date: | February 29, 2012 | | Contact Name: | Susan Closmore | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-5712 | | Contact Email: | susan.closmore@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR DAN HALL STATEMENT ON FEBRUARY FORECAST |
St. Paul- Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter announced Wednesday that the February economic forecast shows a positive budget balance of $323 million for the current biennium (Fiscal Years 2012-13). This is $323 million more than the $876 million surplus reported in the November 2011 forecast. In accordance with current law, $5 million of that positive balance will be used to restore the state’s budget reserve to a total of $653 million and the remainder, $318 million, will be used to buy-down the school shift. Senator Dan Hall (R-Burnsville) gave the following statement in response to the February forecast.
“On Leap Day, we’ve leapt forward! A little over a year ago, we had $6.2 billion budget deficit left by DFL majorities. Today with Republican leadership in the legislature, we’ve learned that Minnesota has a $1.2 billion budget surplus. If we continue to live within our means and focus on policies that support job-growth and government reform, we will see stable budgets,” said Senator Hall. “It’s great that we have now filled our cash-flow account and our budget reserves to the brim and can begin repaying the school shift. I remain unwavering in my commitment to managing tax payer dollars wisely and promoting policies that get folks back to work in our communities.”
