While legislative leaders continue to work on a new public school funding formula, the Senate voted Thursday to fund the old one.
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is set to be level-funded at $2.2 billion dollars in case a new formula can’t be in place before July.
Right now, legislative leaders say the plan is to have that new formula finished before the new fiscal year starts on July 1st.
The bill now goes to conference committee where leaders from both the House and Senate will iron out details.
Staying with news from the Senate, a bill making domestic violence grounds for divorce passed the chamber on Wednesday.
The bill is similar to a house bill passed earlier in the week.
The main change to house bill 1356 is that an injured spouse can testify themselves about abuse and the court will consider them a credible witness.
Right now under divorce law, another witness is needed to confirm the testimony of the spouse claiming abuse.
The senate passed the bill unanimously.
There’s some good news for Mississippi’s job market.
At 5.5 percent, the state’s unemployment rate is the lowest its been in 13 years according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Despite an increase in January 2017, the number of people without jobs dropped by more than 7,000 since January 2016.
