Less than 48 hours from now, Mississippi lawmakers will have left their respective nooks and crannies across the state and made their way back to Jackson for yet another legislative session. Always promising to be busy down at the state capitol building, we’ve compiled the following information on what to know before the gavel lands for the first time on Tuesday afternoon.
When is the session?
The 2025 session will officially begin on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at noon. Now in the second year of the term, lawmakers will return to the usual, 90-day calendar after an elongated 2024 session that lasted 124 days. This year’s sine die is scheduled for Sunday, April 6, with the end date always subject to change.
The GOP boasts a super majority inside the Mississippi Legislature with 36 of 52 members in the Senate being Republican and 78 of 120 members in the House sporting red. There are two vacant House seats set to be filled through special elections in March, but either way, these won’t impact Republicans’ stronghold in the chamber.
Leading the Senate for his sixth session as lieutenant governor is Republican Delbert Hosemann. Over in the House, Republican Jason White will oversee the chamber for his second session after being elected speaker last year.
What will lawmakers discuss in 2025?
This is the big question. Per usual, thousands of bills will be filed with hundreds making it to the floor for a vote. While we can’t predict every topic that’s bound to come up for discussion, we do know some.
Medicaid expansion
The House may have made history last session by passing a Medicaid expansion program for the first time ever; however, the Senate quickly stepped in and stepped on any plans to do so with a bill of its own that was destined for failure.
Mississippi, losing out on billions in federal dollars as one of few states not to expand government-provided health insurance under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, never truly considered Medicaid expansion until a year
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