With just weeks until the start of the 2024 legislative session, Mississippi lawmakers have declined to submit a budget recommendation for the upcoming fiscal year.
On Wednesday, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee adjourned without releasing a starting point for the state’s budget going into the 2024 session as committee members were unable to reach a deal with Gov. Tate Reeves last month.
According to state law, a budget has to be adopted by the committee and Reeves in order for the governor to submit the annual Executive Budget Recommendation (EBR) before Jan. 31.
The two parties will have to work through a $113 million difference as Reeves wants to see the state’s personal income tax reduced further, or even fully eliminated.
Lawmakers, on the other hand, have so far been in favor of setting the budget at $7.5 billion as committee members have argued they believe the estimate would be much closer to what the state’s revenue is projected to look like in FY 2025.
The session will begin on Jan. 2.
