Deals put $5B budget on table

The Clarion-Ledger, 4/11/8

Schoolteachers won’t get an across-the-board pay raise. Tuition at Mississippi universities will probably rise. And funds received after Hurricane Katrina will help pay for some Medicaid services.

Those were just a few of the decisions made Thursday by key House and Senate leaders as they tentatively agreed on a $5 billion state budget. Both chambers still need to approve the budget.

The spending plan for next fiscal year, however, still includes a $90 million hole for Medicaid, the health insurance program that serves low-income Mississippians.

A funding agreement stalled further when hospital officials backed off of their support of a bill that would tax the facilities.