The Mississippi Legislature will soon return to the state capitol with one primary goal in mind: approve the state operating budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The two chambers will reportedly go back to work on Wednesday, May 28.
A special session was required after the regular term came to a close before the House and Senate finalized Mississippi’s $7 billion budget. The biggest snag, according to Rep. Brent Powell, R-Brandon, was not the budget at-large, but rather the appropriation of additional funds to special projects across the state.
“From what I understand, the budget was basically done before we left. It was special projects we were arguing about,” Powell said Tuesday during an appearance on Mornings with Richard Cross. “The Senate wanted to do some rather large projects but not give anything to the local projects and the municipalities. Our position was we’re either going to do all special projects or we’re going to do none.”
As leaders met for months behind closed doors to iron out a budget agreement after the regular session ended, consensus appears to be that the all-or-nothing rift has remained. Powell said he expects that no special projects will culminate in the upcoming fiscal year.
From the Senate perspective, foregoing special projects could be one way to curb a lack of federal funding amid the Trump Administration and DOGE’s slash-and-slim approach. But, according to Powell, the lack of special projects could be a roadblock for current lawmakers required to run in November’s special elections, spun by recently redrawn voting lines.
While disputes over special project specifics led to drawn-out talks between leaders, another contributing factor was the process for getting the budget in ink.
Powell also reiterated House Speaker Jason White’s intention, which was laid out early in the 2025 regular session, to avoid a “last-minute scramble” to complete the budget talks. Lt. Gov. Hosemann, however, held fast to the tradition of conference weekend, the final days of the regular session when the two chambers typically decide on the coming year’s budget.
“The Senate wanted to wait until the last minute because that’s what we traditionally do,” Powell said. “We work on conference weekend until eight o’clock at night or midnight to where none of us have an idea of what’s going on with this budget.”
Gov. Tate Reeves has publicly called upon lawmakers to set aside differences that flared during the regular session to finalize a fiscal plan in an orderly, efficient fashion. Sources said the special session is expected to last only one or two days.
Powell said the House will return to the capitol Wednesday at 11 a.m., while the Senate is expected to follow suit on a similar schedule. Reeves is scheduled to hold a press conference announcing a special session on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
