Hood was one six-member delegation that met with legislators to present Fiscal Year 2018 funding requests at the annual Legislative Budget Office hearings. Following his brief budget presentation, Hood was quizzed by legislators, including Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves asked Hood about his legal opinions which undermined a law that was to transfer $187 million from special funds into the general fund. Hood’s office stated that $79.4million of the $187 million cannot be taken from agencies by the new law in eight written opinions. They also had “several informal conversations” with agency heads. Hood’s views on which funds should be swept were followed by the Department of Finance and Administration. Reeves and Hood had a 15-minute exchange that became heated at times. Both men raised their voices and cut each other out. Reeves asked Hood about his research and interactions at other agencies as he compiled the figure of $79 million. Hood was pressed five times by Reeves about the possibility that the figure was incorrect. Reeves stated that legislators had included “a large portion of that $79million as trust funds,” which could not be swept. Hood suggested that Hood’s $79 million figure “could have been exaggerated by as high as $70 million.” Hood replied, “Well, (the $79million figure) is true, until you prove otherwise.” Hood said, “And I haven’t seen anything from you, or anyone else at the Legislature, LBO, Legislative Budget Office, or anybody else.” “And so, when I read the law you wrote, I added them up and said, “Here’s our opinion (Department of Finance Administration), accept it or not.” Hood explained to Reeves his office received a letter from Buck Clarke (R-Hollandale), informing the Department of Finance and Administration that certain funds were being swept. Hood claimed that he used the list of funds to determine which funds were not legal to be swept. Reeves stated that the legislation clearly exempts trust funds. “So it is possible that the Legislative Budget Office Chairman Clarke, former Chairman (Appropriations) Herbert Frierson, considered those trust funds not to be swept. Therefore, it was never intended that those funds would be transferred into the General Fund.” Hood, a Democrat, said Hood. It’s why we have executive branches agencies. It is their responsibility to enforce what you have written. If there is confusion, that’s our problem. Following the law, we gave as many answers as possible. “We didn’t make any political interpretations or anything like that.” Reeves and other legislative leadership have admitted that there were some unanticipated errors in the law. These will be addressed in the 2017 regular legislative sessions. In a special session, Frierson, who was elected Department of Revenue commissioner in January, emotional apologized to the House for the $56 million in mistakes made in the creation of the law. Hood claimed that Frierson, whom Hood considers a friend and never spoke to Hood about the $79 million remaining figure. Reeves repeatedly dismissed questions about Hood’s opinions and stated that lawmakers could resolve any problems with this bill in January. Reeves, who was previously the state treasurer for eight years, stated in an interview that he does not take any budget advice from the attorneygeneral. Heck, I don’t even take legal advice. Reeves and Hood are at odds over the Budget Transparency and Simplification Act, which was passed in April. The law redirected certain fees and assessments that were brought in by state department to the special funds into the general fund. This allowed for the draining of special fund accounts and, in many cases, the unused cash reserves of many state agencies. It also prohibits state agencies charging fees to other state agencies. The bill was passed by lawmakers shortly before they were asked for Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations approvals. Although few lawmakers were familiar with the details of the bill, legislative leaders assured their colleagues that it would compensate for budget shortfalls expected to be incurred in Fiscal Year 2016. Many lawmakers complained to media and leadership about being excluded from the decision-making process. However, the law was passed and all appropriations were approved. Officials and agency leaders were not informed about the budgets of their agencies for Fiscal Year 2017. Because of confusion about how the new law would impact budgets of agencies, the Legislative Budget Office published its budget report a month earlier than usual. Hood made the opinions public in June and the media covered his findings. In early August, the Department of Finance and Administration Executive director Laura Jackson stated to Mississippi Today that they were following Hood’s advice. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to the Department of Finance and Administration today. 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