As we end the 8^th week of the Mississippi Regular Legislative Session, most of the general bills have been uploaded to the system.  Currently we have around 1,000 bills in the Senate and 2,000 bills in the House.  Of course, many of those bills will not make it past the March 5^th committee deadline.  Committees in the House of Representatives and Senate have begun to meet in earnest this week and both chambers are taking up legislation in committee and on the floor.

The Senate voted to concur with the House amendments on Senate Bill 2140 dealing with prior authorization of medical services.  The House made several amendments to the bill that eased concerns from the business community about driving up the cost of health insurance premiums.  The bill now goes to Governor Tate Reeves for approval. Even though he vetoed prior authorization last year, there are indications that he will sign the bill this year with the inclusion of the House amendments.

Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar (R-Leakesville) took up legislation this week to revise the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) funding formula.  There have been discussions for the last several years about making changes to the formula and the Senate even passed a similar version of SB 2332 last session, but it died in the House.  Currently, the MAEP formula is adjusted for annual inflation.  SB 2332 would apply a 20-year average inflation rate to only 25% of the base student cost, which would curb the growth of MAEP.  Senators on the committee were provided with a handout that showed what the new funding would look like for each school district. The bill also included a hold harmless provision for any school district that ended up receiving less money.  It will give them a year to adjust to the new level of funding.  It is expected that the House will also take up an MAEP funding formula re-write sometime next week.

A few other committee highlights from the week:

• The House State Affairs Committee, chaired by Representative Hank Zuber (R-Ocean Springs), held a hearing on CON law. Several different types of health care providers and activists were brought in to discuss CON law, how it affects the ability to provide healthcare and recommendations for whether to change or repeal the law.
• Mississippi is one of only a handful of states that does not allow for some type of direct shipment of alcohol. A bill to allow direct shipment of wine to homes was voted down in the Senate Finance committee.
• The House and Senate Corrections Committees, chaired by Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven) and Sen. Juan Barnett (D-Heidelberg), passed multiple bills involving programs and the administration of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Of note, the House Corrections Committee passed House Bill 1599 that would require MDOC to procure a data collection and reporting system for certain prison, probation, and post release information. This bill had unanimous support out of committee after multiple concerns were voiced about the accuracy and recordation of current prisoner related data and information.
• The House Medicaid and Public Health Committees had hearings this week discussing the economic impact and potential increased access to healthcare as a result of potential Medicaid expansion. These hearings come on the heels of both House and Senate leadership expressing an interest in Medicaid expansion to improve access to healthcare coverage for the working poor population of Mississippi. Both chambers are expected to continue to evaluate and discuss potential options to improve access to healthcare as the session progresses.

There are several transportation funding bills that we are already tracking even though the first revenue deadline is still over a month away. HB 774, which allows for mobile sports betting, has a provision that would dedicate the tax revenue generated to the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund (ERBRF).  Senate Transportation Chairman Jenifer Branning (R-Philadelphia) introduced SB 2914 that would divert 10% of the total use tax revenue and a portion of the gaming license fees to be diverted to the 2022 Capacity Project Fund and the 2022 Maintenance Project Fund, respectively. HB 1128 and SB 2829 both create a permanent funding stream for the State Highway Fund.  Both bills dedicate most or all of the tax revenue generated by the state lottery for the State Highway Fund and HB 1128 changes the stipulation that these funds can only be used for maintenance and repair of roads.

Looking ahead to next week, Governor Reeves will hold his annual State of the State address on Monday, February 26^th at 5:00 p.m.  The Governor will likely echo many of his talking points from his Executive Budget Recommendation.  Also, the House is expected to roll out several major pieces of legislation next week.  Their version of Medicaid expansion is expected to drop online early next week and move through committee shortly after. The House is also planning to move several bills dealing with education issues including their version of the MAEP rewrite.