Mississippi House of Representatives (Photo from Speaker Jason White on Facebook)
- See what bills become law in the Magnolia State on July 1.
Each year, Mississippi lawmakers file thousands of bills requiring tens of thousands of hours of legislative work in the Senate and House of Representatives between January and April.
Once the sausage making is done, the governor and his staff must then vet the measures that are sent to his desk.
Below is a look at some of the bills that made their way through the process this year and will become law on July 1, 2026.
Education
SB 2103 – Public school teacher pay raises and more
- $2,000 pay raise for all public school teachers, teacher assistants, CTE instructors, occupational therapists and school psychologists
- Another $2,000 pay raise for special education teachers on top of the initial $2,000 teacher pay raise
- Increases base student cost to $7,201.77, up from $6,845
- Sets full-day attendance portion at 60%
- If a student is participating in a school sanctioned activity, they are not to be considered absent
- Defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of school days in a year
- School districts are to implement strategies to address chronic absenteeism
SB 3053 and SB 3063 – College professor pay raises
- $2,000 pay raises for university and community college professors.
HB 562 – Upskill grant program
- Funding to cover tuition and fees associated with attending a Mississippi public community or junior college for the length of time required to earn a certificate or associate degree in an eligible program
SB 2294 – Mississippi Math Act
- Expands statewide math and reading initiatives with coaches
- Establishes the J.P. Wilemon, Jr., Financial Literacy Act and implements a course on financial literacy in order to earn a high school diploma
- Updates required computer science course to include AI and other emerging technologies
- Mandates that civics education be incorporated in U.S. government curriculum
Child care
SB 2867 – Tax credits
- Creates income tax credits for employers who provide child care stipends to employees
- Up to $3,000 per year for each child of an employee, with an aggregate per year not to exceed $1 million
HB 1224 – Online safety
- Creates the Mississippi Keeping Kids Safe Online act
- Requires the Mississippi Department of Education to create a curriculum for social media safety
- Regulates interactive computer service providers from offering certain services minors
SB 2110 – Child supervision
- Creates crime and establishes penalties against a parent or guardian who neglects a child
- Penalties of up to 5 years in prison and $5,000 in fines
SB 2369 – Child support and gambling
- Withholds child support in arrearage from gambling winnings
Judicial System
SB 2710 – Juvenile firearms offenses
- Juvenile offenders under 18 years old who commit a violent crime with a firearm will be charged in Circuit Court and prosecuted as adults
- Enhances penalties for transferring or selling a stolen firearm
HB 1752 – Judicial pay raises
- Raises pay for state Supreme Court, court of appeals and circuit and chancery courts judges
- Raises range between $10,000 and $13,000
HB 525 – Sexual battery
- Creates a mandatory minimum sentence for sexual battery convictions
- Sets the minimum at 5 years and maximum at 30 years for first offense
- Second offense minimum is set at 10 years with maximum of 40 years
SB 2821 – Capital sexual battery
- Create the crime of capital sexual battery, with a maximum sentence of death
HB 1662 – Joint custody
- Establishes a presumptive assumption of joint custody for divorcing parents with children as “equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child”
SB 2263 – Probable cause
- Prohibits Department of Marine Resources enforcement officers from performing vessel stops or boarding a vessel without probable cause
Immigration
SB 2114 – Criminalizes illegal immigration
- Criminalizes illegal immigration at the state level
- Makes the crime a misdemeanor offense punishable by imprisonment of not less than six months
SB 2322 – Driver licenses
- Invalidates certain out-of-state driver licenses issued to individuals who cannot prove they are in the country legally
HB 538 – Sanctuary policies
- Updates Mississippi’s prohibition on political subdivisions such as cities and counties adopting sanctuary policies to include law enforcement agencies
- Makes it illegal for state and local law enforcement to interfere with federal authorities working immigration cases, namely Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Healthcare
HB 314 – Ibogaine
- Allows for Ibogaine clinical treatment trials
- The Mississippi Department of Health is to form a consortium of a drug developer, lead university, and hospital to conduct the clinical trials, with the goal of obtaining FDA approval for the treatment of opioid use disorders and neurological conditions such as PTSD
HB 565 – Jill Gray Eure Act
- Requires Medicaid to provide coverage of biomarker testing
- Biomarker testing includes, but is not limited to, single-analyte tests, multi-plex panel tests, protein expression, whole exome, whole genome, and whole transcriptome sequencing and other genomic or molecular sequencing
HB 1613 – Abortion drugs
- Criminalizes the shipping or dispensing of abortion-inducing drugs
- The drugs are defined as a medicine, drug or any other substance prescribed or dispensed with the intent of terminating the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman to cause the death of the unborn child
PERS
HB 4073 – Changes to the Public Employees’ Retirement System
- Allows retired personnel to return to work at 80% salary with no annual raises after a 30-day break instead of the prior 90 days
- Establishes the Mississippi Work and Save Program, allowing employees to voluntarily contribute to a personal IRA
- Reduces the years of service needed for retirement in Tier 5 from 35 year to 30 years
- Benefits will be calculated on highest 4 years of earnings
Elections
SB 2588 – SHIELD Act
- Mandates use of the national Systematic Alien and Verification Entitlements (SAVE) database to ensure U.S. citizenship of a registered voter when that person is not in the Department of Public Safety’s system or if they have “checked themselves” as a non-resident
HB 859 – In-person Absentee Voting
- Ends the use of signed and sealed envelopes when casting an absentee ballot
- Absentee ballots will be placed in a secure Optical Mark Reading machine when ballot is cast
- Absentee ballots would then be tallied the night of Election Day
HB 858 – Off-line Voting Machines
- All Optical Mark Reading machines are restricted from establishing wireless connections when in use during an election
Product Labeling
HB 1466 – Seafood
- Restaurants and markets are to clearly label the country of origin for its seafood
About the Author(s)
Frank Corder
Frank Corder is a native of Pascagoula. For nearly two decades, he has reported and offered analysis on government, public policy, business and matters of faith. Frank’s interviews, articles, and columns have been shared throughout Mississippi as well as in national publications. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, providing insight and commentary on the inner workings of the Magnolia State. Frank has served his community in both elected and appointed public office, hosted his own local radio and television programs, and managed private businesses all while being an engaged husband and father. Email Frank: frank@magnoliatribune.com
Jeremy Pittari
Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he started an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For nearly 17 years he wrote about local government, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: jeremy@magnoliatribune.com
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