State Auditor says hundreds of millions of dollars wasted in MS
White says trimming the budget would bring relief to taxpayers
TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – While State Auditor Shad White and his team are still going after elected officials and others suspected of defrauding public funds, White is also on a mission to expose wasteful spending in state government.
“In total, about $400 million of waste,” Auditor Shad White said.
Mississippi’s auditor said there is a lot of money that can be saved at the state level.
“State agencies buying TV screens for $5,800 a pop, all the way to the millions of dollars we spend on DEI initiatives at our universities,” White said.
The study of spending at state agencies, called “Project Momentum”, also discovered thousands of dollars spent on government cellphones that were never turned on, state office buildings with space that is not used, and millions of dollars spent on free healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to White.
“In our report, we talked about how healthcare costs, public education costs, criminal justice, all of those costs go up, because of illegal immigrants and unfortunately there are federal laws, that require schools to accept kids that may be here illegally,” White said.
Although White has detailed his findings in Project Momentum, it is up to lawmakers to decide how state funds are spent. District Six State Senator Chad McMahan says trimming the budget is a priority.
“I’m proud of the work he is doing as a state auditor, and I applaud all elected officials working to be sure that the taxpayers’ money is being spent properly in our state, county, and cities. I serve on PEER committee, which is an auditing committee for state legislature, we are looking at waste, identifying it and we are making sure taxpayers money is protected in state of Mississippi,” Sen. McMahan said.
The state auditor said cutting hundreds of millions from the state budget would also reduce the burden on taxpayers over time. White also said he is strongly considering a run for the governor’s office in 2027.
For more information on “Project Momentum”, please go to osa.ms.gov, click on reports, and type Momentum in the search bar.
