House and Senate budget negotiators traded jabs Friday morning and left the Capitol for the weekend without an agreement to offset cuts to the 2010 budget.
Last week, the State Personnel Board signed off on a request from the Department of Human Services to furlough employees for up to four days in the remaining four months of the fiscal year, said Deanne Mosley, the board's chief of staff.
Julia Bryan, spokeswoman for DHS, said the request was put in as a "just-in-case." The department employs about 3,200.
"We have no plans at this time to furlough employees," Bryan said. "It's strictly strategy or pre-planning in the event that more budget cuts come down. That's the last thing we would want to do is have our employees off work."
The State Tax Commission said preliminary revenue collections for February are down $33 million, or 12.4 percent. Those numbers could shift somewhat as fee collections and other investments are added.
Regardless, February closes as the 18th consecutive month with revenues falling short of expectations. Gov. Haley Barbour said more cuts may be needed beyond the $458.5 million he has already trimmed.
The personnel board's February's actions were the first related to furloughs and layoffs since the worst of the recession hit state coffers. More are expected to follow.
"All the agencies are asking the State Personnel Board about what actions we may take if that's necessary," said Department of Mental Health Director Ed LeGrand.
About 32,000 state employees are under the purview of the personnel board, which must sign off on furlough and layoff plans before they can be carried out. The board does not have jurisdiction over employees at public schools, colleges and universities.
LeGrand said he can make it to June 30 without layoffs and furloughs so long as his budget is not cut again. Barbour has slashed $458.5 million from the state budget in four separate rounds of cuts to account for declining revenues.
Barbour asked the Legislature to remove employees out from under the Personnel Board for a two-year window to give agency heads staffing flexibility. The Senate signed off on legislation to do that, but the House isn't likely to go along. Tuesday is the committee deadline for nonrevenue bill action.At February's meeting, the Personnel Board also approved Auditor Stacey Pickering's request to reduce his staff by two, Mosley said.
The Department of Education also has announced plans for a staff reduction. And Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he plans to hold back two weeks pay from his employees in June, and then move workers from a monthly to a bimonthly pay schedule.
Epps said employees will get their two weeks pay when they leave the department, whether via retirement, termination or resignation.
Agencies are anxiously awaiting a fiscal 2010 budget resolution, but negotiations are moving slowly. House and Senate leaders began negotiating Thursday on Senate Bill 2495, which would draw down state savings to restore some of the governor's cuts.
Talks began after the Senate voted Thursday to sustain Barbour's veto of a similar bill, but the negotiations are hung up over a disagreement on prison spending.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, offered to keep the House's numbers for public schools, but said Republican Senate leaders aren't budging from their position that the Legislature needs to give $16 million to MDOC.
The Mississippi Adequate Education program that funds K-12 schools would get around $34 million.
"We made significant movement, and we're hoping the House will respond in a similar fashion," Nunnelee said. MDOC has taken a $29.4 million cut.
The House leaders offered $10 million for MDOC, up from their original offer to repair $1 million to the agency. Both chambers would still have to sign off on any agreement that's reached among the half dozen budget negotiators.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Johnny Stinger, D-Montrose, scoffed at Nunnelee's suggestion that Senate leaders were making a significant gesture of good faith.
"Let's don't play games with the people," Stringer said.
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