JACKSON - They didn't reach an agreement on the state budget in a timely manner, but lawmakers say they deserve bragging rights for other accomplishments during the 2005 session.
The Mississippi House began circulating a list of achievements this week while locked in a stalemate with the Senate over how to divvy up the state's $3.8 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Could the list - topped by a $110 million incentive package given to a company for a proposed steel mill in Lowndes County - be spin for lawmakers who have taken flak in recent newspaper editorials and from citizens on the delayed budget compromise?
"You know we did pass a lot of good legislation. All of this will be overshadowed by the budget crisis," Rep. Deryk Parker, D-Lucedale, said Wednesday.
It's customary for the House and Senate to circulate their own lists. The Senate hadn't released a copy of achievements on Wednesday.
The House list of highlights included bills to limit access to chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, creation of a commission to study the funding formula for schools, stronger penalties for use of commercial vehicles without proper licenses and the reauthorization of the Department of Human Services.
Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said reauthorizing DHS "should have been a matter of course."
Lawmakers allowed the agency to lapse at the end of last year's session. DHS has operated under a court order since last summer.
Medicaid also made the list. Lawmakers passed a bill that restored Medicaid coverage until January to thousands of Mississippians who were set to lose their benefits, but also made cuts to other optional services to save millions of dollars.
"I think by far the most significant accomplishment of the 2005 session is Medicaid. We have put Medicaid on stable ground," said Public Health Chairman Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo.
Among the service changes in Medicaid were reductions in the number of prescription drugs recipients can fill each month and reduced home health care visits.
"A lot of us Democrats bit the bullet on Medicaid and slowed down the runaway train. It's growing too fast with the number of people and the cost of the providers is steadily going up," said Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale.
Mayo said there was no "momentous" legislation passed this session. However, he said the overdue compromise on the budget couldn't be avoided.
The House and Senate were at odds over funding for public education, other agencies and debt service.
The session, originally scheduled to end this past Sunday, has been extended twice, giving lawmakers more time to reach an agreement. There was about a $500 million difference between agency budget requests and what the state had to spend.
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