JACKSON, Miss. — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Here is the prepared text of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s 2010 State of the State speech, which he delivered Monday night at the state Capitol:
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…. the FY11 budget.
However, for this fiscal year, 2010, spending reductions must be made now to get our budget back into balance.
By state law the governor is required to make cuts to appropriated spending sufficient to align spending with actual revenue.
You may recall that I cut about $226 million in state spending last fall. Another $211 million must be cut, based on an 8.1 percent revenue shortfall.
The attorney general has issued an opinion that says only debt service is exempt from the current law that limits the Governor’s discretion in spending cuts.
That law says the governor can cut any department, agency or line by up to 5 percent, but can’t cut any account by more than 5 percent, until every department and agency had been cut by 5 percent, except debt service.
Then the law goes on to say, any cuts above 5 percent must be the same for every department and agency with no exemption but debt service.
