Cuts have to be made to survive
Monday marked the first day of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee’s hearings on next year’s state budget. The next fiscal year begins July 1.
No one knows what to expect in the months ahead, but Gov. Haley Barbour — and other fiscal conservatives — are correct to be preaching extreme caution ahead.
Having seen 12 straight months of less-than-anticipated tax collections, Mississippi is feeling the national recession. The pain may have come a bit later than some more populous areas of the country, but it has still come.
Earlier this month, just two months into the current fiscal year, Barbour announced some $171.9 million cut from the budget. Mind you that was a “fresh” budget, whose numbers should have been pretty believable.
If the waters are changing that quickly, Mississippi is likely going to be in for a bumpy ride in the months ahead.
Natchez Democrat
9/22/9
Magnolia Tribune
