NATCHEZ &045;&045; Another hectic legislative session is under way at the Mississippi capitol in Jackson, and Andrew Ketchings of Natchez is in the thick of it.

As legislative liaison for Gov. Haley Barbour, Ketchings is beginning his second year in a job he said suits him well.

&uot;I love it. I don’t think I’ve had a job I love as much as this one, even though it’s tough to be away from Natchez. I’ve been driving back and forth a lot,&uot; Ketchings said.

A two-term member of the state

House of Representatives, 1996 to 2004, Ketchings, a Republican, chose in the last election to run for the state treasurer position but lost. The position in the governor’s office was a good fit, he said by telephone from the capitol Wednesday.

&uot;I work mainly with the House,&uot; he said. &uot;Right now we’re having bills drafted, finding authors for them and co-sponsors, talking to members of different committees where the bills will go, setting up meetings with policy staff. And everybody right now wants some private time with the governor, and I try to arrange that.&uot;

What Barbour wants is an efficiently run government, Ketchings said. &uot;He wants government to operate within its means, and that has not been happening. People have been spending money we don’t have and spending money into the future.&uot;

Ketchings is drawn to Barbour’s policy of &uot;doing what’s right and not what’s popular. That inspires me,&uot; he said. &uot;He is really, really strong as a leader and makes you want to go to bat for him.&uot;

Barbour does not believe raising taxes is the right way to respond to a budget deficit, Ketchings said. &uot;Things are going to get better. We could actually fund this year with what is projected we’re going to bring in next year. The governor believes you don’t raise taxes but control spending.&uot;

Barbour’s budget has an &uot;across-the-board 5 percent cut in spending, and that includes the governor’s office, too,&uot; Ketchings said. &uot;That plus some additional cuts would do it. His budget is a balanced budget and a workable budget.&uot;

Education, economic development and crime prevention are among some of the top priorities in the Legislature, Ketchings said.

In education, Barbour proposes freeing up the high-performing schools from some of the time-consuming paper work. He believes in merit pay for educators. &uot;And his budget actually spends more on K-12 than the one made up by the Legislature. He believes in spending more in the classroom instead of on administration.&uot;

Ketchings said he was disappointed that the Natchez-Adams County School Board raised taxes. &uot;They had money in the bank, the rainy day fund. Don’t put that burden on the taxpayers,&uot; he said.

In a big economic development package, the legislation supported by the governor will realign some incentives for business and industry, both new and already existing, and will make additional bond money available for new large industries coming into the state, Ketchings said.

News stories that have characterized the relationship between the governor and the House of Representatives as contentious are overblown, Ketchings said. &uot;There’s a group in the House that will be resentful of any Republican governor,&uot; he said. &uot;The governor is a strong Republican but has tried to cross aisles to be what I would call unbelievably inclusive.&uot;