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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday that Republicans are trying to kill a citizen-led initiative that seeks full funding of a budget formula for Mississippi's public schools.
A Republican lawmaker said there is opposition to Initiative 42 because it would give a judge too much control over schools.
Democratic Sen. David Blount of Jackson and Republican Rep. Andy Gipson of Braxton spoke Tuesday at a forum sponsored by the Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps.
More than 116,500 people signed petitions to put Initiative 42 on the ballot this November. It would require "an adequate and efficient system of free public schools." If funding falls short, people could appeal to Hinds County chancery court.
During the three-month session that recently ended, the Republican-led Legislature put an alternative, Initiative 42-A, on the same ballot. It says the Legislature should fund "an effective system of free public schools," but doesn't outline an appeals process.
Mississippi law has allowed citizen-led initiatives for more than 20 years, and this is the first time the Legislature has put an alternative on the ballot for any proposed state constitutional amendment. Blount said the alternative could confuse voters and make passage of the citizen-led initiative difficult.
"The purpose of the alternative is to pull the rug out from under the people's initiative and split the vote," Blount said.
Gipson called the citizen-led initiative "probably the most dangerous thing on the ballot for Mississippians in November."
Gipson said he has talked to people who signed petitions for Initiative 42 but had no idea that it allows an appeal to chancery court in Hinds County, the seat of state government.
"It would put our entire school system in the hands of the chancery court in Hinds County," Gipson said.
Blount said Gipson's characterization was misleading. Blount said any court case would be appealed and ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court. He also noted that people can already sue the state.
Democratic former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove filed an education funding lawsuit last year in Hinds County Circuit Court on behalf of 21 school districts. A judge has not yet ruled in that case.
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is a budget formula designed to give schools enough money to meet midlevel academic standards. Legislators have fully funded the formula only two years since it was put into law in 1997.
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