NATCHEZ &8212; Rep. Robert Johnson III said he is confident Adams County&8217;s Rentech project will be fully funded by the Legislature.

Johnson, D-Natchez, who has worked closely on the legislation along with other area lawmakers, confirmed a bond bill that passed the House late last week only included $2 million for the Rentech project.

&8220;But it&8217;ll be the full $15 million before it gets out of (conference) committee,&8221; Johnson said from Jackson Monday.

In conference committees, held at the end of the session that ends April 2, groups of representatives and senators work to iron out the details of House and Senate bills dealing with the same projects, merging those bills into one.

It&8217;s not uncommon for such requests to be slashed early in a legislative session, then for funding to be partially or fully restored by the time the session adjourns, Johnson said.

Before they fund such requests, legislators want to see documentation on the company&8217;s finances and on the number and salaries of jobs that would be created.

Often, the companies for which the funds are requested don&8217;t provide such information and, as a result, aren&8217;t funded, leaving more money for projects such as fuel manufacturing plant Rentech, Johnson said.

Meanwhile, bills from the opposite house must be passed by committees today &8212; the House Rentech bill by the Senate Finance Committee and Rentech-related Senate Bill 3001 by House Ways and Means.

S.B. 3001 now includes $10 million for the project, although Senate Finance Chairman Thomas Robertson said he would work to restore the full $15 million in conference committee.

The $15 million would be used to fund work needed to prepare the old Belwood Country Club site at the port for the project.

Nearly 20 local officials lobbied House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Feb. 21 to fund the $15 million.

The Rentech plant, which would gasify coal to create a cleaner type of diesel fuel, would mean 200 permanent jobs &8212; with an average salary of $45,000 plus benefits &8212; and 1,500 construction-phase jobs.