Gov. Haley Barbour, in a letter addressed to Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and House Speaker Billy McCoy, has again asked for additional power to cut Mississippi's state budget. Citing lagging revenue collections for this month and state economic recovery historical trends, Barbour wrote that the "best solution" was to give the governor the ability to make selective 10 percent cuts to agencies, doubling what he can currently cut.

In the letter, Barbour states that preliminary revenue estimates for December show a shortfall of $41.2 million, or 10.76 percent below expectations. This will be the 16th consecutive month that revenues have not met estimates, and the 13th month that revenue is less than the previous year, resulting in a shortfall that will likely exceed that of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee's projection of $372 million.

"Revenues will not turn a corner anytime soon," the letter concludes. "Historical trends show the worst budget years for states are the two years following a recessionary period. Mississippi will continue to face months of revenue shortfalls as the nation's economy recovers from this global recession."

Read Gov. Barbour's Letter