The Legislature missed tonight’s deadline for a final vote on appropriations bills, and they are expected to extend the session in order to get their work done. We are still waiting for a conference report on the PreK-12 school funding bill.
Meanwhile, the Legislature has passed sweeping income tax cuts that will strip $524-million from the state General Fund when fully implemented in 2026. House and Senate leaders assured their members that the state has plenty of money to cut taxes AND provide for public schools. So, “we can’t afford it” is no longer a valid excuse for failure to fully fund the MAEP. Here is the list of legislators who voted to reduce state revenue by $524-million.
We’ve said this before and will continue to repeat it – a dollar of state revenue that is available for a tax cut is a dollar that is available to fund public schools. The cost of the tax cuts for the coming school year is $185-million.
Please let your legislators know that we expect an increase in the FY2023 MAEP appropriation of at least $185-million.
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Send the same message to
House Speaker Philip Gunn: 601.359.3300
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann: 601.359.3200
You can find the status of the bills we have followed on our web site’s Bill Tracker.
THANK YOU to all of you who are working so hard to protect the interests of Mississippi’s public school children. Time is running short, but you can still have a big impact. Our children are more than worth a last big push to get them the resources they need and that they have long been promised. Thank you for standing with them. Please make those calls, because together, we’ve got this!
