JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Joint Legislative Budget Committee discussed the budget estimate for the upcoming Legislative Session.

The committee’s last meeting ended in a deadlock between committee members and Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.). They could not agree on a starting point for the state’s budget.

Legislative leaders within the committee advocated for a lower budget estimate that they believe is more in line with the state’s revenue. Reeves believes setting the budget estimate at a lower number could erase support for the full elimination of the state income tax.

Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R-Miss.) said he expects an agreement to be made later in the 2024 Legislative Session.

“We’re going to have a budget for the state, obviously. We started with the baseline budget from last year, and that’s what the agencies would be working off of. And, you know, this is a signal to all of the agencies that we may not have additional funds depending on what our collections are. So, it’s a good, healthy thing for all of us to go through. Probably about March, when we have December, January and February numbers in, we’ll be able to give a better estimate for next year,” he explained.

Budget writers will meet several times during the session, and they will monitor the state’s economic performance to try to predict how much tax money might be available to spend, said Republican Rep. Jason White of West, who is on track to become the new House speaker in January.

Legislators have reduced the state income tax in recent years, and Reeves has said he wants to fully eliminate it to make Mississippi more competitive with Texas, Tennessee and other states that don’t tax income.

However, Mississippi tax collections in September and October of this year were lower than during the same months last year.

Hosemann said that if the state economy looks healthy, legislators could consider proposals to further reduce the income tax or to reduce the 7% grocery tax.

“If we’re doing well with our numbers, I think those need to be on the table,” Hosemann said.

The Legislative Budget Committee hopes to operate off of a budget of roughly $7.5 billion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.