A pair of bills legislators could use to revamp Mississippi’s education died after failing to meet a Thursday deadline.
The bills — Senate Bill 2607 and Senate Bill 1294 –were what legislators call “dummy bills.” That is to say, they bring forward sections of the Mississippi code that legislators can amend later in the session. Legislators could use the bills to implement funding changes recommended by EdBuild, a New Jersey-based consulting firm. The state spent $250,000 on a contract for the report.
The report recommends adjusting the formula for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) to allocate additional state funding to districts based on property tax values in their tax bases. Wealthy districts, such as the Lowndes County School District, would likely have to pay more local taxes under the proposed formula because they would receive less in state appropriation.
According to an Associated Press report, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn were mum Thursday on why the bills failed to advance, only saying the House and Senate hadn’t yet reached an agreement. In an issued joint statement, Gunn and Reeves expressed their intention to progress with a funding formula change.
“We are dedicated to revamping the current formula, which is seriously flawed and needs to be replaced with a plan that focuses on student needs in the classroom,” they said. “… We agree that passing something by (Thursday’s) deadline has no bearing on accomplishing our ultimate goal.”
Local reaction
District 37 Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus) said the bills’ failures to meet Thursday’s deadline does not mean legislators can’t move forward with a formula change.
“It’s still coming,” Chism said. “It just didn’t make that deadline.”
Chism said legislators still have procedural options to force the matter along, if they choose to do so.
“We can always suspend the rules to allow a bill to come forward,” Chism said. “That would require a two-thirds vote on both sides. Or the governor could be involved, if he’s on board to call us for a special session within a session. If everybody — the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker — are on the same wavelength, we can bring something forward one way or another.
“Just because it’s dead doesn’t mean it’s graveyard dead,” he added.
District 17 Sen. Chuck Younger (R-Columbus) said he’d like to move on from the education funding debate for the time being. He said concern had spread among legislators in both parties that they wouldn’t have enough time to properly review the EdBuild report for potential funding changes.
“I hope it’s not done until we really know what’s in that bill,” Younger said. “I haven’t had time to read the bill. You don’t ever have time to read all the bills down here — a lot of the time you have to take the committee chairmanship at its word.”
Younger also voiced some skepticism that MAEP formula changes would be enough to calm school concerns and criticisms of inadequate education funding.
“If you gave them the whole budget, it wouldn’t be enough,” Younger said. “I’m all for education, but they need to tighten their belts just like everyone else has to.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
