Dare We Say State of Michigan Budget Surplus?

myFOXdetroit.com - No champagne corks were popped. No choruses of “Happy Days Are Here Again” were sung, yet there was clearly an upbeat mood in the joint when state bean-counters certified more money in the till.

It’s been a long time coming, ten years to be specific, but state officials have quietly traded the “D” word for the “S" word and moving from deficits to surpluses means about half-billion dollars is on the table and everybody and his uncle in on the table trying to grab it.

This, of course, means the governor and legislators have a new assignment this year. Cutting the budget is so last year and deciding how to be prudent with the new cash is now job one.

At the head of the line, of course, is the education lobby. Having taken a huge cut last year, their collective hands are out for a payback and the chances are very high that will occur.

The polling data is compelling. Parents did not like the cuts and they blame the Republicans for doing that. And since 2012 is an election year for House R’s, you can bet your bippy, they will find a way to spend more on education in hopes of erasing that ill-will from the year before.

Democrats are caught in a conundrum. They want to spend more on schools but they don’t want the other guys to get credit for that which takes some of the sting out the GOP cuts last year.

At the end of the day, the Democrats will vote to help the schools and then try to exploit last year’s cuts the best they can. Gov. Rick Snyder holds all the cards right now as he gets to go first. His second budget is out early next month but after that lawmakers will get their chance. But, and there is always a “but” when it comes to Michigan’s economy, external forces could blow all this up. Upwards of 3-8% in federal budget cuts will reduce dollars here; who knows what will happen in Europe and if there is a banking collapse there, no one wants to contemplate the fall out from that. So maybe it’s best the corks stayed in the bottle and the song went unsung.