Lawmakers will have a little extra money for budget

Lawmakers learned Wednesday they'll have a little extra money as they set a $6-billion state budget this weekend, but a large Medicaid deficit is expected to slurp up most of the windfall.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee increased its estimate for current year revenue by $101.6 million over what it had projected in November. For fiscal 2016 the projected revenue increase is $30 million.

A projected fiscal 2015 deficit for Medicaid of $99 million is expected to absorb most of current-year growth. For the coming year, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said he hopes most of the $30 million will go to community colleges and universities. He said the relatively anemic increase justifies lawmakers passing a $2.5 billion K-12 public education budget early this session, a $110-million increase. Normally, K-12 would be one of the last budgets set, and public education advocates decried its early passage saying more money could have been found.

"The bottom line is, over and above our November estimate, we have an additional $30 million to spend in fiscal year 2016," Reeves said. "My analysis of that number is pretty simple … that isn't very much money."

Gov. Phil Bryant signed the K-12 budget into law on Wednesday.

"There was great debate on the floor of the Senate whether to send the governor a bill increasing K-21 education by $110 million," Reeves said. "Sometimes a bird in the hand is better than a bird in the bush. I think K-12 would be getting less money."

All told, the state is expected to collect $157 million more in recurring revenue in fiscal 2016 than this year, which ends June 30.

Contact Geoff Pender at (601) 961-7266 or gpender@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @GeoffPender on Twitter.