By Scott Rasmussen, includes “… On a percentage basis, the biggest increases were found in Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.”
Mississippi is one of 39 states that can’t pay its bills, according to a recently released report and taxpayers owe $10,400 apiece to make the debt whole.
The 2020 Financial State of the States report surveys the fiscal health of the 50 states prior to the coronavirus pandemic. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.
Despite a massive economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bond bill that will add $291 million to the state’s indebtedness.
How large could the shortfall in state government general revenues be, amidst the coronavirus and related crises?
I recently listened to the Great Courses series of lectures, entitled Crashes and Crisis: Lessons form a History of Financial Disasters, hosted by Professor Connel Fullenkamp.
“Among neighboring states, Mississippi is the only one that has not passed a resolution to call for a Convention of the States under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. … Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action, says that a constitutional amendment that forces fiscal responsibility on the federal government is needed to address this issue.”
“A majority of members in the Mississippi House voted Tuesday to add more than $173 million in bond debt to the taxpayers’ credit card. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a companion bond bill has already passed. The difference between the two amounts to a deep chasm.”
According to the report from Truth In Accounting, Mississippi’s finances were ranked 33rd among the 50 states. Based on money available, each taxpayer would have to pay $11,300 to cover the state’s bill.
Truth in Accounting founder and CEO Sheila Weinberg respond's to a Bloomberg article published earlier this month blaming a new accounting rule for the decline in a Mississippi hospital's financial condition.
The financial health of Magnolia Regional Health Center, a 200-bed public hospital in northern Mississippi, has gone from fair to serious condition all because of an accounting rule.
State Auditor Stacey Pickering said Mississippi government has some glaring, systemic accounting problems it must address to protect taxpayers from fraud and abuse and keep the state's credit rating healthy....
Twenty-five states are currently facing a revenue shortfall, which is a marked improvement over our report from last year, when 31 states were in deficit.
At the state level, public pension funds bear significant stress.
The new Mississippi Comprehensive Annual Financial Report has a chart that shows who is in charge of state government.
Includes "She is one of many state government employees with a salary capped at 150 percent of what the governor earns. With the governor's salary at $122,160, the cap is $183,240."
By C.J. Ciaramella, includes “… "We're completely in the dark on how pervasive the practice really is," says Blake Feldman, an advocacy coordinator at the Mississippi ACLU.
By Eric Touissant, includes "... In the 1830s, four of the United States repudiated their debts - Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and Michigan.
By Steve Wilson, includes "...The non-partisan public accounting group Truth in Accounting considers Mississippi to be one of its 40 "sinkhole states" without enough assets to fully cover its debts.
By Arielle Dreher, includes "... The group's analysis of Mississippi's CAFR for fiscal-year 2015, shows drastically higher debt than in-state calculations yielded.