The 2024 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature has made significant progress after completing 88 days of this scheduled 125-day session. The revenue and appropriations deadline was Wednesday, March 27th. All bills dealing with the budget or taxation had to pass off of the floor in their chamber of origin. Both the House of Representatives and Senate were well ahead of these deadlines, having passed all their appropriations bills the week prior. Since real budget numbers will not be included in appropriations bills until conference, there is generally little debate on these bills on the floor until that time.
This week, the House took up a number of tax credit and tax exemption bills. These bills would grant tax credits to employers who provide paid maternity/paternity leave, tax credits for entities who develop run down property in the Capitol Complex Investment District (CCID), ad valorem tax credits for certain refineries of oil, gas and petroleum products, tax credits for employers who sponsor skills training for employees, and several other bills. The Senate passed Senate Bill 2318, which would authorize local governments to grant ad valorem tax credits for raw materials and works in progress inventory. All of these individual tax credit and exemption bills are still moving through the process along with House Bill 1642 which simply brings forward various tax credit code sections. There are many vehicles alive this session to provide good tax credits for business and industry, but the need to monitor remains to ensure current policy is not adversely affected.
The Senate took up their version of Medicaid expansion this week. They took HB 1725, changed a portion of the House language and added their own. The Senate views their plan as creating a stronger work requirement to qualify for coverage. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell (R-Southaven), stated in his explanation that the Senate plan was not “Obamacare” expansion, but was aimed at helping the working poor in Mississippi get coverage. After several hours of debate and several failed amendments on the Senate floor, HB 1725 passed the Senate by a vote of 36 – 16. The bill now will return to the House where they can concur or invite conference. The House, favoring their own plan, likely will send the bill to conference for further negotiations. The disagreements between the House and Senate on issues, like Medicaid expansion, that continue to drag on are likely to be very disruptive for other policy issues working through the process this session.
Governor Tate Reeves announced eight major appointments to key positions within Mississippi state government this week. In a press release on Tuesday, Gov. Reeves stated that, “Each has the skills and experience to make a positive impact on the lives of Mississippians. I have no doubt that they’ll do a great job, and I thank them for stepping up to serve our state and her people.” All eight nominees will need to be confirmed by the Senate. The nominees are as follows:
- William J. “Bill” Ashley – Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security
- Roshunda Kelly – reappointed as Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance
- Billye Jean Stroud – Mississippi State Board of Education (3rd Supreme Court district)
- J. Matthew “Matt” Mayo – Mississippi State Board of Education (1st Supreme Court district)
- Donald Clark, Jr. – Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees (2nd Supreme Court district)
- Jerry Griffith – Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees (2nd Supreme Court district)
- James “Jimmy” Heidelberg – Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees (3rd Supreme Court district)
- Charles “Charlie” Stephenson – Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees (3rd Supreme Court district)
As we move into Easter weekend, there is a very quick turn-around between the revenue deadline and the upcoming general bill deadline. By Tuesday, April 2nd, all general bills must pass out of committee in the opposite chamber. Many committees already have begun meeting, but the next several days will be filled with a lot of committee work.