Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official page posted by the Mississippi Legislature, fetched 2026-08-29. This is the enrolled version. The official bill page.
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE 2026 Regular Session To: Appropriations C; Appropriations A By: Representatives Deweese, Read, Bennett, Creekmore IV, Currie, McGee, Mickens, Scott, Turner House Bill 1909 (As Sent to Governor) AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO DEFRAY THE EXPENSES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Department of Human Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027.... $ 94,690,585.00. SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Human Services which is comprised of special source funds collected by or otherwise available to the department for the support of the various divisions of the department, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027 $ 1,588,817,339.00. SECTION 3. None of the funds appropriated by this act shall be expended for any purpose that is not actually required or necessary for performing any of the powers or duties of the Department of Human Services that are authorized by the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, state or federal law, or rules or regulations that implement state or federal law. SECTION 4. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of this act, not more than the following amount of funds, with the exception of the provisions in this section, shall be expended only for "Personal Services," which includes "Vacancy Funding," for the following authorized number of employment headcount: FUNDING: General Funds: $ 58,776,823.00 Special Funds: $ 60,359,995.00 Total Funds: $ 119,136,818.00 PERSONAL SERVICES: Employee Salaries, Wages and Fringe Benefits: $ 114,622,634.00 Progressions: $ 0.00 Vacancy Funding: $ 4,514,184.00 Total Personal Services: $ 119,136,818.00 AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT: Permanent: 1,307 Time-Limited: 348 As used in this section, the term "Personal Services" shall mean funds provided under the major object of expenditure category Personal Services for Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits. Funds in this category shall not be transferred to any other category. It is the intention of the Legislature to ensure compliance with the Variable Compensation Plan, as outlined in Section 25-9-147, Mississippi Code of 1972. Payment from these funds shall be in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan promulgated by the Mississippi State Personnel Board. It is the Legislature's intention that no employee's salary falls below the minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel Board. The State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the projected annual cost of "Personal Services" based on monthly and year-to-date payroll expenditures in compliance with the provisions of this act. With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency's responsibility to ensure that no single personnel action or combination of personnel actions, when annualized, exceeds the Fiscal Year 2027 appropriation for "Personal Services" with the exception of escalated funds. Further, it shall be the agency's responsibility to ensure that funds required to be appropriated for "Personal Services" for Fiscal Year 2028 do not exceed Fiscal Year 2027 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or positions are added to the agency's Fiscal Year 2027 budget by the Mississippi Legislature. If, at the time the agency takes any action to change "Personal Services," the State Personnel Board determines that the agency has taken or will take an action that would cause the agency to exceed the funds appropriated in this act when annualized for Fiscal Year 2027 or increase the need for "Personal Services" for Fiscal Year 2028, when annualized, the State Personnel Board shall process no salary actions until such time as the requirements of the provisions of this section are met with the exception of new hires determined to be essential for the agency. When used in this section, "Vacancy Funding" shall mean funds included in the Total Personal Services amount listed above and designated for approved vacancies in Fiscal Year 2027. These funds are to be utilized to increase the number of filled headcounts that were authorized but unfilled as of the last day of Fiscal Year 2026. If the agency fills additional headcounts after March 1, 2026, until the end of Fiscal Year 2026, the amount of available Vacancy Funding may be proportionally adjusted to reflect the updated number of filled headcounts. The agency shall be responsible for ensuring that "Vacancy Funding" is used to increase headcounts and not for promotions, title changes, in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing salaries for current employees. Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State Personnel Board shall not escalate positions or increase the Personal Services total without written approval from the Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to escalate any funds for salaries and/or headcounts without proof of availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated level. Unless specifically noted, all Fiscal Year 2026 escalated headcounts have been accounted for and shall be converted to authorized time-limited headcounts. No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are withdrawn and no longer available. None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in violation of the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor. If the agency's total authorized headcount decreases from Fiscal Year 2026 to Fiscal Year 2027, it will be the agency's discretion as to what headcounts are removed. SECTION 5. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services shall maintain complete accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal Year 2026. It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2028 shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail provided during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request process. SECTION 6. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2 herein to the Department of Human Services, One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) shall be transferred to the Department of Health, Child Care Licensure Program from the Child Care Development Fund or other appropriate special fund. These funds are to be transferred to the Board of Health no later than July 31, 2026. The Department of Health shall make a complete accounting to the Department of Human Services detailing the uses of these funds in accordance with federal and state regulations. SECTION 7. It is the intention of the Legislature that whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are made without competitive bids. SECTION 8. The Department of Human Services is authorized to expend available funds on technology or equipment upgrades or replacements when it will generate savings through efficiency or when the savings generated from such upgrades or replacements exceed expenditures thereof. SECTION 9. It is the intention of the Legislature that none of the funds provided herein shall be used to pay certain utilities for state furnished housing for any employees. Such utilities shall include electricity, natural gas, butane, propane, cable and phone services. Where actual cost cannot be determined, the agency shall be required to provide meters to be in compliance with legislative intent. Such state furnished housing shall include single-family and multi-family residences but shall not include any dormitory residences. Allowances for such utilities shall be prohibited. SECTION 10. In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the intended mission of this agency. Based on the funding authorized, this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted performance measures provided below: FY2027 Performance Measures Target Support Services Percent of Referred/Directed Investigative Audits Conducted 100.00 Percent of Special Investigations Conducted 95.00 Percent of Referred/Obtained Fraud Investigations Conducted Timely 100.00 Percent of Referred Administrative Disqualification Hearings & Fair Hearings Conducted Timely 99.00 Percent of Monitoring Reviews Conducted within Acceptable Timeframes 98.00 Total Amount of Funds Recovered 3,500,000.00 Aging & Adult Services In-Home Services - Age 60 + (Persons Served) 27,500 Community Services - Age 60 + (Persons Served) 193,617 Number of Congregate Meals 468,272 Number of Home Delivered Meals 2,700,000 Substantiated Incidences of Abuse of Vulnerable Adults per 1,000 Population 0.17 Home Delivered Meals, Percent Reduction of Persons on Waiting list 1.00 Child Support Enforcement Number of Paternities Established 15,500 Percent Change in Paternities Established 3.30 Number of Obligations Established 16,000 Percent Change in Obligations Established 12.50 Total Collections ($) 378,000,000.00 Percent Change in Total Collections -2.50 Number of Absent Parents Located 68,000 Percent of Child Support Cases Current on Payments -2.53 Community Services Number of Elderly Served by CSBG & LIHEAP 20,352 Number of Disabled Served CSBG/LIHEAP 26,762 Number of Households Weatherized 516 Early Childhood Care & Dev Number of Children Served 33,000 Assistance Payments Dollar Amount of Assistance 6,240,877.00 Food Assistance Number of Average Monthly Households 225,000 Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program - SNAP ($) 716,413,100.00 Percent of Mississippi Households Receiving SNAP Benefits 22.51 TANF Work Program Number of Average Monthly TANF Households 8,864 Number of Average Monthly Persons Served in TANF Work Program 1,107 TANF Work Program Participation Rate (%) 60.00 Number of Persons Employed Through the TANF Work Program for the Year 832 Number of Households Receiving TANF Benefits During the Year 9,969 Percent of Households Receiving TANF During the Year 49.00 Percent of TANF Participants in Job Trng Who Enter Employment 30.00 Percent of TANF Participants in Job Training Who Enter Employment at A Salary Sufficient to Be Ineligible for TANF 19.00 Percent of TANF Participants in Job Training Who Remain Employed For: One Year After Leaving the Program 75.00 Percent of TANF Participants in Job Training Who Remain Employed For: Five Years After Leaving the Program 65.00 Social Services Block Grant Number of Clients Served, Division of Family & Children's Services 75,611 Number of Clients Served, Aging & Adult Services 21,178 Number of Clients Served, Youth Services 12,880 Youth Services Community Services (Children Served) 6,500 Institutional Component (Children Served) 130 Number of Volunteers - Community Services/Institution 0 Number of Children Placed in Alternative Placement 95 Percent of Children Diverted from Institutional Care 95.00 Recidivism Rate (%) 4.00 A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for Fiscal Year 2028. SECTION 11. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement, make a concentrated effort to increase collections of past due child support payments. On or before January 1, 2027, the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Office detailing year-to-date performance measures in the Child Support Enforcement Program compared with the prior year. SECTION 12. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services shall have the authority to spend such additional funds as it shall receive from the federal government in incentives or the federal match on those incentives for the purpose of child support enforcement. SECTION 13. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) shall be transferred to the Juvenile Facility Monitoring Unit at the Department of Public Safety no later than July 31, 2026. SECTION 14. Of the funds appropriated herein, to the Department of Human Services One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), is provided for the support of the Home Delivered Meals Program and any additional funds that may be appropriated to this program. SECTION 15. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Governor's Office, Division of Medicaid and the Department of Human Services shall continue to work together to implement Section 43-12-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, known as the "Medicaid and Human Services Transparency and Fraud Prevention Act". SECTION 16. As a condition of receiving and expending any funds appropriated under this act, the Department of Human Services: (a) Shall use a competitive procurement process for entering into all TANF subgrant agreements with non-state entities when the federal government does not direct to whom the funds must be subgranted; (b) Upon awarding of a grant to any subgrantee of the department, shall require the subgrantee to submit a monthly report to the department that contains, but is not limited to, all of the following: (i) A listing of all costs incurred by the subgrantee during the previous month; (ii) A listing of all clients served by the subgrantee, with an explanation of which services were provided to the clients; (iii) A listing of all lower-tier subgrantees, who must be approved by the department before the execution of any such agreement by the prime subgrantee; and (iv) Any other data required by the department to provide sufficient evidence of budgetary compliance; (c) Shall not advance funds to a subgrantee for more than sixty (60) days; and (d) Shall reimburse a subgrantee for expenses only after the required documentation is provided and is approved by the department. SECTION 17. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) is provided for the additional cost of administering the SNAP Program. SECTION 18. It is the intent of the Legislature, that within the funds available, the Department of Human Services may provide any qualifying grants of CARES Act or American Rescue Act funding in an amount not to exceed One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) to the three (3) regional food banks that serve Mississippi, including Feed the Gulf Coast, Mid-South Food Bank, and Mississippi Food Network. SECTION 19. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is reappropriated out of any money in the Capital Expense Fund not otherwise appropriated for the Department of Human Services for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of Capital Expense Funds, as authorized in House Bill 20, 2025 First Extraordinary Session, to defray expenses of the Department of Human Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027 $ 55,431,146.00. This reappropriation is made for the following purposes: (a) To defray the Department's computer expenses............ ............................................. $ 1,431,146.00 (b) To secure federal funding for a new computer system..... ............................................. $ 54,000,000.00 Notwithstanding the amount reappropriated under this section, the amount that may be expended under the authority of this section, shall not exceed the unexpended balance of the funds remaining as of June 30, 2026, from the amount authorized for the previous fiscal year. In addition, this reappropriation shall not change the purpose for which the funds were originally authorized. SECTION 20. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 2, Five Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($5,100,000.00), or so much thereof, shall be derived out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the Capital Expense Fund, as created in Section 27-103-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, and allocated in a manner as determined by the State Treasurer. These funds are provided to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to secure federal funding for a new computer system. SECTION 21. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 2, Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00), or so much thereof, shall be derived out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the Capital Expense Fund, as created in Section 27-103-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, and allocated in a manner as determined by the State Treasurer. These funds are provided to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to demolish deteriorated structures at Oakley Youth Development Center. SECTION 22. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 2, One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00), or so much thereof, shall be derived out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the Capital Expense Fund, as created in Section 27-103-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, and allocated in a manner as determined by the State Treasurer. These funds are provided to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to establish and implement a pilot Adolescent Opportunity Program to serve youth as a community-based diversion and intervention program with the goal of reducing recidivism among adolescents. Before expending or disbursing any funds under this section, the department shall develop a written pilot plan and enter into a grant or subgrant agreement for the administration of the program. Any award made under this section shall be based on demonstrated need, service gaps, court referrals, and the capacity to deliver structured community-based services. The department shall require, at a minimum, quarterly performance and expenditure reports from recipients and may require matching support, in-kind participation, or local partnership commitments as a condition of award. SECTION 23. With the funds appropriated herein, the Mississippi Department of Human Services is authorized to make payments for expenses incurred during prior fiscal years for an amount not to exceed Fifty-five Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-six Dollars and Nineteen Cents ($55,266.19). These payments are for previous year invoices for Eastern Business Forms, LLC; Court Costs for Jefferson, Smith, and Amite counties; NSPARC; LexisNexis; Pitney Bowes; Environment MASTERS; Moses Electric, Inc.; Prime Care Nursing; RJYoung; Siemens; Uniform Store, LLC; and Waste Management. SECTION 24. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law. SECTION 25. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
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