Jackson Free Press

Gov. Haley Barbour released a statement today about, well, himself. Here it is, verbatim: When Haley Barbour became Governor of Mississippi in January 2004, Mississippi was in its worst financial shape since the Great Depression. The State was in a $720 million budget hole; the State's Rainy Day Fund reserves had dropped 90%, to less than $25 million; and there were loud calls for tax increases.

Four years later, without raising anybody's taxes, Mississippi has a balanced budget, has rebuilt its Rainy Day Fund to the amount called for in law, and important priorities like education and law enforcement have received record funding increases. How?

Working with the Legislature, Governor Barbour controlled spending and increased revenue through economic growth, not tax increases. During the previous Administration, state spending increased 36% faster than General Fund revenue. In the five budgets under Governor Barbour, the opposite has occurred; General Fund revenue is growing 29% faster than General Fund agency spending, without raising anybody's taxes. In the budget just adopted for FY '09, for the second time in Governor Barbour's tenure, appropriations will increase by less than 1% compared to this year.

When Governor Barbour took office, the State's savings account—the "Rainy Day Fund"—had been depleted to pay for increased spending. In Governor Fordice's last year, Mississippi had $233 million in its Rainy Day Fund. During the Musgrove administration, the state spent that down to just $22.6 million. At the end of the current fiscal year (June 30), Governor Barbour's fourth budget, the Rainy Day Fund will contain $378 million, an amount equal to the statutory cap of 7.5% of the General Fund budget.

Although Mississippi's bonded indebtedness exploded between 1990 and 2004—increasing from $589 million to $3.1 billion—Governor Barbour has stopped State Government from swiping its credit card at every opportunity. In 2005, for the first time since 1987, the State paid off more debt than was issued, providing financial relief for generations to come. In the last five years, State debt has increased by only 1.6% after increasing 44% in the previous five years. This year, the Legislature approved only $8 million of net new debt available for future issuance.

A conservative governor, committed to fiscal discipline, can implement Republican principles.

###

Previous Comments

ID

118998

Comment

I'd like to see Governor Barbour lead the way on a different topic -- the end of the two spaces after every period when typing on a computer. That second space was an important component to typing prior to the computer, and I know it's a hard habit to break. But these days, it's not only anachronistic, but it makes wide dissemination of the Governor's grand achievements that much more difficult, because the pages break and look wrong on the Web. That forces the keen-eyed Web admin to go through the page and remove those extra spaces in order to create a cleaner online presentation of the Governor's glorious successes. Governor -- one space after a period is not simply the right thing to do. It's also the conservative, disciplined thing to do. I know we can count on you.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-04-29T12:39:40-06:00

ID

118999

Comment

...all that to excuse his inability to raise cigarette taxes? :) Nah, he just likes the smell.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-04-29T12:46:59-06:00

ID

119004

Comment

Another release from Barbour. It's a busy day over there: GOVERNOR BARBOUR SIGNS BILL TO FILL STATE’S RAINY DAY FUND (JACKSON, Mississippi) - Governor Haley Barbour today signed legislation that fully fills - without raising taxes - Mississippi’s “Rainy Day Fund,” the special state savings account designed to protect taxpayers and governmental functions in case of an economic downturn. Under Senate Bill 2912, the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2008, the Rainy Day Fund will contain $378 million as of June 30, 2008, as compared to less than $25 million when Governor Barbour first took office in 2004. “In four budget cycles and working together with the Legislature, Mississippi has a balanced budget and has rebuilt its Rainy Day Fund for the amount called for by law,” Governor Barbour said. “This was accomplished by controlling spending and increased revenue through economic growth.” In 2004, when Governor Barbour’s Administration began, he inherited a $720 million budget hole and the state’s Rainy Day Fund reserves had dropped 90%, to less than $25 million. Unwavering on his pledge to not raise Governor Barbour focused on generating General Fund revenue growth and asked state agencies to cut wasteful spending. In fact, the newly adopted FY ’09 budget reflects an appropriations increase of less than 1% compared to FY ‘08. “I am committed to fiscal discipline and will work to make sure this trend continues throughout my second term,” Governor Barbour said. Today’s bill signing took place on the campus of Jackson State University and was held in conjunction with the second meeting of the Governor’s Tax Study Commission, which was formed to study Mississippi’s overall tax structure and recommend an updated, comprehensive tax policy. ###

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-04-29T13:52:20-06:00

ID

119624

Comment

I'd like to see Governor Barbour lead the way on a different topic -- the end of the two spaces after every period when typing on a computer. God, help me. I still do that. It's just automatic. I had to fight not to do it between these sentences.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-30T20:43:08-06:00