In the ninth and tenth weeks of the 2026 Mississippi legislative session, the Senate passed legislation including:
• House Bill 1758 establishes the Foster Youth Earned Benefits Protection for Success Act, requiring the Department of Child Protection Services to determine within 60 days of a child entering state custody whether the child is receiving or eligible for certain federal earned benefits, such as Social Security or veteran’s survivor benefits, and to ensure those benefits are conserved and used for the child’s benefit.
• House Bill 565 requires health benefit plans and Medicaid to offer coverage for biomarker testing in cancer patients which can lead to specific treatments instead of radiation or chemotherapy.
• House Bill 1719 creates a study committee to determine ways to lessen or prevent financial fraud.
• House Bill 1546 adds the crimes of human trafficking/felony, procuring prostitution and promoting prostitution to the list of felonies that cannot be expunged.
• House Bill 898 creates the Sales Tax Diversion Study Committee to review current sales tax diversion practices and identify discrepancies and assess the financial impact of misallocated sales tax revenue on municipalities and other purposes.
• House Bill 1603 clarifies that owners have sole control of their properties and squatters accrue no rights to property on which they trespass.
• House Bill 1386 amends current law to allow certain special fund monies distributed to municipalities to be spent for repair, maintenance or reconstruction of sidewalks, and acquisition or rehabilitation of municipal buildings.
• House Bill 547 allows a licensed check-cashing business to pass the third-party processing company’s fees on to its customers and provide clear notice that the fees will be applied to debit and credit card transactions.
The Senate amended House Bill 1395 to include a $6,000 teacher pay raise, a $9,000 pay raise for special education teachers, and a $2,000 pay raise for assistant teachers, community college instructors and university professors. If enacted into law, the raises would be phased in over three years. Teachers would receive $2,000 annually for three years, for a total increase of $6,000. Special education teachers would receive $3,000 annually for three years, for a total increase of $9,000. The legislation returns to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The Senate adopted a conference report for Senate Bill 2632, creating the Local Governments Disaster Recovery Emergency Loan Program as an emergency loan program for counties and municipalities impacted by the severe winter storm that occurred Jan. 23-27, 2026. Funding for the program will come later in the appropriations process.
The Senate adopted House Bill 1637, which creates the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Panel under the State Department of Health to study and learn from cases of babies who die at birth or shortly afterward, as Mississippi seeks ways to lower infant mortality rates.
• House Bill 314 authorizes the State Department of Health to select a consortium to conduct a drug development clinical trial with ibogaine to secure approval from the FDA for medical use.
• House Bill 1231 shortens the notice requirement for counties holding special meetings from five days to three days.
• House Bill 420 provides an ad valorem tax exemption for the homestead property of an honorably discharged military veteran age 85 or older. The unremarried surviving spouse would retain the exemption after the veteran’s death.
• House Bill 525 amends current law to create a minimum sentence of five years for convictions of sexual battery.
• House Bill 1404 creates the crime of fraudulent utility conversion when a landlord fails to pay utilities and tenants’ utility services are interrupted.
• House Bill 858 prohibits OMR voting equipment from being capable of establishing wireless connections during an election.
• House Bill 683 includes Jackson County in the area where purse seines cannot be used to capture fish within one mile of the shoreline. Jackson County joins Hancock and Harrison counties where the practice is prohibited.
• House Bill 1153 bans the sale and manufacture of meat and cell-cultivated dairy products and gives the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce regulatory authority.
