Pie in the sky

By Staff
Feb. 29, 2004
To a rousing chorus of school teachers and state employees' union leaders, House Speaker Billy McCoy last week promised the pie and the sky. By Thursday, McCoy's House had joined the charade of passing the speaker's $3.6 billion budget recipe. The plan includes fee increases of $17.6 million, including a $5 increase on specialty car tags, an increase in fees the state auditor charges local governments and higher fees for environmental permits
McCoy said his budget would fully fund K-12 public education and give state employees what they demanded in full insurance coverage paid for by the state. McCoy also proposed tapping into the annual payment from a tobacco lawsuit settlement, a deep well that can help float the state's financial boat until it runs dry.
But on the revenue side, McCoy used a really deceptive tactic when he announced his plan he raised the revenue estimate, a technical move based on optimism that the economy will perk up and more money will be collected.
Anybody can base a budget on smoke, mirrors and optimism. But this one ignores the reality that should be front and center: Mississippi is not living within its means.
McCoy's plan does little to change the overly generous fiscal projections that have precipitated the current dilemma; in fact, he's clearly hoping that new money will somehow waft down from the heavens and magically sprinkle a sugar coating over the sour specter of a looming budget deficit.
And, despite the That's right! That's right! Thank you, Jesus,'' from Brenda Scott, leader of the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees, McCoy's budget is seriously short of a heavenly calling. It simply caves in to other special interests and, again, leaves taxpayers holding an empty plate and wondering who in Heaven's name ate the pie.