What happens to schools if Congress doesn't pass an education budget?

Based on an opinion by former Attorney General Jim Hood and Gov. Tate Reeves' acceptance of that opinion, the state will continue to provide funding to local school districts even if the Legislature ends the 2024 session without passing a K-State budget. There may still be an option to provide. 12 Education.

Comments from House Speaker Jason White (R-WV) mean the House will not be able to fund K-12 education unless the Senate agrees to rewrite the Mississippi Affordable Education Program, which provides the bulk of state funding to local school districts. This has raised concerns in some quarters that the government will be left without providing the necessary services. .

White has said in multiple interviews that “this is the last time” the House funded MAEP.

In an email, Mississippi Today asked White whether the House would not agree to an education budget unless MAEP is repealed.

Taylor Spielman, White's spokeswoman, said in a statement: “As the Speaker has made clear, the House of Representatives is the last to provide funding for MAEP and will continue to provide fair and student-centered funding for Mississippi's K-12 public schools. “We remain committed to passing a funding formula for this.” ”

Mr. White supports the House-passed plan to replace MAEP. Senate Education Committee Chair Dennis Dever has passed a record amount of education funding through the Senate this session, including a $1,000 annual teacher pay increase, and the possibility of replacing or modifying MAEP after the session. They agreed to consider the formula for calculating education funding. next year.

White has insisted those changes will happen this year, leading some to worry that the session will end without state funding for local school districts.

There is a lot of speculation about what will happen if the education budget runs out.

In 2020, Reeves vetoed large portions of the education budget in his first year as governor. “The Department of Education will continue to function,” Reeves said in his veto message. It will be operated in the short term by a letter from me, supported by my opinion.

The attorney general's opinion that Reeves referred to was issued during the administration of former Attorney General Jim Hood, who lost the gubernatorial election to Reeves less than a year ago.

The 2009 opinion, written by Mr. Hood's office, came in the midst of a monumental conflict between then-Governor Hood and Mr. Hood. Haley Barbour, Republican, Democratic-majority member of the House of Representatives; Mr. Barbour wanted to tax the state's hospitals. The House of Representatives opposed the Babar proposal.

Disagreements over the hospital tax prevented an overall budget agreement from being reached on issues ranging from health care to law enforcement to education.

Amid this conflict, Hood, as Mississippi's chief law officer, argues that while the sole responsibility for appropriate state funding lies with Congress, certain services enshrined in the state constitution are subject to Congressional spending. They argued that it must be provided regardless of whether the

The constitution requires the establishment of public schools.

In 2020, Reeves again echoed his former rival, arguing that in the absence of a new budget approved by lawmakers, funding should be at the level received in the last Congressional budget.

However, the AG's opinion could be challenged in court.

In 2009, this opinion was a legal theory, but it was never implemented because a late-night budget deal was signed hours before midnight on July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

In 2020, shortly after the Reeves' veto, Congress reconvened to override the Reeves' veto and restore the education budget.

Time will tell whether Hood's opinion will be a factor later this summer if Congress cannot agree on an education budget.

Another issue, Dever said, is that local school districts need to know the amount of funding soon so they can begin the process of renewing teacher contracts for the next school year.