Leading Mississippi lawmakers are about to
embark on their final round of budget talks, and they say they're close to agreement on most big-ticket items.

Negotiators face an April 28 deadline to set details of a $5.6 billion spending plan for fiscal 2013, which begins July 1.

House and Senate leaders said Wednesday that they're largely in agreement on education spending, and they're just a few million
dollars apart on funding for public health.

Once the negotiators reach a final agreement, they'll file dozens of budget bills.

The full House and Senate have an April 30
deadline to adopt those bills.

The budget-writing process started months ago.