Mississippi lawmakers working on budget and bond bills

by: AP

Posted: Mar 29, 2021 / 04:36 PM CDT / Updated: Mar 29, 2021 / 04:36 PM CDT

Senate Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency Committee Chairman John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, glances up at a completed committee report that he is proof reading in the Supreme Court Chamber at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Monday, March 29, 2021. Lawmakers in both chambers are signing off on completed conference committee reports as deadlines loom on the remaining work to be completed this session. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers are working on final parts of state spending and borrowing plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The state-funded portion of the budget will be about $6 billion. It includes pay raises for teachers and state employees. The budget has an increase in funding for early learning collaboratives. Those preschool programs are partnerships between public school districts and Head Start centers, child care centers or private or parochial schools.

The House on Monday adopted the final version of a bill that says the state can issue bonds to borrow millions for a variety of projects.