Appropriation; Transportation, Department of.
HB45 is the Mississippi Department of Transportation appropriation bill for Fiscal Year 2026. It provides $1.48 billion in special-fund authority for MDOT’s administrative expenses and sets out how those funds are to be divided among personal services, construction, maintenance, debt service, and aeronautics/rail-related activities. The bill also establishes detailed spending controls, staffing limits, reporting requirements, and performance targets for the department, including rules governing vacancy funding, salary actions, transfers between programs, and the use of project-planning procedures for major transportation work.
In addition to the core MDOT appropriation, the bill directs several specific transfers and set-asides. These include funding for the Beaver Control or Eradication Program, commercial transportation enforcement, statewide litter prevention, contracted maintenance overlay and pavement rehabilitation, and passenger rail development through the Southern Rail Commission. It also appropriates substantial amounts from dedicated transportation-related funds for capacity projects, infrastructure matching, emergency road and bridge work, multimodal investments, and Lafayette County infrastructure improvements. The act takes effect July 1, 2025, and governs MDOT’s FY2026 operations and related expenditures.
HB45 primarily affects the Mississippi Department of Transportation and related state entities by authorizing and restricting how transportation funds may be spent in FY2026. It does not create broad new regulatory law, but it does impose binding appropriations conditions on MDOT’s staffing, project planning, reporting, procurement preferences, and program transfers, while also directing interagency transfers to Agriculture and Commerce and Public Safety. The bill reinforces existing statutory frameworks governing transportation budgeting, performance-based planning, personnel administration, and special transportation funds.
The bill appears to have broad legislative support, passing the House 94-4 and the Senate 36-6. The strong vote totals suggest general agreement with the transportation funding package and the operational controls attached to it. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded debate summary to indicate significant public committee opposition, but the recorded floor votes show only limited dissent.
The main points of potential contention are the size and allocation of the transportation appropriation, the bill’s detailed restrictions on MDOT’s flexibility, and the earmarked transfers to specific programs and entities. Provisions limiting short highway segments under 10 miles, requiring legislative notice for project awards and ceremonies, and restricting program transfers may draw concern from those who want greater agency discretion. The bill’s set-asides for the Beaver Control Program, commercial transportation enforcement, litter prevention, passenger rail, and Project Poppy could also be debated as to whether they are appropriate uses of transportation-related funds versus core road and bridge needs.