Legislative Analysis
2025 Federal Voucher Legislation
HR 1 – Reconciliation bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and passed by the U.S. House on May 22, 2025; known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Includes a provision that would force private school vouchers into every state, including states that have rejected state voucher legislation. The measure, titled Qualified Elementary and Secondary Education Scholarships or vouchers, creates federal tax credits for donations to “scholarship granting organizations” (SGOs) that provide vouchers to private schools. The bill allows SGOs to retain 10 percent of donations to cover their own expenses. Taxpayers are given a dollar-for-dollar credit against their federal income tax owed for donations to SGO’s up to 10% of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income or $5,000, whichever is greater. Students are eligible for vouchers if they live in a household with income up to 300% of the area median gross income.
U.S. Senate committee version of HR 1 (as of June 16, 2025) includes the following provisions as compared to the version passed by the U.S. House:
- federal tax-credit voucher program begins calendar year 2027 and continues in perpetuity (House version begins calendar year 2026 and goes through calendar 2029 after which annual cap goes to zero)
- taxpayers receive dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credits (same as House)
- program has an annual cap of $4-billion (House version $5-billion annually)
- tax credit claimed cannot exceed 10% of taxpayer’s adjusted gross income or $5,000, whichever is greater (same as House)
- eligible students must live in household with income up to 300% of area median gross income (same as House)
- taxpayers claim credits on first come, first served basis until the annual cap or “volume” is reached (except 10% of the cap to be distributed evenly among the states); volume will be tracked by a real-time system to be built by USDE to calculate contributions to SGOs (same as House)
The bill also makes donations of corporate stock eligible for the tax credit, raising the possibility of the voucher provision being used as a profitable tax shelter for wealthy individuals by allowing them to avoid capital gains tax on gifts of corporate stock.
2025 State House & Senate Bills
The 2025 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature began January 7 and adjourned April 3 without completion of a state budget. The 2025 First Extraordinary Session took place May 28-29 and completed an agenda (as set by the Governor) to finalize the state budget.
Key education bills are listed below with details regarding bill purpose, amendments, and status.
HB 42 – P-12 Appropriation. Funds pre-k through grade 12 education as follows: $16-million increase in funding for the Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFFP), including funding to cover increases in educators’ health insurance premiums and PERS; level funding for Early Learning Collaboratives and State Invested Pre-k (SIP) programs; full funding for National Board Certification, a $1-million increase; full funding for the Chickasaw Cession program, a $4-million increase; level funding for teacher supplies/instructional materials; level funding for reading and math coaches; $3.5-million for the Mississippi Teacher Residency Program to help mitigate the teacher shortage; $2.1-million for a distance learning program for critical shortage areas; $2-million increase for the ESA voucher program; and more.
· Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 5/28/2025
· Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 5/28/2025
· Passed by House, 5/28/2025
· Held by House on a motion to reconsider, 5/28/2025
· Motion to reconsider tabled, 5/29/2025
· Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 5/29/2025
· Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 5/29/2025
· Passed by Senate, 5/29/2025
DEAD – HB 1078 – ESA Voucher Expansion, Loosening of Restrictions. Removes provisions passed in the 2024 session that tightened the ESA voucher statute. Removes cap on number of voucher participants. Expands the program to include children in foster care who do not have special needs. Allows an unnamed nonprofit to receive state funds to administer the program.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Passed by House Education Committee, 2/4/2025
· Passed by House, 2/6/2025
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/17/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1118 – Mississippi Teacher Residency Program. Legislature shall appropriate sufficient funds for the program annually beginning in FY2026
· Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 1/20/2025
· Passed by House Education Committee, 1/22/2025
· Died in committee, 2/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1135 – State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan. State shall pay 50% of the cost of health insurance coverage for state and school employees’ eligible dependents.
· Referred to House Insurance and Appropriations Committees, 1/20/2025
· Died in committee, 2/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1431 – School District Consolidation. Requires consolidation of all school districts into one district per county. Limits each of Mississippi’s 82 counties to a single county board of education and an appointed county superintendent of education.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute creates a task force to develop recommendations for consolidating school districts into one per county with a single county board of education and superintendent; out of 15 task force members only one is designated to represent public schools, 2/4/2025
· Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/4/2025
· Passed by House, 2/6/2025
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/14/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1432 – Charter School Expansion; Loosening of Restrictions. Allows charter schools to be authorized in districts rated D or F at any time within five years preceding charter application, even if currently rated A, until adjustments are made to state accountability model. Allows charter schools serving special needs to be authorized in any district regardless of accountability rating. Allows multiple authorizers of charter schools.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute removes the provision allowing charter schools in districts rated D or F at any time in past five years and adds a provision that allows charter schools to be authorized without school board approval in districts rated C until adjustments are made to state accountability model; other provisions of the bill remain the same, 2/4/2025
· Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/4/2025
· Passed by House, 2/12/2025
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/17/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1433 – Mississippi Quality Desert Education Enrollment and Transfer Scholarship Act. Creates new program of private and public school choice for students in any school or district rated D or F at any point within the last five years. Diverts public money to private schools. Imposes administrative burdens on school districts.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute renames the bill to the Flexible and Rightful Education Enrollment (FREE) Act; other provisions of the bill remain the same, 2/4/2025
· Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/4/2025
· Died on calendar in House, 2/13/2025
DEAD – HB 1435 – Open Enrollment. Allows students to transfer to district outside of residence with approval of the receiving district. Creates a significant administrative burden on districts by requiring they report regularly the enrollment capacity and space available for each school and each grade as well as the district’s policy on student transfers. Prescribes rules for athletic eligibility of transferring students.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute amends the bill to say that athletic eligibility shall be determined according to rules and regulations of the Mississippi High School Activities Association; other provisions of the bill remain the same, 1/29/2025
· Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 1/29/2025
· Strike-all amendment presented in House: allows students to transfer to district out of their own residence with the approval of the receiving district; creates a significant administrative burden on districts by requiring they report three times a year the enrollment capacity and space available for each school and grade as well as the district’s policy on student transfers; requires athletic eligibility of transferring students to be determined according to rules and regulations of MHSAA; amended on House floor to add requirement for PEER report after first year of implementation, 2/6/2025
· Passed by House, 2/6/2025
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/14/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1617 – Tim Tebow Act. Allows homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities. Creates an unlevel playing field and imposes administrative burdens on public schools. Public school students must maintain a 2.0 GPA based on rigorous state standards to participate; homeschool students would be able to meet that requirement by presenting a “portfolio” of work, not subject to state standards, which public school administrators would be charged with evaluating. Provides favored status to homeschool students in the selection of athletic teams, requiring that homeschool students not be discriminated against.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/22/2025
· Committee substitute adds option of grade-level testing as part of evaluation of student eligibility; adds requirement for participation in statewide testing program but homeschool students’ scores will not affect the district’s accountability rating; other provisions of the bill remain the same, 1/29/2025
· Passed by House Education Committee, 1/29/2025
· Passed by House, 2/11/2025
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/14/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – HB 1630 – Updates to Mississippi Student Funding Formula. Updates statutory language in MSFF to remove remaining references to MAEP and reflect current funding formula.
· Referred to House Education Committee, 1/22/2025
· Committee substitute passed by House Education Committee, 2/4/2025
· Passed by House, 2/6/2025
· Held on motion to reconsider, 2/6/2025
· Reconsidered, amended to add reverse repealer, and passed as amended, 2/13/2025
· Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/17/2025
· Amended by Senate Education Committee to insert provisions of SB 2598 improving statute regarding retired teachers returning to teach and receiving PERS benefits, and provision of SB 2616 adding 7th and 8th grades to career and technical education component of funding formula, 3/4/2025
· Passed as amended by Senate Education Committee, 3/4/2025
· Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 3/4/2025
· Amended on Senate floor to add language requiring districts to implement a financial literacy curriculum and school boards to adopt a student policy regarding cell phones, and allowing school boards to vote to provide health insurance to board members and their dependents using local funds; other provisions remain, 3/11/2025
· Passed by Senate as amended, 3/11/2025
· Returned to House for concurrence, 3/11/2025
· House conferees named: Roberson, McCarty, Owen, 3/28/2025
· Senate conferees named: DeBar, Parker, Hopson, 3/28/2025
· Died in conference, 3/31/2025
HB 1768 – Appropriation for pre-k through grade 12 public education.
· Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 2/17/2025
· Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 2/19/2025
· Passed by House, 2/20/2025
· Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 2/26/2025
· Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 3/7/2025
· Passed by Senate, 3/12/2025
· Returned to House for concurrence, 3/14/2025
· House declined to concur and invited conference, 3/18/2025
· House conferees named: Oliver, Read, Roberson, 3/18/2025
· Senate conferees named: Hopson, DeBar, Robinson, 3/19/2025
· Died in conference, 3/31/2025
DEAD – HB 1902 – Private school funding. Provides public funding for private schools of $20-million in 2025 (an increase of $11-million over current law) and annually thereafter via Children’s Promise Act tax credits. Each participating private school can receive up to $600,000 in publicly-funded revenue annually, with no restrictions on expenditure of funds, no reporting requirements, and no state audit to verify the number of qualifying children enrolled.
· Referred to House Ways & Means Committee, 2/26/2025
· Passed by House Ways & Means Committee, 2/26/2025
· Passed by House, 2/26/2025
· Held by House on motion to reconsider, 2/26/2025
· Motion to reconsider tabled, 2/27/2025
· Referred to Senate Finance Committee, 3/4/2025
· Amended by Senate Finance Committee to delete the $11-million increase in public funding for private schools and to add a reverse repealer, 3/17/2025
· Passed by Senate Finance Committee as amended, 3/17/2025
· Amended by Senate to require PEER review of participating private schools to determine the number of qualified children enrolled, 3/18/2025
· Failed to pass Senate, 3/18/2025
· Held by Senate on a motion to reconsider, 3/18/2025
· Motion to suspend rules fails, 3/19/2025
· Died on calendar, 3/19/2025
DEAD – HB 1903 – Private school funding. Provides public funding for private schools of $16-million in 2025, $18-million in 2026, and $20-million in 2027 (significant increases over current law) and annually thereafter via Children’s Promise Act tax credits. Each participating private school can receive up to $480,000 in 2025, $540,000 in 2026, and $600,000 annually by 2027, with no restrictions on expenditure of funds, no reporting requirements, and no state audit to verify the number of qualifying children enrolled.
· Referred to House Ways & Means Committee, 2/26/2025
· Passed by House Ways & Means Committee, 2/26/2025
· Passed by House, 2/26/2025
· Referred to Senate Finance Committee, 3/4/2025
· Died in committee, 3/18/2025
DEAD – SB 2598 – Retired Teachers Return to Classroom and Receive PERS. Adds retired librarians, counselors, and administrators as eligible to work as teachers, librarians, or counselors full-time in certain critical shortage areas while receiving full PERS benefits. Increases salary to 150% of salary schedule, of which 50% is paid to retiree as salary and the remaining 50% is paid by the school district to PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. Allows school district to pay all or a portion of health insurance premiums for such retired employees.
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute removes librarians and counselors from amendment so that only teachers and administrators are eligible to work as teachers in certain critical shortage areas while receiving full PERS benefits; other provisions of the bill remain the same, 1/31/2025
· Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 1/31/2025
· Passed by Senate, 2/6/2025
· Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/14/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – SB 2602 – Open Enrollment/Public School Choice. Allows students to transfer to a district outside of their own residence with the approval of the receiving district. Creates an administrative burden on districts by requiring they report by June 15 each year the enrollment capacity and space available for each grade as well as the district’s policy on student transfers.
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Died in committee, 2/4/2025
DEAD – SB 2616 – Updates to Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFF). Updates statutory language in MSFF to remove remaining references to MAEP and reflect current funding formula.
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute adds 7th and 8th grades to the career and technical education component of the funding formula; other provisions remain the same, 1/31/2025
· Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 1/31/2025
· Passed by Senate, 2/6/2025
· Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/14/2025
· Died in committee, 3/4/2025
DEAD – SB 2618 – School Attendance Officers. Transfers responsibility for employing and managing duties of School Attendance Officers (SAOs) from MDE to local school districts effective 7/1/25. Provides for a minimum salary of $30,000 annually for newly hired SAOs. Requires the state to provide funding for 1 SAO for every 3,000 compulsory school-age children enrolled in the public schools of a county.
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Committee substitute provides for a minimum salary of $34,000 annually for newly hired SAOs; adds a 25% pay increase for currently serving SAOs; other provisions remain, 2/3/2025
· Committee substitute passed by Senate Education Committee, 2/3/2025
· Passed by Senate, 2/12/2025
· Referred to House Education and Accountability, Efficiency, & Transparency Committees, 2/17/2025
· Amended by House Education Committee to insert language of HB 1435 providing for public school choice; other provisions remain, 3/4/2025
· Passed as amended by House Education Committee, 3/4/2025
· Died on calendar, 3/12/2025
DEAD – SB 2764 – CTE Funding for 7th and 8th Grades. Adds 7th and 8th grades to the career and technical education component of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula.
· Referred to Senate Education Committee, 1/20/2025
· Died in committee, 2/4/2025
Past Senate Bills
Past House Bills
