Governor Rounds Discusses the Budget

Air Date:03/04/2010

By Jenifer Jones

Governor Mike Rounds says the revenue estimates his office used when presenting the budget in December were only about two million dollars off of current estimates. He says the state has possibly hit the bottom of the recession.

Rounds says compared to last year at this time, revenue flows are moving slightly faster. Despite this, lawmakers still face a deficit and are nearing the time to finalize the budget for fiscal year 2011. Rounds says he hopes legislators stay close to the budget he proposed, which includes using reserve funds in order to preserve programs.

"I think the role of government and elected leaders is to manage a budget, use the taxes that are available and the resources are available to reduce the amount of pain on individuals that need a helping hand," Rounds says. "There are a whole lot of people out there right now that are without a job, down on their luck. You don't cut services and you don't tell their kids you're going to make it tougher on them to get an education."
Lawmakers say they will finalize the budget next week.

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