Early Education: First Major Legislative Deadline in 2025
By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy
So far, it has been a relatively quiet legislative session for early education-related bills. Leading up to the first committee deadline, House and Senate Education as well as other related committees, have primarily taken up non-controversial legislation. Below is a list of how relevant legislation fared after the deadline for bills to pass their originating committee.
Teacher-Related Early Childhood Education (ECE) Legislation—ALIVE
Several ECE bills surviving the first committee deadline are teacher-focused.
- House Bill 1142 – HB 1142 removes licensure exemptions for pre-K teachers in public charter school classrooms that receive state grants from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). The bill allows Mississippi to continue to be one of only five states to meet all ten of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) benchmarks. Continue to track the bill here.
- House Bill 1100 – HB 1100 creates the Mississippi Childcare Teachers Shortage Study Committee to study methods of reducing the childcare teacher shortage and increasing the supply of affordable childcare seats. Continue to track the bill here.
Other Child-Focused Legislation—ALIVE
Though we focus exclusively on education at Mississippi First, here are a few bills that relate to children and families that may also be of interest:
- House Bill 1063 – HB 1063 provides eight weeks of paid parental leave to state employees who are primary caregivers, presumably mothers. Additionally, the bill offers 2 weeks of paid parental leave for secondary caregivers, presumably fathers. The House showed strong support for HB 1063, passing the bill with 114 yeas. It awaits action in the Senate.
- House Bill 662 – HB 662 revises the criteria for presumptive eligibility for pregnant women using Medicaid. The revisions align Mississippi law with federal law. Presumptive eligibility allows pregnant women temporary eligibility for services and benefits while the Division of Medicaid makes an eligibility determination.
- Senate Bill 2074 – SB 2074 exempts baby formula, diapers, and feminine hygiene products from sales tax.
Bills with a Later Deadline
Revenue bills have a different schedule for advancing through the legislative process. Several ECE-related revenue bills have been introduced. These bills must pass their originating chamber by February 26 to remain alive.
NEW ECE Tax Credits—ALIVE
Mississippi First has a long tradition of tracking tax credits related to early childhood education. This dates to the legislation we authored that became the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013, which created a unique 1:1 tax credit to help state-funded pre-K programs. Revenue and appropriation bills have a later deadline than general bills. We are continuing to track several bills, including HB 907, SB 2148, and SB 2813. These bills create tax incentives for families and early childhood providers. Read more about those bills in our legislative tracker.
Final Thoughts
We’ll continue to keep the public updated as the legislative process unfolds. We expect more activity on the ECE front when budget deadlines are closer.
Related Posts
The Mississippi Legislature kicked off its 2026 regular session on Tuesday, January 6, with education policy taking center stage this week. Senate Actions On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee advanced the following education-related bills: All three measures passed the full Senate on Wednesday and will now be transmitted to the House for further action. House […]
By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy When the legislative session came to a close on Thursday, April 3, 2025, the legislature went home without passing a budget for the state government, including an appropriations bill for the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS). On Wednesday, May […]
By Grace Breazeale, Director of Research and K-12 Policy The 2025 legislative session came to a close on Thursday, April 3. The Legislature failed to pass a budget for the state government during the regular session, so the Governor must call a special session before July 1. While the regular session was relatively quiet on […]
By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy The legislative session has continued to winnow down the remaining early education-related bills. After two recent deadlines on February 26, for revenue and appropriations bills, and March 4, for general bills, there are no early childhood education (ECE) bills alive. See the list of legislation below. Teacher-Related Early […]
By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy An historic rewrite of Mississippi’s school funding formula and the subsequent allocation of record amounts of public education funding headlined an eventful inaugural session for Mississippi legislators elected this past November. The 2024 legislative session will also be remembered for lawmakers asserting authority over the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and setting funding […]
This post is part of our ongoing analysis of 2024 education legislation. See our bill tracker here for all analyses. Mississippi First has spent the last year closely researching the impact of MAEP on districts throughout the state in order to determine how best to direct additional resources to students with the greatest needs. Having built up […]
This post is part of our ongoing analysis of 2024 education legislation. See our bill tracker here for all analyses. In the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers have introduced two separate school funding proposals that each promise to inject at least an additional $200 million into funding for public education in Mississippi, with the House plan providing about […]
In terms of education policy, the 2023 legislative session will likely be remembered primarily for the legislation that didn’t pass rather than the legislation that did. This trend is headlined by the 11th hour effort to amend the MAEP school funding formula—part of a plan to “fully fund” MAEP by reducing the amount necessary to do […]
By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy After four legislative sessions, we are excited to announce that our bill to permanently raise the per-pupil funding rate, HB 817, passed! The Governor signed the bill into law on April 17. This bill increases the state share of per-pupil pre-K funds from $2,150 to a minimum of $2,500 per […]
The 2022 legislative session was a wild ride for pre-K. Our bill to permanently change the per-pupil funding rate, HB 1246, died late in the session due to unrelated politics. This bill would have increased the state share of per-pupil pre-K funds from $2,150 to $2,500 per child—an increase of $350 per child in state funds […]
With a wild 2022 legislative session finally coming to a close, we thought it would be helpful to summarize the ideas that survived the legislative process. Teacher pay and the controversial “critical race theory” bill have dominated headlines in recent months, but the 2022 legislative session also produced a number of lesser-known education bills that […]