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House approves wide slate of agency budgets and deficit bills in single session
Summary
The Mississippi House advanced and passed a long list of agency appropriations and two deficit bills, moving dozens of budgets and supplemental funding measures to final passage by recorded voice and machine votes during the session.
The Mississippi House of Representatives spent its session advancing a heavy appropriations calendar and two deficit bills, approving dozens of agency budgets and supplemental measures on recorded roll calls.
Committee leaders called up a sequence of department budgets, from the Department of Archives and History and the Department of Environmental Quality to the Department of Marine Resources and the Department of Human Services. Many measures included vacancy funding, capital expense authority, and special‑fund authority for specific projects. The chamber recorded multiple unanimous or near‑unanimous roll‑call votes; for example, House Bill 1889 (Archives and History) passed by a recorded tally of 113–0 and the Board of Professional Engineers budget passed 122–0 in later votes.
Two deficit bills also passed. House Bill 1939 consolidated capital‑expense and special‑fund requests totaling about $19.47 million (including funds for a new DPS headquarters, MEMA settlement funding and income‑verification software for SNAP error‑rate work). House Bill 1940 added roughly $15.06 million for items including Jackson water‑litigation support, Bolton Building repairs and other settlements and relocations; both deficit bills were adopted by voice and recorded votes.
Several bills were moved with brief explanations from committee chairs and minimal floor debate; when members asked substantive questions (notably about childcare funding and court‑reporter pay), chairs responded that first‑house actions represent initial positions and that the figures were subject to continuing deliberation as the bills progress through the legislative process.
What happens next: the approved house positions will proceed across the hall to the Senate for its consideration, and several items (including childcare funding requests and some capital projects) remain subject to inter‑chamber negotiation and possible amendment.
