The making of the state budget

*First appeared in the October 1, 2014 edition of the Laurel Chronicle

Most Mississippians don’t follow the legislative budgeting process. It’s a bit wonky and not often described in a relatable way. I’ll try to remedy that in this column by demonstrating how budgeting is a lot like the courting process – the ups and downs, the thrills and chills, and the building of an institution (be it marriage or state government).

There are no storks and no pastel-colored ribbons involved in the making of a state budget, but the process required for smooth budgeting is not entirely dissimilar to the process of making a family.

We’ll start at the beginning: Speed dating. This process occurs each year during the Joint Legislative Budget Committee budget hearings. Instead of a bar, state agencies are herded into a room at the Woolfolk Building where they have about 15 minutes to dazzle the members of the JLBC. Agencies talk about what they like; budget committee members talk about what they don’t like. Then, if the agency is lucky, they’ll get matched. This could be a general agreement among JLBC members that the agency needs a budget increase or simply one legislator who decides to champion their cause.

In fact, budget speed dating began this week. By the time you’re reading this, agencies like the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Corrections, and State Board of Health have already made a pass at next year’s budget. (Don’t worry though – agencies will get their full vetting during the actual legislative session. This is just a warm-up.)

After the weeklong speed dates subside, the JLBC members must reconvene to determine which agency they’d like to take to the dance, a.k.a. the “legislative budget recommendation.” Who will lawmakers invite to dance with them? Will they choose to fund the budget increase requested by certain departments? And so forth. “Priority agencies” always find their way into the legislative budget recommendation, but priority is often in the eye of the beholder, er, lawmaker.

So we’ve done speed dating, and we’ve slow-danced at homecoming. What’s next?

In January, lawmakers officially reconvene to start working on the nuts-and-bolts of a budget. This is the DTR phase – or, “define the relationship” for those of you not keeping track with adolescent lingo.

In defining the relationship, lawmakers will revisit issues again and again and again (sounds like a relationship, doesn’t it?). Why do you need this budget increase? Where are we going with this program? What are your long-term goals? Why can’t we trust your agency? Are you the kind of agency I can take home to mom – or at least to the floor of the Senate?

Making it through the DTR phase is difficult but manageable. And, if your agency is lucky enough to navigate this process, you’ve made it past one of the hardest parts.

Marriage comes next, and that’s when lawmakers of both chambers agree to fund a particular agency or program. Budget leaders of both houses must give the verbal “I do” before a final budget can be adopted.

Yet a marriage (or, in this case, a general agreement) isn’t the final step in this family-making ordeal. This last part is the most mysterious and least understood of budgeting processes. It’s called “conference” and, like the birthing process, it entails a lot of false starts, sweat, a little pain, and ultimately a bundle of joy (a finished budget!).

From budget hearings to conference reports, the budgeting process is arduous, complicated, and altogether wonky. But it determines how your taxpayer dollars are used, and that’s why all of us have an interest in understanding these courtship-like processes.