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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Clarion-Ledger online today: “Mississippi’s Adequate Education Plan that funds K-12 public schools and the state health insurance program would be fully funded under a House budget plan unveiled today at the Capitol. As hundreds of cheering teachers and state workers looked on, House Speaker Bill McCoy, D-Rienzi, presented details, with the massive bill expected to face a floor vote Thursday. The proposal would increase licenses and similar fees by $17.6 million. Gov. Haley Barbour has said he considers fee increases a tax increase, and that he would veto such legislation. As copies of the plan began to circulate around crowded Capitol hallways, McCoy noted: ‘We’ve got much work to do.’”

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.