*First appeared in the Dec. 19, 2014 edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper
Last week, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) adopted a budget recommendation for the upcoming fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2015. The legislative budget recommendation (LBR) provides a starting point for lawmakers to use when contemplating budget priorities in the 2015 regular session.
As is typical this time of year, I’ve seen some left-leaning types complain about the recommendation. It shortchanges (fill in the blank with your favorite state agency); it saves too much money; it doesn’t spend enough money; etc.
If you look closely, those are the same dangerous arguments which voters handily repudiated in 2011.
Prior to the last statewide election cycle in which Republicans won majorities in the House of Representatives, Senate, and Governor’s Office, the budget writing committee included mostly Democrats. As a result, the budget recommendation reflected irresponsible fiscal practices, such as including one-time money to pay for recurring expenses.
The problem (well, one of…) with this approach is that it automatically creates a funding shortfall the next year, which in turn creates one the next year, and so on. Imagine a cascading funding gap. That’s not a phrase associated with sound budgeting principles.
With Republicans in charge, that’s no longer the case. The JLBC, led by Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Governor Tate Reeves along with appropriations chairmen Sen. Buck Clarke and Rep. Herb Frierson, has put a stop to spending non-recurring revenue on recurring expenses. To you, the taxpayer, this sounds very logical, even common sensical. But it took years of Republicans fighting the status quo to achieve fiscal prudency – and it was ultimately only made possible by the majority of Mississippians who voted for financial conservatism in 2011.
Today, the state’s rainy day fund is filled to its statutory amount, which means Mississippi is on solid footing should we be forced to endure another economic downturn. Saving for the future is important because it lessens the risk that budgets – including education – will be cut during periods of revenue shortfall.
The legislative budget recommendation maintains a full rainy day fund, yet Democrats have cried foul. They claim the LBR stashes away some $622 million in this reserve fund, but that’s just plain wrong. The rainy day fund balance is approximately $393 million, and the remaining unallocated funds will be utilized during the 2015 session for capital projects, education, and other needs.
As we approach 2015, it’s not surprising to see some Democrats attack Republican successes. They’re mad as heck Republicans delivered on their promises to get the state’s fiscal house in order without jeopardizing state priorities.
Consider the following: The Republicans quit spending one-time money. Promise made; promise kept. The Republicans filled the state’s rainy day fund in order to be able to weather unexpected downturns in the economy. Promise made; promise kept. The Republicans even – gasp – increased funding for education! Promise made; promise kept.
Let’s talk about education. For years, Democrats and other like-minded organizations have tried their hardest to make this a wedge issue with voters by making outrageous claims: Republicans hate children. Republicans hate teachers. Republicans hate math and science and rulers and calculators.
Bah-humbug.
Republicans championed and passed a meaningful charter school law to ensure the state’s children have every opportunity to get a quality education. There is only one reason to pass a charter law in any state: To provide more opportunity for children.
Republicans championed and passed a teacher pay raise. By the start of the next fiscal year, every single teacher in Mississippi will be making $3,500 more. As Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves likes to say, Mississippi is “now a leader and not a laggard in teacher pay.”
The Republican-majority budget committee recommended a $32.1 million increase to the Miss. Adequate Education Program, but that’s not all. Legislative leaders have indicated a willingness to increase education spending above this amount when final revenue numbers are determined in the spring.
Over the past three years, the Republican-majority Legislature has increased education spending by a quarter of a billion dollars, or roughly $245 million. These increases have come at a time when many agencies of government haven’t yet seen their budgets rebound from the Great Recession.
That being said, it’s not enough to simply spend more money on education. We must demand results. Too often, the litmus test for support of education is how much money policymakers are willing to spend – with little to no regard of educational outcomes. This is both intellectually dishonest and harmful to those who are working to improve educational quality in a fiscally responsible manner.
In short, Republicans have delivered on their budgetary promises, leading to greater financial stability for the state of Mississippi. As they say, elections have consequences, and voters showed their wisdom by electing budget-minded leaders to office in 2011.
Showing posts with label Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2014
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Budget hearings give glimpse of priorities, challenges faced by Legislature
*First appeared in the Sept. 12, 2013, edition of the Laurel Chronicle.
It's almost that time again. You know, the thing that only comes once a year. I'm not talking about Christmas; I'm talking about legislative budget hearings.
Starting Monday of next week, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee - known as the JLBC - will meet with select state agencies and commissions to hear about their needs, wants, and everything in-between…as long as it relates to money, of course.
And frankly, what doesn’t cost money these days?
Budget hearings may not sound very exciting. The truth is, they’re not. Agency presentations are focused on current spending, projected expenses, and specific budgetary line-items. Not exactly riveting material. But the staff of the Legislative Budget Office (LBO, pronounced “elbow”); lobbyists; researchers; journalists; and just plain old budget hacks like me lap this stuff up.
Hearings start off with an aggressive schedule: First, as usual, there will be an update from the State Personnel Board's executive director who will give lawmakers a briefing on state government employee trends, including demographic breakdowns and salary information.
Following this presentation, members of the JLBC will hear from multiple agencies, including five of which are headed by statewide elected officials (Depts. of Agriculture and Commerce; Treasury; Secretary of State; Attorney General; and Insurance Commission). In times past, these presentations had the potential to get a little testy, as statewide elected officials are not only agency managers but subject to the whims of Mississippi's electorate.
I expect the usual suspects to garner the most attention during these hearings. Major budgets like the Dept. of Education, Institutions of Higher Learning (the agency representing universities), State Community College Board, and Medicaid typically receive the most scrutiny. Together, these agencies account for roughly 70 percent of the state’s general fund budget.
As with every budget hearing cycle, however, other “budgets du jour” exist. For example, the State Dept. of Transportation has the potential to get tense, given the recent calls for increased gasoline taxes and subsequent calls for increased accountability of MDOT spending. It will be interesting to see how much more taxpayer funding, if any, the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) is asking lawmakers to put into the pension plan. Another budget to watch is the Wireless Communication Commission, which was mandated by the Legislature to develop a long-term funding strategy.
Almost as a prelude to budget hearings, the Washington Post’s “GovBeat” blog this week featured a story on Mississippi’s Department of Revenue collecting a significant amount of back taxes – turning an extra $3.5 million appropriation from the Legislature into $80 million.
“By virtually any standard, a nearly 23-fold return on an investment in a year is really good. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s almost unbelievable. But in Mississippi that’s exactly what legislators got” when they gave DOR an extra $3.5 million to hire auditors and collection agents to target the state’s tax gap.
Of course, the increased revenue is attributable to more than additional manpower, but the new boots on the ground certainly helped those taxes find their way back to the state’s bank account.
Speaking of more money than we thought, I should remind you that Mississippi’s most recently completed fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2013) brought in millions more revenue than legislators expected. The current fiscal year which began in July (Fiscal Year 2014) is exceeding financial expectations, though it’s too early to tell if higher collections will continue.
As I’ve written before, higher-than-expected revenue is both a blessing (more money to spend on priorities) and a curse (more pressure to fund agencies and special interest projects) for state lawmakers.
While it’s unclear how legislative leaders will appropriate these extra dollars, one thing is certain: State agencies, lobbyists, special interest groups, and other capitol players will know just how much extra money there is to be spent, and they won’t take their eyes off the monetary prize (which kind of reminds you of that commercial featuring the eyes on the stack of dollars, right?).
The budget hearings only come once a year and officially mark the beginning of the new budget season. They truly are like Christmas to Mississippi’s budget nerds. Merry Hearings, y’all!
NOTE: For a full schedule of the budget hearings, visit www.lbo.ms.gov.
It's almost that time again. You know, the thing that only comes once a year. I'm not talking about Christmas; I'm talking about legislative budget hearings.
Starting Monday of next week, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee - known as the JLBC - will meet with select state agencies and commissions to hear about their needs, wants, and everything in-between…as long as it relates to money, of course.
And frankly, what doesn’t cost money these days?
Budget hearings may not sound very exciting. The truth is, they’re not. Agency presentations are focused on current spending, projected expenses, and specific budgetary line-items. Not exactly riveting material. But the staff of the Legislative Budget Office (LBO, pronounced “elbow”); lobbyists; researchers; journalists; and just plain old budget hacks like me lap this stuff up.
Hearings start off with an aggressive schedule: First, as usual, there will be an update from the State Personnel Board's executive director who will give lawmakers a briefing on state government employee trends, including demographic breakdowns and salary information.
Following this presentation, members of the JLBC will hear from multiple agencies, including five of which are headed by statewide elected officials (Depts. of Agriculture and Commerce; Treasury; Secretary of State; Attorney General; and Insurance Commission). In times past, these presentations had the potential to get a little testy, as statewide elected officials are not only agency managers but subject to the whims of Mississippi's electorate.
I expect the usual suspects to garner the most attention during these hearings. Major budgets like the Dept. of Education, Institutions of Higher Learning (the agency representing universities), State Community College Board, and Medicaid typically receive the most scrutiny. Together, these agencies account for roughly 70 percent of the state’s general fund budget.
As with every budget hearing cycle, however, other “budgets du jour” exist. For example, the State Dept. of Transportation has the potential to get tense, given the recent calls for increased gasoline taxes and subsequent calls for increased accountability of MDOT spending. It will be interesting to see how much more taxpayer funding, if any, the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) is asking lawmakers to put into the pension plan. Another budget to watch is the Wireless Communication Commission, which was mandated by the Legislature to develop a long-term funding strategy.
Almost as a prelude to budget hearings, the Washington Post’s “GovBeat” blog this week featured a story on Mississippi’s Department of Revenue collecting a significant amount of back taxes – turning an extra $3.5 million appropriation from the Legislature into $80 million.
“By virtually any standard, a nearly 23-fold return on an investment in a year is really good. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s almost unbelievable. But in Mississippi that’s exactly what legislators got” when they gave DOR an extra $3.5 million to hire auditors and collection agents to target the state’s tax gap.
Of course, the increased revenue is attributable to more than additional manpower, but the new boots on the ground certainly helped those taxes find their way back to the state’s bank account.
Speaking of more money than we thought, I should remind you that Mississippi’s most recently completed fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2013) brought in millions more revenue than legislators expected. The current fiscal year which began in July (Fiscal Year 2014) is exceeding financial expectations, though it’s too early to tell if higher collections will continue.
As I’ve written before, higher-than-expected revenue is both a blessing (more money to spend on priorities) and a curse (more pressure to fund agencies and special interest projects) for state lawmakers.
While it’s unclear how legislative leaders will appropriate these extra dollars, one thing is certain: State agencies, lobbyists, special interest groups, and other capitol players will know just how much extra money there is to be spent, and they won’t take their eyes off the monetary prize (which kind of reminds you of that commercial featuring the eyes on the stack of dollars, right?).
The budget hearings only come once a year and officially mark the beginning of the new budget season. They truly are like Christmas to Mississippi’s budget nerds. Merry Hearings, y’all!
NOTE: For a full schedule of the budget hearings, visit www.lbo.ms.gov.
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