Analysis: Budget increase sought amid popularity of museums
JACKSON (AP) — The Mississippi Department of Archives and History receives a small slice of the state budget. But, with two new museums already gaining international attention, the department plays a large role in shaping the public perception of the state.
The Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, two entities under a single roof, opened with a public celebration Dec. 9, the eve of the bicentennial of statehood.
About 10,000 people toured the museums the first weekend. Another 25,000 or so visited during the subsequent three weeks in December. Hundreds of groups, including many from schools, are on the schedule for the next few months at the museums, which are near the state Capitol in downtown Jackson.
Katie Blount, the department’s executive director, is asking the Legislature for a budget increase for fiscal year 2019, which begins July 1.
“In good faith with the Legislature, we had requested funding for only a skeleton staff for FY2018 — the minimum number of people that would allow us to open the museums and welcome the public,” Blount said Wednesday in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. “Because of the tremendous public response, the staff is already stretched too thin, particularly at the front desk.”
Mississippi’s current state budget is about $6 billion. That covers big-ticket items such as public education and Medicaid. It also covers smaller agencies such as the Department of Archives and History, which is receiving about $8.6 million.
The overall state budget for the coming year is expected to be slightly smaller than $6 billion. Archives and History is requesting just over $9.7 million.
Like other state agency directors, Blount said she is trying to retain employees who could make more money by going to private sector jobs. She described the Archives and History staff as “smart, passionate, dedicated people.”
The department is not relying on state support alone. It
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