Appropriations committee advances suite of budget, local-project and treasury bills

The Mississippi Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a package of budget and finance bills and committee substitutes during a session that included discussion of agency fee adjustments, transfers of deobligated federal funds and a proposal to raise the state's rainy day reserve.

Senators approved the annual transfer measure, a real estate commission fee change, a provision sending deobligated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), a committee substitute correcting and reallocating last year's local project appropriations, a bill to raise the state rainy day fund to 15 percent from 10 percent, changes to several capital and agency funds, and the State Treasury Efficiency and Transparency Act.

Committee members described the annual transfer bill (Senate Bill 2146) as a housekeeping measure that "brings forward all the code sections that we'll need to craft the budget this year," including references to the 2 percent set-aside, the rainy day fund, the working cash stabilization fund, the general fund, the capital expense fund and the budget contingency fund. Senator Seymour moved that the bill's title was sufficient; the motion passed.

Senators also approved Senate Bill 2086, which removes a repealer tied to a recent reduction in the real estate commission's application fee. The sponsor said the commission had accumulated a large cash balance, cut application fees, begun covering fingerprinting costs for license renewals and offered free continuing education. The sponsor said the repealer was removed to ensure the fee reduction would not negatively affect the agency.

Senator Polk explained a bill to direct deobligated ARPA funds back to MDOT. "If an agency came in under budget and have leftover funds, they can't keep them," Polk said, describing a new section that would authorize the state fiscal officer, in conjunction with the state treasurer, to transfer deobligated funds after Oct. 5, 2024, to an ARPA MDOT maintenance project fund. A motion to pass that bill as titled carried.

The committee substitute for Senate Bill 2544 made multiple small corrections to local projects originally funded last year: the nursing allied-health project is to be reallocated to a partnering institution, a $350,000 fire truck allocation was amended to allow purchase of a rescue truck or repairs and maintenance, and several smaller corrections moved $50,000 and $20,000 awards to the correct municipalities or districts. The committee substitute was reported and passed as titled.

Separately, committee members debated and approved a proposal to raise the state's rainy day fund target from 10 percent to 15 percent. The sponsor said moving to 15 percent would increase reserves from roughly $700 million to "a little over $1,000,000,000" in round numbers and noted that larger reserves can support bond ratings and provide a cushion in lean years. "I think it's good, a good conservative, forward thinking measure to move our rainy day fund up from 10 to 15%," the sponsor said. Senators asked whether the initial fill would come from capital expense funds and pressed staff to consider long-term budget impacts such as projected Medicaid cost increases.

Senator DeBarr explained Senate Bill 2606, which creates a mechanism to receive repayments from outstanding Education Enhancement Fund loans and deposit those repayments into an EEF fund. The bill authorizes the Department of Finance and Administration to receive repayments and instructs the Department of Education to withhold student formula funding if a district falls into arrears; the sponsor said the measure becomes effective July 1.

Senate Bill 2840, which includes several fund transfers and reauthorizations (including moving the Mississippi State University Veterinary School Fund, reallocating unused funds for campus repairs, and reauthorizing capital expense transfers for the Secretary of State and a volunteer firefighter length-of-service program), was reported out as a committee substitute and advanced. An amendment was adopted to make certain transfers effective upon passage.

Finally, the committee heard from the sponsor of Senate Bill 2843, the State Treasury Efficiency and Transparency Act, a measure to pool agency accounts to increase interest earnings. The sponsor said larger pooled balances should earn higher interest; questions focused on estimated revenue gains and which agency funds would be included when "reasonably feasible."

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 2146 (annual transfer bill): motion that title was sufficient; approved. (Mover: Senator Seymour.) - Senate Bill 2086 (real estate commission fee/repealer removal): motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Mover: Senator Michelle.) - Senate Bill 2543 (ARPA deobligation transfers to MDOT): explanation by Senator Polk; motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Mover mentioned as Senator Paul.) - Senate Bill 2544 (committee substitute correcting local projects): committee substitute titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Committee sub reported.) - Rainy day fund bill (increase from 10% to 15%): sponsor explained funding sources and impacts; motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Bill number not specified in transcript.) - Senate Bill 2606 (Education facility loan repayment / EEF fund): motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Sponsor: Senator DeBarr.) - Senate Bill 2840 (various fund moves and reauthorizations, committee substitute): motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Amendment adopted to make some transfers effective upon passage.) - Senate Bill 2843 (State Treasury Efficiency and Transparency Act): motion titled sufficient to pass; approved. (Sponsor explained pooling agency funds.)

The committee's actions will be reported to the next Senate stage; senators asked for more detail on some items (estimated gains from treasury pooling, implementation steps for ARPA deobligations and exact source splits for the rainy day fund fill). The panel then rose and reported.