JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The budget is always one of the last things approved during a legislative session. So, we asked how the demand letter from the federal government asking the state to repay $101 million in misspent welfare funds will affect those plans.

“Our budget is only $7 billion, so $101 million…we don’t have that kind of latitude,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Johnson.

“I know that there’s litigation involved in this, and so we’re waiting to see how that pans out,” noted Senate Appropriations chairman Sen. Briggs Hopson.

House Speaker Jason White’s office is telling us they do not expect the demand to impact current budgeting plans. And that’s what House Minority Leader Robert Johnson was also told when he inquired about it.

“I did talk to some of the people in the budget office, and I talked to the people on appropriations,” said Johnson. “They are not fixing the budget. They are not preparing the spending based on that letter.”

Johnson says other unknowns out of Washington could impact the state’s bottom line.

“Kind of surprising that we talked about tax cuts and the federal government is cutting out federal funding and we’re actually spending more money and appropriating more money than than we did last. This year, so that wouldn’t be my decision, but I think that there should be some caution on behalf of the leadership here about how we do that.”

Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson added this note.

“I think Bob Anderson at DHS is currently exploring some opportunities and options with the federal government, and I’m just going to wait and see on that,” described Hopson. “Could be something we know later in the session, but more than likely, it could be further down the road before we know anything.”

As the days of the session dwindle, various groups gathered for a press conference to add their voices to the conversation and oppose the leadership’s policy agenda.

“We call on all of the members of the legislature to slow this down, slow down. Removing the state income tax,” described Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald, Children’s Defense Fund, Southern Regional Director. “Slow down the school choice legislation. And let’s have a conversation about health care and the needs of our folks.”

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