FY 2015 Budget Update: Federal Funds Large Portion of State Budget
June 20th, 2014
With the upcoming primary runoff, much attention has been paid recently to the amount of federal funds for specific areas of the state budget. In our first of a series of posts about the newly crafted FY 2015 state budget, we will focus on impact of federal funds on the total Mississippi state budget. Federal Funds make up 44% of the state budget totaling almost $8.9 billion. The figure below shows how it compares compared with state general funds (mostly made up of taxes) and special funds (some special taxes, fees and other sources). The figure also shows how federal funds are used to provide state services. The majority of our federal funds (50%) go to health services like Medicaid, Mental Health , and Public Health and towards Jobs and Quality of Life services (33%), like Transportation, Agriculture, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Rehabilitation Services.
The federal funds that go toward the state budget also don’t include the federal funds that go towards things like creating jobs at military installations and with contractors, and direct payments to individuals through Social Security.
The impact of federal funds on our state’s economy cannot be overstated. Cuts to federal funds at the national level would have a deep impact on jobs and services in our state.
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