Agencies detail budget dilemmas

Agencies detail budget dilemmas

For some, as state budget writers listen to agency heads’ fiscal 2012 funding requests this week, it’s a chance to plead for more money.

For others, it’s an opportunity to simply beg for no additional cuts as Mississippi heads into what could be one of its most difficult budget years.

“I think, across the board, we are learning to live within our means,” House Speaker Billy McCoy said after the first day of hearings Monday. “(Agency heads) are being very reasonable.”

Attorney General Jim Hood told lawmakers he has two investigators fielding all of the crimes against vulnerable adults reported to his office – nearly 2,700 cases a year.

Clarion-Ledger
9/21/10