MS Legislature

You folks are the best!  So many of you have emailed, called, and texted us to express your devotion to Mississippi kids and your outrage with legislators who last week put our children’s education in jeopardy, voting to thwart public will with a legislative alternative to the people’s school funding amendment. Many of you report […]

This afternoon, the Senate passed HCR 9, over the objections of the people they were elected to serve, on a 31 to 21* vote. You can see how your senator voted here. You can see the tweets of those following the Senate debate here. They provide a pretty good snapshot of the floor discussion. Senate Education Chair Gray Tollison

A majority of your House of Representatives let you down today. Despite the more than 200,000 Mississippians who signed the petition for Initiative 42, and despite the thousands of you who called, emailed, texted, tweeted, and otherwise asked your legislators to vote NO on any alternative amendment, 64 of them did exactly what you repeatedly asked them

Congratulations on a terrific #handsoff42 Virtual Rally! Your message was delivered loudly and clearly, and that is good news for Mississippi children. Legislators report that they were astounded at the number of people who emailed, called, texted, and posted on social media in support of Initiative 42. You are truly amazing! You made it clear that, overwhelmingly, Mississippians want

Joint Legislative Budget Committee Says Cut Budgets and Bank the Money From Executive Director Nancy Loome: Not much surprises me these days, but I must admit that I was surprised by the FY2016 budget recommendation announced today by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC). In December of each year, the JLBC crafts a budget based upon preliminary estimates

A repealer is a clause in a bill that sets the date that the law will expire or cease to exist. A reverse repealer sets the repeal date as the day before the law is to take effect. For example, if the law were to be in force from and after July 1, 2014, the reverse repealer would have the bill

Yesterday, the Mississippi Department of Education presented its budget request for next year to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC). Members of the committee had a number of questions and comments for MDE. Some JLBC members expended a lot of energy criticizing schools; none was spent on the fact that the Legislature has withheld $1.5-billion from schools in the

On Tuesday, September 30, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) will begin a four-day series of meetings that will set in motion the state budgeting process. School funding through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) is likely to be hotly debated, and our kids’ futures are hanging in the balance.  Legislators are already hearing from special interests that want access