Governor Phil Bryant is asking legislators to revise education funding, find new ways to raise state revenue, and fund a trooper school during his State of the State speech to the Legislature last night.
MPB's Mark Rigsby reports on reactions from Republicans and Democrats.
It was a mixed bag of comments from state lawmakers on the Governor's speech.
Representative Mark Tullos is a Republican from Raleigh.
"I like the Governor's concern about the trooper school. To me, that is, as far as education, that's the greatest concern. Revenue, that's a great concern. But our trooper shortage, that is a great concern also."
Democratic Representative Kathy Sykes, of Jackson, says she was disappointed the Governor did not mention removing the Confederate emblem from the state flag.
"We remain the only state in the country to incorporate a Confederate emblem into our state flag. And this is a perfect time to move foward together by changing that flag."
House Speaker Pro Temp Greg Snowden is a Republican from Meridian. He says the Governor's message to improve public education is important.
"Education, particularly K through 12 education has been such a political football that it's not been good for anyone, Republican, Democrat, certainly not the education community, and most importantly not for our kids. We need to pull ourselves together to make ourselves better."
Greg Holloway is a Democratic Representative from Hazelhurst. He says he has his reservations about changing the way public education is funded, but he's encouraged by talk of starting a state lottery to generate revenue.
"Oh, glad to hear that. It's a long time coming. In fact, overdue. Because it doesn't make sense for people to go across the state line when we need money here in the state of Mississippi to support education, infrastructure."
Governor Bryant says Arkansas received $80 million from its lottery in the last budget year, and Mississippi residents contributed by going out of state to buy tickets.
