Legislators approved the bulk of the 2009 budget Monday, including a bill that reduces some South Mississippi school districts’ state funding by millions, and lawmakers didn’t decide what to do about Medicaid until late Monday night.
Legislators had reached a verbal agreement on the $5 billion budget last week, and Monday they began voting on appropriations bills for each department. The K-12 education budget passed Monday and under it some Coast school districts that were affected by Hurricane Katrina could lose millions.
Much debate arose earlier this legislative session over the “hold harmless” provision, which would waive a requirement that uses a formula based on enrollment to determine funding as part of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. Since the storm, the schools in the Hurricane Katrina-affected zones, which lost many students, were given the waiver on the formula but efforts to keep it in place next year failed.
Magnolia Tribune
