Barbour, McCoy trade verbal jabs on Miss. budget
Republican Gov. Haley Barbour and Democratic House Speaker Billy McCoy exchanged sharp words Wednesday about the Mississippi budget, but it remained unclear when Barbour might make a new round of spending cuts.
Barbour said in a written statement the House is trying to grab too much money from the state’s rainy day fund, which has a balance of about $231 million.
“We know revenues will stay low in each of the next several years, so we must preserve as much as prudently possible in the rainy day fund for the lean years ahead,” Barbour said in a written statement.
McCoy said in his own news release that the House has compromised with Barbour and the Senate the past few years in deciding how much to spend from financial reserves.
AP
1/21/10
