Legislative Updates – Week of January 12, 2026
Education policy remained at the forefront of legislative activity this week, with major action on the House’s education omnibus bill and early budget discussions in the Senate.
Senate Actions
On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee heard budget presentations from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board (MCSAB), marking the beginning stages of the budget-setting process for the upcoming fiscal year.
MDE presented a legislative budget request totaling approximately $3.35 billion, an increase of about $33 million, or roughly 1 percent, over current funding levels. The department outlined its priorities, including the launch of an adolescent literacy initiative focused on grades 4-8 that would utilize a coaching model similar to those used in earlier grades, as well as a new math initiative for grades 2-8. Other priorities included continued and expanded funding for the REACH MS program (which provides virtual teachers in districts with staffing challenges); educator workforce initiatives such as the Mississippi Superintendents Institute, the Mississippi Teacher Residency, and its orientation programs for new school leaders; expansion of early childhood programs; funding for statewide assessments and test security systems; and funding for school district audits.
The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board requested $1,461,197 for the upcoming fiscal year, including $1,022,838 from its special fund and $438,359 from the General Fund. This request exceeds the Legislative Budget Office’s recommendation of $1,403,231, which proposed funding entirely from the special fund and is close to the $1.4 million appropriated in FY 2026. MCSAB leaders noted that the board is seeking to add an additional staff member and cautioned that legislation under consideration this session could increase the board’s workload, an issue they encouraged legislators to keep in mind as bills continue to move through the process.
House Actions
On Wednesday, the House Education Committee narrowly passed (14-11) a committee substitute for House Bill 2, the House’s sweeping education omnibus legislation. You can read our summary of the original bill and changes made in the committee substitute here.
On Thursday, the full House amended and narrowly passed (61-59) the committee substitute to HB 2. The close margins in both the committee and floor votes signal that the bill is likely to face continued scrutiny as it moves to the Senate for consideration. Stay tuned for our analysis of the bill as it passed the House, which we plan to release next week.
Legislative Tracker
As education legislation continues to advance and budget negotiations begin to take shape, we encourage readers to follow along using our legislative tracker, which is updated daily to reflect real-time developments. We will continue to provide updates and deeper analysis as the session progresses.
Upcoming Legislative Deadlines
- Monday, January 19: Deadline for introduction of general bills and constitutional amendments
- Tuesday, February 3: Deadline for committees to report general bills and constitutional amendments originating in their own chamber
- Thursday, February 12: Deadline for original floor action on general bills and constitutional amendments originating in own chamber.
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