Jackson, MS – House
and Senate Democrats held a press conference at 11:30 a.m. today to announce
their budget plan for the 2013 fiscal year.
Democrats proposed level funding for the following key budget areas: 1)
education, 2) healthcare, and 3) local libraries. The Republican budget plan, introduced by
Governor Phil Bryant on January 31, 2012, proposes significant cuts to each of
these areas. “Our budget plan would
provide level funding for education, community mental health and local
libraries without raising taxes and without exhausting our savings,” said House
Democratic Caucus Leader Rep. Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto).
Education
The
Republican budget would cut education by more than $100 million including:
o
nearly
$73 million in cuts to elementary education,
o
over
$12 million in cuts to community colleges, and
o
over
$18 million in cuts to four year colleges.
“With our improving
economy, we have enough money to maintain level funding,” said Sen. Hob Bryan
(D-Amory). “There is not a single
Republican who won election by campaigning on spending less on education but
that is exactly what their budget proposes.”
Healthcare
The
Republican budget would cut healthcare by nearly $30 million including:
o
nearly
$12 million in cuts to the University Medical Center,
o
nearly
$14 million in cuts to the Department of Mental Health,
o
nearly
$3 million in cuts to Public Health, and
o
over
$1 million in cuts to Rehabilitation Services.
“The Republican
healthcare plan is nothing short of reckless.
These deep cuts place the public at risk by jeopardizing our community
mental health centers and cutting healthcare centers that have already been
hobbled by previous budget shortfalls,” said Rep. Cecil Brown (D-Jackson).
Local Libraries
The Republican budget would cut our local libraries by 15% or nearly $2 million. These cuts would place numerous important programs at risk, including:
o
children’s
reading programs which serve more than 400,000 Mississippi children,
o
computer
programs that serve more individuals performing job searches or completing
employment applications, and
o
some
WIN Job Centers.
“Local libraries
perform several crucial functions for our communities including introducing
children to reading and helping connect people to jobs. These cuts would place many of our libraries
at risk of closing their doors,” said Rep. Earle Banks (D-Jackson).
2 comments:
I'm very tired of the "X party cuts Y by $Z". Tell me:
- Is it a worthwhile goal?
- What is the goal?
- How much does it cost?
- If this is being done now, are we attaining goals?
- Can we achieve the goals for less next time?
The typical "cuts" argument is fear mongering. It has no context. It is akin to saying "Man cuts his living budget by $25,000!! Is he a welfare recipient and that is huge? Is he a billionaire and $25K is what he might spend on a good family seafood boil?
Give us context!
I don't know how to help you, J. Scott. We've got a state that's been funding public education by less than it's sister states for years and a party that thinks that's too much. As for you questions, I think education is a worthwhile goal, the goal of our education system is to teach people, it costs a pretty penny, some schools are doing better than others, and probably not. Your last paragraph is jibberish but if you've got more questions, I'll try to oblige.
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