Mississippi House overrides line-item vetoes and refers other vetoed projects back to committee
Loading...
Summary
After reading multiple veto messages, the House voted to override line-item vetoes in House Bill 19-24 and debated whether to recommit other vetoed projects; members split between immediate overrides and procedural referral to committee.
The Mississippi House of Representatives debated governor veto messages on multiple appropriation measures and took recorded action on a pair of bills before recessing for committee work.
The clerk read a governor’s veto message that identified partial vetoes in House Bill 19-24 and criticized several bills for lacking oversight language. Representative Mims moved to refer vetoed line items in House Bill 19-24 back to Appropriations D for further consideration; Representative Scott objected, urging the body to override the vetoes instead and arguing that many of the projects were vetted and needed funding.
After committee briefings, the House voted to override the governor’s partial vetoes on House Bill 19-24. Representative Mims explained the package included line items for opioid-response funds and local projects; the clerk recorded 110 yeas and 0 nays and the motion carried.
Members also debated House Bill 16-53 (a package containing numerous previously vetoed projects). Representative Cochran moved to refer that bill back to committee on procedural grounds, arguing counsel had advised that many of the projects were from prior sessions and that an override would not change earlier vetoes. Multiple members sought written counsel clarifications about whether a new bill in a new session could be treated as 'new' for override purposes. The House announced a voice vote to refer the bill and a roll call was demanded; the transcript records the referral motion, floor debate, and the roll call demand but the public transcript ends before a final roll-call tally for the recommit of that specific bill was recorded.
The House also took final passage votes on a separate resolution extending the repealer date for the youth court support program; the clerk recorded 96 yays and 10 nays and the resolution passed. Before adjourning sine die, the Speaker recessed the House subject to call to allow multiple appropriations committees to meet immediately.
Members repeatedly asked counsel to provide written procedural guidance for handling vetoes of projects that had appeared in earlier years; the Speaker and committee chairs indicated follow-up meetings would be scheduled during the recess.
The House stood adjourned sine die for the 2026 regular session later in the day.
