The Vicksburg Kiwanis Club received a brief overview of upcoming state legislature Tuesday.

State senator Briggs Hopson III, who also serves as the attorney for the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees, engaged the group at its weekly luncheon at Goldie’s on a variety of local issues, from Vicksburg’s drug court to teen pregnancy in Mississippi.

But the issue that was most discussed at the meeting involved the state budget, which operates under a new performance-based criteria which empirically dissects a government agency and determines how best that agency should allocate its funding.

“Mississippi passed a law about 20 years ago to look at performance-based budgeting, and frankly, there’s never been a lot done with it. There was statistical information that was obtained, but we really weren’t using that information to make sure our agencies were being as productive as they were,” Hopson said.

After addressing the crowd for about 30 minutes, Hopson opened the floor for questions, where Kiwanis Club members inquired about a little bit of everything. The expansion of Medicaid, the increasing movement of marijuana legalization within the U.S., and sex education courses were but a few of the numerous topics covered over the hour-long session.