By Julian Pecquet
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) says he doesn’t want the Democrats’ $26 billion state aid bill. The bill would provide $16 billion in enhanced Medicaid funding and $10 billion in education dollars.
“The bill as passed [by] the Senate will force Mississippi to rewrite its current year (FY11) budget,” Barbour said in a statement. “Preliminary estimates of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration show that we will now have to spend between $50-100 million of state funds — funds that must be taken away from public safety, human services, mental health and other state priorities and given to education — in order for an additional $98 million of federal funds to be granted to education. There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets, but that is exactly what Congress has done.”
