Mississippi House Bill HB43

Mississippi 2025 1st Special Session

• Introduced: 5/28/25
• Refer: 5/28/25
• Engrossed: 5/28/25
• Refer: 5/29/25
• Enrolled: 6/2/25
• Passed: 6/4/25

Caption

Appropriation; Educational Television, Authority for.

Summary

HB43 is the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television’s fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill. It provides $4,713,545 from the State General Fund and $9,921,012 from special funds for the agency’s operations, with detailed limits on how those funds may be used. The bill authorizes 80 permanent positions and 7 time-limited positions, sets aside money for personal services and vacancy funding, and requires compliance with state personnel and compensation rules. The bill also directs how the agency should prioritize spending. Funds are to support a full broadcast schedule of educational, instructional, professional development, and public service programming before new film and program production. It includes performance targets for television, radio, web, education, technical services, and administration, and requires the agency to maintain detailed accounting and personnel records and report progress in its next budget request. The bill further allows the agency to accept grants and donations, use capital equipment replacement funds for technical equipment, and maintain certain purchasing preferences and restrictions.

Impact

HB43 continues annual state funding for Mississippi’s public educational broadcasting agency and sets the legal and fiscal framework for its operations in FY 2026. It appropriates general and special funds, identifies portions of the special-fund support that come from the Education Enhancement Fund, and reauthorizes prior-year Education Enhancement Fund balances for tower maintenance, digitalization of educational content and Mississippi history, and production of a Medgar Evers documentary. It also reinforces statutory controls over personnel spending, vacancy funding, transfers, escalations, and reporting obligations, while authorizing acceptance of outside contributions up to $2 million.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received broad legislative support, passing the House 68-48 and the Senate 36-7. The vote margins suggest the overall funding measure was acceptable to most members, likely because it is a routine appropriations bill for an established state agency. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate substantial opposition beyond the recorded votes.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the size and structure of the appropriation, the use of Education Enhancement Fund dollars, and the bill’s detailed restrictions on how the agency may spend money and manage personnel. Some lawmakers may also have concerns about funding for specific projects such as tower maintenance, digitalization, and the Medgar Evers documentary, or about the agency’s authority to accept grants and donations. The split votes in both chambers indicate that while the bill ultimately passed, a notable minority may have objected to the spending priorities, the level of funding, or the broader appropriations package.