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Legislative leaders on Wednesday night were still haggling out final details of a so-called “Christmas tree” spending bill to fund dozens of lawmakers’ special projects across the state, hoping to conclude their regular legislative session on Thursday. 

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, told Mississippi Today that he and House leaders were still working through the particulars, but that lawmakers would likely settle on a list of projects sometime Wednesday night. 

A $200 million to $400 million projects bill is typically one of the final items that legislators vote on before they end a session. For the last several years, lawmakers have funded the projects with cash, though they have borrowed money in lean years. 

Earlier this week, legislators approved the budget for the Department of Finance and Administration, the state agency that disburses the money for projects. The budget bill authorized the agency to spend up to $253 million on projects, though the final Christmas tree bill could spend less than that. 

These bills are used for projects in cities and counties, such as park renovations and road repairs. But Christmas tree bills are often used as a political spoils system for lawmakers, with legislative leaders using approval or denial of lawmakers’ requested projects as a carrot or a stick on votes on other issues. Lawmakers did not pass a project last year due to political bickering between Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

Here are some highlights from the session on Wednesday: 

Governor signs SHIELD Act voting restrictions into law

Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Wednesday that he had signed the Safeguard Honesty Integrity in Elections for Lasting Democracy,  or SHIELD, Act into law. 

The measure requires local election officials to verify voters’ citizenship using a federal immigration database and to audit voter rolls for potential noncitizens. Supporters say the measure will boost confidence in election results. Critics say it will suppress some U.S. citizens’ votes.

“This is another win for election integrity in Mississippi (and America),” Reeves said in a statement on social media. “We will continue to do everything in our power to make it infinitely harder – with a goal to make it impossible – to cheat in our elections!”

The legislation drew vocal opposition from Democrats, who said it would make voting more time-consuming and could even function as a “poll tax” because people might end up having to pay for extra documents, such as birth certificates, to prove their citizenship. Reeves, in turn, accused Democrats on Wednesday of trying to “outsource the management of our country to those who shouldn’t be here.”

There is no evidence that noncitizens are voting in large numbers in Mississippi or across the U.S. But Republicans said the bill is a simple proposal that adds another layer of verification to the state’s process for ensuring only citizens vote.

Reeves signed the bill into law as the Trump administration pushes to “nationalize” elections with a federal bill that could potentially prevent millions of people from casting ballots. 

Both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature also sent bills to the governor on Tuesday  aiming to crack down on immigration, despite some lawmakers raising concerns that the federal government is responsible for enforcement and that the proposals could inadvertently harm U.S. citizens.

Bill taxing immigrant worker wire transfers likely dead

A bill that would have taxed wire transfers of money from Mississippi to other countries is likely dead after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle raised concerns about unintended consequences and constitutionality.

SB 2828, the “Money Transfer Modernization Act,” was aimed at collecting money from undocumented workers who are not paying taxes when they send money to their home countries, proponents said. 

It would have created a fee of $7.50 for wire transfers of up to $500, and 1.5% of the transfer for amounts over $500. People could receive a refund of the charges by going through an appeal process and proving they pay income taxes.

“We need to capture some of that money back for people who are here illegally and using our services,” said Rep. Angela Hill, a Republican from Picayune. 

But as the Senate prepared to take a final vote that would have sent the measure on to the governor on Wednesday, other lawmakers had questions about whether the charges are constitutional, and whether they would overburden banks or other institutions with new regulations and tasks. 

The Senate voted to recommit the bill for further discussion and possible changes. As lawmakers look to end their 2026 session as early as Thursday, it likely killed the measure for this year.

After big promises, lawmakers land on smaller teacher pay raise

Both chambers on Wednesday passed a teacher pay raise, much smaller than what each chamber had proposed earlier in the session. 

The House and the Senate have gone back and forth for months, presenting dueling pay raise proposals. The House wanted to give teachers $5,000 more per year, while the Senate started at $2,000 and eventually upped its plan to a $6,000 raise rolled out over three years. 

In the end, though, the Senate’s original $2,000 pay raise won out, disappointing teachers across the state. 

House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, had stern words for critics of the smaller raise on the floor Wednesday morning.

“Protest it. Don’t take it,” he said. “We have attempted to give our teachers pay raises over the years. When you roll out here and you meet another state employee, the guy that works on the side of the road for the state, ask him how many pay raises he’s gotten. You know what the answer is? None. We are trying our best to do what we can.”

Lawmakers said the state couldn’t afford to give teachers any more money this year because of other expenses, but have promised to return to the issue in 2027. 

“I’m going to fight very hard for our teachers in the future — don’t doubt that — but I’m not going to apologize for an increase, not whenever we have so many others that didn’t get one,” Roberson said. 

Legislators also approved a number of education initiatives that would be administered by the Mississippi Department of Education, including extending the literacy act that boosted reading rates into higher grades, creating a similar statewide math program and requiring financial literacy courses. 

The Legislature sent the Mississippi Department of Education’s budget to the governor earlier this week, which provides funding for all of these initiatives and the pay raise. 

After the final education bill was adopted Wednesday afternoon, Senate Education Committee Chairman Dennis DeBar, a Republican from Leakesville, gave lawmakers a pat on the back for the policies they passed this session.

“The Senate and the Legislature accomplished a lot this year on education despite the rocky start we had with school choice issues, and you should all be proud of what you’ve done this year,” he said.

House adjourns without taking up youth court bill 

Senate Bill 2728, which included sweeping changes to Mississippi’s beleaguered youth court system, died on Wednesday’s deadline, even before its author Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican fromPascagoula, began introducing it to his colleagues. 

Mississippi’s youth courts handle child abuse and neglect cases as well as juvenile delinquency. These courts are closed to the public, their records held confidential, and operate under different kinds of judges from county to county, leading to inconsistent outcomes for families. Court officials, lawmakers and policy experts have discussed for years the need for Mississippi to bring uniformity to the courts. 

Both the Senate and the House had passed versions of the bill earlier in the session and a handful of lawmakers had reached a compromise, called a conference report, filed Monday. 

“A youth court system statewide has been discussed in this building for over a decade. We are at this point where we can make something positive for our children in a system that does not serve them,” Wiggins said while introducing the conference report to his colleagues Wednesday afternoon.

But the House had already adjourned for Wednesday, a deadline for the bill, without taking it up for a vote.

Changes in the bill, which wouldn’t have taken effect until 2028, included doing away with the referee system, in which private attorneys are appointed part time to hear youth court cases in chancery courts. It also would have opened court proceedings in child abuse and neglect cases, except in cases in which the judge felt there was a need to close the courtroom, and would have allowed the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services to file petitions in child welfare matters.

“The state is 22 years into the Olivia Y litigation with a price tag of roughly $95 million. Without systemic changes, the state cannot exit this litigation, and it risks inviting additional litigation,” Wiggins said to the Senate.

Lawmakers sent a bill that makes 50-50 joint custody the legal standard for divorce cases in Mississippi to Gov. Tate Reeves Wednesday. 

If Reeves signs the bill into law, chancery court judges, or chancellors, would be required to favor equal parenting time in custody cases. Parents could present evidence showing why that’s not in the best interest of their children. The legislation also exempts parents who agree on a different custody arrangement outside of court. The law would go into effect in July.

Proponents say the legislation will create equal opportunities for fathers who have suffered from courts’ bias that mothers are more worthy of custody. Critics say the bill feigns equality but will be less equitable for vulnerable women and children, including infants who are breastfeeding and mothers who are in domestic violence situations. 

In fighting for gender equality, people shouldn’t ignore that mothers develop a special bond with babies during pregnancy, argued Rep. Omeria Scott, a Democrat from Laurel. She was one of eight House members who voted against the legislation Tuesday. 

“This is just another situation where women lose in Mississippi,” Scott told Mississippi Today. 

Rep. Dana McLean, a Republican from Columbus, pleaded with her colleagues on the floor Tuesday to reconsider the legislation. McLean said it was problematic that breastfeeding infants would also be subject to a presumption that being separated from their mother half the time was best for them. 

“We’re talking about breastfeeding babies just coming home from the hospital,” McLean said on the floor. “And I know that the best interest of an infant would be to be with their mother initially.”

Judges would still have authority to override the presumption, responded Rep. Joey Hood, a Republican from Ackerman and chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee where the bill originated. 

The proposed legislation does not preclude chancellors  “from doing what is in the best interest of the child,” Hood said. 

But McLean and Scott disagree. 

Judges currently award custody on a case-by-case basis using the Albright factors, a rubric that includes caregiving history, emotional ties and the age of the child. 

While the bill was on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula and chairman of the Senate Judiciary A Committee, said that other states have already adopted a presumption of joint custody. 

Sen. Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory and one of 10 senators who voted against the bill, asked Wiggins how many other states are doing this. Wiggins answered, “four or five.”

“Then, it sounds like 40-some-odd other states don’t have this law,” Bryan said.

Wiggins responded that “it’s a good thing” if Mississippi is on the front end of this legislation. 

In 2017, Kentucky became the first of five states to adopt a joint custody presumption law. Since then, instances have arisen where women and children have suffered abuse because the law compelled them to interact with violent ex-spouses and caregivers, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Mississippi’s proposed legislation specifies that the presumption of joint custody will not apply if the court finds a history of violence with one of the parents. However, that would require a “preponderance of evidence” — attorneys have to prove it is more likely than not that violence occurred.  

Sen. Bradford Blackmon, a Democrat from Canton, voted for the bill in March. He changed his vote on Wednesday after hearing from several chancery court judges who were against the bill. Blackmon said the chancellors told him they need to be able to look at all the factors and don’t want to be boxed into a specific custody ruling. 

“I don’t know why I, as a legislator that does not practice in that area … would try to override their expertise,” Blackmon told Mississippi Today. 

Eight family attorneys and chancery court judges told Mississippi Today they believe the current custody system is the most fair, and the new legislation would set a dangerous legal precedent. 

If mothers are awarded custody more often than fathers, it’s not because of an inherent bias but rather a history of being the primary caregiver and fostering emotional closeness, said Kelly Williams, a Ridgeland-based attorney and a child welfare law specialist certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children. 

“I’ve been in courts all over the state, and men are not getting an unfair shake,” Williams said. 

After nearly two decades of paralysis on the issue, Mississippi officials are inching closer to establishing a state home mitigation program to protect residents from natural disasters. Storm preparation experts say such a program is vital to building resilience as the dangers from climate change continue to grow.

Senate Bill 2409, which would create the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program, heads to Gov. Tate Reeves for his consideration after both chambers approved the measure on Wednesday.

In a three-part series last year, Mississippi Today reported on the immense vulnerability the state faces to climate change, which some researchers argued is greater than anywhere else in the country.

The program would offer grants of up to $10,000 to allow homeowners to retrofit their property to better protect them from hurricane, tornado, hail and other windstorm damage. The money would go towards upgrading roofs to meet the FORTIFIED standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.

Alabama, which leads the nation in FORTIFIED homes, released a study last year showing a significant reduction in losses from mitigated houses versus others after Hurricane Sally in 2020. In addition to making homes safer, the grant has also helped reduce home insurance costs. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mississippians, especially on the Coast, have seen skyrocketing premiums as insurance companies account for the risk of natural disasters.

“I would like to thank the (lawmakers) for their work in coming together on a mitigation program that puts us on a level playing field with other coastal states that have successful mitigation programs such as Alabama and Louisiana,” state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said in a statement Wednesday, adding that his office is committed to “improve long-term resilience for Mississippi homeowners.”

Single-family, primary residence homes anywhere in Mississippi would be eligible for the grants. The home must have windstorm insurance and, if in a flood zone, flood insurance as well. The Mississippi Department of Insurance, which would administer the program, would fund the grants through fees collected from insurance agents. The department’s appropriation bill, which is being considered by the governor, allows them to spend up to $15 million for the program from the fees collected.

State officials first developed the program in 2007 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But due to a lack of political will and infighting among state officials, it took until 2024 for the Legislature to fund the program. That approval was limited to a pilot program, though, and lawmakers declined to re-up the funding in 2025.

A main point of contention was whether to allow the Insurance Department to run the program or to put it in the hands of a separate, nonprofit authority. The distrust between lawmakers and Chaney traced back to a 2016 scandal over funding the state couldn’t account for, which went through a different state agency, Mississippi Today reported.

Yet while arguing the Insurance Department shouldn’t run the program, lawmakers also pointed to Alabama’s mitigation program as a shining example. Alabama runs its program through its state insurance department, and experts, such as those at Smart Home America and Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, said the program largely mirrored what Chaney pushed for.

Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi who’s led the Legislature’s work on the issue, repeatedly called out Chaney last year over a lack of information and concerns with the Insurance Department running the grant fund. Leading up to this legislative session, though, the two were able to work through their differences, DeLano said.

“I’ve got to commend the commissioner for the work he’s done,” the senator told his colleagues on the floor Wednesday.

Sen. Walter Michel, a Republican from Ridgeland, introduced the measure.

“For too, too long we have played hurricane roulette with the mitigation work,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said after the Senate passed the proposal. “So many homes all across Mississippi will need what you did today.”

The proposal would also create an advisory committee that would meet with the Insurance Department about the program three times a year. The committee would be comprised of three appointees from the Senate, three from the House, and the executive director of the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriters Association.

For the first time in years, state leaders have voted to increase the amount of tax credits available to Mississippians who donate to private schools. 

The Children’s Promise Act program currently allows people to claim up to $18 million in tax credits in total. Under a bill headed to the governor, that state would instead allow people to claim up to $24 million in tax credits starting in 2027.

Since 2020, private schools and foster care organizations have been receiving money through the Children’s Promise Act, which gives donors dollar-for-dollar tax credits for up to 50% of the donor’s state tax liability. 

House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, originally touted the program as a way to give money to nonprofit organizations that care for foster children, but a provision to give tax credits to private-school donors was tucked into the bill when it was passed in 2019.

READ MORE: School choice dead in the Legislature, but private school tax credit bills alive

House Bill 1944, which passed the House and Senate this week, would change the buckets of money available to different organizations, giving private-school donors access to more tax credits. 

Under current law, half of the program’s tax credits, up to $9 million, are earmarked for people and organizations that donate to foster care service organizations. The other $9 million in tax credits are available to donors to private or special purpose schools that have any students in the foster care system, students with chronic illnesses or disabilities or students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

But if Gov. Tate Reeves signs HB 1944, one of the $9 million buckets would be entirely available to private-school donors because the legislation separates the schools in the second category and gives special purpose schools access to a new pot of tax credits up to $6 million. 

That means next year, nonprofit foster care organizations would be eligible for $9 million, private schools would be eligible for $9 million and special purpose schools would be eligible for $6 million.

Though Lamar’s attempt to substantially increase the cap on the program failed this year — as it has in previous years — this is the first time money has been added to the program since 2022, in large part to advocates who have rallied against the program. Opponents say the program is an indirect way for the state to funnel tax dollars to private schools.

People who distribute, or intend to distribute, abortion-inducing medication in Mississippi could face a criminal charge and up to 10 years in prison if convicted, under a bill lawmakers are sending to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. 

Experts say criminalization could lock up desperate Mississippians and scare doctors away from prescribing these medications in clinical settings for non-abortion purposes, such as stopping postpartum hemorrhaging and easing symptoms of miscarriages. 

Lawmakers added restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs to a drug trafficking bill that passed the House 76-38 and the Senate 37-15 on Tuesday. Republicans control both chambers. 

“I think we’re going to end up trapping a lot of people into the criminal justice system simply because they want to have autonomy over their own bodies,” said Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson, who voted against the bill. 

Rep. Celeste Hurst, a Republican from Sandhill, said she introduced this amendment to keep abortion medication, such as mifepristone and misoprostol, from entering Mississippi. 

“The intent is to keep doctors from out of state from circumventing our current law,” Hurst told Mississippi Today. 

But there is virtually no way for Mississippi to prosecute providers who send abortion pills across state lines, according to Mary Ziegler, an expert on abortion law and a professor at University of California at Davis School of Law. Shield laws in states where abortion is legal protect abortion providers, patients and helpers from out-of-state investigations, lawsuits and prosecutions, Ziegler told Mississippi Today. 

“I think lawmakers are imagining this will be primarily used against doctors or drug manufacturers in blue states,” Ziegler said. “But it will be much harder for prosecutors to actually get those people into court than it will be for them to get someone whose partner has these drugs.”

What makes the legislation especially harmful, Ziegler said, is its vagueness. The bill says possession would only be criminal if there were an intent to distribute, but Ziegler expects Mississippians using the drugs for their own purposes could be prosecuted. 

Language around clinical settings is also vague. The bill says Mississippi providers would only be prosecuted if they prescribed abortion-inducing medication with the intent to cause an abortion, not in instances where those drugs are prescribed to aid in a miscarriage or stop hemorrhaging. Despite this exemption, the bill is sure to have a chilling effect on health care, Ziegler said. 

In both cases, Ziegler said, “the differentiator is intent, which is really, really hard to prove.”

This kind of legislation primarily comes down to the fact that abortion opponents are disappointed that abortions have increased in recent years, Ziegler said.  

In 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, in a Mississippi case, overturned the constitutional protections around the right to abortion. At the time, it was considered a huge victory for the anti-abortion movement. But abortions have paradoxically increased across the nation in the years since then, largely due to increased access to mail-in abortion medication. 

“That’s kind of a hollow thing for the state if that happens and then the number of abortions doesn’t go down,” Ziegler said. “It’s like, what did you really accomplish?”

Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Republican from Belmont and one of six lawmakers who hashed out the final details of the legislation, told Mississippi Today he supported the amendment as a way to enforce Mississippi’s abortion ban.

“The state of Mississippi has been pretty clear of where they are about their pro-life position,” Sparks said. “If people are circumventing that through the mail or through other mechanisms, then I think we’re trying to be consistent with what the law is.”

Sen. Bradford Blackmon, a Democrat from Canton who voted against the bill, said it’s “outrageous,” “ridiculous” and “unnecessary” to lump abortion medication in with scheduled drugs and allow the state to enforce imprisonment of one to 10 years for the offense. In the end, Blackmon said, it’s just going to hurt poor women. 

“The wealthy Mississippians are still going to be able to go where they want to get abortions,” Blackmon said.

Retired Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich died Tuesday. He was 72.

Helfrich was known best for his role prosecuting Sam Bowers, the imperial wizard for the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the 1966 killing of NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer Sr. in Hattiesburg.

The White Knights was the most violent white supremacist organization in the 1960s.

Before Bowers went to trial in 1998, Helfrich told reporters, ‘‘Justice was never served the first time. It’s time justice was done.’’

The first trial had led to a few convictions, but the klansmen didn’t stay behind bars long because governors pardoned them, commuted their sentences or released them early. Most of the killers walked free, including Bowers.

Thirty-two years after the fact, Bowers went on trial for ordering the killing of Dahmer, who died after defending his family from klansmen who fired into the family home and set it on fire.

READ ALSO: Son like father: Vernon Dahmer Jr. was a patriot

Dennis Dahmer was 12 years old when the attack took place on Jan. 10, 1966. That same year, Helfrich watched his dad die from lung cancer. He, too, was 12.

“That’s why I feel close to the Dahmer family,” Helfrich said then. “I was there when my dad died, there till his last breath.”

Days before the August 1998 trial began, his voice broke with emotion as he spoke about the family. “I cannot imagine the thoughts that go through their minds,” he said.

Dennis Dahmer described his relationship with Helfrich as a close one. “We both talked about our shared experience of losing our fathers during adolescence,” he said.

In his closing statement, defense lawyer Travis Buckley claimed that Bowers was being persecuted, comparing it to Adolf Hitler’s propaganda campaign against Jews.

Helfrich told jurors that Bowers ordered klansmen to kill Dahmer, just like Hitler ordered his henchmen to kill millions of Jews. “Did Hitler do it? No. Was Hitler responsible? Yes. And what do we have here?” Helfrich said as he pointed at Bowers. “Let’s talk about Hitler. Let’s talk about an evil genius sitting right there.”

A jury convicted Bowers, and the judge sentenced him to life in prison, where he died in 2006.

“The Dahmer family will always be grateful for the decision made by District Attorney Lindsay Carter and then-prosecutor Bob Helfrich to reopen the civil rights murder case of Vernon F. Dahmer Sr.,” Dennis Dahmer said.

Yes, he said, it was “a risky political decision to make, but it was the right thing to do. Justice delayed is better than justice denied!”

Five years after that conviction, Helfrich was sworn in as a circuit judge. Dahmer’s daughter, Bettie, declared, “It’s a new day for justice in Forrest and Perry County.”

Helfrich became one of the first group of judges to utilize drug courts in Mississippi. Those courts make it possible for those battling drug problems to reverse convictions after completing a recovery program.

In 2006, he threw out the burglary conviction of Black Korean War veteran Clyde Kennard, who was railroaded in 1960 after he tried to enroll at the then-all-white college now known as the University of Southern Mississippi.

Kennard was sentenced to seven years in prison and was released in 1963 after officials at Parchman prison discovered he was dying of cancer. The lone witness recanted his testimony, saying Kennard had done nothing wrong.

“Because this matter did begin here, it should end here,” Helfrich said. “This is not a black and white issue; it’s a right and wrong issue. To correct that wrong, I am compelled to do the right thing.”

in a statement Wednesday, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph said Helfrich “developed a deep commitment to drug courts, and the former participants held him in the highest regard. … He went on to lead one of the most respected drug courts in the state. Judge Helfrich was appointed multiple times by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi to serve on the State Intervention Court Advisory Council, and he assisted and counseled all of the state’s trial judges.”

Helfrich retired last year, and Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Hattiesburg attorney Thomas “Michael” Reed to take Helfrich’s place until the term expires in 2028.

Devery Anderson, author of the book “A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard,” said the passion and resolve that Helfrich “mustered in prosecuting the mastermind behind the 1966 murder of Vernon Dahmer tells you everything you need to know about him.”

His exoneration of Kennard demonstrates that Helfrich “was always willing to do the right thing — let the consequence follow,” Anderson said. “He will long be revered in Mississippi law for these and a host of other reasons.”

Update 4/1/26: This story has been updated to include a statement from Mississippi chief justice, Mike Randolph.

So much to talk about: Mo Williams to Kentucky, Mississippi State’s baseball excellence, Tiger Woods’ errant drives, Warner Alford, the Final Fours, some Saints news, and Rick’s gumbo.

Stream all episodes here.

Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory council member Greg Spore was hopeful when reviewing applications last fall from organizations looking to prevent and address addiction in Mississippi.

As someone who struggled with addiction for years, Spore thought the tens of millions of lawsuit dollars the state Legislature tasked the council with overseeing could help make the resources that have helped him maintain long-term recovery. He saw some plans to do that in some of the applications he and others were reviewing. 

“I’m optimistic,” he told Mississippi Today in October. “Because I think I have to be optimistic.”

That optimism mostly faded after last weekend, when he found out the Legislature had drastically altered the advisory council’s recommendations.

“I’m really just dumbfounded,” Spore said Monday. “I’m just sort of stumped.”

It’s not that he thought the advisory council was flawless. Spore saw and spoke up against council problems when they arose — such as the body favoring applications members were associated with and high variance in the scoring of applications between different subcommittee groups. And it’s not that he isn’t happy with some of the Legislature’s proposed funding decisions.

But lawmakers went further in changing spending plans for tens of millions of opioid settlement dollars than some councilmembers like Spore thought they could. These changes included sending money to groups that had never applied through the advisory council’s application process, according to the council’s public documents.

“We were just sort of stripped of any input, any vetting we had done,” he said. 

Spore is among other opioid overdose prevention advocates and people who’ve struggled with addiction across Mississippi and the country who expressed concern over the Legislature’s recent moves. They worry about lawmakers bypassing advisory council recommendations in its first opioid settlement distributions, misspending money instead of addressing addiction.

The plan lawmakers released goes against what the Mississippi state code they created last year instructs them to do — only accept or reject changes. Seven budget bills show the Legislature plans to change the recommended amounts of money each applicant receives and even some money to groups that never applied for funds.

Lawmakers changed the Department of Mental Health’s spending bill Monday to replace the agency with Oceans Healthcare, an organization that did apply for opioid settlement money, as the recipient of a $4 million grant to address maternal substance use disorder. The bill’s new version also sends $1 million to South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel to fund its application.

But there are still other appropriations using money the council oversees for proposals it never reviewed. Lawmakers plan to send the Department of Employment Security $1 million for a new recovery-to-work program, and $4.5 million to community mental health centers for general care purposes. The $4.5 million appropriation is similar to what the Department of Mental Health requested in January in general funds for the organizations. 

Lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Tate Reeves Sunday to let the Legislature change funding amounts from the advisory council’s recommendations. But neither the current opioid settlement laws or the proposed changes instruct the Legislature to appropriate funds that must be spent to address addiction without the council’s review. 

Republican Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins, who has been involved in this year’s opioid settlement distribution process, told Mississippi Today on Monday lawmakers had the right to make the appropriations the way it did.

“The Legislature changes laws every year and amends laws every year and does that,” the Pascagoula lawmaker said. “It’s all legal. So whatever Mississippi Today’s interpretation is, I defer to lawyers and constitutional scholars.”

He later posted on his Facebook page thanking the advisory council for its work while saying that “stewarding these funds remains the Legislature’s responsibility.”

After reviewing the 2026 opioid settlement bill, Matt Steffey, a constitutional law professor at Mississippi College, said the new proposed language still reads like the advisory council review process is necessary for spending the national lawsuits required to be used for overdose prevention. 

He said it’s hard to see how bypassing the council would follow the law’s stated goal “to ensure public involvement, accountability and transparency in allocating and accounting for the monies in the fund.”

MaryAsa Lee, spokesperson for Attorney General and Advisory Council Chair Lynn Fitch, did not respond to an emailed question about Fitch’s thoughts on lawmakers going outside the council applications in their abatement funding decisions.

The state’s Supreme Court has ruled that lawmakers control money the state wins in lawsuits, and Steffey said he didn’t know if someone would have legal standing to challenge these appropriations in court. But he said just because the Legislature may be able to do that doesn’t mean they should. 

“It certainly shouldn’t set up a year-long process and then ignore it,” Steffey said. “If the Legislature sets up a process, the citizens should be able to expect the Legislature to then abide it and honor it.” 

The 2026 bill requires the advisory council to contract with a consultant to improve the opioid settlement distribution process, which council member James Moore called for last year. Moore has worked to prevent overdoses throughout Mississippi since his son fatally overdosed 11 years ago. 

Seeing how the Legislature considered the council’s work, Moore worries whether a consulting group’s work would be treated similarly.

“Would those same legislators have any motivation to accept the recommendations from an out-of-state agency skilled in grant application reviews?” He asked in an email to Mississippi Today.

Tricia Christensen, an independent drug policy consultant in Tennessee, said the Legislature could further shut out Mississippians with the most expertise in how best to prevent more overdoses. Mississippi is one of the few states where there are no opportunities for people without political connections to offer public testimony. 

“If the Legislature holds all the power, there will be even less ability for community members and subject matter experts to apply for or help influence how funds are spent,” Christensen said in a text message to Mississippi Today. 

Lawmakers in other states have also sought to supersede opioid settlement advisory councils. Regina LaBelle, the country’s former top drug policy official and the director of Georgetown Law’s Center on Addiction and Public Policy, said it could be tempting to soon use legislative power to backfill impending Medicaid funding cuts and other federal health addiction grants.

But the settlement funds are limited, and hundreds of Mississippians continue to overdose every year.

“It’s not forever,” she said. “And it’s not a ton.” 

Two bills that would have allowed lawmakers to make Mississippi’s state Supreme Court districts fairer for Black voters died with a Monday night deadline, likely guaranteeing a federal judge will redraw the maps. 

While the House and Senate could not reach agreement on redrawing the three court districts, lawmakers on Tuesday debated and passed numerous other bills, hoping to end their 2026 regular session by Thursday. On Monday night, legislators had finished crafting a nearly $7.4-billion state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

READ MORE: Ed spending, special projects, PBMs and PERS: Lawmakers trying to wrap up 2026 session

The legislative wrangling over the state’s high court districts stems from U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock’s ruling last year that the districts in the northern, central and southern parts of the state violate the federal Voting Rights Act because they do not allow Black voters in one area a fair chance to elect a candidate of their choice. 

Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, said he believes that pending appeals related to the litigation and other court decisions involving redistricting played a role in the Legislature not redrawing the districts. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Mississippi, the Southern Poverty Law Center and private law firms on behalf of a group of Black Mississippians filed a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act against the state over the Supreme Court districts. 

Judge Aycock in Mississippi ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, but the state defendants asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn her decision. The state did not ask Aycock to pause lower-court proceedings while the appeal played out. 

The 5th Circuit, however, did pause its appellate proceedings until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in a Louisiana case that many expect will gut much of the federal Voting Rights Act, and allow states more free rein in redistricting. 

If Mississippi lawmakers redraw the Mississippi Supreme Court districts, it would be the first time lawmakers have redrawn them since 1987. 

Current state law establishes three distinct Supreme Court districts, commonly referred to as the Northern, Central and Southern districts. Voters elect three judges from each of these districts to make up the nine-member court. 

The main district at issue in the case is the Central District, which comprises many parts of the majority-Black Delta and the majority-Black Jackson Metro area. Currently, two white justices, Kenny Griffis and Jenifer Branning, and one Black justice, Leslie King, represent the district. 

No Black person has ever been elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court, in the state with the highest percentage of Black residents, without first obtaining an interim appointment from the governor, and no Black person from either of the two other districts has ever served on the state’s high court. 

Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, told Mississippi Today in a statement that since a federal judge concluded that Supreme Court districts are shaped in a way that prevents Black voters from having a chance to elect a candidate of their choice, he is disappointed lawmakers chose not to remedy the map. 

“The federal court gave the Mississippi Legislature an opportunity to correct those discriminatory districts,” Dortch said. “Lawmakers chose not to. Their inaction is further evidence that this country still needs the protections of the Voting Rights Act.”

Aycock, in a December order, wrote that if the Legislature ends its session without adopting a new map, attorneys are required to provide a formal notice to her within seven days after the end of the session. After receiving notice, she will meet with attorneys to discuss the next steps in the litigation.

The 2026 legislative session, now set to draw to a close, has seen much infighting between Republican House and Senate leaders, and each chamber has killed many of the other’s major proposals. Some highlights from Tuesday’s deliberations:

Bills increasing state role in immigration sent to governor

Both chambers approved the negotiated version of bills on Tuesday that would increase Mississippi’s role in enforcing federal immigration law and force local law enforcement agencies to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

Republican lawmakers voted in near party-line votes to send SB 2114 and HB 538 to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for his consideration. Republicans said the bills would enhance public safety and hold people accountable for violating immigration laws, while Democrats raised concerns that the federal government is responsible for enforcement and that the proposals would leave counties on the hook for paying to incarcerate undocumented immigrants. 

“We didn’t have enough money for infrastructure, we didn’t have enough money for childcare, but clearly we have enough money to hold people in jail or in prison because we are so concerned about so-called illegal aliens committing crimes in the state of Mississippi,” said Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson.

SB 2114 makes it a state misdemeanor to enter Mississippi from another country outside a legal port of entry, creating a minimum penalty of six months in prison. Illegal immigration is already a federal crime, but this measure also would make it a state-level crime in Mississippi. 

Under the measure, if undocumented people are also convicted of other crimes, they would have a minimum of two additional years added to their sentence. Rep. Joey Hood, a Republican from Ackerman, said the provision is necessary to deter undocumented people from committing crimes against Mississippians. 

Other provisions in the legislation include letting the Department of Public Safety collect data on undocumented immigrants living in Mississippi and directing state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out immigration raids. The state attorney general’s office could investigate agencies accused of failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. 

HB 538 would ban “sanctuary” policies across Mississippi by preventing any state entities from adopting policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It would also require these entities to share information about individuals’ immigration status and to honor ICE detainer requests. It gives the state attorney general’s office the authority to investigate and sue agencies or officials who don’t comply with the measure. 

Last-minute negotiations on education policies

Though lawmakers appeared to reach an agreement on a teacher pay raise earlier this week, the legislation was sent for further negotiation Tuesday and changed to include a provision similar to the bill’s original language about school counselors. 

Amid the teacher pay raise debate, the original language in SB 2103 was stripped. The bill, authored by Republican Sen. Angela Burks Hill of Picayune, would have removed the requirement that Mississippi school counselors follow the American School Counselor Association’s code of ethics. 

The amendment added Tuesday would allow the Mississippi Department of Education to come up with an ethics policy for Mississippi school counselors to follow, according to Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, a Republican from Leakesville.

“We trust the department to make good, sound judgment when they do so,” he said. 

Hill said there’s “no reason” that the state’s counselors should be required to commit to a national code of ethics from what she described as a “social justice activist organization.” The group represents about 43,000 school counselors, and focuses on providing professional development and supporting counselors, according to the organization’s website. 

Hill said her concerns are rooted in keeping parents in-the-know about their children. 

“Some of the platforms that the ASCA has are basically affirmation of gender confusion and fluidity, and they have a balance between students’ rights and parental rights,” she said. “So that’s a concern because if that’s going on, a parent needs to know it.”

While the latest version of the bill does not appear to require counselors to tell parents about changes with their students, policies in other states that require schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns have come under fire and brought litigation.

Both chambers filed the new version of the bill on Tuesday and a full vote is pending. 

Winter Storm Fern bills passed

The Legislature has passed two bills on to the governor that would help fund recovery from Winter Storm Fern.

Both chambers adopted SB 3104, which would give various agencies over $122 million from the state’s Capital Expense Fund. The largest appropriation provides $20 million for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency for disaster recovery, including Winter Storm Fern. 

On Sunday, lawmakers passed SB 3229 to allow the state to borrow money to help Entergy defray the cost of repairs to its power system from the storm. The storm is estimated to have caused over $200 million in damages to Mississippi’s largest energy provider. 

Legislators have said that the state is able to borrow money at a lower rate than Entergy would, and that by loaning the money to Entergy they can help prevent large rate hikes for customers to repair damages. The bill is similar to one that was passed for Mississippi Power Company after Hurricane Katrina caused widespread damage to its system in 2005.

More than a dozen school districts have to address problems ranging from poor recordkeeping and significant debt to dysfunctional leadership — issues that might otherwise fly under the radar of local communities until they become too severe to ignore. 

The districts each have a downgraded accreditation status, and they must act on plans to resolve the violations state education officials cited. The state Board of Education approved those corrective action plans earlier this month.

Most of the district’s violations stem from late financial audits, poor recordkeeping and fiscal mismanagement. Some districts, including Hazlehurst, North Bolivar and Jackson Public Schools, have been on probation for nearly a decade for failing to clear accreditation violations.

Two of the districts, North Bolivar and Hazlehurst, face a possible state takeover or an unannounced investigative audit of all district records if they can’t clear accreditation violations by the end of the year. State department officials found that the districts didn’t make meaningful progress toward clearing outstanding violations. 

The Mississippi Department of Education will monitor the other 12 districts on probation for compliance with agency policies as well as state and federal law. 

Education Department officials have been dissatisfied with the districts’ progress toward ensuring student safety, complying with federal civil rights law, complying with graduation requirements outlined in state law and record management, among other findings.

Regulators also took issue with past dysfunctional leadership in Hazlehurst, North Bolivar and Jackson Public Schools. In 2025, the agency took issue with governance violations by Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District, where board members hired a superintendent without properly advertising the position. Agency inspectors also noted testing irregularities at Moorhead Central School and A.W. James Elementary, two schools in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District based out of Indianola.

The agency has also received confidential complaints from JPS teachers and administrators accusing school board members of getting involved in the district’s day-to-day operations, including student discipline. An inspection of Hazlehurst’s board found that board policies weren’t regularly reviewed, with inconsistencies in student handbooks regarding promotion and retention of students.

Other findings can sometimes be bellwethers for future state takeovers.

The accreditation status for Okolona Separate School District, which the state took over in November, has been probation for two years over the past decade because of poorly run special education and gifted programs. Officials cited Wilkinson County School District, which the state took over in January, for violations stemming from unlicensed teachers and poor school board governance in six years over the past 10 prior to its 2025 takeover because of students’ persistent low performance on state tests.

North Bolivar alternative school students get shorted on instructional time

Besides citations for poor recordkeeping, not tracking staffs’ work hours and fiscal management, the Education Department also cited North Bolivar schools over the quality of its alternative school. 

An inspector from the Education Department noted that a paraprofessional, and not a licensed teacher, was supervising an alternative school class in 2024. The class met in a room of Northside High that includes a kitchen, which district officials implied was not conducive to learning. State department officials found that no instruction had transpired during one visit and during another, students received 10 minutes or less of instruction.

State department inspectors couldn’t find progress reports for some alternative school students. Disciplinary histories and other documents that track student behavior were missing from files, too. Inspectors also could not locate documentation that outlined due process hearings for students.

North Bolivar Consolidated School District enrolls students from Mound Bayou, Shelby, Duncan and surrounding communities. None of those communities have more than 2,000 residents. They all lost at least a tenth of their population in the last decade. It’s hard to recruit enough teachers to fully staff every department, Superintendent Jeremiah Burks said. It’s particularly difficult to recruit teachers for the alternative school, he said.

Burks is pushing for a contract with Grade Results, a company that sells online courses.

Burks said he plans to move the alternative school to a better location in the district, one that complies with agency standards and provides adequate separation from general education students. He said he has assembled record review teams tasked with checking student records for missing reports or other documentation. 

With future inspections, state officials will observe a more organized school district with significant progress made to reform its alternative school, Burks said.

“We took to heart (MDE’s) suggestions, and we have been implementing new plans,” Burks said. “I feel good about where we are with addressing the standards. It’s just a matter of putting everything together and formalizing it, so that we can review where we are.”

Greenville and Natchez-Adams school districts struggle to budget

Education Department regulators found bad budgeting in Greenville and Natchez-Adams school districts Millions of dollars were unaccounted for in district ledgers maintained by the two school districts.

With Greenville, district ledgers left out more obscure funds like the Quality School Construction Bond sinking fund, which is devoted to construction projects and requires regular payments by school districts. 

Greenville owed vendors $79,737 and declared it had $869,692 more in their account than it did. 

The Greenville school board hired Ilean Richards as superintendent in January 2025. Local leaders say they are optimistic about better fiscal management in subsequent years. 

“The district is committed to and currently working to ensure that these deficiencies are corrected from previous years of past administrations,” district spokesperson Everett Chinn said in a statement.

Chinn did not respond to additional questions about what specific steps district leaders have taken to improve accounting practices. He also did not answer whether the district has mandated supplementary or requested technical assistance from the Education Department or another agency.

Natchez-Adams School District’s main operating fund reached an over $1.3 million deficit, according to its fiscal year 2022 audit. State law forbids school district officials from spending more resources than are available. Natchez-Adams also failed to submit its fiscal year 2024 audit within nine months of the end of the fiscal year.

In the Carroll County School District and in Natchez-Adams, a fund that set money aside for special education services had a negative balance. From fiscal year 2018-22, Carroll County struggled to balance its budget, pay down loans and correctly account for each fund’s balance. Its accounting paperwork was also missing the correct amounts for money owed.

Other districts, including North Bolivar, struggled to reconcile spending with purchasing and account for fixed assets like copiers, printers and other on-site technology in reports. Vicksburg-Warren School District, Greenwood-Leflore and East Tallahatchie had balance funds that were improperly stated.

In January, the state Department of Education’s Office of School Financial Services agreed to increase its availability to school districts that need technical assistance.

“There is such a profound lack of skilled persons to do that work,” Kym Wiggins, chief operating officer at the state Department of Education, said at a January state Board of Education meeting. “There’s a tremendous need for capable assistance, and so we’re trying to figure out here in office how we can build the infrastructure here to provide the support at the district level.”

More districts have already reached out for assistance, Wiggins said at the March board meeting.