HB 1724 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

Appropriation; Environmental Quality, Department of.

HB 1724 allocates $16.17 million from the State General Fund and $251.59 million from special funds to support Mississippi's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for fiscal year 2026. The bill authorizes 212 permanent and 165 temporary staff positions while prohibiting the use of funds for salary increases beyond budgeted levels, requiring strict accounting and performance reporting. It mandates the DEQ to meet specific environmental targets, including air/water quality compliance rates (e.g., 85% of air facilities in compliance, 56% of waters meeting quality standards) and waste/permit processing timelines. The funds are designated for DEQ operations, staffing, and environmental programs, with reporting requirements tied to the agency’s budget submission.

Bill status died 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Governor

Introduced Feb 21, 2025 Last action Mar 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced → Current version · 8 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended after passing the House, primarily adding new performance measures, budget restrictions, and specific fund allocations while removing some original formatting and header information. The changes clarify how funds can be used, add accountability measures for personnel costs, and establish new requirements for environmental performance targets.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on the Department of Environmental Quality's budget for Fiscal Year 2026, but the version now includes additional performance metrics and spending restrictions not present in the original introduction.

REQUIREMENT

Added new Section 4 requiring the Department to maintain detailed accounting records and submit FY2027 budget requests in a specific format.

Added Section 5 establishing specific performance measures for air quality, waste management, water quality, and other environmental programs with numerical targets.

Added Section 20 allowing headcount escalation for Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds with approval from Finance and Administration and State Personnel Board.

Modified Section 3 to add restrictions preventing FY2027 personal services from exceeding FY2026 appropriations unless new programs are added, and requiring State Personnel Board to publish projected payroll costs.

FISCAL

Added Sections 7-18 creating specific fund transfers and allocations for legal activities, hazardous waste grants, clean water matching, dam safety, and other environmental programs.

Added Section 21 reappropriating $2,906,048 from the Capital Expense Fund for Clean Water Grant Program Match.

Added Section 22 authorizing $44,667 in vendor payments for expenses from Fiscal Years 2022-2023.

TECHNICAL

Removed original header information and formatting elements from the bill document.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

51–0

Passed

Total votes 51

Mar 12, 2025

D Democratic16

16 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican35

35 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed As Amended

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Amended

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass As Amended

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

Referred To Appropriations

upper

Feb 21, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To Senate

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred To Appropriations B;Appropriations A

lower

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors