Legislature May Have To Revisit Budget Moves From Last Session

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi lawmakers could spend part of their 2017 session revising a change they made to the state budget in 2016.

The Budget Transparency and Simplification Act was intended to streamline spending by wiping out the practice of some state government agencies paying others for things such as rent and technology services.

It also was supposed to move all “special funds,” which are fees collected for specific programs, into the general state budget.

But, before the current budget year even started in July, Attorney General Jim Hood responded to agencies’ requests for legal advice. He said the Legislature lacked the legal authority to move special funds into the general budget.

That has left some money in limbo.