Past time for compromise

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June 27, 2009

Anonymous The Meridian Star Sat Jun 27, 2009, 11:25 PM CDT

Well, here we are.

It's not a good position. In fact, some longtime lawmakers have said the state has never pushed it this close to the wire. With less than three days to go, the state lacks a spending plan for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday.

What that means: state services would go unfunded after the clock strikes midnight Tuesday.

The good news: the governor has called lawmakers back to the Capitol today for a special session that begins at 2 p.m. It is still unclear, however, if there is a compromise between House Democrats and Gov. Haley Barbour on Medicaid.

As lawmakers head back to Jackson, we demand they put taxpayers ahead of petty politics. Medicaid is a tough issue. A $90 million shortfall is not easy to overcome. And state revenues, much like those in homes and businesses throughout the country, are down. These things taxpayers understand.

The thing taxpayers can't understand is how state leaders have yet to agree on a sustainable funding mechanism for the Medicaid shortfall. And, more importantly, they can't understand why lawmakers have been posturing politically for so long that the state is merely hours away from a fiscal year without a spending plan to account for the first dollar.

The Medicaid problem didn't happen over night. This is an issue the state has been dealing with for years. Yet here we are, still without a plan.

The bottom line: it's time for sound leadership; it's time to put partisan politics aside and get to work for the hardworking taxpayers of this state.

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