Legislature closes session with $253M ‘Christmas tree’ projects bill. See what was approved for your town, county or college
By Taylor Vance, Katherine Lin, Michael Goldberg and Gwen Dilworth | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Lawmakers on Thursday largely concluded their work for the 2026 regular session by passing a $253-million “Christmas tree” bill that doles out money for nearly 400 of legislators’ pet projects in cities, counties and hamlets throughout the state.
Legislators will return to the Capitol on Friday to deal with minor procedural issues, but they are expected to end this year’s legislative session after convening briefly.
In addition to the local projects spending, lawmakers also allocated $75.1 million for improvements at public universities, $40 million for community college projects and $30 million for projects at state agencies.
Check the searchable lists below to see what projects were approved for your area.
Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, said he received about 640 individual project funding requests from senators totaling over $1 billion. The Rankin County legislator said he tried to spread the funding evenly across the state.
“I wouldn’t say this labor of love, but an exercise that took a lot of time,” Harkins said.
Some of the largest items in the project bill include $13 million to improve LeFleur’s Bluff Conservancy in Jackson, $10 million for the Department of Archives and History to improve the Vicksburg National Military Park, $10 million for Rankin County, $10 million for the DeSoto County Regional Utility Authority and $8.2 million for the city of Senatobia.
As it has done for the last several years, the Legislature funded the projects with cash reserves, though lawmakers have borrowed money for such projects in lean years.
Christmas tree bills are often used as a political spoils system for lawmakers, with legislative leaders using approval or denial of lawmakers’ requested projects as a carrot or a stick on votes on other issues. Legislative leaders who help craft the final project bill also help steer money toward their home districts. Some have said there should be a more even-handed, or needs-based process of spending on capital projects.
Some Democrats say their districts shortchanged, Jackson delegation mixed
Democrats have in recent years said the portions of the state they represent, such as the Delta and Jackson, have been neglected as the GOP-majority leadership steers taxpayer dollars to projects in Republican-controlled areas.
Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons from Greenville on Friday said Republicans have once again shortchanged Democratic districts in doling out special projects money.
“We believe that Mississippi will not become the Mississippi that it deserves to become until you invest in the Delta, southwest Mississippi and the Jackson area, just like you invest in the Gulf Coast and DeSoto County and other parts of the state,” Simmons said.
At a Thursday press conference at the Capitol, recapping the 2026 legislative session, Democrats also accused Republicans of failing to strengthen Mississippi’s social safety net by not expanding Medicaid or appropriating additional funds for child care assistance.
“We close out this session with a very simple message,” said Democratic Rep. Zakiya Summers of Jackson. “Republicans are making life harder for working families. Democrats are fighting for you.”
But several Jackson-area lawmakers said the capital city’s roughly $5.6 million in project funding is a lot more this year than it has received in previous years.
“I’m excited about what our project funding looked like,” Democratic Rep. Grace Butler Washington of Jackson said. “All the projects we did receive funding for are well-needed things like infrastructure.”
Democrat Sen. Kamesha Mumford and Democrat Rep. Justis Gibbs, both of Jackson, echoed similar sentiments and said the delegation, in conjunction with Jackson Mayor John Horhn, worked with legislative leaders to advocate for increased funding.
“This is what happens when you have established leadership running City Hall that knows the legislative process,” Gibbs said.
Speaker White says special session may happen on PBMs
While lawmakers prepared to leave the Capitol on Friday, Speaker White said they might return soon to address a major issue on which they could not find compromise during the three-month session in chief.
White said negotiations continue behind the scenes to craft legislation to increase the regulation and transparency of pharmacy benefit managers, an issue advocates argue is critical to protecting patients and independent pharmacists in Mississippi against rising drug costs.
After the House killed a bill to further regulate the companies on March 26, White asked Gov. Tate Reeves to call a special session to address the issue.
White said Thursday that Reeves has been helpful in bringing stakeholders to the table to continue negotiations, and hinted that a special session is still possible.
“I would not rule out us coming back for a day or two to deal with this matter if we can find a compromise between the parties,” White said.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
