Ink barely dry on budget as Mississippi starts new one

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Less than three months into the current budget year, Mississippi legislators are starting to plan for the next one. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee is holding a public hearing Friday. It’s part of the long process of deciding how the state will spend billions of dollars during the year that begins July 1. Legislators face three big questions: Will Mississippi enact another teacher pay raise in the coming year? Will the Republican-controlled state Legislature phase out the state income tax? And how will Mississippi spend hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government sent for pandemic recovery?