Most state agencies could have their appropriations cut by 6.5 percent as the Legislature starts work on the budget for fiscal 2021.
Senate Appropriations chairman and state Sen. Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg, said that the Senate chose the 6.5 percent figure after consulting with the Legislative Budget Office and modeling various revenue scenarios.
Hopson said the Senate’s first attempt at a total general fund budget for fiscal 2021 will be $5.486 billion, which represents a $259.7 million reduction from fiscal 2020 general fund appropriations. He also said that some agencies will take greater cuts in general fund support since they receive monies from other special funds.
Some of the cuts from the original budget recommendation proposed by the Senate include:
- Institutes of Higher Learning (universities) could receive $1.22 billion, a $19 million cut from the budget recommendation issued in January.
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s general fund appropriation could be $1.691 billion or a $10.5 million cut from the Legislature’s proposed budget.
- Community colleges could receive $632 million, a cut of $14 million. This takes the community college appropriation back to fiscal 2019 levels.
- Corrections could receive $312 million, a cut of $20.2 million from the recommendation.
- The Department of Public Safety could receive $192.5 million, a reduction of $6.2 million. The state Highway Patrol will take the brunt of the cut, losing $4.2 million from the recommended amount.
- The Department of Mental Health could receive $570.8 million from the general fund, which is a reduction of $8.8 million. State Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, said the reduction is felt primarily in salaries and unfilled positions and community mental health programs will not be reduced.
- The Office of State Aid Roads could receive $182.7 million, a reduction of $42.7 million. That’s a 6.95 percent decrease over the budget recommendation.
The committee also sent to the floor a bill that would provide a $5 million deficit appropriation for the Veterans Affairs Board to handle its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and another would provide $5.588 million in additional funding for the Department of Corrections and more than $880,000 to the Attorney General’s office to pay for expert testimony, outside legal assistance, judgements and settlements.
The state’s tax revenues could be reduced by as much as $1.2 billion from original estimates, according to testimony provided by state economist Darren Webb earlier this week.
The Senate and House are now at the stage where appropriators begin crafting individual appropriations bills for state agencies, using the $5.486 billion number as a guide. Once the bills are passed out of their originating chamber, the opposite chamber will have to concur or reach a compromise in conference.
Mississippi’s budget consists of several funds, with the general fund providing support for most state agencies. There are also some special funds and federal funds. The fiscal 2020 budget was $21.082 billion, with most of that ($9.381 billion) in federal funds. The general fund was $5.746 billion, special funds were $617.7 million and other funds amounted to $5.34 billion.
The state has already received $1.25 billion in federal funds from the CARES Act to cope with costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Barring any change by Congress, these funds can only be used for costs directly associated with virus mitigation and can’t be spent to fill any budgetary gaps at the state or local levels.
