State economy on the rise, national economy in trouble, per Alabama Treasurer

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer spoke at the Houston County Republican Women’s event Thursday afternoon.

Boozer gave an update on the state economy and the concern for the rising national debt in an election year.

At the state level, Boozer said the economy is growing quickly, thanks to a balanced budget.

Since establishing a balanced budget, Boozer reported more than $400 million in growth last year, with an even greater projection for this fiscal year.

“This year, we are on track to make $575 million dollars. This is something I would have never had dreamed we’d have been able to do,” said Boozer. “To manage our cash flow in such a way, to generate a billion dollars in that short amount of time.”

With 2024 being an election year, politicians are expected to give their ideas for the national debt.

While many say they will work to decrease the national debt, the debt has increased by at least $1 trillion every year since 2017.

Boozer fears this pace will make the national debt impossible to pay off, as it will already take hundreds if not thousands of generations to wipe it out.

Boozer says the best way to make financial progress nationally is to balance the budget.

“We must bring the national budget into balance. We need to have fiscal responsibility at that level,” said Boozer. “Get that $2 trillion to zero, then as the economy grows over the next 10 or 20 years, it will put that amount we have outstanding today into perspective, at the right amount.”

49 states require some form of balanced budget option for the state, excluding Vermont.

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