HB 452 requires Mississippi's Secretary of State to publish a notice on the state's official website each time a voter roll purge occurs, including the specific date of the purge. The notice must remain accessible for at least one year after the purge. This provision increases transparency for voters, allowing them to verify if their name was removed from the voter list during a purge. The bill does not change the criteria for purging voter rolls but mandates public disclosure of purge events.
HB 426 limits fees for confirming ownership of Mississippi state-forfeited tax lands. It states that fees and costs for the patent confirmation process - including application fees - cannot exceed the purchase price paid by the buyer. This directly affects individuals or entities purchasing land that the state reclaimed due to unpaid taxes. The bill amends Mississippi Code sections 29-1-33, 29-1-37, and 29-1-95 to enforce this fee cap, ensuring buyers aren’t charged extra beyond their land purchase amount.
HB 512 creates two new programs to help rural physicians and dentists repay student loans. It provides annual awards ranging from $7,500 to $50,000 per year (increasing with each consecutive year of service) for healthcare providers working in qualifying Mississippi rural settings, including hospitals in "super rural" ZIP codes, Critical Access Hospitals, specific counties (like Bolivar and Holmes), or communities with populations under 15,000. To qualify, applicants must be Mississippi residents, hold a valid medical/dental license, have qualifying student loans, and work at a licensed rural facility outside metropolitan areas. The program replaces previous scholarship programs and is administered by the Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board.
HB 543 establishes Mississippi's minimum wage at $10.00 per hour for most workers, including manual laborers and service employees. Tipped employees who regularly earn over $30 monthly in tips must receive at least $3.62 per hour, while employers must pay overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate for employees earning $455 or less weekly. The bill explicitly prohibits exempting manual laborers, police, firefighters, emergency responders, and similar workers from overtime requirements, ensuring these groups receive overtime pay regardless of salary. Employees not covered by these rules remain subject to federal minimum wage and overtime standards.
HB 526 establishes a $15.00 per hour minimum wage for most Mississippi workers, with a separate $3.62 per hour base rate for tipped employees (like servers). It requires overtime pay at 1.5 times the regular rate for employees earning $455 or less weekly, including many blue-collar workers, first responders, and public safety staff. The bill also specifies that workers not covered by these rules fall under federal Fair Labor Standards Act protections. It directly affects hourly workers across Mississippi’s private and public sectors, particularly those in service industries and frontline roles.
HB 549 requires candidates for county, county district, and municipal offices - and their political committees - to file all campaign finance reports (detailing donations and spending) directly with Mississippi’s Secretary of State’s office, instead of local county clerks. It updates existing rules to mandate that these reports be submitted via fax, email, mail, or in person, and requires the Secretary of State to make them publicly available within 48 hours and retain them for five years. The bill applies specifically to local elections (not state-level races) and takes effect July 1, 2026. This streamlines reporting for local campaigns under a single state-level office.
HB 550 clarifies that Mississippi chancery courts can directly handle child abuse or neglect allegations that arise during ongoing custody disputes between parents, without needing to transfer the case to youth court. This applies when no prior notice of abuse was given before the custody case began. The bill also updates rules for confidential handling of child abuse records, specifying which officials (like court-appointed advocates or child welfare agencies) can access them under strict privacy protections. It affects parents in custody cases, chancery courts, and child welfare systems by streamlining how abuse allegations are addressed within existing family court proceedings.
HB 546 creates a centralized cloud storage center for all Mississippi state agencies, requiring them to transition to this system by July 1, 2031, to standardize data management and improve security. It establishes a Procurement Modernization Advisory Council to oversee implementation, develop cybersecurity standards, and integrate data systems across state, county, and municipal governments. The bill mandates 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring, regular compliance audits, and standardized data formats to enhance system interoperability and efficiency. These changes directly affect all state agencies and will eventually extend to local governments through the cloud system's adoption.
HB 544 creates a grant program administered by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) to help public universities establish endowments specifically for recruiting and hiring professors in quantum computing and artificial intelligence engineering. It requires universities to apply with details about their endowment goals, existing funding, and requested grant amounts. The bill establishes a dedicated "State Institutions of Higher Learning Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence Engineering Professors Fund" in the state treasury, with unspent funds rolling over annually. This program directly affects Mississippi's public universities seeking to strengthen faculty in these high-demand technical fields.
HB 545 requires Mississippi vehicle registration applications to include a voluntary option for applicants to indicate a communication impairment (such as speech, hearing, or autism-related conditions) that may affect interaction with law enforcement. The Department of Revenue may request verification from a health professional (e.g., doctor or therapist) and must share the applicant’s registration details and impairment category (not the specific condition) with the Department of Public Safety. This information will be added to the Mississippi Criminal Information Center to alert officers during traffic stops, while keeping the specific condition confidential and preventing public disclosure. The bill prohibits visible license plate markings for this purpose and ensures all shared information remains confidential between state agencies.
HB 548 changes Mississippi law to allow alcohol package retailers (stores selling alcohol in sealed containers) to also sell lottery tickets. It amends two sections of state law: first, by explicitly making holders of alcohol package retailer permits eligible to apply as lottery retailers under the Mississippi Lottery Law, and second, by permitting these retailers to actually sell lottery tickets from their existing locations. This bill directly affects current alcohol package retailers who hold valid permits under Mississippi's alcoholic beverage control law. The key change removes a prior barrier, enabling these businesses to offer lottery sales without needing separate licensing, while maintaining existing requirements like tax compliance and background checks for lottery retailers.
SB 2127 would require all settlement agreements between Mississippi public bodies (like state agencies, cities, or school boards) and other parties to be made public, prohibiting confidentiality clauses in such settlements. The bill states that neither the parties nor courts could keep settlement terms secret or seal related court records. This directly affects public entities and anyone involved in civil disputes with them, ensuring transparency in how public funds are resolved. The law would amend Mississippi's public records statute to explicitly require disclosure of settlement details, aligning with broader public access principles. It was introduced but died in committee in February 2026.
