Ellington

The Mississippi House of Representatives struck a combative pose Thursday, restoring $17.2 million to higher education that Gov. Haley Barbour had ordered cut in November. By a vote of 87-34 in the afternoon, the House passed House Bill 290, which directs money from the state's rainy-day fund to institutions of higher learning, community colleges and junior colleges.

Barbour had slashed funding for higher education as part of an overall $42 million cut in state spending when state tax revenue fell 2.3 percent below estimates. He made a point of sparing the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which levels K-12 funding across districts.

Defending the bill on the House floor, Rep. Tom Reynolds, D-Tallahatchie, argued that higher education deserved the same special protection as secondary education. "This is our chance as Mississippians to say we're going to set priorities," Reynolds said. "We've said we're going set priorities with K-12. We've said that's the foundation of… our economic development."

"This is the roof," Reynolds added. "We have a leaky roof."

Reynolds noted that tuition for Mississippi's universities has risen by roughly one third in five years. Barbour's 2-percent cut in higher education funding would accelerate tuition increases, he warned.

The bill appropriates over $8 million to defray the expenses of Mississippi's eight public universities and $4.9 million for community colleges and junior colleges. Also included in the bill is $2.2 million to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.