3/27/26 Legislative Update

Much of the focus at the capitol this week has been on finalizing the state’s FY 27 budget. Conference committees comprised of three representatives and three senators have met throughout the week to negotiate final numbers and provisions of those bills that are in conference. Conference committees include the following:

Teacher and Assistant Teacher Pay Raise: SB 2103 contains the House’s strike all amendment that provides a $5,000 teacher pay raise, a $3,000 assistant teacher pay raise, and a $3,000 annual supplement for special education instructors, all of which are effective with the 2026-27 school year.

• House conferees – Rob Roberson of Starkville, Kent McCarty of Hattiesburg, Jansen Owen of Poplarville
• Senate conferees –Dennis DeBar of Leakesville, Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg, Nicole Boyd of Oxford

HB 1395, which contained the Senate’s strike all amendment that provided a $6,000 teacher pay raise phased in over three years, as well as a $2,000 pay raise for assistant teachers and a $3,000 annual salary supplement for special education instructors phased in over three years, went to conference earlier this week. Conferees signed a conference report late yesterday afternoon that only addresses certain provisions regarding the sale or lease of unused school property and charter schools’ right of first refusal. Thus, SB 2103 is the only teacher and assistant teacher pay raise bill alive as of last night. While the deadline for SB 2103’s conference report to be filed is not until Monday, we should know the amount of the raise once HB 1935’s conference report (see below) is filed which could be as soon as late today.

FY 2027 Funding: HB 1935 is MDE’s FY 2027 appropriation bill. The House version includes a Base Student Cost (BSC) of $7,447.37 while the Senate version includes a BSC of $6,961.45. Most programs are level funded (i.e., same funding as current FY 2026).

• House conferees – Karl Oliver of Winona, Angela Cockerham of Magnolia, Rob Roberson of Starkville
• Senate conferees – Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg, Dennis DeBar of Leakesville, Kevin Blackwell of Southaven

Retired Teachers Return to the Classroom: The House’s strike all amendment for SB 2103 allows a retired teacher to teach in any district, not just a critical shortage geographic or subject area as in current law. It also deletes the 5-year limit on returning to a classroom as a retired teacher. The retired teacher’s salary shall not be less than their salary at retirement.

• House conferees – Rob Roberson of Starkville, Kent McCarty of Hattiesburg, Jansen Owen of Poplarville
• Senate conferees –Dennis DeBar of Leakesville, Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg, Nicole Boyd of Oxford

PERS Funding: The Senate’s strike all amendment for HB 4073 provides a $500 million infusion into PERS this July and then $50 million a year for the next 10 years for a total of $1 billion. It also provides $5 million a year for the next 10 years to establish a COLA fund for Tier 5 employees.

• House conferees – Trey Lamar of Senatobia, Jody Steverson of Ripley, Hank Zuber of Ocean Springs
• Senate conferees – TBD

Click here for contact information for legislators by school district. It is critical that these conferees hear from educators and concerned citizens regarding a pay raise and these other issues. Conference reports on appropriation and revenue bills must be filed by Saturday night and those conference reports must be adopted by Monday. Conference reports on general bills must be filed by Monday night and must be considered for the first time by next Wednesday.