With the approaching Tuesday, March 5th deadline for general bills and constitutional amendments, this week of the 2024 Mississippi Regular Legislative Session was filled with committee meetings. Several committees still are waiting to take up bills next Monday and Tuesday, but the bulk of committee work was accomplished over the last several days. Once the Tuesday deadline is officially passed, we will have a much clearer picture of what issues will define this Session.
The House of Representatives introduced and passed House Bill 1725, known as Healthy Mississippi Works, which is their answer to Medicaid expansion and providing access to healthcare for low-income Mississippians. Speaker Jason White (R-West) and Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee (R-Hattiesburg) led the efforts in the House to pass the bill by a vote of 98-20. Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann also has indicated that he wants to pass his own version of Medicaid expansion, but no official plan has yet been put forth. Governor Tate Reeves has voiced strong opposition to HB 1725, stating that it is “straight Obamacare Medicaid Expansion”.
The Education Committees in both chambers passed several interesting pieces of legislation. The Senate Education Committee chaired by Senator Dennis DeBar (R-Leakesville) passed Senate Bill 2689 making the ACT the standard state test. The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Rob Roberson (R-Starkville) passed HB 867 which would help with portability of students between school districts. The House also brought forward a bill that included code sections for possible amendments to the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act. This is part of a larger discussion of expanding Mississippi’s Education Savings Account program as some other states recently have enacted.
Additional committee highlights from the week:
- Senate Environmental Protection Committee passed SB 2649 that will allow companies to pay a fee to the MS Department of Environmental Quality for expedited permitting. SB 2649 moves to the Senate Accountability, Efficiency, and Transparency Committee.
- The Senate took up their version of a ballot initiative bill. Senate Concurrent Resolution 527 and SB 2770 would create a higher signature threshold than the House version for each of the Congressional districts. Like the House version, it would make any initiative that passes statutory, not constitutional.
- The House and Senate seem to have reached an agreement on several alcohol bills this week with the House State Affairs Committee passing legislation that would increase the number of permits that a package retailer can hold, allowing liquor stores to open on Sundays, and allowing for direct shipment of certain wines. The Senate voted down a direct shipment bill earlier this session in committee.
There are several large issues that could significantly cut into the budget surplus that Mississippi had as we entered this Session. Potential Medicaid expansion, some kind of solution for the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), potential changes to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) formula, and fixes for our corrections system represent potentially hundreds of millions in additional spending. The state also still is phasing out portions of the personal income tax and the corporate franchise tax. Combined, this will notably reduce the pot of money that has been used to fund special projects around the state over the last few years. Prior to having a flush Capital Expense Fund, the Legislature would bond money to fund various projects, but it is still unclear at this point if the Legislature would be inclined to resume bonding.
Several weeks ago, Ryan Miller, the Executive Director of Accelerate MS, the state’s Office of Workforce Development, announced that he would be resigning to take another job. Miller has worked tirelessly over the last several years to establish Accelerate MS and get Mississippi’s workforce efforts moving in the right direction. Not wanting to lose the momentum that Miller and his team have achieved, the State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB) met on Wednesday to appoint a new Executive Director. Dr. Courtney Taylor, who has served as Accelerate’s Deputy Director for Strategy & Programs, had overwhelming support from the SWIB Board and was named the new Executive Director. Prior to coming on board at Accelerate MS, Dr. Taylor served as the vice president for workforce and economic development at East Mississippi Community College and she has over 15 years of experience in higher education. The Board believes that Dr. Taylor will be able to step in and seamlessly transition into her new role leading the organization.