Governor hopeful sweeps bill fixes complete
Gov. Phil Bryant said he is hopeful that the problems related to the Mississippi Budget Transparency and Simplification Act passed in 2016 were fixed in the special session earlier this month.
But in a signing statement, the Republican governor acknowledged more issues might develop around the complex legislation that made major changes to the state’s budgeting process.
In the statement released Friday, Bryant said he is “hopeful that the goal of transparency and simplification in the state budget can be advanced. However, if additional changes prove to be in the best interest of the state budget, I am confident that the Legislature will respond appropriately.”
The governor waited to the deadline day of Friday to sign the legislation into law. On Friday he also signed the FORTIFY Act that is an attempt to address some of the concerns of national credit rating agencies that have given Mississippi bad reports in recent months.
Bryant signed the other five bills passed in the one-day special session soon after it ended on June 5.
Those bills provided budgets for the office of Attorney General, the Department of Transportation and for the state Aid Road Program, which provides state funds for major local road projects. Those budget bills died during the 2017 regular session.
Daily Journal
6/26/17
