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State nursing board asks for $500,000 expansion for workforce grants and warns CNA transfer would require new staff
Summary
The Mississippi Board of Nursing requested maintaining headcount and an additional $500,000 for its Office of Nursing Workforce (ONW), and warned that a proposed transfer of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) from the Department of Health would add substantial recurring costs and require investigator and legal staffing.
The Mississippi Board of Nursing told the Appropriations Subcommittee that its scholarship and workforce programs have distributed more than $4 million over five years to support nearly 5,000 students and asked the committee to restore a $500,000 addition to expand the Office of Nursing Workforce.
Executive Director Phyllis Johnson said the Office of Nursing Workforce — which awards grants and scholarships to nursing students and partners with 13 accredited colleges — has benefited 4,954 students over the past five years and that the board has allocated "a substantial total of over $4,000,000" for that purpose. The board asked the committee to appropriate an additional $500,000 for FY26 from the agency's cash balance; the LBR (Legislative Budget Request) eliminated that increase and the board asked the committee to restore it.
Johnson outlined recruitment and retention challenges for the board's staff and said the FY26 request asks for salary progressions of 5% for professional nursing positions and 3% for other staff. She said the agency has been actively recruiting and has hired five people since the snapshot used in budget preparation.
On potential statutory changes, Johnson told senators the board has been notified of House Bill 1051 (Rep. Curry), which would transfer responsibility for approximately 18,000 certified nursing assistants and about 200 training programs from the State Department of Health to the Board of Nursing. The board supports the transfer in principle but said it needs more information and estimates the transfer would require adding at least an investigator III and an attorney II, plus additional licensing-system changes, travel and commodity costs.
Johnson also summarized a submitted plan to revive licensure pathways for veterans who completed specific military nursing training programs as required by Section 56 of HB 1803; the board submitted the requested plan Oct. 10, 2024. She described M*STAR (Mississippi Higher Education School Technology and Residence Network) as a recent initiative to expand rural nursing education.
Ending: Committee members acknowledged the request and asked staff to follow up on outstanding data and the potential CNA transfer while noting the board's large cash balance and ongoing recruiting efforts.
