Jackson Free Press

As the Mississippi Legislature gears up for a battle over the state's 2012 budget, Gov. Haley Barbour heads to Chicago today where he is expected to criticize President Barack Obama's economic policies.

Barbour, who has said he will announce whether he will make a bid for the White House next month, is expected to criticize the Obama Administration's energy policies and health-care reform during a speech to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, The Hill reported today.

In Mississippi, lawmakers will likely spend the next two weeks negotiating the state's budget that, under Barbour's recommendations, would cut funding for K-12 education, mental health and human services among other items. The state Senate, however, passed an education-funding bill last week that allocates an additional $81 million to the state's K-12 schools.

In his 2012 budget proposal Barbour called for an average of 8 percent cuts to state agencies. Barbour's $5.47 billion budget recommendation for fiscal year 2012 is $43 million below this year's final budget and roughly $250 million below the state's 2008 budget, representing the largest cuts to date.