Jackson Free Press

Mississippi lawmakers failed yet again to come up with a budget for the 2010 fiscal year. A small budget committee has been working overtime to come to an agreement, but yesterday's midnight deadline has passed without producing a result. The new fiscal year begins July 1, 27 days from today, and it's looking like the governor will need to call a special session to get a budget passed.

Public school administrators are particularly frustrated by the situation, because they are waiting on the budget to finalize hiring and curriculum decisions for the coming school year. The Associated Press reports that some districts are offering contracts to teachers, but many are holding off to see how much money they'll be allocated from the state.

In DeSoto County, Superintendent Milton Kuykendall said Tuesday that contracts have been offered to current teachers. But he said the fast-growing district needs to hire several new teachers, and that can't be done until legislators set the budget. The DeSoto schools, in the suburbs of Memphis, Tenn., have 30,616 students—an increase of 7,000 in the past five years.

"We've got plenty of applications from people who want the jobs," Kuykendall said from his office in Hernando. "I just got off the phone from a prospective teacher who wanted to know why she hadn't heard from us."

In a special session, Gov. Haley Barbour will set the agenda, giving him more control over what lawmakers consider. Reportedly, the committee was close to agreement three times yesterday, but when state Senate members went to the governor for approval, they came back each time to reject the proposal, according to the Hattiesburg American.

A special session will add $13,000 a day to the regular session cost, bringing the per-day total to $32,000. Each Legislator will receive a $75 per day special-session pay in addition to their regular pay of $109 a day, plus travel expenses.

(Updated with new link)

Previous Comments

ID

148492

Comment

Hey, Ronni, Ms Pettus didn't report about the proposals getting rejected three times.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-04T15:03:13-06:00

ID

148493

Comment

Looks like the Fort Mill Times switched out the story I read this morning, Iron. Bizarre. A search for a different headline resulted in the story they have linked now about car tags.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-06-04T16:01:12-06:00

ID

148494

Comment

I've updated the story with a new link.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-06-04T16:06:46-06:00

ID

148495

Comment

Ah, there it is. Much Better.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-04T16:09:08-06:00