Mississippi Today
Legislature, flush with cash, passes budget, completing work for 2024 session
The Mississippi Legislature completed its work for the 2024 session on Friday with the passage of a $7 billion state budget – 5.8% larger than the budget it passed last year.
The $7 billion reflects the amount spent on recurring expenses. The budget last year, including one-time funds, COVID-19 federal relief funds and other one-time money for specific projects, actually was more than the budget passed this year.
The completion of the budget late Friday ended the bulk of lawmakers' work for the 2024 session, but legislators will return briefly Saturday to take care of procedural issues. Plus, the Legislature might reconvene on May 14 to deal with any veto from Gov. Tate Reeves.
One of the final actions on Friday was approving a massive bill that provides state money for projects throughout the state. The legislation funds tourism projects, work on local governmental office buildings and other projects for individual legislators.
Th total amount of the projects was $227.4 million.
In the past, projects were often funded by borrowing. But in recent years, thanks in large part to an infusion of federal COVID-19 funds and other federal funds, Mississippi, like most other states, has been flush with cash, allowing those projects to be funded with cash instead of long-term debt.
Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, told senators paying for the projects with cash will not continue in future years. State revenue has begun to slow.
Harkins told senators there were more than $1 billion in requests on the local level for projects.
Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Point, asked Harkins how it was decided which projects to fund.
Harkins said the focus was on infrastructure projects and other projects where it was viewed the greatest need was.
In addition to the pet projects for lawmakers, other capital spending included:
- $110 million for university projects.
- $45 million for community college projects.
- $160 million for work on improving state Highway 7 in Lafayette County.
- $90 million for work on U.S. I-55 in DeSoto County.
- $50 million for work on state office buildings throughout the state.
In total, $820 million was committed in surplus funds for building projects throughout the state. Plus, $110 million in surplus funds was pumped into the Public Employees Retirement System to help shore up the government pension plan.
In terms of the budget to operate agencies, House Appropriations Chair John Read, R-Gautier, said state agencies are receiving an average 5% year-over-year increase in funding.
That increase includes money to pay for increases in the premiums for the state employee health plan and to pay for a .5% increase for each state agency in the contribution to the state retirement plan.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said before the session began that dealing with financial issues facing PERS was one of the top priorities.
“We tackled the PERS issue,” Hosemann said, though, some argued that the legislative solution did not resolve all the financial issues facing the system.
Senate Appropriations Chair Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg, said the state budget provides funds to allow state agencies to deal with inflation.
“The budget is reflective of the times,” Hopson said. “State agencies are not immune to inflation. In order to provide services at the same level, we have to spend additional funds.”
The budget includes an additional $240 million in funding for K-12 schools.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Every university but Delta State to increase tuition this year
Every university in Mississippi is increasing tuition in the fall except for Delta State University.
The new rates were approved by the governing board of the eight universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Thursday.
The average cost of tuition in Mississippi is now $8,833 a year, a roughly 3% increase from last year. Students can expect to pay tuition ranging from $7,942 a year at Mississippi Valley State University to $10,052 a year at Mississippi State University.
In recent years, universities have cited inflation and rising insurance costs as reasons for the tuition increases. At Thursday's meeting, the board heard a presentation on how property insurance is becoming more expensive for the eight universities as Mississippi sees more tornadoes and storms with severe wind and hail.
READ MORE: Tuition increases yet again at most public universities
But it's an ongoing trend. Mississippi's public universities have steadily increased tuition since 2000, putting the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average Mississippi family. More than half of Mississippi college students graduated with an average of $29,714 in student debt in 2020, according to the Institution for College Access and Success.
At Delta State University, the president, Daniel Ennis, announced that he will attempt to avoid tuition increases as the regional college in the Mississippi Delta undergoes drastic budget cuts in an effort to become more financially sustainable.
“We will resist tuition increases so that our most economically vulnerable students can continue to have access to the opportunities that a college degree can provide,” he wrote in a memo to faculty and staff on Monday. “We will move beyond basic survival and into a place where we have the capacity to take better advantage of our undeniable strengths.”
Delta State didn't increase tuition last year, either. Officials have been concerned the university is becoming too pricey for the students it serves.
Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, by school:
- Alcorn State University: $8,105
- Delta State University: $8,435
- Jackson State University: $8,690
- Mississippi State University: $10,052
- Mississippi University for Women: $8,392
- Mississippi Valley State University: $7,492
- University of Mississippi: $9,612
- University of Southern Mississippi: $9,888
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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