The audio version of this story is AI generated and is not human reviewed. It may contain errors or inaccuracies. Mississippi lawmakers face the first major killing deadline of the 2026 legislative session on Tuesday, the deadline for House and Senate committees to pass measures originating in their own chamber. This deadline will likely winnow the nearly 3,000 bills and resolutions filed by the state’s 174 lawmakers down to several hundred. For years, some lawmakers have called the first committee deadlines, and subsequent death of hundreds or thousands of bills, the “end of the silly season” as they get down to brass tacks negotiating remaining measures. In the end, typically 600 or so bills will become law, including roughly 100 that make up the $7-billion state budget. Of note last week: Prison health care reform. The House Corrections Committee passed several bills aimed at improving health care in state prisons, an issue that has been documented in Mississippi Today’s “Behind Bars, Beyond Care” investigative series. At the same hearing where the measures were passed, Corrections Chairwoman Becky Currie also questioned tens of millions of dollars in mysterious bank accounts related to the prison system’s inmate welfare fund. Campaign finance reform. Secretary of State Michael Watson is spearheading an effort to reform Mississippi’s notoriously lax campaign finance laws. The Senate Elections Committee last week approved a bill with many of Watson’s recommendations, but its House counterpart committee killed a similar measure without even a discussion. Mississippi lawmakers have for many years been loath to change the state’s campaign finance laws, which the attorney general has said are such a conflicting hodgepodge as to make many of them unenforceable. Certificate of need. The House and Senate sent to the governor a bill to help medical facilities make improvements more easily and to require the University of Mississippi Medical Center to seek state approval before opening facilities outside its Jackson campus. Lawmakers last year passed similar changes to Mississippi’s certificate of need laws, but they have removed a provision that prompted Gov. Tate Reeves to veto the legislation in April. Quote of the Week “I get pictures of people trying to eat a bag of chips in their cell and they have to fight off the roaches, and I’m talking an unbelievable amount of roaches.” – House Corrections Chairwoman Becky Currie. She was explaining a bill that would require state prisons to provide monthly pest and rodent control services. In Brief Casinos reaffirm opposition to online sports betting Eight Mississippi casinos sent a joint letter to lawmakers last week reaffirming their “unwavering opposition” to the legalization of online sports betting. The casinos cited concerns including online gambling cutting into their revenue by reducing in-person betting, online gambling’s addictive qualities and legalization’s potential to become a gateway to fully online casinos. According to the casinos that sent the letter, seven of the fifteen commercial casino operators in Mississippi oppose online sports betting, seven support it and one remains undecided. The letter comes as the House is set to try for the third year to legalize mobile sports betting, after the Senate has killed proposals. Supporters say the state is missing out on tens of millions in tax revenue that could be generated through legalization, as a black market continues to thrive. – Michael Goldberg Bill would expand early learning collaboratives The House Education Committee on Wednesday passed a bill that would expand the state’s successful early learning collaboratives program.  Early learning collaboratives, a state- and taxpayer- funded pre-K program created by the Legislature in 2013, established education partnerships in communities across Mississippi. The program compensates child-care centers, nonprofit organizations, school districts and Head Start agencies for partnering. Now, there are 40 collaboratives across the state, and the program has received national recognition.  House Bill 1215 would require that the Mississippi Department of Education continue to try to scale the program up by at least 20 collaboratives annually. The goal is that eventually every district in the state would have a voluntary pre-K program.. – Devna Bose Measure would make all school board positions elected Another bill advanced by the House Education Committee would remove appointed school board positions, instead requiring all school board members be elected.  An amendment from Rep. Kimberly Remak, a Republican from Olive Branch, also created a mechanism for residents to recall school board members.  Rep. Jansen Owen, a Republican from Poplarville who authored the bill, said his aim is to give parents more power over the education their children receive, a sentiment he’s expressed while advocating for school-choice policies also making their way through the Legislature.  “Parents feel like their school boards are not accountable to them,” he said. Similar bills in the Senate have been referred to the chamber’s education committee, but not yet taken up. – Devna Bose Bills moved to encourage religion in schools Bills that encourage religion in school continue to advance in both chambers.  The House Education Committee passed a bill that would require public schools to provide a time and place during the school day for students and teachers of different religious groups to pray.  House Bill 2, the chamber’s massive education package, also includes a provision about classroom prayer, while three Senate bills about prayer in school have been referred to the higher chamber’s education committee. One of those Senate bills requires the display of the Ten Commandments in the classroom, as does a separate House bill. – Devna Bose Check-cashing businesses would be allowed to charge fees House Bill 547, which would allow check-cashing businesses to pass on credit- and debit-card fees to customers, passed the House Business and Finance Committee. Authored by Rep. Henry Zuber III, a Republican from Ocean Springs, the bill would allow the fees, provided they are clearly displayed to borrowers. While not an unusual practice, some committee members expressed concern especially because customers tend to be lower income. There are close to 500 registered check cashers in Mississippi. Check cashing businesses are not banks and give cash quickly. They’re often used by people without bank accounts. The bill is supposed to help businesses deal with rising credit card fees which have increased 70% since the pandemic according to the Nilson Report, a trade publication. – Katherine Lin State of the State Address rescheduled to Wednesday Gov. Tate Reeves’ annual State of the State Address had been planned for last week, but was rescheduled because of the major winter storm Fern hitting Mississippi. The address will be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, on the second-floor rotunda of the state Capitol, and will be aired live by Mississippi Public Broadcasting. – Mississippi Today By the Numbers 2,846 The number of bills and resolutions Mississippi lawmakers have filed for the 2026 legislative session, according to the State Watch legislative tracking service. This includes 2,728 general bills that would create or change state law – 1,805 in the House and 923 in the Senate. More Legislative Coverage Mississippi lawmakers push nuclear power expansion legislation Mississippi lawmakers are pushing for the state to incentivize nuclear energy production, as increasing such production becomes a surprisingly bipartisan issue nationwide. Read the story. Lawmaker targets getting guns away from domestic abusers Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, filed Senate Bill 2339, which would criminalize possession of firearms and ammunition for respondents in domestic abuse protection orders and those convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. Read the story. Lawmakers push bills to ban cellphone use in schools The House Education Committee passed a bill during its Wednesday meeting that would require local school boards to enact policies that restrict or prohibit the use of cellphones during the school day. The Senate Education Committee greenlit a similar bill during its meeting last week, which bodes well for the legislative success of the policy. 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