Gov. Haley Barbour will on Tuesday become only the second Mississippi governor to succeed himself in office.
His first term saw most Mississippians rally behind him as he led the state through one of the darkest, most difficult periods in our history as the state endured the miseries of Hurricane Katrina.
Barbour’s leadership during and after Katrina was worthy of praise, even from those on the other side of the political aisle. In talking about a second term, Barbour puts seeing the Katrina recovery and rebuilding effort through as one of his top priorities.
But Katrina was not the only issue of the first Barbour administration and it won’t be the only issue in the second one, either.
While the state’s fiscal situation is in far better shape than it was when Barbour took office, there are clouds on the horizon. State revenue growth has flattened with the rate of growth slowing far under original projections to about 3 percent. That reduction in the rate of state revenue growth has produced what will at best be an austere budget year across the board.
Magnolia Tribune
