Members of this Mississippi Senate must think they’ve hit thejackpot.

The chamber voted last week to take $200 million from thestate’s tobacco trust fund to help stave off cuts to the state’stroubled Medicaid program, which faces a budget deficit of $268million .

But don’t be lulled into complacency. The $200 million grabwon’t even begin to address needs for the next budget year; rather,it will only fund the state’s Medicaid obligations through June 30- the end of the current fiscal year.

This “free” money might, at first glance, seem an easy solutionto a pressing problem, as a program that serves 780,000 elderly,disabled and poor Mississippians will run out of money by the endof the month if left on its current course.

But far from an easy solution, raiding the trust fund really isjust the easy way out.

The Mississippi Legislature has a long habit – and a bad one,indeed – of spending one-time money as a stop-gap measure withoutbothering to think how a program will be funded in the years tocome. This Band-Aid approach to state budgeting can’t continuewithout driving the state into the poor house.

In voting to drain $200 million of the tobacco fund’s $518million balance, the Senate is acting like the casino gambler whohits the jackpot, winning enough to bankroll a comfortableexistence, only to nickel and dime the money away instead ofinvesting for the future.

There’s a funny thing about one-time money, such as the tobaccosettlement trust fund: it’s jut that – one time. When the money isgone, it’s gone.

The Legislature has yet to address how to fund Medicaid beyondthe current year or whether cuts must be made, but given the diresituation and the ticking of the clock, lawmakers must step up,face the music and make the hard choices.

Further delay and Band-Aid budgeting have ceased to be viableoptions.