SB 2027 Mississippi Senate · 2025 First Extraordinary Session

Appropriation; Emergency Management Agency.

SB 2027 provides $34.5 million in state funding for Mississippi's Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) during fiscal year 2026 (July 2025-June 2026). It allocates $5.9 million from general funds for regular operations and $28.6 million from special funds for agency support, with $18.99 million strictly reserved for salaries, benefits, and "Vacancy Funding" to fill open positions (not for raises). The bill also sets aside $585,056 for disaster assistance programs, including public aid, individual grants, and mitigation efforts. All spending is subject to strict budget caps and rules to prevent exceeding appropriations.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

May 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

Senate Passage

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced May 28, 2025 Signed Jun 17, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed the upper → Current version · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill title was updated to reflect its new status as it moves from the Senate to the Governor for final approval. No substantive policy changes were made to the bill's content, funding amounts, or eligibility criteria.

TECHNICAL

The bill's status designation was changed from 'As Passed the Senate' to 'As Sent to Governor', indicating it has completed the legislative process and is awaiting executive action.

As Introduced → As Passed the upper · 10 edits

MAJOR

This bill was revised to modernize formatting, clarify funding sources, and add detailed performance metrics and operational requirements for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The changes include separating appropriations into General and Special Funds, adding specific disaster relief categories, establishing new performance targets, and creating authority for fund transfers and area coordinator staffing.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include specific disaster event categories (Hurricane Katrina, Severe Storms, Flooding, etc.) and added new operational requirements for MEMA staff and performance measurement.

FISCAL

Appropriation amounts were reorganized into separate General Funds ($5,897,422 for MEMA operations, $585,056 for disaster assistance) and Special Funds ($28,640,258 for agency operations, $450,755,692 for disaster assistance programs).

REQUIREMENT

Added specific performance measures for MEMA including 100% population notification, 48-hour service delivery time, 15 ongoing projects, and 5% reduction in damage from incidents.

Authorized six new permanent headcounts for MEMA positions including General Management, GIS, IT Project Manager, and Procurement roles.

Established authority for Executive Director to transfer up to $500,000 between funds for efficient cash reserve management with written justification required.

Required maintenance of minimum nine Area Coordinators residing within 50 miles of assigned districts to provide daily assistance to local jurisdictions.

Added specific disaster event categories including Hurricane Katrina, Severe Storms/Tornadoes/Flooding for Louisville & Tupelo, Mississippi Temporary Housing Program, and multiple other specific weather events from 2019-2023.

Added requirement for MEMA to submit budget request for Fiscal Year 2027 to Joint Legislative Budget Committee in comparable detail to FY 2026 request.

ELIGIBILITY

Added reimbursement authority for individual Mississippi citizens participating in FEMA Safe Room Grant Program.

TECHNICAL

Changed bill header format from 'As Introduced' to 'As Passed the Senate' and updated session designation to '2025 1st Extraordinary Session'.

DEFINITION

Added detailed definitions for 'Vacancy Funding' specifying it can only be used to fill authorized but unfilled positions, not for promotions or salary increases.

Floor votes · Senate May 28, 2025 · House May 28, 2025

How they voted

40–10

Passed · 9 other

Total votes 59

May 28, 2025

D Democratic20

7 Yea 10 Nay 3

50% Nay

R Republican39

33 Yea 6

84% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 17, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by Governor

executive

May 28, 2025

Committee

Referred To Appropriations A

lower

May 28, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To House

upper

May 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

May 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass

upper

May 28, 2025

Committee

Referred To Appropriations

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors