Miss. Moving Toward More Detailed State Budgeting Process

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi lawmakers say they’re moving toward performance-based budgeting — a system requiring state agency leaders to set clear goals and provide detailed information about whether programs are working.

Republican Rep. Toby Barker of Hattiesburg says Wednesday that the system is being phased in a few agencies at a time.

Lawmakers started gathering information from the Department of Corrections in 2013. Barker says analysts evaluated 19 of the department’s programs. They found nine of the 19 had clearly defined goals and methods for achieving them, eight of those nine were predicted to meet the goals and seven of the eight achieved what they intended.

Republican Sen. Terry Burton of Newton says Mississippi enacted a 1994 law that required performance-based budgeting, but it was loosely enforced. He says that will be changing.