View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Good morning Jack,

As the legislative session settles into its next phase, the pace at the Capitol has shifted. With the deadline for introducing new bills now behind us, lawmakers are no longer filing new ideas. Instead, attention has turned almost entirely to committee meetings — where bills are discussed, changed, and ultimately decided.

Yesterday gave us a clear snapshot of where things stand: education reform and healthcare policy are now in Senate committees, and a few other reform-focused bills are starting to stand out.

Here's what you need to know.


** Where Things Stand in the Legislature
------------------------------------------------------------

Now that bill filing is complete, committees are doing the real work of session.

Before any bill can ever reach the House or Senate floor, it has to make it through the committee it's assigned to. Committees can rewrite bills, delay them, vote them down, or move them forward. In practice, this is where many bills quietly die, and where the most important decisions are made.

Put simply: this is where momentum is built or lost.


** Education Reform Update: HB2 Awaits Senate Consideration
------------------------------------------------------------

After passing the House last week, HB2, the Mississippi Educational Freedom Program Act, is now in the Senate Education Committee.

At this point, the bill is waiting to be taken up by the committee. The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to meet today, January 28, and HB2 could be discussed at that meeting.

HB 2 is aimed at expanding educational options for families while keeping participation voluntary and preserving local decision-making for school districts. Now that the bill has moved to the Senate, what happens in committee will largely determine whether it continues moving forward or stalls.

We'll be watching closely.


** Healthcare Regulation: HB3 Moves to Senate Public Health
------------------------------------------------------------

On the healthcare front, HB3, the bill dealing with Mississippi's Certificate of Need laws, is now in the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

Certificate of Need laws control when hospitals and medical providers can expand, build, or offer certain services. HB3 would make some targeted changes to those rules, including raising the dollar thresholds that trigger government approval and creating limited exemptions.

This bill does not eliminate the CON system, but it does represent another attempt to loosen regulations that can limit healthcare access and competition. As with most legislation at this stage, whether these changes move forward—and how strong they end up being—will be decided in committee.


** Procurement Reform to Watch: SB2250
------------------------------------------------------------

One bill that stood out this week is SB2250, authored by Senator Angela Hill, which focuses on how government agencies award public contracts.

At its core, SB2250 is about fairness and transparency. The bill prohibits state and local governments from giving preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity, or sex when awarding public contracts, reinforcing the principle that government contracts should be awarded based on merit, qualifications, and value—not identity-based criteria.

The bill also strengthens competitive bidding requirements, tightens the use of no-bid contracts, and improves reporting and oversight so the public has a clearer picture of how government agencies are spending money.

This kind of reform doesn't always grab headlines, but it matters. Clear rules and open competition help ensure that government agencies award contracts based on merit and value, rather than favoritism or backroom deals. That kind of structure protects taxpayers while keeping the government focused on its core responsibility: spending public dollars wisely within its own operations.

SB2250 represents a practical, policy-driven step toward better accountability in government spending, and it's a bill we'll continue to follow as it moves through the Senate.


** What I'll Be Watching Next
------------------------------------------------------------

As committees continue meeting, I’ll be keeping a close eye on:
* whether HB2 is taken up by the Senate Education Committee
* how HB3 moves through Senate Public Health and Welfare
* and which other reform-minded bills begin to gain real traction

This is the point in session where the list of “possible” bills gets much shorter—and where outcomes start to take shape.


** Track Legislation in Real Time
------------------------------------------------------------

If you’d like to follow along as bills move through the process, you can track key legislation throughout the session using the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s bill tracker.
Track Bills at the Capitol ([link removed])
Thanks for staying engaged and informed. I’ll be back next week with another update from under the dome—and I’ll keep breaking down what’s happening in plain language as the session continues.

Until next time,

Anika Page
Director of Operations

============================================================
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
520 George St
Jackson, MS 39202-3013
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Copyright © 2026 Mississippi Center for Public Policy, All rights reserved.