State budget deal close, negotiators say

State budget deal close, negotiators say

The top appropriators for the House and Senate said late Wednesday they had essentially reached a budget deal.

“We are there except for one or two small items,” said House Appropriations Chair Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville.

His counterpart in the Senate, Buck Clarke, R-Hollandale, said in a separate interview, “There are two or three big items we are still working on. We have been working hard.”

Frierson said the areas where they are still trying to decide on a funding level are on wireless communications and additional funds for higher education, primarily to deal with tornado damage at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
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