Gov. Ronnie Musgrove intends to put education first in this year’s state budget, and he explained his plans for doing so to a group of Mississippi State University faculty during his Wednesday visit to the campus.
Musgrove addressed and took questions from more than 60 MSU faculty and administration members, including faculty from the university’s Meridian and Stoneville campuses, who participated through a teleconference link to Mitchell Memorial Library auditorium.
The meeting focused primarily on Musgrove’s decision to pass the state’s education funding in one appropriation bill instead of the traditional three.
“I believe education is such an integral part of what we do and what we are as a state, that it is the responsibility of the state,” Musgrove said. “The state that invests the most in our education curriculum will be the state that will come out the best prepared for the future.”
At Musgrove’s request, the Senate and the House of Representatives each passed bills assigning 62 percent of the state’s general fund to education.
“I want to commend both the House and the Senate for doing that,” said Musgrove, who called the change a “historic step. It sends a major signal that while everyone else is cutting, we ought to be doing this.”
Musgrove intends this percentage as a “benchmark” to stabilize the funding assigned to education. According to Musgrove, it will also give $50 million to $75 million more to Mississippi universities and $20 million to $25 million more to the state’s junior colleges.
Musgrove also intends to put the appropriation bill through earlier than usual.
“Instead of passing that bill at the end of the session, let’s pass it the third week of January. Let it be the first appropriation bill that we pass, let’s really put our schools first, and let’s get the signal that our schools are important,” Musgrove said.
Typically, legislature does not give final approval to budget bills until March.
Musgrove’s plans also include a $200 million “brain trust” which will supply $20 million a year for 10 years to Mississippi colleges and junior colleges. The brain trust will function similarly to grant money, funding research and training, and will be done through bonds, which can currently be issued at 2 percent interest or lower.
“During this recession is the time to take advantage of that option and opportunity,” Musgrove said. “The rate of return is much better.”
Musgrove believes that the increased funding for education will serve as an investment which will benefit Mississippi. “Even though there’s a national recession right now, we probably have more companies looking at us than maybe have looked at us at any other time,” Musgrove said. “But they’re all just waiting, to see how their confidence level is with this national recession. And I believe, more than any other time, now is the time to make sure that we focus our investment where it ought to be focused.”
During the meeting, Musgrove also described a rural economic development act that will set aside $20 million to assist the state’s rural areas in maintaining and attracting jobs.
“That’s the way that you help protect our people right now from some of the devastation of the national recession,” said Musgrove. “And then our investment in education will help prepare our people, because we know this national recession is going to end.”
Musgrove concluded the meeting by encouraging his audience to call the state’s legislators at (601) 359-3770 to voice their thoughts about the education bill.
“If you believe that funding education first is important, and if you believe in funding education first rather than last, I would like you to call your legislators and express that opinion,” he said.