Dear Friend,
I want to take a few moments and explain an important issue that the =ississippi Senate voted on today. It is my hope that you will =gree with the vote I cast after hearing my reasons.
I’m privileged to represent the largest school district in =ississippi. The Desoto County School system has over 31,000 =tudents. Public education is an integral part of the fabric of =ur community. I have always been a strong supporter and advocate =or our schools. Recently, information was distributed to the =ontrary. Specifically, the notion that somehow my vote to sustain =overnor Barbour’s veto of Senate Bill 2688 dealing with funding =estoration was a vote against education. That sentiment =ouldn’t be further from the truth.
Senate Bill 2688 was a spending bill designed to help ease the cuts that =ave been made to numerous state agencies. One of those agencies =s public education. As you may know, I recently supported an =mendment made by Senator Briggs Hopson (R-Vicksburg) to allocate $45 =illion exclusively for K-12 education. SB 2688 did not contain =hat language and offered less funding to education, but spent more =verall.
SB 2688 transferred most of $79 million from the Health Care Trust =und. The bill restored $37 million to K-12 education for 2010, =ut did not address adequate funding for the Department of =orrections. Without proper restoration funding to Corrections, =pwards of 3,000 state inmates would have to be released from =rison. Clearly, this action would be a threat to the public =afety of our citizens.
The good news is the Senate will adopt a plan, as early as next week, =hat will restore in the neighborhood of $82 million to agencies. =he lion share of the $82 million will be appropriated to K-12 =ducation. Desoto County Schools will receive over $2million =hould the measure pass. The federal government has agreed to =rovide up to $14 million in additional funds, which means we =on’t have to dip as far into the state’s trust fund to =hore up education and corrections. This will allow us to use some =f those trust funds for the 2011 budget, which we will craft in the =oming weeks.
Thank you for reading this explanation of my vote. I hope that =ou are now armed with the true facts of what SB 2688 did and did not =o, and can share my position on strongly supporting education. At =he same time, I hope you agree that letting 3,000 criminals out of jail =nd back into our neighborhoods would have been a disaster.
We will get through these tough times, together. It’s =onna require some trust and a whole lot of faith. You have my =ommitment that I will continue to look out for DeSoto County’s =est interests.
Sincerely,
Merle Flowers
2/25/10
Magnolia Tribune
