Republican Gov. Tate Reeves confirmed Tuesday afternoon during a press conference that lawmakers will return to the state capitol on Wednesday to hash out a budget after failing to do so during their yearly-scheduled session for the first time since 2010.
Before providing details on the special session – which will officially begin with lawmakers gaveling in Wednesday at 11 a.m. – Reeves took a few minutes to highlight “how much winning is taking place in the state.” He congratulated the Copiah-Lincoln Community College softball team for winning a national title, the Ole Miss softball team for earning its first College World Series berth, Ole Miss and Southern Miss baseball teams for landing regional host sites, and Mississippi State baseball for making the postseason as well.
According to Reeves, the winning has not just been on the field; it’s also come from within the economy. He cited a record number of employed residents based on April numbers and a handful of private investments such as Amazon creating 1,000 jobs in Marshall County and plans for a fifth megasite being unveiled in Lowndes County to show “just how much momentum we have here.”
“These economic victories did not just appear out of thin air,” Reeves said. “They happened because we did what we needed to do to make these things happen.”
Reeves said the reason he opened the press conference by touting what the state has accomplished in recent weeks is to push lawmakers to keep the momentum going during the incoming special session by quickly passing a budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which begins July 1. Budget blueprints were verbally agreed on by Republican leaders last week after nearly two months of behind-the-scenes negotiations.
“One of the things that we’ll need to continue this historic momentum is we’ve got to have a budget,” he said. “For example, we have to fund positions at the [Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality] to ensure all of these new projects get the permitting they need for construction. Speed to market demands it.
“We have to have the spending authority to continue to invest in construction-ready sites all across Mississippi for new projects. We have to continue to invest in education, from pre-kindergarten to workforce development.”
Reeves said the budget proposal has been approved by his office as well as those of Republican leaders Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Jason White. It should round out at $7.135 billion and funds core functions of government without any special projects for specific districts, per the governor.
What led to the budget collapse?
A myriad of disagreements led to budget negotiations crashing during the regular session, sources previously told SuperTalk Mississippi News.
First and foremost, the irregular route to passing a major tax cut package left a bad enough taste in some lawmakers’ mouths to help upend negotiations. House Republicans were adamant on completely phasing out the state’s income tax while their colleagues in the Senate preferred a more measured approach. When the Senate’s proposal was passed in March, errant decimal points unnoticed by those behind the bill paved the way for House Republicans to get mostly what they wanted but resulted in enough intraparty tension for lawmakers to leave the capitol without passing a budget.
Secondly, White was outspokenly critical of the budgetary process. Typically, lawmakers wait until late in the session and hold a “conference weekend” for leaders of both chambers to negotiate the state’s multi-billion-dollar budget for the incoming fiscal year. The weekend can often be a blur and result in bills hurriedly being passed, opening the door to misspent funds. White told his chamber to not show up for conference weekend in a stand against the status quo in hopes of budget talks being picked up earlier in future sessions.
Are other topics included in the special session?
After Reeves occasionally used the nearly two months between the regular session ending and now to entertain the idea of adding major, non-budget topics to the special session agenda – such as legalizing mobile sports betting and allowing homeschooled students to play public school sports – he ultimately decided against it. He said not all legislation during the special session will be classified as appropriations but will still relate to funding core functions of government.
“At this time, I only anticipate that the call will include items that are specific to funding the core functions of government,” he said. “There will be a bill that also deals with deficits for the current fiscal year. So, there will be more than just straight appropriations, but every items that is on the call that currently exists is an item that specifically deals with core functions of government.”
In 2024, lawmakers passed a state budget of just over $7.05 billion with spending for the current fiscal year landing at around $7.15 billion. The deficit will be taken care of during the incoming special session.
How long will the special session take?
According to Reeves, the passage of around 100 bills making up the state budget could be passed in one day. At the most, he foresees lawmakers to be leaving the capitol by the end of the week – especially with the NCAA baseball tournament beginning this weekend.
“Now, it is my belief that this should not take long,” Reeves said. “In fact, I believe that the passage of these bills could be done in as little as one day. But obviously, the fact that there is baseball to be played on Friday will surely encourage our friends to be done long before the end of the week.”
