Legislators, Governor React to Dismal Revenue Projections

State legislators will have to cut government spending even more after the announcement of future revenue projections

Mississippi's revenue estimates for the first four months of this fiscal year are 111 million dollars below projections. As MPB's Carl Gibson reports, lawmakers are preparing to make hard decisions in how they prioritize state government.

At yesterday's joint legislative budget hearing, state economists projected just over 4.5 billion dollars next year for all agencies. Representative Steve Holland of Plantersville says in the coming budget hearings, everything will be at stake.

"We ultimately have to send across the street a balanced budget. That is very difficult when you don't have revenues on the table. Its a $19 billion-dollar total budget. That's not easy to put together."

Yesterday, Governor Haley Barbour told lawmakers he needs more power to reduce spending when times are tough.

"I mean, we're talking about a very, very significant amount of money. For the Governor to have the authority to make the savings today...The Governor's got some authority, but this year, not even the authority to save half of what we need to save."

Shortening the legislative session by a month to save money has been suggested by the Lieutenant Governor. However, Senator Hillman Frazier of Jackson says that could hurt more than it helps.

"A lot of our revenue numbers aren't going to be available until March. and if we shorten the session, before too long we might make some premature decisions in terms of our revenue picture and also some approaches where we might be able to save in state government."

Lawmakers say everything needs to be considered, including cutting the education budget.