2026 Legislative Session Wrap Up: Progress, Setbacks, and What’s Next
The 2026 legislative session has concluded. Lawmakers could return to address final items, such as veto overrides, but the session is effectively over.
As we reflect on the last few months, one word comes to mind to describe this legislative session: disappointing. We will likely remember this session more for what didn’t get done than what did.
House leadership rode a tidal wave of education freedom momentum into the 2026 legislative session, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Senate opposition to school choice. After the Senate Education Committee unanimously defeated House Bill 2 in early February, efforts to expand education freedom in the Magnolia State were effectively stymied.
Plenty of other promising legislation failed to cross the finish line. A bill to create voluntary “portable benefits” plans for independent contractors and freelancers in Mississippi stalled in the Senate after passing the House unanimously. Several prison reform bills similarly perished in the Senate. Bills to expand the Fresh Start Act and grant full practice authority to nurse practitioners died early in the session. Conversations about performance-based funding for colleges and universities, reducing unnecessary and excessive testing in K-12 public schools, improving the state’s charter school law, and studying the prevalence of dyslexia among state inmates all fizzled as the session progressed.
Despite those disappointments, a few bright spots stand out. The legislature passed a bill to expand components of the Literacy Based Promotion Act (the legislation often credited with jump-starting the “Mississippi Miracle”) to middle school reading and elementary school math. The same bill included new financial literacy and civics requirements, all of which should help better prepare K-12 public school students for life after graduation. Lawmakers also created a new “last-dollar” scholarship program at Mississippi’s community and junior colleges focused on workforce training in high-demand fields, with the initial rollout prioritizing individuals recovering from opioid addiction. A bill requiring companies that receive state economic development incentives to protect workers’ privacy and ensure any unionization decision is made through a secret-ballot election has already been signed into law. The legislature fully funded the state’s special needs ESA program for a second consecutive year and extended funding for a promising rural public defender pilot program.
And, for the first time, the House passed a universal school choice bill, signaling growing support for education freedom in Mississippi. Clearly, that bill didn’t make it to the governor’s desk, but the momentum is growing and will carry into future sessions.
So, while this session was disappointing in many ways, we remain optimistic about the future. Policy change is never easy. In fact, our system of government was specifically designed to make it hard. But, in many ways, the disappointments of this year will serve as fodder for the legislative elections next year and the foundation for future successes. We remain committed to removing barriers to opportunity and building a Mississippi where every person can fulfill their God-given potential.
