REBEKAH STAPLES: The making of the state budget
Most Mississippians don’t follow the legislative budgeting process. It’s a bit wonky and not often described in a relatable way. I’ll try to remedy that in this column by demonstrating how budgeting is a lot like the courting process – the ups and downs, the thrills and chills, and the building of an institution (be it marriage or state government).
There are no storks and no pastel-colored ribbons involved in the making of a state budget, but the process required for smooth budgeting is not entirely dissimilar to the process of making a family.
We’ll start at the beginning: Speed dating. This process occurs each year during the Joint Legislative Budget Committee budget hearings. Instead of a bar, state agencies are herded into a room at the Woolfolk Building where they have about 15 minutes to dazzle the members of the JLBC. Agencies talk about what they like; budget committee members talk about what they don’t like. Then, if the agency is lucky, they’ll get matched. This could be a general agreement among JLBC members that the agency needs a budget increase or simply one legislator who decides to champion their cause.
10/1/14
Magnolia Tribune
