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Tuesday’s state budget hearings brought presentations from the Mississippi Department of Education and Institutions of Higher Learning. The Clarion Ledger article, “Education funding still tight,” highlights some of the key requests and concerns during the hearings. A repeated concern has been finding resources to fill the loss of federal ARRA dollars that helped school districts and universities meet funding needs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 and FY 2011.

In FY 2011, the university system received 12 percent of their overall funding through ARRA, equal to $66.1 million. The graphic below illustrates the difference between the state appropriated funding in FY 2011 and the amount of state support requested for FY 2012 for university general support. In order to fill the hole left by the disappearance of ARRA funding, Mississippi will have to find $54.1 million to meet the FY 2012 Appropriation requests for general support to the state’s eight universities.

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Mississippi’s University System Increases Funding Request as AARA Funding Fades

FY 2011 Appropriations and FY 2012 Requests (in millions)

Outside of the $54.1 million gap in university general support, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) will also be without $19.9 million in ARRA support it received in FY 2011. In total, the state appropriated $195.4 million to UMMC last year, and lawmakers will have to find $39.7 million if they are to meet the requested appropriation of $235 million for FY 2012.

The funding gaps above highlight a broader message across this week’s hearing– state legislators are going to face very difficult funding decisions that will have an impact, not only Mississippi’s students and future professionals but also the quality of life for state’s residents now and into the future. Hearings continued Wednesday, as the Community College Board, Divisions of Medicaid, and Department of Human Services all presented their budget requests for FY 2012.

Source:

Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. Presentation to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

Author:

Sarah Welker, Policy Analyst