With all the political posturing going on over the state budget, it’s hard to cut through everything to get to the facts. So we want to help.

Chairman Jamie Franks believes that some issues are far more important than political posturing, and making sure we have a fiscally responsible budget passed before our state government shuts down is one of those things.

So what follows is not a partisan exercise. It’s the facts as we know them.

Will our government shut down if the budget is not passed?

That may be up to some debate, but the bottom line is this: State law allows for no way to pay for state services on a month to month period. In that case, yes, state government would shut down.

In Congress, if an agreement on a budget cannot be reached, then they can pass a continuing resolution. A continuing resolution basically extends the former budget a month at a time (or for whatever period approved in the continuing resolution).

In Mississippi, we have no such thing. Our Legislature can pass a budget by July 1, or we have no mechanism to legally pay our bills.

What happens if our government shuts down?

If a service or agency is managed or funded by the state, then it will, theoretically, shut down.

That includes:

• Mississippi Highway Patrol
• State hospitals
• Schools
• State prisons
• Medicaid
• State agencies and departments

Past just the services we will lose, hundreds of thousands state employees will go unpaid until a budget is passed. There is also the concern of their health care premiums, retirement payments and other benefits packages. All of this is state-funded, and with no budget these things cannot be paid.

What is the hold up? What exactly can’t be agreed on?

There are two things holding up the budget process:

1. What to do with $60 million in federal stimulus funds
2. Whether or not to pass a $90 million tax on hospitals

On the stimulus funds, Republicans want to hold this money for 2011. Democrats want to plug budget holes right now because that’s what the money has been given to us to do.

It makes no sense to us to hold the money. We can only figure one reason Republicans want to do that: Because 2011 is a statewide election year, and that money can be used then to avoid a budget fight during an election.

It should also be noted that there is a question over whether or not the federal stimulus money can be used in a later budget year. Democratic leaders in the House are working with the Obama Administration to answer that question.

As to the hospital tax, the thought of a $90 million tax on hospitals is frightening. Health care costs are rising and some hospitals are suffering. So $90 million seems excessive to the point that it could cause some hospitals to face financial strains too tough to bear.

The House agreed to a compromise hospital assessment. In this compromise, the House required that the state ensure that Medicaid reimbursements to the hospitals would not be cut. The Republicans would not accept that caveat.

Why is the reimbursement important? Because hospitals do not receive full payment for Medicaid services. If they are going to have to pay additional taxes, they want assurance that they won’t lose any more Medicaid reimbursements. That seems like a fair agreement to the Democratic leadership.

What happens next?

That’s a good question, and we don’t have the full answer.

First, the negotiators for the House and Senate are continuing to talk. The governor said he will only call a special session once an agreement is reached.

But that could change. The governor could call a special session at any time. He can set the agenda, and the Legislature will be able to consider only what he says.

He could piece-meal the budget to them: first education budget, then Medicaid budget, then the Corrections budget, etc. Or, he could call a special session for the passage of a specific budget, which will probably not fly considering his budget has costly cuts to education and Medicaid that the House Democrats will not accept.

What can we do to encourage our leaders to pass a budget?

You can make phone calls.

The House leadership offered a deal that was accepted by the Senate negotiators. But that deal was killed after the Senate leaders talked it over with the governor.

That was a good compromise. Nobody got everything they wanted, but the budget would have been funded.

If you want to restore such a compromise, click here.