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State Representative Rod Hamilton
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5373
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS RELEASE
HAMILTON: STATE ECONOMY HAS TURNED THE CORNER
ST. PAUL – State Representative Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake) said he was pleased to hear that Minnesota’s budget outlook has improved dramatically. State economists recently projected a $701 million surplus for the 2006-07 budget cycle. Minnesota has been facing budget shortfalls since 2001.
“Our economic outlook is bright thanks to some difficult decisions made by lawmakers during our era of budget shortfalls,” Hamilton said. “Raising state taxes would have been the easy way out of the deficits. But holding the line on state spending was fiscally responsible, and this surplus proves that.”
Hamilton is referring to the 2003 session, when the state was faced with an unprecedented $4.5 billion budget deficit. Lawmakers solved the shortfall by reducing spending and not raising state taxes.
As for the current economic forecast, the $701 million will automatically be allocated to further K-12 education shift buybacks. As part of the deficit reduction process in previous years, the Legislature delayed aid payments to schools, and by law, the state must now return those funds.
In addition, state economists also project Minnesota to have an additional $337 million surplus from Fiscal Year 2005.
“Minnesota is taking in more money, spending less, and putting more people to work,” Hamilton said. “This is why our state economy has turned the corner.”
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