The Southern Poverty Law Center took part in oral arguments before the Mississippi Supreme Court Wednesday for Sen. John Horne and Rep. Bryant Clark. In May 2017, the complaint was filed against the governor, Laura Jackson, Department of Finance and Administration executive Director, and Lynn Fitch, state treasurer. The suit argues that the repeated budget cuts made by the governor in fiscal 2017 to remove funds from the Mississippi Adequate Educational Program, a chronically underfunded public school funding program, were unconstitutional. According to the suit, only the Legislature is authorized to make budget decisions. Bryant cut the budget by $56.8million in September 2016 to correct an accounting error. Due to low projections of tax revenue, Bryant had to reduce the budget by $50.9 million in January 2017. Bryant reduced the budget a third-time due to low projections a month later. The MAEP was included in this $43 million reduction. He cut the budget by $20.5 million in March 2017, once more to maintain low tax revenue projections. “These midyear budget cuts have devastated almost every area of state government but Mississippi public schools,” the complaint states. The Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which is responsible for more than $2 billion in annual state budget, is the largest part of what legislators create each spring. The formula has not been fully funded since 1997. Last fall, the Supreme Court ruled that the state isn’t legally required to. The agency was cut by roughly $20 million due to budget cuts in fiscal 2017. Horhn stated in a statement that he believes the Mississippi Adequate Education Program is the most crucial component of the state’s budget. “I don’t know how the Governor came to the conclusion that schools didn’t need $20 million. This money is essential for schools. Schools cannot educate their children if they don’t have the resources.” The SPLC lawsuit asks the Supreme Court to strike down the Mississippi Constitution statute that allows the state fiscal office, appointed by the governor to reduce the budget in the event of a deficit in revenue. The governor is responsible for maintaining a balanced state budget. Will Bardwell, an attorney for the SPLC, stated that these cuts are in violation of Mississippi’s constitution regarding the separation between executive and legislative powers. Bardwell stated that any decision that impacts the amount of money available to an agency’s budget is a legislative one. He said that this case does not concern whether agencies should spend every dollar they receive. He said that agencies can spend all they need to, without exceeding their spending limit. However, this case is not about whether agencies must spend every dollar that is appropriated to them. Krissy Nobile, an attorney from the attorney general’s (which represents state entities), stated that the SPLC’s argument was full of “word play” and that the governor was acting within his legal rights to balance the state budget. Nobile stated that the Legislature holds all of the key cards in budget making, spending authority, and making appropriations. “But the governor, governor has all of the cards when it comes budget control, and these parameters and statute set forth those two things,” Clark said to Mississippi Today. He believes that the governor is overstepping his constitutional authority. Clark stated that while the executive can make a decision to reduce spending, taking money from an agency for which money has been appropriated is a different matter and should be left to the Legislature. Now both parties are waiting for the Supreme Court’s review of their arguments to make a decision.