{"id":261823,"date":"2025-12-18T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=261823"},"modified":"2025-12-18T10:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:19:52","slug":"senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-2908413575\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-896916464\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Newly appointed Senator Kiz Johnson has backed the 2026 Budget, saying it prioritises people by investing heavily in education and entrepreneurship.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2513557635\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_Red-&#038;-Reddy_Web_1000x250\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking during the Appropriation Bill 2025 debate in the Senate, Johnson cited the $220.1m allocation for education as evidence of the government\u2019s focus on human capital and long-term development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She highlighted measures she described as historic, including the payment of CXC examination fees for students in public and private schools, tuition-free studies at the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies from 2026, and planned tuition-free programmes at the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus for eligible nationals.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1142624249\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-4119336021\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_Red-&#038;-Reddy_Web_1000x250\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson also welcomed the introduction of Bachelor of Laws degrees at UWI Five Islands from 2026, in partnership with the UWI Mona Faculty of Law, saying it would reduce costs for families while building national capacity.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3723963398\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Referring to the Youth Empowerment and Education Programme, she said more than 8,000 people have benefitted since 2016, with a 92% pass rate at CSEC and CAPE. She noted the programme\u2019s support services, including childcare and counselling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On entrepreneurship, Johnson said the Entrepreneur Development Programme recorded its strongest year, with $1.6m disbursed by October 2025, while the National Student Loan Fund issued up to $1.6m annually between 2022 and 2025, with strong female participation.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3772962120\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"500X500 (1)\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>She also told senators her decision to move from independent advocacy into government followed a belief that greater impact required direct involvement.<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-905832488\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newly appointed Senator Kiz Johnson has backed the 2026 Budget, saying it prioritises people by investing heavily in education and entrepreneurship. Speaking during the Appropriation Bill 2025 debate in the Senate, Johnson cited the $220.1m allocation for education as evidence of the government\u2019s focus on human capital and long-term development. She highlighted measures she described [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":261782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Newly appointed Senator Kiz Johnson has backed the 2026 Budget, saying it prioritises people by investing heavily in education and entrepreneurship. Speaking during the Appropriation Bill 2025 debate in the Senate, Johnson cited the $220.1m allocation for education as evidence of the government\u2019s focus on human capital and long-term development. She highlighted measures she described [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2047\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1331\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\"},\"headline\":\"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\"},\"wordCount\":236,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\",\"name\":\"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg\",\"width\":2047,\"height\":1331,\"caption\":\"Senator_Kiz_Johnson\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\",\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"anr_staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/anr_staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship","og_description":"Newly appointed Senator Kiz Johnson has backed the 2026 Budget, saying it prioritises people by investing heavily in education and entrepreneurship. Speaking during the Appropriation Bill 2025 debate in the Senate, Johnson cited the $220.1m allocation for education as evidence of the government\u2019s focus on human capital and long-term development. She highlighted measures she described [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2047,"height":1331,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"anr_staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"anr_staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/"},"author":{"name":"anr_staff","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038"},"headline":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship","datePublished":"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/"},"wordCount":236,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/","name":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-12-18T14:19:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T14:19:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1660\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Senator_Kiz_Johnson.jpeg","width":2047,"height":1331,"caption":"Senator_Kiz_Johnson"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/senator-kiz-johnson-backs-2026-budget-citing-focus-on-education-and-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Senator Kiz Johnson backs 2026 Budget, citing focus on education and entrepreneurship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038","name":"anr_staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"anr_staff"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/anr_staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261824,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261823\/revisions\/261824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/261782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}