At Tuesday’s meeting of the Winona Mayor and Board of Aldermen, Winona librarian Wendy Rushing informed the board that the library received a $12,430 cut in state funding for the upcoming fiscal year.
In fact, all of Mississippi’s libraries will received less funding thanks to House Bill 1645 that cut nearly $11.2 million in funding part of the support and maintenance of the Mississippi Library Commission. These cuts went into effect on July 1. The FY 2017 budget of the Mississippi library commission will be more than seven percent less than the FY2016 budget.
Rushing said in Winona, unless the city and county make up the difference in funding, cuts would be felt in book budgets and other non-personnel line items.
Once again, the shortsightedness of our state leaders is perplexing. On July 1, the state’s largest tax cut plan ever – cuts that will cost the state $415 million per year in revenue by 2028, according to Mississippi Today – went into effect. Legislative leaders are banking on businesses and individuals reinvesting the money back into the Mississippi economy to pay for the plan. However, State Economist Darrin Webb told Mississippi Today that he did not see the tax cuts paying for themselves.
“I don’t think (the tax cut) will generate enough activity to fill the hole it will leave in revenue,” Webb said. “Other states didn’t have it and it may help (bring some business to Mississippi), but it’ll take an awful lot of companies coming here from other states to get close. It’s not going to create a boon for the economy.”
Now, I’m all for keeping my hard-earned money in my pocket. I also love Mississippi. Born and reared in Mississippi, I chose to raise my own family in my home state. However, looking at the future course for the state, the possibility of my child also choosing to raise his family in Mississippi is my concern.
I believe state leaders need to make decisions with the long term in mind, not just what is going to be popular with voters in the next election cycle.
State leaders constantly focus on driving the state’s economy, however, what is baffling to me is they aren’t considering the long-term effects of these tax cuts.
With these tax cuts, all state agencies will see a significant decrease in funding and services to Mississippians. Most importantly, major cuts have been seen in education, once again, and now in the state’s public libraries. (The cuts to the state’s Department of Health is an entirely different story.)
According to U.S. News Best States statistics, Mississippi is ranked 45 in education, and it is ranked 50th in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores.
If the state’s focus is on driving the economy, then the state should make an investment in its current and future workforce. If you are ranked in the bottom five in education, budget cuts to education may not be the best idea. If you are dead last in reading scores, budget cuts to the state’s public libraries, again, may not be prudent.
For years, economic development specialists have pressed the importance of an educated and trained workforce in drawing industry and business to the state. If there are few qualified people to employ in an area, business prospects will look elsewhere.
I agree that the economy should be a primary focus for state leaders. Mississippians need jobs. Businesses need customers. The better the economy, the more services tax dollars will provide.
However, a solid investment into Mississippi current and future workforce should come before more tax cuts.
