HB 238 - K-12 Education Full Funding Passes the House

Not necessarily the most exciting topic but in an election year it looks like no one wants to squabble over Education funding. For more details see the Daily Journal article, the Hattiesburg American article or this Clarion Ledger article, all of which led their papers today. The vote was 119-1 in the House and the Governor says at this level of full funding (they moved the number down a couple of week ago) he will sign it.

On the more political side of it I think we saw a backdoor compromise between parties that don't like each other. It appears to me that the Democrats pushed hard and loud for fully funding MAEP even before the session started. Barbour and the Republicans balked and contentiousness seemed in the air. However, Ed Chief, Hank Bounds seemed to recalculate the numbers for MAEP, the number went down and now Barbour has an amount he is willing to spend and the Democrats get a fully funded MAEP (even though it is less than previous thought). It looks like this may actually be a year for bipartisanship (and spending) with elections right around the corner.

Link to the actual text of HB 238.