As construction on Highway 84 appears to be in high gear, it isdisturbing to hear reports of highway construction layoffs acrossthe state due to funding shortages at the State Department ofTransportation.

Central District Highway Commissioner Dick Hall on Thursdaypredicted that thousands of road construction workers will losetheir jobs in the coming months if new funding is not secured.

Since the Transportation Department has only enough money leftin its budget to pay contractors who will finish projects thisyear, it has stopped awarding new projects for next year. Hall saysthe lack of new projects is forcing contractors to layoff workersand return equipment they will not be needing.

Those layoffs, he says, will result in higher construction costsin the future as workers leave Mississippi and move to other stateswhere road construction jobs are plentiful. He claims getting thoseworkers to return to Mississippi will mean paying higher salaries,which translates to higher construction costs, all of which will bepassed on to the taxpayer.

Legislators will be returning to Jackson on August 28 for aspecial session called by Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The governorwants lawmakers to consider the new economic development plan heintroduced earlier this month.

One of the keys to economic growth is a strong transportationsystem. Given the funding situation for the Department ofTransportation, we hope that the governor will add that issue tothe special session agenda so lawmakers can find a way to keep ourhighway construction projects moving along.