JACKSON - The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Tuesday a bill to redirect $357 million from state agencies and various savings account into the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
Sen. Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, the committee chairman, said with the extra money, the 2004 budget should be balanced.
"We should not have any cuts in the '04 year," Gordon said on a day that Gov. Ronnie Musgrove had to make a third round of budget cuts for the current fiscal year.
The bill now goes to the full Senate.
Legislative budget writers have proposed a $3.5 billion state spending plan for fiscal 2004 with no increases in agency funding over the present levels.
That budget reflects only a $1.2 million increase in general fund money between fiscal years 2003 and 2004. Fiscal year 2004 begins this July 1.
Much of the $357 million in the bill approved by the committee will go toward funding the education package Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed into law earlier this month. Lawmakers put an additional $236 million to education for the coming fiscal year.
That new funding expanded the $2.1 billion that lawmakers already planned to put into education, and staved off millions of dollars in cuts that legislative budget writers originally recommended for community colleges and universities.
Gordon said the money also will address needs in Medicaid, welfare and corrections. He said deficits in those agencies also must be passed.
He also acknowledged that some part of the $357 million will not be paid back to agencies from which it was taken. Most of those agencies are special fund departments, funded by a specific tax or fee.
Last year, lawmakers also scrounged through government agencies to balance the budget and avoid deficits where possible.
"We tried to take money from agencies where we wouldn't impact their work," Gordon said.
The bill is an amended version of one already passed by the House. Gordon said the House version did not have as much money as the state needed.
The competing bills funnel more money to education by taking dollars from several sources, including the state rainy day fund and special fund agencies such as the secretary of state's office.
Both plans would borrow money that has been set aside to settle a college desegregation lawsuit. That money was supposed to sit untouched until all appeals are resolved. Once a resolution is reached, the state must repay what was borrowed, Gordon said.
Some bonds would be issued. The House and Senate plans both rely on taking cash from a bridge building program and issuing bonds to replace the money.
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