By Billy Davis

It was a moment of political theatre. But was it true?

State representative candidate Doug Jones was speaking at the podium last week, at the Square Market in Batesville, when his supporters unfurled a 15-foot-long banner that purported to show Mississippi government’s outstanding debt stands at $13.2 billion.

Jones later told The Panolian he made the banner the night before, using a “Mississippi Debt Clock” available on-line to pin the figure to $13,210,083,342.   

“By the time I woke up the next morning it had added $236,000,” Jones said of the clock, though he decided to keep the figures from Tuesday night.

At the political event, Jones told the crowd that Mississippi claims $200 million in reserves when the state is actually carrying $13 billion in debt.  

“I’m just a regular guy who got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” said Jones, a truck driver for Dunlap and Kyle who is seeking the Republican nomination in the August 2 primary.

Jones, who is making his first run for public office, was followed at the podium by primary opponent Nolan Mettetal, the four-term state senator who is now seeking the House seat.

Mettetal contrasted Jones’ description of Mississippi government with a more positive picture, pointing out that state government has not shut down like other states, adding there is no “budget hole” in Jackson.

Mettetal also praised the state’s reserves known in the legislature as the “rainy day fund.”

In a later interview with The Panolian, Mettetal complained about Jones’ speech and called his claims “totally ridiculous.”

“That stuff about $13 billion — that’s amazing to me,” he said.

Mettetal went on to say that Mississippi’s debt is approximately $3 billion and said he had contacted the Miss. Department of Finance Administration to double check the figures.

Mettetal said when he told state officials of Jones’ assertions, they told the state senator: “That’s an insult.”

Told of Mettetal’s complaints, Jones stuck to his figures.

“There is outstanding debt, like state pensions, that is being carried from year to year. That is what I’m talking about,” said Jones.

Jones sent a reporter a copy of Mississippi government spending calculated by Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization that states it is “dedicated to state and local government transparency.”

Sunshine’s on-line information for Mississippi shows a “total state debt” of $13.8 billion that includes outstanding debt, citing the Public Employment Retirement System, known as PERS, as one source.

Outstanding debt, post-employment obligations for state employees, unemployment trust funds, and a 2010 budget gap were cited as other sources of the $13 billion debt according to the Sunshine report.

Jones also pointed to the Mississippi Debt Clock as a second source.

The debt clock, which can be seen at www.usdebtclock.org, shows Mississippi’s revenue and spending, its “Debt Per Citizen,” and the number of unemployed and food stamp recipients in the state.

The Mississippi Debt Clock showed a debt of approximately $13,214,000,000 as The Panolian went to press Monday.

When contacted about Mississippi’s debt, the Department of Finance sent a reporter figures that show the state agency does include an “unfunded state liability” that stood at $12.8 billion in June 2010.

The one-page Department of Finance report explains that state governments are required to calculate and disclose their unfunded state liabilities. The report states that PERS and post-employment benefits, known as OPEB, are Mississippi’s “two most prominent” areas of unfunded liability.

PERS and other state pension programs totaled $11.5 billion last year. OPEB totaled $727 million.

The report also noted that Mississippi has a “state tax supported debt” of $4.8 billion as of June 30, when the 2010-2011 fiscal year ended. That debt included $3.7 billion in general obligation bonds and approximately $1 billion in other debt, including at state agencies.

Kevin Upchurch, executive director of the Department of Finance, cited the $4.8 billion in an e-mailed comment to The Panolian.

He also said Mississippi does show $12.3 billion in unfunded state liabilities, which Mississippi and others are required to include in financial statements.

“These unfunded liabilities represent actuarial calculations based on certain assumptions that may or may not come to fruition,” Upchurch said, “and as such, there are no scheduled payments for these liabilities.”

Republican voters in Panola, Lafayette and Tallahatchie counties will choose between Jones and Mettetal on the August 2 ballot next week.

Democrat voters will choose between Jordan Bankhead and Greg Hodges.

Primary winners will then advance to the November 8 ballot.