Mississippi is on track to have a slightly smaller budget in the coming year under a revenue estimate adopted Wednesday, a change that reflects caution about the state’s economy. Top lawmakers approved a projection that the state will have $5.6 billion available to spend during fiscal 2019, which begins July 1. That is $1.5 million less than the estimate for ...

The Legislature’s quickie budget hearings produced few surprises last week. Schools, colleges, and universities, as usual, asked for lots more money while legislators, as usual, focused on holding down spending.   One unusual aspect, compared to recent history, was the absence of a looming budget cut due to revenue shortfalls. State tax collections for the first two months of this ...

Lawmakers are starting to work on a Mississippi budget for the year that begins July 1. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee meets Thursday and Friday in Jackson. Members will hear funding requests from the Department of Education, the Division of Medicaid and a few other agencies. Legislators used to hold extensive budget hearings throughout September to hear from large and small departments. ...

Tuition and fees at Mississippi’s 15 community and junior colleges will rise by 13 percent this fall, with the average annual price exceeding $3,000 for the first time as schools try to offset state budget cuts. That’s bad news for students like Temeria Payton of Canton, who is studying liberal arts and foreign languages at Holmes Community College in Ridgeland. ...

Mississippi lawmakers met in special session Monday and set the final pieces of the state budget for the year that begins July 1. Most of the $6 billion budget was approved before the regular session ended in late March, but then disputes between the House and Senate killed proposals to fund the attorney general’s office and the Department of Transportation. ...

By JACK WEATHERLY The Mississippi Forestry Commission will eliminate 75 positions July 1 – two-thirds of which are firefighting jobs – due to a $2.67 million, or 16 percent, cut in its budget. The reduction is because of the state’s drop in revenue, which has forced government cuts across the board. State Forester Charlie Morgan said in a release that “preserving ...

By BOBBY HARRISON / Daily Journal The Mississippi Department of Transportation will not have to suspend contracts, costing taxpayers “tens of millions of dollars,” if the Legislature passes a budget for the agency early in the planned June 5 special session. MDOT officials originally had said that if no budget was approved for the agency by May 15 that they ...

One of my many anonymous critics on a local blog zapped me last week over my column “A Peek behind Legislative Leaders’ Rhetoric.” In particular, he/she said I lack “a coherent alternate plan” of my own.   Well, I never guessed it might be a columnist’s job to propose a whole budget plan. But, an avid reader could find elements of ...

Most Mississippi government agencies will be banned from buying vehicles for a year, as a way to save money in a tight budget. The vehicle moratorium is in House Bill 938 . Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill April 6, and it becomes law July 1. A few exceptions will be allowed. The Department of Child Protective Services, which ...

Mississippi House and Senate leaders publicly bickered but failed to agree on a transportation spending plan before a Monday night deadline, likely forcing the governor to call lawmakers back for a special session before the budget year begins July 1. Republicans control both chambers, so the fight does not pit one party against another. Instead, it is an argument that ...