Legislature passes teacher pay raise bill, PERS adjustments

By District 56 Representative Clay Mansell

The tenth week of the 2026 Regular Session has concluded, and your House of Representatives has been considering measures including public safety, healthcare, economic development, family law and state finances. We also passed several Senate appropriation bills to fund state agencies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year.

Last week, the Mississippi House of Representatives unanimously passed Senate Bill 2103, which was amended to include the House’s original teacher pay proposal. The amendment includes a $5,000 teacher pay raise, along with a $3,000 additional supplement for special needs teachers and assistant teachers, and a $6,000 supplement for occupational therapists and licensed school psychologists. The measure also includes several adjustments to PERS Tier 5, including changing state employee retirement eligibility from 35 years to 30 years, adjusting the retirement salary calculation from the highest eight years to the highest four years, and lowering the retirement age from 62 to 60, and adjusting first retirement eligibility from 35 years to 25 years. The bill also allows retired teachers to return to work while continuing to receive their PERS benefits.

This past week, we passed many notable bills, including:

Senate Bill 2062, which expands the Consumer Freedom of Choice Act to include motor vehicles, tools and farm equipment, allowing owners and independent repair providers greater access to parts and service information.

Senate Bill 2114, which criminalizes illegal entry under state law and requires cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Senate Bill 2474, establishing a Rural Hospital Pilot Program to support healthcare access in underserved communities, and Senate Bill 2477, which requires certain recipients of Rural Health Transformation Fund monies to participate in a competitive bidding process.

Senate Bill 2821, which creates the crime of capital sexual battery.

House Bill 1758, enacting the Foster Youth Earned Benefits Protection for Success Act, protecting benefits for youth in foster care, as well as Senate Bill 2110, which provides that a parent, legal guardian or other person responsible for a child who deprives the child of necessary supervision appropriate to the child’s age, resulting in substantial harm to the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health, may face criminal penalties, including imprisonment.

Senate Bill 2018, creating the Mississippi National Guard TRICARE Premium Reimbursement Program.

Senate Bill 2036, which clarifies that certain nonviolent inmates eligible for parole may be released from incarceration to parole supervision at the discretion of the State Parole Board.

Senate Bill 2654, creating a State Security Operations Center within the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services to strengthen cybersecurity, coordinate security services and support state agencies in responding to cyber threats.

Senate Bill 2726, which updates provisions related to the Mississippi Opioid Settlement Fund and Advisory Council, which oversee the distribution and use of opioid settlement funds.

Senate Bill 2896, which revises the salary schedule for Mississippi Highway Patrol and Bureau of Narcotics officers.

The House also considered measures addressing solar facility decommissioning requirements, child support enforcement, driver’s license provisions, and zoning procedures for local governments.

We returned Senate Bill 2409 to the Senate for concurrence. The bill creates the “Strengthen Mississippi Homes Act,” establishing a mitigation program within the Mississippi Department of Insurance to help retrofit homes against hurricanes, tornadoes and other catastrophic wind events and increasing grant funding up to $15,000 per home. We also returned Senate Bill 2632, which creates the Local Governments Disaster Recovery Emergency Loan Program to assist communities recovering from disasters, as well as Senate Bill 2524, establishing the Mississippi Postsecondary Attainment Council to improve postsecondary education outcomes and requiring annual progress reports on the state’s attainment goals, as well as Senate Bill 2632, which creates the Local Governments Disaster Recovery Emergency Loan Program to assist communities recovering from disasters.

Key legislative deadlines were reached during the week. Wednesday, March 11, marked the deadline for original floor action on general bills and constitutional amendments originating in the Senate. Thursday, March 12, served as the deadline for reconsideration and passage of those measures, and Friday, March 13, was the deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider.
To meet the upcoming deadline on Tuesday, March 17, for original floor action on Senate appropriation and revenue bills, the House passed their position on the budget on Thursday, March 12. Friday, March 20, is the deadline for the House to concur or not concur with Senate amendments to original House bills on appropriation and revenue bills.

The Capitol has welcomed a wide range of visitors recently, including the Mississippi Early Childhood Development Coalition, nutrition and dietetic students from the University of Southern Mississippi, Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year participants, alumni from Mississippi University for Women, First Presbyterian Day School Group, Christ Covenant School, COABE State Fellowship and Reimagine Prep Football Team.

I value your input for the issues and votes that we are addressing this year. Please follow me at “Clay Mansell – MS State Representative, District 56” on Facebook or at ClayMansell.com. You can reach me at 601-990-9511 or by email at ClayMansell@MansellMedia.net.