By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-990365.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Governor Rick Snyder says he would prefer to wait and see what direction the economy takes before making decisions on how to use a projected budget surplus. As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, the governor says he is no rush to restore funding to schools or other programs.
Budget watchdogs predict the state is in line for a windfall of 430 million dollars or so once the books are closed on the fiscal year that just ended. Tax revenues appear to have picked up despite the lackluster recovery in jobs and spending.
Democrats have called for restoring cuts to K-12 education. But Governor Snyder says it's too soon to make that call.
"It's good to see positive results coming in in terms of revenues," he says, "but one of the things is the economy in the macro sense at the national and international level is pretty tenuous."
Other Republican leaders have said any surplus should be put into the state's "rainy day" savings or toward paying down long-term debt. The governor says those options would also be high on his list if the state winds up with excess cash.