House approves a broad slate of Senate bills including deficit, ARPA and local projects; several measures advance to governor

The Mississippi House of Representatives approved a large package of Senate bills in a single-floor session, adopting measures ranging from a deficit funding bill to authorizations related to ARPA funds, local projects, health-care program changes and a proposed Department of Tourism framework.

The most consequential vote was on Senate Bill 3054, labeled the deficit bill, which the House adopted after approving a committee “strike all” that set the total deficit at $43,835,275 (general funds $29,712,617; special funds $14,122,658). The recorded vote on final passage was 117 yeas, 0 nays.

Members also passed bills the chamber described as housekeeping or technical but with programmatic impact: an end-of-session transfers measure (Senate Bill 2146), an ARPA general bill reallocating unobligated ARPA funds (Senate Bill 2543), and a local projects bill that corrects project names and added a paragraph to assist Montgomery County with paving on Robinson Thompson Road (Senate Bill 2544). Those three bills were adopted on recorded votes that the clerk reported as unanimous in the House (2146: 119-0; 2543: 119-0; 2544: 118-0).

Other measures on the floor included: - A bill giving the Department of Finance and Administration authority to manage outstanding loans from the Educational Facilities Revolving Loan Fund (Senate Bill 2606). The House adopted the measure on a recorded vote (119-0). - A technical-revisions bill carrying assorted fund custody and appropriation corrections, transfers and other fixes (Senate Bill 2840). The House adopted the committee language and passed the bill on final passage. - Legislation opening the state burn-care fund to any…