The final days of the 2024 Mississippi Legislative Session never fail to disappoint, and this Session proved to uphold expectations. With tensions rising between the two legislative chambers, on April 29th, the House of Representatives and Senate agreed on HC 64 which would extend the 2024 Regular Session, suspend the deadline for certain bills, and set the new date of Sine Die adjournment as Tuesday, May 14th. That particular date was chosen to allow the Legislature extra days to be able to come back and override any potential vetoes from Governor Tate Reeves. This resolution came as a result of the House and Senate disagreeing on certain appropriations bills that were not passed in time for the Saturday, April 27th deadline for conference reports on appropriations and revenue bills to be filed. With the suspension resolution, the two chambers were able to get conference reports for appropriations bills filed and passed throughout the week.
Medicaid expansion talks hit more roadblocks this week as continued negotiations between the chambers hinged on certain technical aspects of implementation of the program. The major difference between the chambers was over the proposed work requirement aspect of the program. After an alleged agreement between the chambers on the Senate’s position over a strict work requirement, many House Democrats indicated that they would not vote for a Medicaid expansion due to language requiring continued reapplication if the work requirement was not approved by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The loss of the Democratic caucus mixed with Republicans already staunchly opposed to Medicaid expansion seemed to spell disaster for Speaker Jason White’s (R–West) work this session.
As speculation grew around the ability of a Medicaid expansion conference report to be passed, Speaker White released a statement on Wednesday proposing putting Medicaid expansion on a statewide ballot referendum. His proposal for a ballot referendum would allow Mississippians to vote on whether or not they supported Medicaid expansion and, if so, whether the parameters would include a work requirement. Shortly after he released his statement, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann released a statement indicating that multiple Senators did not support the statewide ballot referendum and that a strong work requirement, with necessary exceptions, was key for many Senators’ support.
With education, the House and Senate adopted the conference report for House Bill 1229 which would extend the repealer on the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act and Educational Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to 2028. While many proponents would have rather seen extra funding included to expand the ESA program to clear the waitlist of special needs students, it was still crucial that the Legislature resume the program. Ideally in future years, extra funds can be appropriated.
As we enter what should be the final weekend of the Session, there are still plenty of unknowns about what could be accomplished. In recent years, the Legislature has relied heavily on their ability to suspend the rules and move deadlines so that they can revive any piece of dead legislation. The extra days built into the 2024 session leaves many possibilities open, however, it appears that both the House and Senate will adjourn this weekend and only return to override any vetoes.