Roughly $295 million in funds will remain unallocated.
As the 2022 Mississippi Legislative session comes to a close, lawmakers have announced their plan for the state’s budget as well as how they are allocating funds available from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund.
The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), delivered $350 billion to state, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Mississippi received $1.8 billion from the SLFRF program. According to a handout received, a total of $1,511,065,500 has been allocated for FY 2022 and FY 2023 during the 2022 Regular Legislative session, leaving a total of $295,307,846 in unallocated funds.
All funds must be obligated between March 3, 2021, and December 31, 2024, and expended to cover such obligations by December 31, 2026.
Fiscal Year 2022
For Fiscal Year 2022, the Mississippi Legislature allocated $450 million to the Department of Environmental Quality with $400 million going towards water and sewer projects in cities and counties (S.B. 3056) and $50 million to match assistance for cities that received under $1 million in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CLFRF).
A subtotal of $300 million be allocated to the State Department of Health for rural water associations and utility authorities (H.B. 1538).
Some $5 million in funds will go to the Department of Public Safety for the Law Enforcement Death Benefits Trust Fund, cause of death covered under First Responders Act of 2020 (H.B. 779).
Fiscal Year 2023
For Fiscal Year 2023, $59.1 million was allocated to the Department of Child Protection Services with $57.6 million going towards the Olivia Y. Case (H.B. 1611) and $1.5 million towards the Mississippi Supreme Court backlog (H.B. 1628).
The Department of Employment Security will be receiving $60 million with $40 million of that total going to Accelerate MS, which connects Mississippians to economic opportunity by expanding best practices in workforce readiness and career training. Another $20 million will go to Nurse Training at Community Colleges and IHL (H.B. 1517) as well as the Health Science Infrastructure Program (H.B. 1517).
A total of $3.17 million will go to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to defray eligible COVID-19 expenses (S.B. 3018).
A little more than $337 million was given to the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). This is how the allocation to DFA was broken down:
- Tourism at Destination Marketing Organizations, DMO’s (H.B. 1518) …. $30,000,000.
- Small Museums Loan (H.B. 1518) …. $5,000,000.
- Mainstreet Program (H.B. 1518) …. $5,000,000.
- Independent Colleges and Universities (S.B. 3064) …. $10,000,000.
- Independent K-12 school Grant Program (S.B. 3064) …. $10,000,000.
- Insurance Health (H.B. 1664) …. $60,000,000.
Through the funds that DFA will receive, the Bureau of Buildings a portion of the funds will go towards eligible projects at state agencies, including the following:
- State Buildings (S.B. 3062) …. $14,000,000.
- Mississippi Department of Corrections (S.B. 3062) …. $80,000,000.
- Department of Mental Health Department of Human Services (S.B. 3062) …. $40,000,000.
- Department of Human Services (S.B. 3062) …. $5,000,000.
- Mississippi Department of Health (S.B. 3062) …. $12,000,000.
- State Fire Academy (S.B. 3062) …. $750,000.
- Entity that Operates State Parks, Water Projects (S.B. 3062) …. $12,000,000.
- Entity that Operates State Parks, Tourism (S.B. 3062) …. $16,000,000.
- Bureau of Buildings- Eligible Projects at IHL (S.B. 3062) …. $25,000,000.
- Bureau of Buildings- Eligible Projects at Community Colleges (S.B. 3062) …. $12,500,000.
For FY 2023, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) will receive a total of $39.5 million. $2.5 million of the total will go towards central operations (H.B. 1614), $12 million will go towards reimbursing hospital for ICU and negative pressure beds (S.B. 3060), $25 million to health assistance Telehealth, computer, hospitals, clinics and doctors (S.B. 3060).
The Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) is set to receive $56 million. $6 million will go towards nurse loan repayment $3,000 for three years (H.B. 1521) and $50 million for hospital renovation at University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) (S.B. 3010).
A little over $104 million of the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund will go towards the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. About $86 million will go towards Olmstead remedial court order for state required mandates (S.B. 2865) and $18.5 million towards community mental health centers (S.B. 2865).
The Military Department is also set to receive around $10.4 million in funds for the Mississippi National Guard (S.B. 3013).
In FY 2023, an estimate of $27.5 million will be allocated to the Department of Public Safety. $15.5 million of that will go towards eligible projects (S.B. 3013) and $12 million will go towards premium pay for law enforcement and firefighters (H.B. 1542).
The Supreme Court backlog for the State will also receive $3.5 million. District Attorneys and staff (H.B. 1625) will receive an estimate of $1 million of that total, the Office of the State Public Defender (H.B. 1627) will receive $744,532, and Trial Judges will receive $1.7 million.
A total of $55 million will also be allocated to the UMMC School of Nursing Building for lost revenue transfer (S.B. 3010).
You can view the outlined allocations for Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds below.
Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds Appropriations FY 2022 and FY 2023 by yallpolitics on Scribd
Anne Summerhays
