Jackson Free Press

State lawmakers passed appropriations bills for the state Public Service Commission and Public Utilities Staff this morning, completing the Legislature's work for this session. The House and Senate agreed on a compromise bill that would not grant the PSC any additional staff members but would allow it to reallocate three staff positions. The original House version of the bill would have given the PSC three additional staffers, which would improve the PSC's scrutiny of utility rate adjustments, proponents of the bill argued.

Lawmakers sent the compromised bill to Gov. Haley Barbour's desk for his signature. If the governor signs off on the bill, currently furloughed employees of the PSC could return to their jobs.

The House also passed a bill this morning that would have funded community mental health centers, an item left off the Medicaid funding bill passed on June 30. House Republicans opposed the bill, because Gov. Haley Barbour had not included the issue in his call for a special session. The bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.