Mississippi’s usually three-month legislative session saw an added burst of activity – or lack thereof – on Wednesday as lawmakers were called back to Jackson for a one-day reconvening after being off for about two weeks.
The brief return of both chambers produced sharply different outcomes, with the House advancing some veto overrides while the Senate ultimately failed to override any measures. The one-day reconvening gave lawmakers a rare opportunity to override Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for the first time since 2020.
What did the House do?
The House gaveled in and went to work. Inside the chamber, tension could immediately be felt between representatives and Reeves.
“These people over here at the governor’s office pick and choose (what to veto) with no rhyme or reason. They certainly can’t say they’re consistent in the reasons that they give for their vetoes. We know that’s true. So, y’all, listen, it is time for us to use the stick on this governor in my opinion,” Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, said on the floor when discussing House Bill 1924.
HB 1924 allocates approximately $30 million in opioid settlement funds received from pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and chains tied to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Reeves signed the bill but used line-item vetoes to remove funding for three nonprofits: the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence ($800,000), Hope Squad ($500,000), and Finally First ($250,000).
The nonprofits had applied for funding through the legislature-created Opioid Fund Advisory Council during the legislative offseason, but “human-error glitches” left their applications out of the council’s final report, which lawmakers used as a framework for appropriations. Lawmakers included the groups anyway, while Reeves said it would be “imprudent” to approve spending not included in the report.
The House voted 110-0 to restore the funding and override the governor’s vetoes.
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The chamber then moved to HB 1648, which would create a Gulf Coast Restoration Revolving Loan Program to extend the life of BP oil spill settlement funds through low-interest loans for coastal projects. The program would be administered by the Department of Finance and Administration and the South Mississippi Planning and Development District.
Reeves vetoed the measure, arguing it would duplicate existing government functions and lack sufficient oversight. House members again voted unanimously, 111-0, to override his veto.
Republican Speaker Jason White then told members the House was awaiting action from the Senate before any further progress could be made.
What did the Senate do?
Not much, spoiling the House’s attempts to override vetoes.
The Senate gaveled in and immediately took an hours-long recess. During that time, it became apparent that a potential override of Reeves’ veto of legislation tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in rural health care funding would not be taken up on the floor. Democrats protested the decision, banding together to vote no on other measures in response.
Senate Bill 2477 was originally passed with ease by both chambers to increase legislative oversight over roughly $206 million in federal funding for the recently announced Rural Healthcare Transformation Program. The bill, authored by Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, and later substituted with similar language from Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, would have required funds to go through the state’s competitive bidding process and prioritized so-called “super rural” areas.
Reeves vetoed the measure, arguing Mississippi does not have sufficient time to complete a lengthy bidding process before a federal deadline requiring funds to be obligated by Oct. 30. He also warned the proposal could jeopardize more than $800 million in future federal funding, citing concerns raised by the White House.
“The fact is that there is an extremely narrow window for Mississippi to deploy this funding – the deadline is tight,” Reeves wrote on social media before lawmakers reconvened. “We’ve already teed up a tremendous plan that will strengthen rural healthcare in our state. Why blow it up after all the hard work has been done?”
Reeves also criticized Bryan and Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on social media following Bryan’s appearance on SuperTalk Mississippi’s Mornings with Richard Cross, though he did not single out Creekmore in those comments.
Ultimately, the Senate did not take up an override vote on the veto. With no movement on the rural health care measure, additional override efforts, such as the restoration of opioid settlement funds, were stalled, and the chamber adjourned for the year.
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Hosemann did not respond to a Wednesday night request for comment on why the measure did not make it to the floor for an override vote.
Other chances to veto squashed
Senate Democrats’ protest over not being able to override the rural health care veto plagued the chance of revival for several other measures, including:
- HB 895 — a measure that removed the required six-month follow-up visit with a practitioner for patients in Mississippi’s medical cannabis program. The governor vetoed the bill out of concern it would remove existing safeguards in state law and open the door for recreational use of marijuana, and not medical use as allowed by statute.
- HB 1152 — a measure that established the “Right to Try Medical Cannabis Act,” allowing patients who suffer from chronic, progressive, severely disabling, or terminal illnesses to qualify for medical cannabis access on a trial basis. The governor, while supporting the spirit of the bill, vetoed it because he believed it opened the door for non-Mississippians to game the system and get access to medical cannabis through the state’s program.
- HB 1653 — a measure that broadens and reorganizes Mississippi’s Local Improvements Project Fund, or money that goes toward infrastructure, economic development, and community enhancement projects for counties and municipalities. The governor line-item vetoed the measure, squashing funding for some local projects statewide that Reeves had vetoed in previous sessions.
- SB 2189 — a measure using money from the Local Improvements Project Fund on local projects statewide. The governor line-item vetoed the bill, singling out multiple projects that he said did not meet the criteria for state funding. One of the projects in question was the “Blue Suede” hotel development project in Tupelo, which was set to receive $2 million from the state before the governor’s veto.
- SB 3071 — a measure directing money to projects that qualified for BP oil spill funding. The governor greenlit most of the legislation, but line-item vetoed funding for a $1.5 million public works redevelopment project in Ocean Springs and a $150,000 Lucedale-George County History Museum project.
- SB 3402 — a measure to restore the voting rights of Mississippi Gulf Coast native Corderro Martin, who is no longer allowed to vote due to past felony convictions linked to shoplifting and drug charges. The governor did not provide an explanation for the veto.
