NATCHEZ &045; At Monday’s Chamber Legislative Breakfast, area legislators pledged support for fully funding education &045; but differed on ways to balance the state’s increasingly tight budget.

Panelists for the question-and-answer session included Rep. David Green, D-Gloster; Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb; Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez; Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez; and Sen. Kelvin Butler, D-Magnolia.

And all five said they wouldn’t vote to cut education funding, adding that one of the first factors industries consider in choosing a location is the quality of local schools.

Green said the House’s education bill would fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, under which funds are distributed to local school districts using a set formula.

Actually, Green said, &uot;we’re still $25 million off the mark, but before the session ends we will address it.&uot;

Green was referring to the fact that the House bill would underfund MAEP’s add-on programs, such as vocational and special education, by $25 million. According to the Associated Press, the House plan would also underfund general education programs by $20 million.

Mims, who works in physician recruitment, said the first thing many doctors ask about is the quality of local schools.

&uot;Call me tax and spend, but there’s no sense in talking about economic development if you’re not going to fund schools,&uot; Johnson said.

Butler noted that the Senate has not yet voted to fully fund education but said he would not vote for cuts. &uot;To do so,&uot; he said, &uot;would cut at the future of our state.&uot;

Dearing said that when a delegation of school supporters from Adams and surrounding counties visited the Capitol last week, he pledged his support for education.

He also noted, however, that community colleges and four-year colleges and universities are vital to economic development.

Dearing said the area already has educational assets &045; Copiah-Lincoln Community College and its workforce training, Alcorn State’s MBA and nursing programs and a local school superintendent, Dr. Anthony Morris, &uot;who wants to do good.&uot;

But Dearing said legislators must be vigilant against threatened cuts to community colleges and institutions of higher learning &045; or tuition increases that would make it tougher for poorer students.

It would take a 15 percent hike in college and university tuition to cover a $30 million shortfall, but that much of a raise would make it close to impossible for poorer students to get a good education, Dearing said.

When it came to other budget matters, however, the legislators’ views varied greatly.

Mims said he doesn’t agree with a proposal to raise cigarette taxes to help fund Medicaid &045; which, according to the latest estimates, only has enough money to cover claims through mid-March.

&uot;I believe we can fund it without raising taxes,&uot; Mims said.

Green, however, said he would support a cigarette tax hike of as much as $5 &045; despite the fact that he smokes.

Meanwhile, Johnson said there is not a House or Senate plan that adequately funds Medicaid. &uot;It will have even less money next year,&uot; he said. &uot;People who need health care won’t get it. Š There are children who won’t have insurance coverage.&uot;

Johnson was referring to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance for children of the working poor through age 19.

&uot;There are plenty of people who are working but can’t afford insurance,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;They’re not freeloaders.&uot;

At the same time, legislators said the state must make sure people receiving Medicaid are indeed eligible for it.

Johnson said the budget plan he favors would raise more than $800 million by tax &uot;adjustments,&uot; including raising the income tax on those who make $100,000 or more a year by 1 percent and raising some fees. At the same time, Johnson advocates eliminating the sales tax and instituting zero-based budgeting.

&uot;Agencies Š would have to justify the jobs (employees do) and the amount of money they’re asking for,&uot; Johnson said.

Most panelists said they do not favor a current proposal to remove state employees from the purview of the State Personnel Board.

Some said employees with 15 to 20 years in state government would be hit the hardest and that state employees would lose many of their rights under such a proposal.

Johnson said he fears that under such a system, an incoming administration could clean house when it came into power, replacing longtime employees with their own cronies.

Dearing cautioned against cutting funding for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, saying good infrastructure is crucial to economic development.

In addition, MDOT funding includes $20 million for bridge replacement, a program he said counties desperately need kept intact.

No matter what program you’re talking about, Mims concluded, the tax-and-spend mentality of the Legislature has to change, adding &uot;we must get our spending under control.&uot;