Miss. legislators’ split over budget remains
Legislators return to Jackson today to resume work, but budget negotiators in the House and Senate are still far apart in coming up with an agreement to fix an anticipated shortfall of more than $300 million.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, one of the budget conferees.
Among the sticking points is a plan – supported by Gov. Haley Barbour and Senate Republicans – to move $60 million in federal stimulus funds into savings as a hedge against possible lower revenues in fiscal 2011. House Democrats want to use that money and dip into the state’s $939.4 million reserves to address the deficit in fiscal 2010, which begins July 1.
House Appropriation Committee Chairman Johnny Stringer, D-Montrose, said the Senate plan would result in deeper budget cuts to critical state functions and, consequently, large numbers of layoffs.
“If we adopt the Senate plan, we figure at least 2,000 employees would lose their jobs,” he said. “We don’t know what next year might be. We might have another stimulus plan or the economy might pick up or it may be worse. But why lay off 2,000 people?”
Clarion-Ledger
5/26/9
Magnolia Tribune
