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The Legislature and Governor Tate Reeves make peace. Kind of.

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

House Speaker Philip Gunn, left, Gov. Tate Reeves and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann address the media at a press conference on Thursday.

After days of bickering over who should control the spending of $1.2 billion in federal coronavirus relief, legislative leaders joined Gov. Tate Reeves at his Thursday press briefing to announce they would control the spending and listen to the governor’s advice.

Reeves for weeks insisted he had sole spending authority over the federal stimulus funds. But Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn abruptly called lawmakers back to Jackson last week to pass a bill that shored up their spending authority over the funds. Reeves then threatened to veto the bill, and Capitol politicos scrambled to whip votes for a possible veto override.

But just hours before Reeves’ deadline to sign or veto the bill, the leaders announced on Thursday they would try to work together on the federal spending authority after discussing it Wednesday evening at the Governor’s Mansion.

“I want to thank the governor for working with us to reach an agreement in this matter because as you know we’ve had some disagreements,” Gunn said. “The conclusion that we’ve reached is the Legislature will appropriate those dollars while working in conjunction with the governor administering those dollars.”

Gunn and Hosemann said the funds would work through the normal legislative appropriations process.

Reeves, who insisted on Thursday that he “didn’t care who gets to spend the money,” said he believes the most important thing was to get the federal funds to Mississippians who need it. But Reeves suggested that his involvement in the leaders’ understanding could change.

“I have made a determination that the best way, at this time, to get money to the people that need it is to reach out to the lieutenant governor and speaker and find a solution,” Reeves said. “Let me be clear: That is the best path forward for Mississippi today. If that changes, so be it.” 

Reeves continued: “I am committed to working with legislative leadership as long as we can reach resolutions that are best for Mississippians. I believe (Hosemann and Gunn) are well-intentioned and want to do right. Now it’s time to execute.”

In Reeves’ daily news conferences the past four days, the governor said legislators taking action to try to take control of the funds could put people’s lives in jeopardy and accused legislators of engaging in “petty politics.”

But after a scathing letter from the speaker criticizing the governor’s comments, Reeves toned down his rhetoric in more recent news conferences. As the process unfolded, it appeared more likely that the governor’s veto would be overridden — something that has not happened to a Mississippi governor since 2002. And it would be the first time in the modern era that a Republican governor’s veto was overridden by a Republican majority Legislature.

Hosemann said on Thursday that the Senate will hold the bill lawmakers passed last week so that the three leaders can nail down details about how they will work to spend the federal funds. This delays any potential veto decision from Reeves and a veto override vote in the Legislature.

One area where negotiations will continue is whether to contract with a “third party administrator” to help disburse the funds in accordance with strict federal guidelines. Reeves maintains such an administrator is needed to ensure the state is not later required to pay back any of the funds.

The federal funding in question is part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed in late March. The bill provides funding in a litany of areas as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including help for individuals, businesses, educational entities, state public health agencies and various other aspects of state and local governments.

Lawmakers are in session only for the rest of this week to discuss legislation that would help unemployed Mississippians receive financial assistance. They plan to return indefinitely on May 18 to begin passing the state’s regular general fund budget and debate other typical state matters.

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Vicksburg Warren School District employees prepare to make food deliveries to students in the school district Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic has closed school buildings and forced educators to rethink how to deliver instruction. But a windfall of federal funds designated for Mississippi’s K-12 and higher education institutions may change the way schools offer classes and other resources.

On March 27 President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to provide much needed financial assistance to states affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It contains $2 trillion in aid, and $30.75 billion of that is designated to states for education.

The Education Stabilization Fund is split into categories: The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. A separate pot of money is designated for states with the highest coronavirus burden and for the Bureau of Indian Education.

How and when this money is spent may change, because the Legislature is currently in a political battle with the governor to strip him of his sole spending authority of stimulus dollars and have the funds flow through the appropriations process rather than be dispensed by the governor.

Governor’s Relief Fund (GEER Fund)

A letter from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to governors said this “extraordinarily flexible emergency block grant” allows governors to determine how to meet the needs of students and schools, postsecondary institutions and education organizations. The letter specifically stated charter and non-public schools are included.

“My Department will not micromanage how you spend these funds, but I encourage you, at a time when so many school boards, superintendents, and institutions of higher education have had to close their brick and mortar campuses for the balance of the school year, to focus these resources on ensuring that all students continue to learn most likely through some form of remote learning,” the letter read.

While these monies are to be spent at the governor’s discretion, the Mississippi Department of Education told Mississippi Today it is collaborating with the governor on the use of these funds.

Last week, Reeves said he intended to use some of the CARES Act funds to help with distance learning.

“We know that this virus could come back, and distance learning may become a more typical part of our education system. We also know that there are families without access to the tools that are necessary for distance learning,” Reeves said. “I have a plan to utilize CARES Act funds to help fix that, and it will be a top priority. Support for teachers, schools and especially parents will be a critical part of our recovery.”

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund)

These dollars go directly to the Mississippi Department of Education, which will then subgrant the funds to school districts. The funding amount the state received was calculated using the same formula used to determine Title I funding, which are federal dollars given to schools with a high number of low-income students enrolled.

The district by district allocation amounts are not available yet, according to a department spokesperson, but department officials are working on releasing guidance documents to schools on how to spend the money.

“I think all districts, particularly those that are struggling to provide distance learning really need to be thinking very carefully about how this money should be spent,” said State Superintendent Carey Wright. “The important aspect of this that we’re still working on is that there is a tremendous amount of reporting responsibility back to the federal government about how this money is spent.”

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)

These funds go directly to colleges and universities. You can view the allocations to all colleges and universities here. Institutions are required to use at least half of the funds they receive to provide emergency financial aid grants for students who have been affected by the pandemic. This means the funds can be used to help students afford food, housing, course materials, technology, health care or child care. The other half of the funds can be used by and for the universities “to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.”

Community colleges also receive these funds:

Kelsey Davis Betz contributed to this report.

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

State representatives prepare to make decision on Gov. Tate Reeves spending authority over federal coronavirus stimulus money, at the statehouse in Jackson, Miss., Friday, May 1, 2020.

The 2019 Legislature appropriated $8.6 billion in federal funds to various agencies of state government. These were funds passed by the United States Congress, signed into law by the president and sent to Mississippi for various programs, ranging from money for Medicaid beneficiaries to funds for highway construction and maintenance to funds for pandemics like COVID-19.

The total state budget, including those federal funds, is $19.23 billion.

The reason that the Legislature appropriates the federal funds – funds that already have been appropriated by Congress – is that generally speaking the executive agencies would not have the authority to spend the funds without action of the Mississippi Legislature.

An additional $1.25 billion in federal funds directed to Mississippi to help pay for the cost of fighting the deadly COVID-19 pandemic are at the heart of a heated debate between Gov. Tate Reeves and the Legislature. The Legislature, which recessed on March 18 for safety concerns related to the coronavirus, will return to the Capitol Thursday to take up legislation to use a portion of those funds to provide help for small businesses and to perhaps deal with a gubernatorial veto of the bill preventing Reeves from spending the funds.

To grasp the issues surrounding the federal funds it might help to understand what can be a sometimes confusing and sometimes contradictory state budgeting process.

Mississippi Supreme Court cases going back as far as at least 1905 give the Legislature the power of the purse – the authority to appropriate.

The 1905 case – Colbert vs. State – identifies the power to appropriate as the Legislature’s “supreme” power.

Each year the Legislature passes more than 100 budget bills to fund the various agencies that make up state government. Each bill provides how much money the agency has for the upcoming fiscal year to operate. And the bills provide the sources of that money. State tax collections and federal funds are the primary sources of revenue for state agencies.

Most of the appropriations bills – at least for the larger agencies – also give the agency the authority to spend any unanticipated federal funds it might receive if it gets those funds when the Legislature is out of session. It is called “escalating authority” to spend federal funds that were not appropriated by the Legislature.

That escalating authority allows agencies to spend federal funds sent to help the state deal with emergencies, such as tornadoes, hurricanes or even a pandemic. The escalating authority also can be used to allow an agency to spend federal funds that Congress might provide that were not anticipated by the Legislature.

In a nutshell the current fight between the governor and Legislature boils down to the fact that the Legislature believes $1.25 billion is too much escalating authority for the governor to have. They want a say in how the money is spent.

It is important to note that the bill recently passed by the Legislature leaves the governor $100 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, to spend to address COVID-19 issues. And presumably, the Legislature also would place some of the $1.25 billion at the governor’s discretion for the new fiscal year, beginning July 1.

In addition, other federal funds related to the Coronavirus – close to another $1 billion — have gone to multiple agencies, such as the Emergency Management, the Department of Health, the governor and education entities to deal with the pandemic. Those funds are being spent through the agencies’ escalating authority – granted by the Legislature – with no interference from the Legislature.

In a commentary in support of Reeves’ position, former Gov. Haley Barbour, who was able to expend federal Hurricane Katrina funds without legislative interference, pointed to a state law that he said clearly gave him and would give Reeves the authority to spend the funds. The law, 27-104-21, which authorizes the escalating authority, goes on to say the funds can be spent “unless otherwise specified in the appropriation bill, the executive director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall have the authority to approve escalations in a budget using one hundred percent (100%) federal money.”

Reeves believes he can more efficiently spend the funds to address needs as they become available. He says the Legislature, which often is burdensome, cannot respond as quickly as he can.

Reeves has at times lashed out at the Legislature saying in a worst case scenario their actions could result in people dying.

“This is power politics at its worse,” he said recently.

Legislators believe they are just doing their constitutional duty to appropriate state funds.

At any rate, legislators will be in session at least Thursday and Friday and will presumably take up a Reeves veto should one occur. Or another possibility in the often-complex legislative rules is a senator might try to make a motion to reconsider. If Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann recognizes that motion, it would have to be tabled and in essence the bill would have to be voted on again by the full Senate. If it was then approved by the Senate, it would go back to Reeves giving him an additional five days to veto it.

The bill to prevent the Republican Reeves from spending the money passed the Republican-contolled Legislature last week with no dissenting votes in the 122-member House and two no votes in the 52-member Senate.

It takes a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a veto.

A bipartisan group of north Mississippi senators sent out a statement Wednesday, saying “Each of us wants to work with the governor for the next four years.  We simply don’t think it’s right for any one individual to have complete control over $1.25 billion.”

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The war of words continues between the Legislature and the Governor over CARES spending authority. The Legislature comes back into town on Thursday to start spending the money and to override a possible veto.

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