Unfinished business: Special session to tackle Medicaid deficit

The Clarion-Ledger, 4/18/8

Unresolved legislation at the state Capitol, including a $90 million hole in Medicaid’s budget, is headed to a special session.

But some bills, such as a measure that could allow 15 counties to build regional jails, may not survive the regular session. Bills that would change Mississippi’s gaming laws also may die.

The 2008 legislative session is expected to end today, though lawmakers agreed to extend deadlines on paper until midnight Wednesday.

“There’s just not enough information for the Legislature to pass (a plan to fund Medicaid) or even for our administration to say that we agree with the details,” Gov. Haley Barbour told reporters Thursday.