Bryant is also recommending that the Legislature not cut any state agency for the upcoming fiscal years. In January, the Legislature will enter session. Adopting a budget to fund the next fiscal year is one of the top priorities for each session. This will take place starting July 1. The state law requires that both the governor (and the Legislative Budget Committee which includes the House speaker) release budget proposals prior to the session starts. The Budget Committee will release its December proposal. When state elections take place later in the year, the budget that was approved in 2019 will be in effect. Bryant spoke out about his proposal to raise the teacher’s pay. Bryant stated that “these men and women are key to developing our children into future leaders of Mississippi, and I look forward in working with the Legislature to create a plan that better compensates them for their work.” Bryant’s tenure ends in January 2020. Bryant also said that he would love to see the Legislature commit to another teacher raise in the 2020 session. In the 2014 session, the last teacher raise was approved. Teachers received a $2,400 increase in their pay over two years. In addition, teachers have the opportunity to get smaller raises depending on the school’s performance. According to the National Education Association’s 2017 statistics, Mississippi ranks last nationally for average teacher pay at $42,925 annually. Nationally, the average teacher salary is $59,000. The Mississippi Association of Educators tweeted a $25m pay increase, which would equate to $781 per year for teachers before taxes. The tweet said, “We know that’supporting a teacher raise’ looks great in a 2019 campaign advertisement, but please do not think this symbolic gesture will quiet us.” According to the governor, anticipated revenue growth will allow him to recommend a pay raise for teachers and funds to strengthen the state’s pension program. It does not reduce any agency. The revenue is expected to rise by 2.6 percent in the next fiscal year. The modest growth, if any, will be following two years of 2016-17, when many cuts were made by various agencies due to slow revenue projections. Historical standards would indicate that a growth rate of 2.6 percent is not very strong, but it would still be modest. The state also has other potential needs, besides teachers. State employees have not received an all-encompassing raise since 2007. However, lawmakers have allowed agency directors greater flexibility to give employees raises for multiple reasons such as meeting educational benchmarks. The average annual salary for Mississippi state employees is $37,911 annually, which is lower than the rest of the contiguous States. The total state-support budget recommended by the governor is $6.27 Billion, $170.3 M more than was approved during the 2018 session. General taxes are used to fund state support agencies. This includes income taxes and retail sales taxes. There are also special fund agencies, which are funded by specific fees or taxes. The 18.4 percent per gallon gasoline tax is used to fund the Department of Transportation. The total Mississippi budget includes federal funds and special fund agencies. Governor Scott proposes that Mississippi Adequate Education Program be funded at $2.2 billion. This is more than $200 million less than full funding. MAEP, which funds the state’s portion of local school districts’ basic operations, has been underfunded $2.2 million since 2009. Bryant’s proposal would spend 98 percent of the anticipated revenue, as required by state law. This is to provide a buffer in case revenue falls short of projections. Bryant stated that his proposal includes: * An increase in college financial aid from $8.5 million to $48.2million; * An increase in Corrections to $332.9million, primarily to pay corrections officers; * An increase for foster care system of $26 million and * An increase for community mental healthcare services of $1 million.