• The Mississippi Senate approved the state’s $7 billion budget during a special session.
• The special session lasted two days and cost taxpayers roughly $200,000.
• The budget now goes to Governor Tate Reeves, who has 15 days to act.
• A $13 million reappropriation for the LeFleur’s Bluff Otter Creek Golf Park and Connector Trail Project failed in the House.
• The special session was called after the Legislature failed to pass a budget during the regular session.

Before a special session of the Mississippi legislature began, leaders of both parties said they had agreed to terms and were ready to go. That’s not exactly how things played out.

In a more orderly, but not necessarily more efficient manner on May 29, the Mississippi Senate approved bills during Day 2 of a Special Session to approve the state’s $7 billion budget. Members concluded business at 6:05 p.m. and started saying their thank yous, functionally wrapping the session. The Senate adjourned formally at 6:17 p.m.

Shortly after the session ended, House Speaker Jason White lamented that not all of the projects in bills passed the Senate.

“I am proud of our House Appropriation Chairs, who worked extremely hard to come forward with a conservative budget that reflects the priorities of the state and funds our core functions of government,” White said in a statement.”We are disappointed in the Senate leadership for not supporting worthy projects for cities and counties. We believe Mississippians find their tax dollars well spent when bridges are built, roads are repaired, and sewage issues are addressed in their hometown. The House will not go along to get along with establishment politicians. Instead of hand-selecting projects that stand out on a campaign push card, the House will continue to work hard to meet the demands and necessities of Mississippi’s local communities.”

The special session , which lasted two days and nearly 20 full hours of debate, cost taxpayers roughly $100,000 per day.

The budget now goes back to Gov. Tate Reeves, who has 15 days to act, either by approval, line-item vetoes or allowing the budget to become law without action.

In a tweet in the middle of the afternoon Thursday, Reeves suggested the Senate should get through with its business, stop debating, saying he would deal with any problematic language in bills

“The MS Senate is working diligently this afternoon to finish their work and pass all the necessary bills to fund state agencies for FY 26,” Reeves said in the tweet on X. “I have been meeting with Lt. Governor Hosemann and Senators throughout the day. We have identified a few minor items that are concerning in a few – of the over 100 – bills that must be passed. I believe it is important that the Senate pass these bills as is to get the Session completed…and I will use my constitutional authority to deal with the concerning items to protect Mississippi citizens, businesses, and taxpayers. The best thing for taxpayers is no doubt for the Special Session to be wrapped up today, and I appreciate everyone working with us to get that accomplished.

Much of the Senate complained that the House of Representatives completed business and left the capital, leaving no options other than to pass what the House left for the Senate or extend the session to spend more taxpayer money.

A full day

After Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann gaveled the Senate into session Thursday morning, the body immediately went into meet to look at what the House had worked on Wednesday in a marathon session.

Following that, the Senate took a break for lunch before coming back and debating the nearly 50, eventually approving the budget and sending the state legislature home for the summer. That action allowed the fiscal year to start on July 1 with no additional roadblocks.

Some of the more notable bills that were decided on Thursday were:

• House Bill 33 will pay $600,000 for a pilot program for public defenders in rural areas.
• House Bill 20 will pay nearly $93 million for the Department of Human Services.
• House Bill 6 that will pay nearly $360,000 for expenses of the Grand Gulf Military Monument Commission and upgrades.
• House Bill 42 provides a $16-million increase in funding for the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, including funding to cover increases in educators’ health insurance premiums and Public Employee Retirement System.
• House Bill 50 will pay $2.5 million to go to the victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

LeFleur’s Bluff Otter Creek Golf Park

One high-profile bill that failed on Wednesday with the House was a $13 million reappropriation for the planned LeFleur’s Bluff Otter Creek Golf Park and Connector Trail Project in Jackson. 

That project has gone through many iterations over the last several years as Gov. Reeves in 2023 vetoed a 15-line items within two different budget bills, one of which was earmarked for the LeFleur’s Bluff project.

The master plan, which the current bill refers to, includes walking trails that connect the entire museum complex of the Mississippi Museum of Science, the Mississippi Children’s Museum and the Mississippi Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, along with Otter Creek Golf Park, which will have design influence from Robert Trent Jones II. 

In 2022, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith announced the plans for the second phase of the Mississippi Children’s Museum amenities to add to the first phase, the LeFleur’s Bluff Playground, which opened in December 2021. 

Part of what would have been funded was an education program called “The LIFT” at the Mississippi Children’s Museum Fund. The monies would be transferred during the next fiscal year.

This iteration of the bill was authored by Sen. Walter Michele of Ridgeland.

The battle of the House of Representatives

On Day 1, after a contentious showdown on the floor of the Mississippi House of Representatives on May 28, bills were finally forwarded to the Senate for a potential conclusion the special session.

Democrats protested the hurried nature of the called special session, first in an appropriations meeting in the afternoon and then in a vote on the floor in the evening.

Omeria Scott of Laurel asked for several amendments to bills during the afternoon appropriations meeting that delayed the process by hours, followed by a shouting match between Speaker of the House Jason White, a Republican, and Democratic house member Zakiya Summers.

Democratic House members had asked for all of the bills to be read out loud by the automated system, saying they had not had enough time to prepare for the session and to know what was in the bills. Summers, then wanted to debate one of the bills and White announced that there would either be debate of the bills or reading of the bills, but not both. At one point, White told Summers that if she did not want to work within those parameters, she could leave the chamber.

How Mississippi Legislature got here

Reeves officially announced that a special session for legislators will begin on Wednesday, May 28.

The governor made the announcement Tuesday, May 27.

Both houses of the Mississippi Legislature, last week, said they were in agreement on a $7.135 billion budget deal.

“The House and Senate have come to an agreement in the budget,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said last week.

On May 23, Reeves announced he would bring lawmakers back to Jackson before the fiscal year begins on July 1.

No political infighting

Reeves had previously said he would not allow political infighting between the Republican-led House and Senate over the state’s $7 billion budget to hold him back from funneling necessary funds to state agencies.

Lawmakers earlier this year failed to pass a new budget before ending the 2025 regular session early.

This is not the first time there has been a struggle to get the budget over the finish line.

First special session since 2009

When the Legislature last left Jackson, the state’s capital city, without a budget in 2009, Reeves said, former Gov. Haley Barbour faced a similar situation. He forced lawmakers back to Jackson and a budget was passed at nearly the last minute.

“It was 2009, I remember vividly when there was a major disagreement between the then Democrat-led House and the then Republican-led Senate, that led to literally a standstill all the way up until June 30, 2009,” Reeves previously said. “A lot of us did a lot of research and tried to figure out what could be run and what could not be run (without a state budget).”

In early April, the Legislature ended the 2025 regular session without passing a state budget after spending negotiations disintegrated.

Those negotiations soured for several reasons, but notably over a debate on whether to put more money into the state’s retirement system and to fund a local projects bill, which typically is funded with between $200 and $400 million.

As of May 1, Reeves confirmed that House and Senate leadership were unable to submit a budget proposal to his desk by an April 30 deadline, mostly due to bitter disagreements over a local projects bill.

On May 27, Reeves said the functions of core government have been decided, but that the parties involved will have to come together over the one-time funding projects. He said he thought that would not be a problem. He had expected the process to go much more quickly than it did.

Clarion Ledger government reporter Grant McLaughlin contributed to this story.

Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.