Brighter Futures Begin with HOPE.

On December 13, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) submitted its Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Recommendation for consideration by the Legislature.

The Fiscal Year 2013 budget recommendation includes General Funds ($4,567,434,000); State Support Special Funds ($819, 341, 841); and Other State Support Funds ($12,689,048,251); for a combined total of$18,075,824,092.

The JLBC recommended level funding for MAEP, Community Colleges, and Mental Health. However, there were large cuts recommended for many other state agencies and their supported programs, including:

• Public Health, with a 19.6% reduction in agency budget;
• Agriculture and Commerce with a recommended 19.1% budget reduction;
• Cuts to Conservation incorporated a 46.2% reduction for Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks;
• Military, Police, and Veterans Affairs included a 37.6% cutback to MEMA Disaster Relief along with significant cuts to Public Safety (including the Highway Safety Patrol  at -19.2% and Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy at -48%); and
• Fiscal Affairs (with Dept. of Audit down 27.8% and Finance and Administration down 28.9%).

Table 1 provides a brief snapshot of how the cuts played out for our state’s general fund agencies.

*A copy of the original document can be found here.

Other highlights from the FY 2013 Budget Recommendation:

• Total decrease in state support of -2.3% (127.4 million less than was appropriated for FY 12);
• Total funds decrease of -7.5%; and
• General funds amount ($4,567,434,000) marks a 1.4% increase from the 2012 level.  However, this is still over $430,000,000 less than FY 2008 general funds.

Mississippi can make better choices.  It is essential that our state consider options for building and maintaining the programs that are vital to the people of our state.

A balanced approach that includes raising revenue, instead of a cuts only approach, is the pathway to building the public structures needed to move Mississippians along a pathway to prosperity.