A new report from the Office of Tax Policy found the 2011 payroll tax cut put $2.2 billion in the pockets of 3.1 million Minnesotans.

Families making $50,000 per year saw about $1,000 extra in their paychecks.

Nationally, the payroll tax cut part of the stimulus bill of 2010 meant a tax cut for 159 million workers totaling $109 billion.

The idea behind the tax cut, which expires at the end of the year, is to stimulate the economy by putting a little more cash in people's wallets.

I saved an extra 2 percent more in my 401(k). Sorry, fellow Americans.

What did you do with your tax cut? Did you even notice it?

President Obama is proposing an extension and increase of a payroll tax cut going into 2012. According to the Treasury report, cutting the payroll tax to 3.1 percent in 2012 would amount to $178.8 billion in the pockets of 161.2 million Americans. The family making $50,000 would see an additional $550 in their paychecks over what they saw this year.

In Minnesota, 3.2 million residents would see $3.7 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Republican leaders are cool with the extension of the 2011 4.2 percent payroll-tax cut but not lowering it to 3.1 percent, half of the 6.2 percent standard payroll tax.