State tax hike waits at the end of the current standoff
While the state budget standoff continues, the fact remains that regardless who “wins” the current argument it’s clear that special funds or “one-time money” and existing revenues sources won’t be sufficient to carry Mississippi through the next three years of fiscal woes.
House Speaker Billy McCoy and the Democratic leadership of the House, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and the Republican leadership in the Senate and Gov. Haley Barbour are all on the record as seeing any new tax revenue as a political non-starter this session.
Given that fact, the options left to state government are pretty slim. Cutting spending is already on the table as Barbour has whacked some $437 million from the original 2010 fiscal year budget.
Clarion-Ledger
1/27/10
