Ind. builds $1.2 billion surplus

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Despite the troubled U.S. economy, Indiana is in the black.

State Auditor Tim Berry said Thursday that the state closed out the budget year that ended June 30 with a surplus of about $1.2 billion.

Berry said increasing revenues and more than $1 billion in budget cuts kept the state in the black.

"I think one of the reasons we are seeing revenues increase is because Indiana is one of the few states that is living within its means and hasn't raised taxes" he said.

But House Minority Leader Pat Bauer called the fiscal report a gimmick. The recent cuts that helped boost the state surplus, he said, hurt Hoosiers.

"This great billion-dollar surplus is based on children - cutting children's health, cutting education. Cutting people who have suffered in this great depression, recession we are suffering," he said.

Bauer said he would like to see some of the surplus spent on education during the next legislative session.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has already said now is not the time to spend surplus dollars

While the state's finances are on solid ground, Hoosiers in the work force are still hurting. In May, more than 250,000 Hoosiers were out of work.

"I'm here for the summer, and I've been looking since I've been here. I haven't been able to find anything," said Alex McClung of Indianapolis.

He said he doesn't know much about the state's fiscal health. He's too busy worrying about his own.

"I put in 20 to 40 applications. I haven't found anything yet. You just keep going out, doing the same thing over and over again, and you got it in the back of your head: “Where is this going to take me?’"

State Republicans say Indiana's fiscal discipline coupled with attractive corporate tax rates will eventually help solve that problem by luring more companies to the state to create more jobs.