Lawmakers have allocated just over $1 million to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources after their budget ended June 30. The agency receives millions in gas and oil leases. The budget compromise calls for the governor and the legislature to each allocate half of the funds not currently committed to projects, which is $20 million. House Republican Charles Busby of Pascagoula.
"I think it satisfies the governor's office for the time being and satisfies the House of Representatives for the time being and then hopefully we can reach agreement and come back and have something in January, we can live with long term," said Busby.
Members of the House and Senate disagreed over who should have authority to spend the money received from leases which has increased from $665,000 in 2017 to $89 million since then. The governor has had that spending authority. Appropriations chair, Republican Senator Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula.
"DMR like pretty much like every agency is the governor's agency, is an executive branch agency and so there has to be flexibility within those things and so that's where the sticking point has been," said Wiggins.
DMR operates on the Gulf Coast, regulating the seafood industry, protecting coastal habitat and providing marine security. Executive Director Joe Spraggins says some federal funds from the governor kept them operating but in a limited capacity.
"We're not able to go out and do a lot of water quality tests that we normally would do. We are able to do enough tests to be able to at least make sure that the seafood is safe and we don't have any issues with that," said Spraggins
Legislators included back pay in the budget for employees who were furloughed for a week.
