DPS Trying to Cut Costs, Keep Troopers on the Roads

DPS Commissioner Stephen Simpson

State troopers are a common fixture on Mississippi's highways, and the Department of Public Safety is trying to find ways to keep it that way, even with declining state funds. MPB’s Stephen Koranda reports.

Fewer state troopers on Mississippi's Highways could reduce safety, says Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Stephen Simpson. He spoke in Jackson yesterday.

“The obvious result could be increased speeds, more traffic collisions, higher fatalities; A reduction in federal funds as a result of those increased statistics.”

DPS is preparing for cuts of 6 or 7 percent. Simpson says there are no plans to eliminate troopers and he's looking at other areas he can save money.

“We have travel and commodities and contractual services. We have special revenue we can move around. We have a large civilian population that, although they provide valuable services, we would reduce those services and cut back on those before we took the sworn troopers off the roads of Mississippi.”

The fate of the Department of Public Safety and other state agencies may lie in the Division of Medicaid. Mississippi’s Medicaid program is facing a 90 million dollar deficit, and lawmakers can’t agree on filling it with hospital taxes. Governor Haley Barbour says if they don’t fill the hole it could mean bigger cuts to state agencies.

“You’ve got to make the money up somewhere else, hopefully in Medicaid. Hopefully we won’t have to put the burden on others in state government.”

If there isn’t a solution for funding Medicaid, DPS cuts could reach double digits, and Simpson says that would mean some very tough decisions.