Education

This bill appropriates $189 million from Mississippi's general fund and $1.7 billion from patient/student fees and special funds to cover the University of Mississippi Medical Center's (UMMC) operating expenses for fiscal year 2026. It specifically allocates funds for UMMC's schools (Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing), the Teaching Hospital, and designated programs including $2.17 million for rural physician scholarships, $4.75 million for the Cancer Institute, $595,000 for a tobacco center, and $1.35 million for children's abuse care facilities. The bill requires UMMC to provide detailed expenditure reports to the legislature and mandates that state agencies reimburse UMMC for services within 90 days or risk service discontinuation. It also prohibits using funds for embryo research and specifies how certain allocations (like scholarship programs) must be used.

SB 2036 is an appropriations bill that allocates $56.99 million from general funds and $25.85 million from special funds for the Mississippi Department of Revenue (DOR) during fiscal year 2026. It covers DOR operations - including the Homestead Exemption Division, Motor Vehicle Comptroller, Alcohol Beverage Control, and Enforcement Division - and reimburses counties and school districts for tax losses due to homestead exemptions. The bill restricts $44.92 million of the total to "Personal Services" (salaries, wages, and benefits), requiring strict adherence to headcount limits and salary caps set by the State Personnel Board. This funding ensures DOR can maintain essential services while preventing overspending on personnel costs.

HB 48 redirects $1.4 million in the FY2025 state education budget to continue Mississippi's existing school safety platform. The bill specifically revises an appropriation section to ensure this funding remains available for the current safety system, rather than for other purposes. This change affects Mississippi public schools by maintaining their current safety infrastructure funding without altering safety requirements or creating new programs. The bill passed the legislature and was signed into law by the governor in June 2025.

SB 2029 appropriates $1.2 million for the Dixie National Livestock Show in Jackson and allocates additional funds totaling $196,540 for other livestock events in Mississippi. It directly supports livestock exhibitors, county associations, and schools by funding prizes, premiums, and operational costs for county shows, district livestock shows, state dairy shows, and high school rodeos. Key provisions require 75% of district and dairy show funds to go to 4-H and Smith-Hughes students, limit county show funding to $2,000 per county, and mandate adequate facilities for funded events. The bill specifies exact amounts for each event type (e.g., $65,000 for district shows, $14,150 for high school rodeo promotion) for fiscal year 2026. It has been signed into law by the governor.

HB 43 appropriates $4,713,545 from general funds and $9,921,012 from special funds (including $2,118,966 from the Education Enhancement Fund) to cover the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television's (MAET) expenses for fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026). The bill specifically restricts $6,550,368 of these funds for "Personal Services" (salaries, wages, benefits, and vacancy funding), limiting MAET to 87 total authorized positions (80 permanent, 7 time-limited) and prohibiting use for public relations or replacing federal funds. It requires MAET to maintain detailed financial records matching its 2025 reporting standards and mandates that any 2027 budget request follow the same format. This is a routine budget appropriation bill, now law after passing the legislature and being signed by the governor on June 2, 2025.