Minn. official: State won't borrow to pay bills

A top Minnesota budget official says the state is no longer considering taking out loans to pay its bills this spring.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson told The Associated Press on Monday that short-term borrowing is off the table for this fiscal year, which runs through June 30.

Last fall, Hanson warned state lawmakers that Minnesota was in danger of running short of money due to a revenue slide. He raised the possibility of the state's first short-term borrowing in a quarter century.

Hanson says borrowing was averted by delays in aid payments to schools, slowed corporate refunds and a $100 million improvement in tax collections.

He says officials won't know for a month or more if borrowing is off the table for the 2011 fiscal year.

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