A federal court has already blocked Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks less than 24 hours after Governor Phil Bryant signed it into law, but the governor evidently believes this is a very amusing waste of time and money.
"We'll probably be sued in about half an hour," Bryant said to laughter from supporters as he signed the bill. "That'll be fine with me. It'll be worth fighting over."
Bryant's prediction was accurate. The state's only abortion clinic and one of the physicians who practices there sued in federal court within an hour, arguing the law violates other federal court rulings saying a state can't restrict abortion before a child can survive on its own outside the womb.
It's no big deal. I'm sure Mississippi has plenty of money to waste in court, right?
Actually, no. The state's budget was cut by $329 million for the current fiscal year and state agencies are expecting another round by budget cuts in fiscal 2019 which begins on July 1st.
The Mississippi state legislature passed a $415 million tax cut which began phasing in this year.