“The law says.”

Those three words are often invoked as discussion-enders.

But they’re not — or at least they shouldn’t be.

Here’s an example: In announcing yet a second set of reductions the state will make in money promised to its operational entities between now and June 30, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was doing what “the law says.”

People need to understand the process.

Legislative sessions start each January and last three months, four months if there’s a new governor. The prime directive for lawmakers is to adopt, before adjourning, a spending plan allocating money to do things the state does. The plan adopted each year goes into effect on July 1 of that year.

Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 81668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail.

The plan is based on anticipated income. The Legislature is not distributing money already in a bank account. The Legislature is pledging money it expects to receive.

For the past 15 consecutive months, forecasts have been wrong. In some years, the state gets more money than it expected. (We don’t hear as much about that.) But when income doesn’t meet expectations, “the law says” the governor has discretion to say who will and who won’t be getting the full amounts promised. A further stipulation is that no operation may be cut more than 5 percent until every operation has been cut at least 5 percent.

But let’s look more at “the law says” thing.

• The law says a person duly convicted of murder in Mississippi shall serve life in prison without parole. This is among myriad other “mandatory” sentencing statutes.

• The law says a child living in a household where the income is up to 200 percent of the poverty level ($44,000 for a family of four) shall be eligible for medical, dental, counseling and other services paid for under the SCHIP program.

• The law says Medicaid will pay nursing home and other medical care bills of a person who has no money and little or no income.

• The law says how much each sheriff, each circuit judge, each chancery judge, each supreme court judge and each justice court judge will be paid and further sets salaries of hundreds of other state and county level employees and officials.

• The law says the state shall hold a small portion of its revenue in reserve each year to create a rainy day fund.

• The law says, with very specific language, what circuit clerks, chancery clerks, elections commissioners are to do, sets elections dates and provides for the pay of jurors and poll workers.

• The law says how much the state is supposed to pay private prisons and local jails to house and feed people who would otherwise be in state custody.

And a biggie:

• The law says K-12 student numbers will be meshed with other information about each school district and that formulas will be used to determine how much it will cost to provide an adequate education per-student and the state will provide that money every year.

The law says all of those things and hundreds more must be done, irrespective of revenue.

Of course, those who follow education religiously know that the Mississippi Adequate Education Plan has been fully funded — as the law commands — three times in the 14 years since it was enacted.

“The law says” a whole lot of things and a whole lot of things the law says are routinely ignored, some more significant than others. In a recent year, for example, the Legislature adjourned without even agreeing to a spending plan despite the fact the law says they can’t do that.

On one hand, there needs to be a modicum of sympathy for lawmakers who gather in three weeks to start what will surely be a money-centered session. Lots of interests will be shouting at them about what “the law says” and expecting something other than “so what?” as a response.

Truth be told, even in flush times there’s never been enough money to fund every idea, every desired program.

What can’t be excused, however, is any lawmaker who hunkers down and hopes the storm will pass, who engages in nothing but platitudes or posturing or, worse, blame-placing.

After many years of overseeing the state budget expand — sometimes by double-digit percentages — this year, the next and probably the next will see it contract.

A collapse is not imminent. In the real world, there are plenty of households and a lot more businesses operating on less revenue than they were a few years ago. The state must do the same.

If we’re lucky, we’ll be spared some of the theatrics and “the law says” rhetoric, especially since so many of the things “the law says” are routinely ignored.