Lawmakers Reviewing Governor Reeves’s Proposed Budget

On Friday, Governor Tate Reeves released his Fiscal Year 21 Executive Budget recommendation for the state of Mississippi, which would go into effect July 1st — if approved by the State Legislature before the fiscal year begins in July.

Among the priorities in Reeves’s proposed budget — teacher pay and bonuses and spending $100-million on workforce training.

On the other hand, the governor recommends the state spend the same amount on the Department of Corrections in the coming fiscal year as it did the year before — with no increase in spending.

As we’ve reported, the state’s prison system has been plagued with violence and deaths in recent weeks, and corrections officials have requested money to repair buildings that are in poor condition.

Reeves has said that Mississippi needs to improve its prison system and has toured state correctional facilities. He says he’s asking the state’s Department of Finance and Administration to analyze Corrections spending, saying this will help determine where taxpayers’ money is being spent and that he and his administration do not want to, “…blindly request an increase to achieve a vague ambition.”

Meanwhile, the teacher pay raise and other incentives are good news for state educators and teachers, whose salaries have been among the lowest in the U.S.

Reeves says he plans to follow through on his promise to balance the state budget — pointing to this budget recommendation as the first step.