What’s Happening With the Mississippi Budget?

February 13th, 2013

The Mississippi Legislature is now in session. Each year, the Legislative Session convenes during the first week of January and closes around April 1^st. Figure 1, below, displays a portion of the Budget Appropriation Process and highlights the important activities that will be taking place during this phase of the session.

As mentioned above, the regular session lasts for a period of approximately 90 days, from the first week in January until early April. During this time, draft bills are divided between the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and further divided by subcommittee, usually by agency function. During the Legislative Session, the Legislature may decide to suspend the law requiring the 2% be set aside. Then, both houses must adopt the conference reports on the appropriations bills (generally 5-6 days before the end of the session). If approved, the bills are sent to the Governor for his signature.

For more information on the budget process, check out The Nuts and Bolts of the Mississippi Budget and return to MEPC’s Policy Matters blog for other posts on current budget debates.

Author: Francinia McKeithan Henry, Policy Analyst/ SFAI Policy Fellow