NATCHEZ — Four of the area’s state legislators discussed a litany of topics Monday, but the state’s financial issues underpinned much of the discussion.

Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, Sen. Tammy Witherspoon, D-Magnolia, Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, and Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, attended the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative breakfast at the Grand Hotel in downtown Natchez.

With revenues not meeting projections, Johnson said he characterized this session as challenging.

“We have a budget crisis,” Johnson said. “Not a whole lot of things will go forward. We just want to maintain an upright ship.”

Johnson said one aspect the state needs to identify a solution for is funding roads and bridges. Johnson said measures are being looked at including altering tax credits for corporations and a small gas tax increase. Johnson said added together, more than $2 billion could be recouped for roads.

Johnson said the state will also begin collecting Internet sales tax this year, and that $150 million will be required to put toward roads and bridges. Johnson projected at least $400 million would be required to adequately maintain roads in the state.

Education funding is another issue Johnson discussed. Johnson said he was concerned that in the formula proposed by consultant EdBuild, approximately 55 school districts will have a larger funding burden locally.

“There will be less of a burden on the state, and more on you locally,” Johnson said. “That’s not good.”

Johnson said he is also concerned the education proposal does not list a minimum standard for funding education. Johnson said funding education should have a statutory standard and should not be something artificially set by the Legislature.

Also on the topic of education, Dearing said he introduced a bill to convert the Natchez-Adams School Board members to be elected rather than appointed.

The state passed a law last year requiring superintendents to be appointed, and Witherspoon said somewhere down the pipeline she believed the state would require school boards to be elected.

Mims said his focus was about to turn to appropriations, where Mims said he plans to dig deep and try to find some savings.

The reason the state has to keep making cuts, Mims said, is because the revenues are not meeting projections.

Mims said the state is projecting no growth, but even that projection has to be realized for the state to meet its obligations.

As the chair of the public health and human services committee, Mims was asked about a vaccination bill that would allow a parent to exempt his or her child from vaccinations on philosophical grounds. The bill is currently in the education committee, Mims said.

Mims said he was comfortable with how the process now works now where a physician can declare a medical exemption from vaccinations.

“It seems to be working,” he said.

Witherspoon said she was not comfortable with the process. Witherspoon said she has spoken to many parents with children who she said had been negatively impacted by vaccinations,

She said at the least, she believed the vaccinations should be spread out so many are not given over a short period.

Dearing said groups of concerned parents have come to his office, and each had a child who developed autism, they believed, as a result of the vaccinations. He said the vaccinations should be spread out over three days so that it could be determined which vaccination might be causing the problem.

Johnson said science has not proven that autism could be linked to vaccinations.

While Johnson said he has traditionally voted no on changing the vaccination system, Johnson said he was open to hear what people are saying.

“Right now, it is in the best interest of the overall population, kids overall, to have vaccinations,” he said.

Early voting also came up for discussion Monday and the opinions were split along party lines, with Mims opposed, believing the current system works. Witherspoon, Johnson and Dearing said they were for early voting.

Johnson said when the voting laws were enacted, people were not traveling as much or working on the road, so making the system less restrictive for people who, for example, work offshore would be a good thing.

An audience member asked the lawmakers their thoughts on a proposed statewide lottery. Dearing said he has looked at the number of vehicles crossing the river and has heard about the long lines at Vidalia lottery outlets when the jackpot is approximately $100 million.

“I feel like Mississippi could benefit from a lottery, especially if it goes to fix the highways,” Dearing said.

Johnson said a state lottery makes a lot of sense. He said it was about keeping Mississippi money within the state borders.

“It’s not just Louisiana, but there is money going to Arkansas, Tennessee and everyone around us,” Johnson said. “If you support keeping Mississippi money in Mississippi, then we need to have a lottery, at least until everyone around us gets rid of it.”

Witherspoon, who is in her first term, said she looks forward to representing the area.

“I am new, but I am ready to listen,” she said. “I am ready to learn. I look forward to meeting you anytime in the future.”