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As Stimulus Money Runs Out, Governors Target Public Employee Pay

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Michigan's Republican Governor-elect Rick Snyder is one of three newly elected Midwest governors who will need to wrangle a large budget deficit. (AP)
Michigan's Republican Governor-elect Rick Snyder is one of three newly elected Midwest governors who will need to wrangle a large budget deficit. (AP)

A new report by the National Governors Association predicts that while spending will rise modestly this fiscal year, states will face new financial pressures in 2012 as federal stimulus money runs out and rainy day funds dwindle. So far, 23 states are projecting a total of more than $40 billion in deficits for fiscal 2012, and the numbers for 2013 are worse.

In an effort to balance budgets, governors are looking for ways to cut pay for public employees. We speak with Dan Balz, national political reporter for the Washington Post, about the cost-cutting plans of three newly-elected Republican governors in the Midwest.

This segment aired on December 1, 2010.

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