Mississippi legislators debate nearly 20% more bills in 2024, but major questions still unanswered.

Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press. (Mississippi House of Representatives Chamber)

Mississippi legislators in both chambers drafted and debated more legislation in the 2024 session than in any other year in the past decade. Despite the uptick in number of bills presented on the floor, issues such as the ballot initiative process and expansion of Medicaid remain unresolved.

Today, July 1st, marks the beginning of the new fiscal year. While Mississippi lawmakers are still enjoying their summer away from the state’s capitol, all newly signed legislation from the 2024 session takes effect along with the new fiscal calendar. A number of important bills saw the walls of each chamber this year, but perhaps more interesting is the total amount of legislation considered in 2024.

The number of bills that were debated on the House and Senate floors increased a good bit this year. Compared to the previous ten-year period (2014-2023), the most recent legislative session (2024) saw a 19.9% spike in bills introduced. That amounts to 3,361 pieces of legislation considered in the Magnolia State’s capitol during 2024 alone.

This year’s increase in bills introduced is largely thanks to the Mississippi House of Representatives, which introduced 2,130 bills alone. The House’s total bill count represents a 23% increase in legislation compared to the previous ten years.

Whereas the average number of House Bills that died in conference was 11.4 bills over the past ten years, that number shot up to 40 bills in 2024. While this is obviously explained in part by the increase in total bills submitted, the percentage of House Bills left in committee this year rose to 1.88% compared to the previous .66% in the past decade.

Despite the obvious increase in the number of bills considered by the state legislative chambers, the number of new laws going into effect today does not reflect quite as sharp of an increase. Lawmakers and Governor Tate Reeves signed 408 new bills into law during the 2024 session. However, the average number of new bills signed in Mississippi has been 361.1 bills over the last decade. This year’s increase in signed laws was only 12.98% greater than the previous average, lower than the increase in total legislation introduced.

Depending on your perspective, the increase in new laws this year is either good or bad. Regardless, you can't say they didn't try this year.

Vetoes from Governor Reeves remained consistent with past averages throughout the session despite the uptick in bills considered. A notable veto from Reeves was in response to HB 922, which would have made election commissioners nonpartisan officials.

Important Legislation Passed in 2024:

Runoff Election Schedule Amended

"Runoff elections; amend to lengthen the timing requirement."

Authored by Senator England (R-51) SB 2144

Runoff elections in Mississippi will now take place four weeks after the initial election, as opposed to three weeks after. This extra week allows election officials time to adequately prepare for the runoff, ensuring ballots are correct and no issues arise at voting precincts. Election officials have routinely expressed displeasure over the quick three-week turnaround for runoffs, according to Senator England. State and local election officials are certainly pleased with this new law, but candidates involved in runoff races must now prepare for a four-week campaign. Campaign expenditures will likely see a small increase as a result of the new runoff schedule.

The law also prohibits ranked-choice voting in any election held in Mississippi.

Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) Replaced

"Mississippi Student Funding Formula; create to provide funding mechanism for public schools."

Authored by Representative Roberson (R-43) HB 4130

Naturally, the debate surrounding an adjustment to the state's education funding formula was heated. In the end, state lawmakers created the new Mississippi Student Funding Formula (defined in HB 4130) and axed the 1994 Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). The primary difference in each of the laws is that the new MSFF uses student enrollment rates as opposed to the average daily attendance to calculate district funding allocations. The MSFF provides districts with a base student cost of $6,695.34, with greater funding for special student populations and weighted importance for each category of student.

The overall long-term impact of the legislation is to be seen, but officials estimate that the new formula will increase public K-12 education funding by $218 million in the 2024-2025 school year.

PERS Crisis Adverted?

"PERS; revise employer contribution rate increase, and redefine responsibilities of board and Legislature."

Authored by Senator Parker (R-2) SB 3231

PERS funding has been in the "red" for too long, and SB 3231 aims to increase the financial stability of the state retirement system in the long run. The bill increases the employer contribution percentage by 2.5% over the next five years, with a .5% increase in each year. Additionally, the PERS board must now seek legislative approval for major policy changes. Next year's session will likely see the creation of a new, lower, retirement tier for employees hired after its establishment.

The PERS system currently pays out more than it collects, so something needed to change.

Maybe Next Year?

Ballot Initiative Process

Mississippians have been without a ballot initiative process since 2021. In that year, the state's Supreme Court struck down the previous initiative process due to the statute's erroneous requirement of signatures from "the five congressional districts" (the state has only had four since 2003).

Now three sessions later, lawmakers have yet to reestablish citizen ballot initiatives. Only 25 other states have a referendum or ballot initiative, but many in the state are annoyed that the legislature has not made any official move to bring the process back.

Medicaid Expansion

A hotly debated topic during the 2023 gubernatorial election, Medicaid expansion became the premier issue of the 2024 session. Forty states in the union have expanded Medicaid, and at one point it looked like Mississippi might join them. The issue of expansion, similar to the national dynamics, has become less and less of a partisan issue. Right now, it seems the topic of expansion is personal. The Governor has made his objections clear, but the Republican majority in the House defiantly passed (with a veto-proof majority) expansion legislation. The Senate failed to pass the bill.

Online Sports Betting

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is home to the largest collection of casino resorts outside of the Vegas Strip, and lawmakers have enacted a state lottery in the past decade. It seemed like the Magnolia State might have legal online sports betting this year, but HB 774 died during the 2024 session.

Bottom Line:

• 408 new laws went into effect today, July 1st. This represents a roughly 13% increase in the average number of new laws per year.

• Lawmakers in both chambers considered 19.9% more bills this year compared to the average from the previous decade.

• The Mississippi House of Representatives considered 23% more bills than the average number per year in the past decade.

• There is still no ballot initiative process, and Mississippi did NOT become the 41st state to expand Medicaid.

You can find the most recent summary of bills here.

Access legislation data used in this post, as compiled by RCS, below.

2024Leg_Bills.xlsx

Download XLSX • 12KB