A panel of state lawmakers heard from 11 state agency leaders on Thursday and Friday about their proposed spending for fiscal year 2028.
Nearly every agency asked for more money as legislators begin the work of setting a more than $7 billion state budget.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee will issue its recommendations and revenue estimate later this year, but the final budget will be set during the regular legislative session that begins in January.
A lawmaker reviews information from the Office of Student Financial Aid at a Joint Legislative Budget Committee meeting, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayFor fiscal year 2027, which started July 1, lawmakers passed a $7.5-billion state-funded budget, part of a $29 billion total budget that includes federal money.
With state revenue expected to remain more or less flat over the next few years due to tax cuts and the economy, legislators are carefully watching spending and as Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said multiple times in the hearings, lawmakers do not like running deficits.
Legislators had a lot of questions for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency as it raised concerns about its coffers after recent disasters, such as Winter Storm Fern, which has become the state’s second most expensive disaster after Hurricane Katrina. They also had many questions for the state Institutions of Higher Learning, over a controversial new funding formula for universities.
Institutions of Higher Learning
IHL’s hearing was perhaps the most contentious hearing. Legislators pressed its leaders for over an hour and a half. The questions were primarily over the move toward a performance based funding model and whether the universities would fund to metrics such as graduation rates, student income after graduation and cost per student.
IHL asked for an increase of $93 million for a total education and general fund request of around $561 million for the coming budget year. Legislators questioned IHL leadership about whether the additional money is needed, how much universities are spending per student and the financial health of the schools amid declining enrollment. They pushed for more funding to be tied to performance. Lawmakers made it clear that their priority is graduating more students and preparing them for the workforce.
Alfred Rankins Jr., senior executive director of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, back to the camera, addresses members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayLegislators questioned the willingness of the agency’s board to find cost savings through shared resources and by turning around financially struggling schools, and asked what IHL would do if the Legislature approved the same funding as the current year.
Alfred Rankins Jr., IHL’s senior executive director, defended IHL’s approach but said the board is committed to improvement and supporting the universities.
Alfred Rankins Jr., senior executive director of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, center, confers with provosts David Shaw of Mississippi State University, left, and Noel Wilkin of the University of Mississippi before presenting the universities’ budget requests before the Mississippi Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayThe Office of Student Financial Aid is facing a “significant” deficit in fiscal year 2027 due, in part, to changes in federal student aid and increasing the number of eligible students. Earlier this year, the FAITH scholarship, which is given to former foster youth, faced a funding gap until the Woodward Hines Education Foundation stepped in with a one-time gift of $800,000.
MEMA says it ‘won’t make it to June’
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency again raised alarms about its funding in a year that saw three federally declared disasters in the state — Winter Storm Fern in January, tornadoes in May and Tropical Storm Arthur in June.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Stephen McCraney speaks to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayThe agency’s “Disaster Assistance Trust Fund” is critically low — at about half its usual level — considering what future disasters may be around the corner, MEMA executive director Stephen McCraney said Thursday.
The agency’s disaster trust fund — which includes money for the state’s match of federal disaster aid, mission assignments and payments to the National Guard — stood at $6.7 million, MEMA chief deputy Crystal Thompson said Thursday.
“I won’t make it to June,” McCraney said. “Not at this current burn rate.”
In the Fern recovery, the state has so far spent $86 million to match federal funding for “other needs” aid, part of FEMA’s Individual Assistance program that covers costs for things such as funerals, hotel stays and childcare. FEMA covers 75% of the costs and the state pays the remaining 25%.
The Legislature put another $20 million in the disaster trust fund this past session, but MEMA has already spent that money matching FEMA aid, the agency said.
MEMA requested a $70 million budget for fiscal year 2028, nearly twice what it had estimated spending for the current year.
Medicaid’s increasing price tag after COVID
The Division of Medicaid is asking for an additional $179 million for a total request of $1.3 billion from the state. The Legislature provided more money to Medicaid for this fiscal year but the division is still anticipating a deficit of $34 million. And the department’s request for the upcoming fiscal year could continue to change.
Cindy Bradshaw, executive director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, speaks to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayIt is one of the state’s largest expenditures and about a quarter of the state’s population is enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The number of people enrolled has decreased, but the end of increased federal COVID money means that the cost to the state continues to rise even as enrollment has dropped.
Child Protection Services requests large increase
The Department of Child Protection Services requested an increase of about $52 million for a total of over $200 million in state funds.
The agency wants to add 47 attorney positions, partly due to recent Youth Court reforms the Legislature passed during a special session. Around $34 million of the additional money would go to contractual services, including contractors to handle the agency’s large caseload.
Andrea Sanders, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, left, speaks to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayOne of the requirements of the Olivia Y lawsuit, a federal consent order focused on the safety of children in care of the state’s long-troubled foster system, is for the department to request enough money to meet the lawsuit’s safety standards. Hosemann said that for the past two years the agency has run an annual deficit of $35 million.
“We want them to budget realistically, particularly Child Protective Services,” Hosemann said, “We’re wanting them to be funded to adequately do their job and we don’t need for them to be short funded and have to come up with $35 million at the end of the year.”
Despite deficit, court system lowers its request
Legislators acknowledged there have been many changes in state courts over the last year, including the recent Youth Court Reform Act.
The Administrative Office of Courts has added contractors to handle intake from Youth Courts and will add nine new Youth Court judges next year.
The office is anticipating a deficit of nearly $3 million this year. The office, which includes the state Supreme Court, youth and electronic courts and court interpreters, said this is due to the system coming under oversight of the state Personnel Board and not receiving enough funding.
Despite changes to the office and this year’s deficit, the overall budget request for the next fiscal year is $6 million less than the previous year for a total of close to $34 million.
Demand increases for mental health services
Mississippians’ unmet mental health needs continue to be critical. The state’s suicide death rate has risen in recent years while the national number has declined, according to federal health data.
Wendy Bailey, the Department of Mental Health’s director, requested roughly $10 million more than the Legislature gave the department for the current year.
Wendy Bailey, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, speaks to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayShe said $4.5 million of the additional request would be for the department to fund community services for 200 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After Bailey told lawmakers that about 2,700 Mississippians were on a waiting list for the program, Hosemann asked why Bailey hadn’t requested more money. He asked a similar question after Bailey said the beds were full at a Brookhaven intellectual and developmental disability youth home.
Bailey responded that plenty of substance use, mental health and disability problems in the state are not being funded.
“There are many, many more things I can add to the budget request,” Bailey said. “This is not an area that we are seeing a decrease in demand of services.”
Office of Workforce Development wants to expand
Accelerate Mississippi, the state office of workforce development, wants to expand its programs in the coming budget year.
The agency requested over $7 million, an increase of $2.5 million. The additional money would go to increasing staffing and covering increased costs of services to train more workers and meet industry demand in the state.
Health Department requests no increase
Dr. Dan Edney, Mississippi’s state health officer, requested level funding, no major increase, for the Mississippi State Department of Health for the third year in a row. The department requested a budget of over $90 million from the state.
State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney presents the Mississippi State Department of Health’s budget request to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayEdney said the agency has worked to reduce overhead on operations in order to maintain services in spite of significant inflationary pressure in healthcare.
Edney said the agency hopes to allocate more of its money to developmental support and services for young children and their families, even as it maintains its current funding level.
Public Safety wants salary increases
The Department of Public Safety requested a budget increase of around $30 million from about $167 million to $197 million.
Most of the money would go to salary increases and making salaries for sworn officers competitive at a base of $65,000.
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell speaks to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Rogelio V. Solis for Mississippi TodayHence then, the article about mississippi agencies ask for more money as lawmakers begin work on 7b budget was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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