WLOX – Mississippi Lottery sales top $2.5M on first day
More than $2.5 million in lottery tickets were sold on the first day.
The Mississippi Lottery Corporation said $570,000 of those sales will go back to the state.
“We believe Mississippi has more than exceeded expectations,” said MLC President Tom Shaheen. “We knew Mississippians were ready to play the lottery. We did not foresee the level of their excitement.”
That money will go to infrastructure. Upon passing $80 million, it will funnel into the Education Enhancement Fund.
DAILY LEADER – State’s revenue may exceed the budget
Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, in her fourth year on the Budget Committee, said revenue estimations were revised recently and are higher than expected. When the committee — which includes members from both the Senate and the House — met last week to estimate the revenue for the next year’s budget, they had one big question on their minds.
“What will be the tax receipts for the year?” she said.
The majority of taxes in Mississippi come from personal income tax, sales tax and corporate tax.
“In all three of those areas our collections are up this year and so we raised the projection for this current budget year,” she said.
The total state revenue was getting close to $6 billion during fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. It was about $5.7 billion in 2018. When Doty joined the Legislature in 2012, the general fund budget was $5.4 billion.
WLOX – Pascagoula native ready to tackle statewide issues as Secretary of State
Secretary of State elect Michael Watson grew up in Pascagoula and still resides in Jackson County. It’s the first time in 20 years that a Coast resident has held the statewide office, and he’s very eager to get started.
Watson says there are a couple of major projects he wants to tackle as soon as he takes office in January.
One of those changes include improving the Department of Public Safety’s process for getting drivers licenses.
“Moving the DMV from the Department of Public Safety over to the Secretary of State’s office has been one of our cornerstone issues,” said Watson…
…Another one of Watson’s big projects is changing how statewide officials are elected.
“There’s a piece of Mississippi in our past that we want to do away with,” said Watson.
WJTV – Mississippi receives $11 million for public transportation
Wicker, Hyde-Smith host Secretary of the Air Force at Keesler in Biloxi
Thank you @SecAFOfficial for visiting Keesler Air Force Base today. pic.twitter.com/4WnR2JFFuE
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) November 27, 2019
Thank you @SecAFOfficial for coming down to @Keesler_AFB and taking the time to hear from military families. It was great to have you in Mississippi! pic.twitter.com/LIDNneidT5
— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) November 27, 2019
WLOX – Original member of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, Billy Bridges, dies
Retired Mississippi Court of Appeals Chief Judge Billy G. Bridges died on Nov. 25 at his home in Brandon. He was 85.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 11 a.m. at Ott and Lee Funeral Home in Brandon. Visitation will be Friday, Nov. 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 30, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Interment will be in Floral Hills in Pearl.
Judge Bridges served on the Court of Appeals for 11 years. He was one of the original members of the Court of Appeals. He was elected in 1994, and the Court of Appeals began hearing cases in January 1995. Judge Bridges served as Chief Judge from January 31, 1997, until February 17, 1999. He was named Presiding Judge on April 30, 2004. He retired Dec. 31, 2005, but did not hang up his robe. He became a senior status judge and presided over cases in the trial courts as a special judge for many years.
Magnolia Tribune
