Two Mississippi agencies are warning legislators an extended federal shutdown could mean furloughing state employees. MPB's Desare Frazier reports.
The executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services tells the House Appropriations Committee they receive at least $30 million dollars per month from the federal government to pay salaries. If the federal shutdown continues, a plan will be implemented to begin furloughs March 1. Jess Dickinson heads Child Protection Services. He says they’re waiting on $15 million in TANF or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families' funds from the government that can be used to pay salaries.
"I have enough to make it through the rest of the year in some respects. But I don't have enough to pay all my employees through the rest of the year and I don't have enough to pay all my foster homes," said Dickinson.
DHS employs 4,500 workers. House Democrat John Hines of Washington County says every state agency may have some workers who are paid by federal funds. He says as many as 7,000 state employees could be affected should the government shutdown continue.
"We've been having some conversations and we're going to work over the weekend to probably have something in place for Monday. One of the conversations is using the Rainy Day Fund to go borrow money to stabilize this situation and once the federal funds come back in pay the loan of," said Hines.
House Republican John Read of Gautier chairs the appropriations committee. He says he's not sure there's enough state revenue alone to fill the funding gap.
"Right now we have revenue and it's looking descent. But let's see what January and February's revenue is and then we'll see how much money we have," said Read.
The Department of Human Services isn't responding to emails and calls for more details.
