The Joint Legislative Budget Committee is meeting this morning to review the state's revenue collections ahead of budget debates at the Capitol.
At the meeting, state economist Darren Webb will give a presentation on the state's finances, a statement from Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' office said. Democratic members of the Legislature will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. to give their response.
A statement from the Mississippi Democratic Trust said the purpose of the press conference is to "announce Democratic opposition to the Republican budget proposal to cut education by more than $100 million over last year's appropriations."
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Reeves' office just sent out another statement, saying there has been a slight growth in state tax collections. Here it is, verbatim: The Joint Legislative Budget Committee today adopted increased revenue estimates for the current fiscal year and FY 2013 to reflect slight growth in state tax collections, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves announced today. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee increased expectations for the current fiscal year by $99 million to $4.761 billion, which would be a 3.5 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. The revenue estimate for FY 2013, which begins July 1, rose by $128 million to $4.759 billion, which will be a 1.3 percent over the current budget year. This week, Senate and House Appropriations Committees will begin crafting a budget for FY 2013 based on the new estimate. “This revision is a measured attempt to recognize that we are seeing some economic growth in our state,” Lt. Gov. Reeves said. “However, we still won’t see significant growth over the next several years and must remain cautious in our spending.” The Joint Legislative Budget Committee revised revenues estimates after a presentation by State Economist Darrin Webb. He warned legislators the economy is recovering slowly but remains fragile.
lizwaibel2012-03-20T09:58:07-06:00