Top lawmakers meet this week to start planning how Mississippi will spend tax dollars during the budget year that begins next July 1.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee holds public meetings Monday through Thursday in the Woolfolk state office building in downtown Jackson.

The 14-member committee is heard from university leaders on Monday, among others.

All 122 House members and 52 senators will get to vote on details of a budget next spring, if they remain on schedule during their four-month session from January through early May.

A new governor will get to sign or veto the spending plan.