Jackson Free Press

Gov. Haley Barbour announced another round of state budget cuts totalling $21 million today. Today's cuts, which represent roughly 0.5 percent of the state budget, bring total cuts for the 2010 fiscal year to $458.5 million. The governor warned that this round of reductions was based on the highest of three different estimates of future tax revenues.

"These cuts are probably optimistic," Barbour said. "There was conversation among some in state government that we were cutting too much. My own view is that if there's a criticism, it's that we're not cutting enough."

State tax collections for January fell $40.5 million, or 11.1 percent, below expectations, Barbour said.

State law currently allows Barbour to make only equal, across-the-board cuts to all state agencies. All state agencies, except those governed by court order or protected by other statutes, are now roughly 8.7 percent below their original budget.

"I wish the Legislature allowed the Governor to have more flexibility, so that I could cut some things less than 8 percent," Barbour said. "The ability to set some priorities would be useful for the Governor."

The state Senate passed a bill that would have given Barbour authority to cut any agency budget by any amount, but the House has opposed any such proposal. Both chambers have passed plans to restore some of the existing budget cuts using state reserves. The Senate proposal would take $58 million from the state's tobacco settlement trust fund, while the House proposal would draw $50 million from the tobacco fund and another $50 million from the state's rainy-day fund.