Budget Bills Moving Forward

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi legislators are working on early proposals to fund state government during the year that begins July 1.

The House passed several budget bills Wednesday, including one that would add about $106 million to schools.

The proposed education budget includes about $40 million to give pay raises to teachers.

It would put tens of millions more dollars into the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. But, the school funding formula would still be shortchanged, as it has been most years since it was put into law in 1997.

Legislators have a deadline in late March to agree on an overall $6.2 billion state budget.