BILL CRAWFORD: State’s kudzu-like government defies efforts to cut spending
It’s budget time again for the Mississippi Legislature.
More money is needed to fund schools, community colleges, universities, highways, Medicaid, Corrections, public safety, mental health and so on.
Oh, and a tax cut too.
Revenue growth can cover part, but not all. So, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee will, once again, painstakingly pick winners and losers from the vast array of agencies that make up state government.
Some will get more, some the same, and a few less. But none is likely to be zeroed out.
Sigh.
Unsuccessful businesses get closed every day. Banks regularly merge and/or shut down unproductive operations. But not government. That’s because government behaves more like kudzu than business. Despite attempts to prune here and there, it just grows and grows.
Sunherald
9/8/14