Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi Legislature's 2009 session ended temporarily today. With the 2010 budget yet to be resolved, lawmakers are planning a second session beginning in May or June.

Pending, related issues include the cost of car tags, Medicaid funding, raising taxes on hospital beds and the contentious issue of raising taxes on cigarettes.

During the most recent negotiations on a new cigarette tax the House and Senate came within 11 cents; the House offered 75 cents and the Senate countering with 64 cents. Originally, the House wanted to bring Mississippi's current 18 cent per pack tax—the third lowest in the country—up to $1 per pack, while the Senate began with a 31 cent increase bring the tax to 49 cents.

State tax revenues for fiscal year 2009 are down more than $300 million over estimates used for the year's budget. The 2010 fiscal year begins on July 1, and lawmakers are anticipating tax revenue to remain weak, with a estimated shortfall of $402 million.

Lawmakers say they are not clear how the $2.5 billion federal stimulus funds allocated for the state will affect the state's budget despite having had nearly two months to come to that understanding. In a March 20 statement, Gov. Haley Barbour said that the federal funds will not cover the budget shortfall and that he "await(s) guidance from the federal government on how the stimulus money must be spent."

Barbour is remaining staunch on his position to reject $50 million of the stimulus funds aimed at extending unemployment benefits despite some Mississippi counties at or near 20 percent unemployment.

"I also want to make sure the stimulus package does not turn out to be a Trojan Horse that will unleash burdensome federal mandates on the hardworking taxpayers of Mississippi," Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement supporting the governor's position.

Barbour is one of a handful of governors rejecting all or part of the federal stimulus funds, including Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. All of the governors on the list are Republicans and all are reportedly 2012 presidential front-runners.