Senate passes a package of bills on broadband, taxation, incentives and incentives cleanup; redistricting adopted after debate

The Mississippi Senate on Tuesday approved a bundle of bills covering tax, economic development, broadband incentives, and administrative clean-ups before moving to a prolonged redistricting debate that concluded with adoption of the plan.

Lawmakers took final action — often by use of morning roll calls — on a series of measures explained on the floor. Major items debated or explained included a placeholder appropriations vehicle for a proposed Department of Tourism, a clarification requiring third-party short-term rental platforms to collect local hotel-type taxes, an option allowing local governments to exempt raw materials and work-in-progress from ad valorem tax, a matching fund vehicle for municipal electric departments in TVA service areas, changes to valuation rules for agricultural and secondary rural structures, updates and a sunset extension for broadband tax credits, incentive credits for gaming-related capital projects, multiple Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) incentive funding lines, a new industrial multiplier for some renewable energy equipment valuation, extensions to data center sales and use tax exemptions tied to investment and hiring thresholds, and a cleanup of duplicative incentive statutes through Inflex provisions.

Most of these bills passed with little floor debate after sponsors explained the measures and requested morning roll…