Claim: Lawmakers consider spending, saving $128.5 million surplus.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Mitch Daniels
text: for a savings of $190 million, resulting in a budget of $23 billion. Annual spending growth for future budgets was cut to 2.8% from the 5.9% that had been standard for many years. Increase in revenues, coupled with the spending reductions, led to a $300 million budget surplus. Indiana is not permitted to take loans, as borrowing was prohibited in its constitution following the 1837 state bankruptcy. The state, therefore, had financed its deficit spending by reallocating $760 million in revenue that belonged to local government and school districts over the course of many years. The funds were gradually and

title: Steve Beshear
text: the state budget. Republican Senate President David Williams questioned the legality of the cuts, claiming that the shortfall was only $117.5 million and that $145 million in surplus funds from the previous fiscal year would cover the difference. Beshear countered that the legislature had already authorized $138 million in expenditures from the surplus fund and that his reckoning of the deficit also included $300 million in "additional spending needs". Williams stopped short of filing a legal challenge to the cuts, but warned Beshear that the General Assembly would closely monitor the cuts and override any they disagreed with by passing

title: Paul E. Patton
text: the first term slowed in 2001, and by 2002 the state was $800 million short of meeting its budget. In 2002, Republicans in the General Assembly called for an end to public campaign finance, as an economy measure. Calling it "welfare for politicians", Republicans estimated that abolishing public campaign finance could save the state $30 million. Ultimately, the issue derailed the biennial budget during the regular legislative session. In April 2002, Patton called a special legislative session to approve the budget, but legislators were still unable to agree. For the first time in the state's history, the fiscal year began

title: Kerry Healey
text: to state aid by about $75 million. The administration closed the budget gap, and ended fiscal year 2004 with a budget surplus of $700 million. Official state figures showed that Massachusetts ended fiscal year 2005 with a $594.4 million surplus. In 2006, the surplus was officially $720.9 million according to state statistics. Additionally, the administration left the state with a "rainy day" stabilization fund with a balance of $2.1 billion. These surpluses were attained without breaking the Romney-Healey campaign promise that they would not raise taxes. On the heels of the Municipal Relief Act, Healey headed a bipartisan commission that

title: 2011 Oklahoma state budget
text: 17% in FY2010, down approximately $945 million from FY2009. As a result, lawmakers cut state agency budgets 7.5% midway through FY2010. Then lawmakers relied on a combination of fee hikes, deferred tax credits and further cuts to state agencies (3% cut in general) to help balance the FY2011 budget. That was not, however, enough and lawmakers additionally relied on $500 million in federal stimulus money and $277 million in funds from the Constitutional Reserve Fund to balance the FY2011 state budget. Oklahoma has nearly $600 million remaining in its Constitutional Reserve Fund, but has limitations in using it to fill

title: Kansas state budget (2008–09)
text: less aggressive than Emler's proposal. The Senate's Republican leaders fashioned a proposal to make $266 million worth of cuts, with a total of $302 million in adjustments to the current budget. The reductions included a $99 million cut in aid to public schools - compared with $7 million in the bipartisan Senate bill. Rep. Lee Tafanelli said, ""All we're doing is basically kicking the can down the road just a little bit farther."<BR>In February the Governor recommended moving $225 million into the state's main budget account from other individual state accounts, Republicans in the House and the Senate prevented the

title: Rodney Tom
text: pension programs that will save the state $133 million in the short term and $2.3 billion over the long haul. Most education spending was spared. He justified his actions by saying, "Since before this legislative session began, the message from my constituents has been loud and clear. Another budget that is unsustainable, relies upon accounting gimmicks and sets our state up for a perennial deficit is simply unacceptable. If we ever want to get ahead of our budget crises, our state needs wholesale government reform and a budget that reflects our commitment to sustainable governing." On December 10, 2012, Tom

title: Jase Bolger
text: year as Speaker, Bolger, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and Governor Rick Snyder worked to pass a budget which resulted in Michigan seeing a more than $450 million surplus. In each subsequent year the Michigan legislature has passed, and the governor has signed a balanced budget. In each of the past three years, Michigan has seen a surplus that has also helped replenish the state's Rainy Day Fund, which in 2011 had $2.2 million in reserves and now is projected to surpass $700 million in reserves for the 2014-15 fiscal year budget. Speaker Bolger has stated that he plans to

title: Jodi Rell
text: the state's constitutional spending cap resisting pressure from groups favoring expanded state government spending which would bypass the cap. As a result, in late June 2006 the state reported a $910 million surplus for the prior year and the state's Rainy Day Fund exceeded $1 billion in deposits for the first time. In 2007 she shocked many of her supporters by proposing additional spending for education that would cause the state budget to significantly exceed the spending cap. Paying for the increased spending would require raising the state income tax. Republican legislators and a few Democrats, including (at least initially)

title: Scott Walker (politician)
text: were cut by $2 billion. More than 100,000 jobs were created in the state of Wisconsin. Overall, Wisconsin performed above the national average. However it has yet to regain all the jobs lost during and after the Great Recession of 2007–2009. Walker proposed the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill on February 11, 2011, estimated to save Wisconsin $30 million in the current fiscal year and $300 million over the next two years. The bill requires additional contributions by state and local government workers to their health care plans and pensions, amounting to roughly an 8% decrease in the average government worker's

title: Tom Marshall (politician)
text: $1.4 billion budget surplus, the largest surplus to that date. Like his previous budget Marshall continued to cut personal income taxes and pay down debt, the budget also spent $673 million on infrastructure throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Marshall's 2010 budget projected a $194.3 million deficit for that coming year despite that he increased overall spending and cut personal and small business taxes. By the time Marshall delivered his 2011 budget the deficit he projected the previous year had turned into a $485-million surplus, due to higher than expected oil revenues. The budget was the first under new premier Kathy Dunderdale

title: 2011 Minnesota state government shutdown
text: Koch, demanded the budget be kept below $32 billion. As negotiations went on during the legislative session, Dayton suggested compromise budget frameworks ultimately reducing his proposed budget to $35.8 billion, but insisted that he would go no further and that Republicans were not amenable enough to compromise. The legislature passed budget bills that balanced the budget with significant cuts to social and infrastructure services, rather than raising any taxes. They described their budget as a compromise with the DFL after the state's revenue forecast was revised upward, as it called for $34 billion in state spending increased from $32 billion.

title: Kansas state budget (2008–09)
text: in fact do great harm to our state’s economy and employment levels," said Sebelius. However, state officials said their target for reductions in fiscal 2010 is greater than the Governor's recommendations - $625 million. According to the Governor's recommended budget, the proposed cuts could reduce the projected FY2010 shortfall $103 million, however that estimate depends on $57 million in revenue from state-owned casinos that haven’t yet been built. However, Sebelius' 2009 appointment by President Barack Obama as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services had some state legislators that the nomination is a "distraction" from the state's budget crisis.

title: Paul E. Patton
text: him to propose a conservative budget in the first legislative session. The two developed a plan to modernize the state government, making it more efficient. State employees were leery of increased efficiency, believing it was a code word for cutting state jobs. Patton dispelled this notion by promising no involuntary layoffs. Patton also anticipated difficulty persuading legislators to invest an estimated $100 million in equipment and processes to realize improved efficiency. However, when economists projected a budget surplus for 1996, Patton agreed to invest half of it in capital projects in exchange for using the other half for measures to

title: Michael Madigan
text: opposed. The Republican leader in the Illinois House, Jim Durkin, said the bill was "absolutely the biggest joke." Among those opposed were seven Democratic representatives. The seven were targeted for defeat in the fall 2016 campaigns. Madigan's tax plan proposed spending $47.5 billion for fiscal year 2017. The state estimated that it would bring in approximately $40.5 billion in revenue, meaning that Madigan's budget spends around $7 billion more than the state would have available through tax revenue. The Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, estimated that the state would need to increase people's income tax from 3.75 to

title: Kansas state budget (2008–09)
text: level. In February 2009 Sebelius signed off on a $300 million deficit reduction package to address shortfalls in the state budget this year. In January Senate committee chairman Jay Emler proposed a 3.4 percent across-the-board cut in the current state budget. According to his plan it would adjust the current state budget by $302 million by June 30. Republicans said that they expect the deficit to grow more than the projected amount and that said Emler is the reason behind his aggressive plan. The governor proposed targeted spending cuts and accounting changes to eliminate a projected $186 million budget deficit,

title: Deficit reduction in the United States
text: For example, William Gale and Benjamin Harris proposed a 5 percent VAT, with a $450 per adult and $200 per child annual refund (which is equivalent to the spending of a family making $26,000). They estimated this would raise about $160 billion a year, or 1 percent of GDP. During FY 2012, the federal government spent $3.54 trillion on a budget or cash basis, down $60 billion or 1.7% vs. FY 2011 spending of $3.60 trillion. Major categories of FY 2012 spending included: Medicare & Medicaid ($802B or 23% of spending), Social Security ($768B or 22%), Defense Department ($670B or

title: Kate Brown
text: of State, and on November 5 she won the general election by a 51–46% margin against Republican candidate Rick Dancer. Coming into office, one of Brown’s priorities was to perform rigorous performance audits to help balance the budget. In 2008, for every dollar the State spent, performance audits returned $8 in cost savings. In 2010, Brown reported she delivered $64 in cost savings and efficiencies for every dollar invested in the Division. In 2009, Brown introduced and passed House Bill 2005 to crack down on fraud and abuse in the initiative and referendum system. It gave the Secretary of State

title: United States fiscal cliff
text: opposed to $1,171 billion for the previous year. The pie chart to the right contains a breakdown of the currently authorized reductions to the FY2013 deficit. The total of this chart is $606 billion but this is without considering economic feedback. Reduced taxes and increased spending, due to the 1.3% contraction in the first half of 2013, as well as other constraints, are expected to decrease the savings by $47 billion, giving a net total of $560 billion in deficit reduction during FY2013. The CBO reported in November 2012 the economic and employment effects of various policy options related to

title: Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
text: realized they were right all along, that we would never hold the line on the sequester." Some Republicans wanted Speaker Boehner to pursue a temporary measure that would cover the rest of Fiscal Year 2014 at the level set by the sequester, $967 billion, rather than pass this budget deal, which would have $45 billion in additional spending. Republicans who planned to vote in favor of the bill or were leaning towards doing so cited the bill as being practical for the divided Congress. Representative Steve Womack said that "it achieves most of the things we would like to see