HB 217 creates the "Helping Mississippians Afford Broadband Act," appropriating $100 million from Mississippi's Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to help eligible households afford broadband. It directly affects households already approved for federal Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) or Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefits, providing up to $15 monthly in financial assistance paid directly to broadband providers to lower household costs. The program requires the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services to administer the assistance with oversight from the Wireless Communication Commission, focusing on ensuring support reaches underserved communities.
HB 808 requires Mississippi public school districts and charter schools to adopt internet safety policies that block student access to social media during instructional time (except when teachers direct it for lessons) and prohibit TikTok and similar platforms on school devices. It also mandates that schools provide curriculum for grades 6-12 about social media's impacts on mental health, misinformation, and online safety. The bill updates student conduct codes to explicitly ban wireless device use during class without teacher permission and requires schools to notify parents about available online safety resources. These changes directly affect all K-12 students, teachers, and school administrators in Mississippi public and charter schools.
SB 2188 requires wireless service providers in Mississippi to share a user's phone location with law enforcement or emergency dispatch centers **only during life-threatening emergencies** (e.g., risk of death or serious harm), such as responding to emergency calls. It allows providers to voluntarily share location data beyond emergencies and shields them from lawsuits if they disclose information in good faith under this law. The bill also mandates the Department of Public Safety to collect and share provider contact details with emergency dispatch centers to streamline requests. This bill, which died in committee in February 2025, directly affects wireless providers (requiring specific disclosures), law enforcement (granting access to emergency location data), and users (whose location may be shared in urgent situations).
HB 1075 updates Mississippi's property tax exemption for broadband equipment to align with current FCC standards, requiring qualifying equipment to deliver at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. It directly affects broadband providers (like fiber, cable, DSL, or fixed wireless companies) by requiring them to report subscriber counts to county assessors and confirm equipment usage via FCC broadband data. The bill also caps fixed wireless access (FWA) site exemptions at 30% of total asset costs per site. These changes ensure tax exemptions apply only to modern broadband infrastructure meeting federal benchmarks.
HB 1545 updates Mississippi's tax incentives for broadband deployment by requiring equipment to meet minimum speed standards (35 Mbps down/3 Mbps up for mobile, matching FCC benchmarks for fixed broadband) to qualify for tax credits and property tax exemptions. It maintains tiered tax credits (5-15% based on rural area designation) but extends the property tax exemption period to 10 years for fixed broadband equipment placed in service between 2025-2030 (compared to 5 years for mobile). Telecommunications companies must submit verified equipment specifications, including speed details, to county tax assessors by April 1 each year to claim benefits. The bill, which died in committee in February 2025, would have applied to equipment deployed after June 30, 2025.
SB 3062 updates Mississippi's tax incentives for broadband infrastructure by raising minimum speed requirements and adding budget caps. It revises the definition of eligible equipment to require fixed broadband to meet current FCC speed benchmarks (instead of the previous 35 Mbps down/3 Mbps up standard) for property tax exemptions on equipment placed in service between 2025-2030. The bill also limits annual tax credits to $15 million total ($1.5 million per company) and prohibits credits if equipment costs were covered by federal BEAD program funds. These changes directly affect telecommunications companies deploying broadband in Mississippi's designated Tier areas (Tier One to Three), impacting their tax liability for qualifying equipment investments.
HB 1644 revises Mississippi's tax incentives for telecommunications companies deploying broadband infrastructure. It establishes tiered tax credits (5-15% of equipment costs) based on rural area designations (Tier One to Three), with annual limits of $15 million total and $1.5 million per company. The bill prohibits credits for equipment paid for via the federal BEAD broadband program and requires companies to submit sworn equipment descriptions to county tax assessors by April 1 to claim property tax exemptions for equipment placed in service between 2025-2030. These exemptions last 10 years for fixed broadband and 5 years for mobile broadband, subject to FCC speed benchmarks.
