Pew: Mississippi state government could run 21 days in case of emergency

How long could MS government afford to keep running in an emergency?

If things went to hell in a hand basket (remember Hurricane Katrina?) Mississippi government could afford to keep running for 21.2 days, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts analysis of states’ budgets for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Mississippi ranked 33rd in the survey. Alaska ranked first, with enough cash in the bank to keep running for 477.8 days, even after pulling $3.3 billion from its savings in fiscal 2016 to cover shortfalls from plummeting oil revenue. Nevada and New Jersey, Pew said, had zilch in the bank. Louisiana, bless its heart, ranked near the bottom with only 9.9 days worth of cash and the year before had a negative balance. Arkansas didn’t provide numbers.

Clarion Ledger
8/5/17