As the Mississippi Legislature concludes week six, we are almost a third of the way through the 2024 session. This week mainly consisted of committee work, with the Appropriations Committees in both chambers holding hearings with various state agencies and boards to hear about their specific asks for Fiscal Year 2025. Throughout the week, bills have continued to drop as the request deadline for legislation approaches. The deadline for requesting general bills and constitutional amendments is next Wednesday, February 14th, and the introduction deadline is the following Monday, February 19th. While there is still time, most legislators at the Capitol are focused on getting language prepared for their requested bills.
This week, the Cornerstone team conducted a productive meeting with Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann and several members of his staff to review the full 2024 legislative agenda for our clients. The team also met with Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson (R-Vicksburg) and Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins (R-Flowood) to review the list of financial requests that might be included in individual budgets, capital expense fund bill, or bond bill. While we are still several weeks away from the real conversations that will be conducted about the budget, it is always best to lay groundwork early for our clients’ needs.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives took up Senate Bill 2140, dealing with insurance prior authorization of medical services that the Senate passed last week. Due to concerns that the Senate bill, in its initial form, would cause insurance premiums to increase for employers, several interested parties negotiated compromises on some of the language with House leadership. Those compromises were adopted in the House Public Health Committee on Wednesday and the compromise bill passed off the floor by a vote of 114-0. SB 2140 now returns to the Senate where they will vote to concur and send the bill to the Governor or to invite conference.
Committee chairmen are beginning to set their regular meeting times as more bills continue to be filed. In addition, agency heads have been meeting with their respective Appropriations Committees outlining their legislative agendas and budget requests. The Mississippi Department of Corrections has had budget hearings in both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Commissioner Burl Cain fielded multiple questions about funding and contracts involving the Department. Comm. Cain highlighted multiple achievements in decreasing both the gang presence and violence within our correctional facilities. Leadership on both the Appropriations Committees and Corrections Committees sought clearer information regarding the current figures and statistics including funding, correctional officer staffing, infrastructure projects, and healthcare contracts.
The Department of Environmental Quality had its budget hearing in which they requested a general fund increase of $5.3 million. Those additional funds would help address the major staffing issues the Department is facing. Executive Director Chris Wells highlighted that the department staff has been operating with only 345 employees and need to get back up to 390 employees. Despite having only 345 employees, in 2023 the department permitted 70,000 facilities across the state. Director Wells stated that with an increase in staff members and hiring, the Department would be able to properly address more facility permitting in a more efficient manner, clearing the permitting backlog that has hindered many manufacturers and other industry sectors.
On Wednesday, the Senate and House Committees on Public Health held a Joint Hearing that featured discussions from Jerry Mayo, a retired Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) executive director, about CMHCs and their roles in our communities. Mayo responded to several questions from legislators regarding a path forward to allow CMHCs to operate more efficiently, provide quality services to mental health patients, provide more transparency, and to improve the civil commitment process in Mississippi. This hearing comes on the heels of multiple other Public Health Committee hearings over the past few weeks.
On Thursday, the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Dennis Debar (R-Leakesville), had Interim State Superintendent Raymond Morgigno to discuss an overview of the Mississippi Department of Education. In their presentation, they highlighted key strategies for improved outcomes that included: an effective State Board Strategic Plan, higher expectations for students and educators, higher academic standards, a strong accountability system for schools and districts, and professional development for educators. Interim Superintendent Morgigno thanked the Legislators in attendance for their previous investments in education as we have seen an increase in pre-K enrollment from 38% in 2015 to 58% in 2022 and impressive gains in testing across the board. Other topics covered included the accountability model and MAEP statistical breakdowns. Of note, the summary base student cost for FY 2025 was $7,465.32.