As the Session winds down, this week saw last-ditch efforts on negotiating the major policy issues of the 2024 Regular Legislative Session. With procedural and floor work needing a certain amount of time to complete and both the Senate and House of Representatives calendars extremely lengthy, time is running out to find compromises. While both chambers had high hopes that they would not have a regular conference weekend schedule ahead of the scheduled Sine Die adjournment, it does appear that due to the deadlines and amount of work remaining, both chambers will be here this weekend working to file conference reports.
On Tuesday, the conferees on House Bill 1725, dealing with Medicaid expansion, met in a rare open conference meeting that was broadcast on the Mississippi Legislative YouTube page. The House conferees, led by House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee (R-Hattiesburg), came prepared with a proposal that was a step lighter than their original proposal of full Medicaid expansion, what she called a “hybrid” plan. Chairwoman McGee laid out a proposal that those making between 100%-138% of the federal poverty level would receive health care coverage through private health insurance policies on the federal exchange. The cost of those policies would be covered by federal-state Medicaid funds with the federal government paying 90% of the costs. Those making under 100% of the federal poverty level would be covered by Medicaid. The Senate conferees, led by Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell (R-Southaven), did not offer a compromise from their original proposal which was coverage up to 100% of the federal poverty level with a work requirement. The conversation on Tuesday ended with some tension between the chambers and no agreement.
By mid-week, however, the House and Senate appeared to be inching toward a compromise on Medicaid expansion, and the conferees seemingly agreed to meet again in public on Thursday. When it came time to meet, the three House conferees gathered, but the three Senate conferees did not attend the meeting. In a statement to the press, Chairman Blackwell explained that the Senate was still working on a proposal and that he had another committee meeting to attend at the time. Despite his explanation, the Senate no-show may cause downstream ramifications for other priority issues with the House.
Toward the end of the week, the House and Senate appeared to reach an agreement on public education funding. In order to pass a clean funding bill, both chambers would need to pass a suspension resolution to suspend the legislative deadlines and revive a bill with just the funding code sections. On Thursday morning, the Senate took the lead and almost unanimously passed SC 548. After lunch, the House was expected to follow suit and also pass the resolution, but after the Medicaid conferee meeting debacle, the House chose to wait. At this time, it is unclear how the Medicaid discussions could affect other ongoing negotiations. With 10 days left to go before Sine Die, there is still a lot to work out between the chambers.
Looking forward to the weekend and the next week, both chambers will need to start working in earnest to file reports and pass legislation to meet the scheduled deadlines. Appropriations and revenue conference reports must be filed by Saturday evening and passed off of the floor by Tuesday, April 30th. General bill conference reports need to be filed by Monday, April 29th and must have first action taken by Wednesday, May 1st. There are still a lot of discussions and negotiations occurring and issues to be resolved before we hit the home stretch to Sine Die. Further details will be shared on all related bills at the final adjournment.