August 17th marked six months since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since then, the landmark legislation has received both praise and criticism nationwide, but how is Montana fairing? On Wednesday, Governor Schweitzer spoke about why he thinks the Recovery Act has been a success in the Treasure State.

According to Governor Brian Schweitzer, Montana remains in a good position despite the nationwide economic crisis.

He explains, “We were very careful with our money. We didn’t expand programs at the rate that other states did, and we kept some money in the bank. You know, I kind of run the functions of state government the same way that I’ve run my farms. You always keep a little hay for the next year and always keep a little grain in the bin.”

Schweitzer says solid financial planning has allowed the state to put recovery dollars to good use.

He claims, “Montana’s in a unique position, because 48 states are in deficit and Montana has the largest budget surplus in history. So the money that we received from the Recovery Act is being used to make out roads safer so that when you travel you don’t have to worry about a bridge collapsing, or, it’s making our drinking water cleaner so that when you turn on the tap in your kitchen, you don’t have to be worried about the water. It’s making our buildings more energy efficient- our schools, state buildings, so that we use less energy, which will cost us less money, and we will be importing less oil.”

Schweitzer claims the projects not only benefit Montana, but create new jobs as well.

He says, “We have over 1,000 people that are already working in Montana on current projects.”

At the end of the day, Schweitzer is staying optimistic and predicts positive things for the future.

Schweitzer says, “Well, I think this recession is now winding down, maybe it’s even over, so I think the economy will start growing again, and of course since Montana didn’t actually slip into the recession at such a level as the rest of the world, more people are going to come to Montana, more businesses are going to start, and we’ll be developing more energy.”