By Stephen Clay, MSCPA Legislative Representative

The 2024 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature convened on January 2, 2024.

Lawmakers set the total budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 at approximately $7.87 billion which is over a $200 million increase compared to last year’s budget of $7.6 billion. With $7.03 billion of the total budget representing general funds, the FY 2025 budget represents the largest state support funding in the history of Mississippi.

The start of the session produced two of the largest economic development investments Mississippi has ever seen. Located in Marshall County, a nearly $2 billion development site will create and transport electric batteries intended to power commercial vehicles. In a collective effort by Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Trucks and Buses, and PACCAR, the project will provide around 2,000 jobs, with the facility’s opening date projected for 2027. Expanding Amazon’s footprint in Mississippi, the Legislature also approved incentives for a $10 billion development project to provide energy and power throughout the state. Amazon Web Services will open two data centers in Madison County, with hopes to create more data centers throughout the state. This development will create over 1,000 jobs, and project completion is expected for 2027.

In his first term, newly elected Speaker of the House Jason White made it his mission to abolish the state’s oft-criticized Mississippi Adequate Education Program and replace it with a new weighted funding formula, something he successfully carried out. Through HB 4130, the new formula will have a base student cost – $6,695 per student – and different weights geared toward specific needs – gifted students, low-income districts, career and technical education, etc. The Mississippi Department of Education will receive $3.312 billion, a more than $300 million increase from FY 2023-2024 to accommodate for the new funding formula. This bill was signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves on May 8, and while this bill goes into effect on July 1, 2024, the formula will not change until FY 2025.

The Legislature passed SB 2140, the Prior Authorization Reform Act. The bill requires healthcare providers to obtain approval from insurance companies before providing patients with certain nonemergency treatments. Insurance providers would have 48 hours to make decisions in urgent circumstances and 7 calendar days in nonurgent circumstances. This bill became law without the signature of Governor Reeves.

Lawmakers also took a step in addressing the state’s Public Employees Retirement System’s unfunded liability. SB 3231 will halt the pending 2% rate increase for PERS employers that was expected in July 2024. Lawmakers intend to adjust the process by which future employer rate increases can be made, allowing a 0.5% increase this summer and each year after through 2028. In addition, the Legislature provided a $110 million cash infusion into PERS. This bill also became law without Governor Reeves’ signature.

HB 1725, the bill to expand Medicaid services to individuals making less than 138% of the federal poverty line, saw several variations throughout the session, but ultimately, the two chambers could not see eye to eye on the issue, leaving the bill to die. Although Medicaid expansion efforts may have ended unsuccessfully, the legislature did pass HB 539, allowing pregnant women whose net family income is 194% or less of the federal poverty level to be presumed eligible for Medicaid, meaning those patients could receive medical services before their Medicaid application is approved by the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

Other hot-topic issues that did not survive the session include HB 774, a bill legalizing mobile sports betting; HB 1676, a bill to regulate intoxicating hemp products; SB 2770, the restoration of the state’s ballot initiative process; HB 722, a bill addressing judicial redistricting; and HB 848, Certificate of Need reform.
Of special interest to the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants was HB 1344, which requires each nonprofit entity to file an annual report with the Secretary of State before May 15 of each year on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State. We had to work hard to make sure the date was not April 15, as originally pushed.

Another important bill for the Society was SB 2799, Public official appointments; revise terms of office and appointment procedures on certain state boards, districts and agencies. The bill, as originally introduced was 405 pages long and included our Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. Thankfully, after much discussion, the Legislature removed our State Board from the final version of the bill, which was reduced to 69 pages total. State licensing boards and potential reforms will likely continue to be a topic of discussion in future legislative sessions.

Topic of discussion for the 2025 Legislative session looks to again be the overall tax structure, including tax credits, income tax and sales tax. Speaker White was quoted in the Clarion Ledger saying, “We’d like to get some method to move away from personal income tax and move toward consumption tax.”
The Legislature adjourned Sine Die on May 14, 2024.
The Clay Firm wishes to express our gratitude for your continued partnership and looks forward to next year’s session that will begin on January 7, 2025.