- Governor Reeves announced Friday that he was calling a special session for next week.
White smoke emerged from the Mississippi Capitol on Friday as House and Senate leaders appear to have reached an agreement on the state’s $7 billion plus budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which starts July 1.
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann’s said Friday that the chambers have indeed reached an agreement.
“The House and Senate have come to an agreement on the budget,” Hosemann said in a statement sent to state media. “We have notified the Governor and are awaiting the call for special session.”
Governor Tate Reeves released the following statement Friday after reports surfaced that an agreement had been reached:
“Now that we’ve reached an agreement on the budget, today I informed Lieutenant Governor Hosemann and Speaker White that I intend to call a special session for the middle of next week. The proposed budget does not materially increase state spending, is fiscally conservative, and will help us to continue Mississippi’s historic economic momentum. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to reach this agreement. I’d like to thank Mississippi’s legislative appropriators for working diligently throughout the budget negotiation process. I’m excited to get the special session completed and look forward to quickly passing the budget. I will provide more updates next week.”
The need for a special session to finalize the state budget came after lawmakers failed to reach agreement on appropriations bills and a potential extension of the regular session prior to gaveling out for the year in early April.
Discussions between the two chambers have been ongoing since leaving the Capitol, with a sticking point being funding for capital projects in cities and counties. The House has shown interest in funding local projects while the Senate has been reluctant to do so.
Speaker Jason White posted on X earlier this week that the House will continue to advocate for cities and counties but said, “We look forward to concluding our work with the budget to direct our focus on our priorities for the 2026 Legislative Session.”
On Friday, White told Magnolia Tribune he was pleased to report “that the State Budget is complete and we have notified the Governor.”
“I have also forwarded to him a summary of the budget for his review,” White said. “The House Appropriations Chairmen have worked extremely hard to come forward with a conservative budget that reflects our priorities while funding the core functions of state government.”
White added that the Capitol Expense funds “will be spent minimally this year, only funding a few critical needs at state agencies as well as some matching funds for [the Mississippi Department of Transportation].”
“We expect to be called in over the next week or two to pass this budget into law as we begin to focus our attention in the House on next year’s Legislative Session,” White said.
Governor Reeves has said that he would only call lawmakers back to Jackson once an agreement was reached.
“I have no intention of calling a special session for members to stare at each other,” Reeves said.
As the only person who can issue the special session call, Reeves also sets the agenda. There has been talk of possibly adding policy items conservatives have thus far failed to agree on, such as school choice legislation, to the governor’s call. However, Reeves recently indicated that given the late hour and the need to finalize the spending bills, those items may not make the agenda.
Reeves did not say Friday what would be on the call.
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This article has been updated to reflect the latest from Governor Reeves and Speaker White.
Frank Corder
