New Mississippi laws change how patients access physician-administered drugs, add a community health worker program to the Mississippi State Department of Health, authorize the direct shipment of wine and ban diversity, equity and inclusion statements in public schools.
Here’s an overview of some of the new laws that took effect in Mississippi on July 1.
Protecting Patients’ Access to Physician-Administered Drugs Act
Five years ago, Mississippi House Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer when he noticed that some insurance companies required other patients to purchase their prescriptions from specific pharmacies in the insurance network. Sometimes, a patient would have to get their medicine shipped from out of state instead of being able to pick up their prescription at the pharmacy in the hospital or clinic where they had been treated, he said.
“There are all kinds of risks with that—whether or not the drug stays the right temperature, or whether or not there is enough of the drug or too much of the drug. Or is it handled properly? Or does it get delivered on time?” Yancey told the Mississippi Free Press on June 26.
While the lawmaker was able to obtain his medicine at the same hospital where he received treatment, he said he sympathized with patients who had different insurance providers and had hurdles obtaining prescriptions.
The lawmaker wrote House Bill 17 to protect patients’ access to physician-administered drugs so that they can choose whether to get medicine from their local treatment center or from the pharmacy the insurance company suggests. Yancey said the law prevents insurers from adding fees if patients do not purchase prescriptions from a specific pharmacy.
Though Gov. Tate Reeves did not sign H.B. 17, it became law because the legislation received a two-thirds majority vote from both the Mississippi House and Senate.
New Community Health Worker Program
Community health workers are residents who provide simple medical and health care for their communities, including preventative, promotional and rehabilitative care, without the education required to be a nurse or doctor.
The Mississippi State Department of Health will now establish a community health worker certification program to help Mississippians gain better access to health care under House Bill 1401. The new law says no one may work as a community health worker in Mississippi without MSDH certifying the worker.
Mississippi House Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, said she signed onto the bill because she wanted to improve Mississippi’s maternal health outcomes. She said she especially wanted to help Black women have access to care because Black women in Mississippi die at disproportionate rates during pregnancy and birth compared to women of other races.
“Every emergency may not necessarily require that a woman go to the hospital, so what a community health worker can do in the interim is to provide that specialized, one-on-one care that they need,” Summers told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24.
Community health workers not only help pregnant people but can also assist any member of the community. The workers can assess a patient and give them short-term care or recommend that the patient go to a hospital or see a licensed doctor. Having community health professionals helps bridge the gap between health care and accessibility in rural areas of Mississippi, Summers said.
Ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Educators in Mississippi public schools will not be able to create, teach or promote diversity, equity and inclusion programs under House Bill 1193. The new law also prohibits Mississippi public schools, state-accredited nonpublic schools and state-supported institutions of higher learning from requiring diversity statements or training in hiring, admission and employment processes.
The bill’s author, Mississippi House Rep. Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, said his legislation does not ban free speech or prohibit schools from teaching about slavery.
“We’re not going to restrict anyone’s freedom of speech because that’s guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America,” Hood said on Feb. 5 when introducing the legislation on the House floor. “There’s also an exception with this bill in regard to any violations of free speech. That’s not what it’s about. What it’s about is these institutions that are requiring these kinds of divisive concepts as part of an admissions process or being part of that school. Basically, we’re outlining what the divisive concepts are. We’re not going to mistreat anybody on the basis of race, sex, color, gender—any of those things that I outlined. So students are free to do what students want to do.”
Plaintiffs have argued that the new anti-diversity, equity and inclusion law violates the First and 14th Amendments in a federal lawsuit against the governing boards of Mississippi’s public schools and institutions.
The ACLU of Mississippi, Mississippi Center for Justice, Badat Legal and Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco LLP, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on June 9.
“Nowhere is it more important to confront our history and our present-day realities than in Mississippi. When our teachers are afraid to teach, and when our students are banned from learning, we cannot progress as a state, a country, or a society,” said Amir Badat, a civil rights and racial justice attorney based in Mississippi, in a June 9 press release.
Tax Reform
Mississippi will gradually eliminate its income tax while reducing the grocery tax and raising the gas tax under a new law. In addition to cutting grocery and income taxes, House Bill 1 will also prevent liabilities from growing in the Public Employees’ Retirement System by reducing benefits for future employees.
Read our story on the changes for more details.
Ban Sexual Grooming of a Child
Any person over the age of 21 who grooms a child by knowingly engaging in communication to coerce the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct, human trafficking or sexual servitude could be found guilty of committing a felony. Punishment for the crime ranges from spending anywhere from two to 10 years in prison and paying a fine of up to $10,000 under House Bill 1308.
If the person convicted of grooming the child was in a “position of trust or authority” over the child, they could spend between five to 10 years in prison and pay up to a $20,000 fine under the bill. The legislation defines a person who is in a “position of trust or authority” over a child as a child’s teacher, counselor, doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach.
“There is a provision in here that permits the court to register the individual as a sex offender. It’s not a requirement to register as a sex offender. The court would consider each case on a case-by-case basis to determine whether or not a sex offender registration is warranted,” the bill’s author, Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, said on the Mississippi House floor on Feb. 13.
Polling Place Closures
Since 2020, the Mississippi Free Press has reported on hundreds of precinct closures and changes, including some that happened mere weeks before an election. In 2023, the Mississippi Free Press reported on how Hinds County officials moved two Jackson polling places just hours before voters headed to the polls for that year’s party primaries after realizing that they were not accessible for disabled voters, likely in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Months later, in February 2024, Mississippi House Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Jackson Democrat, introduced her first attempt at passing legislation to prevent last-minute polling place changes. The bill earned approval in the House that year, but it died in the Senate.
This year, it passed with no lawmakers opposed in the form of House Bill 1419, which says Mississippi election officials will no longer be able to change or close polling places within 60 days of an election except under certain circumstances.
Gov. Tate Reeves signed it into law on March 12 and it took effect on July 1.
In February 2024, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted to close and merge voting precincts in West Jackson and Hinds County—areas in the district Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, represents. She said she did not want the board to make voting less accessible for citizens by combining and closing polling places because many of her constituents walk or take public transportation to go vote.
“And the precincts within West Jackson, if they had moved forward with that action, was going to, in my opinion, perpetuate voter suppression for the voters in my community,” she told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24.
The board voted in April 2024 to revoke its decision to merge or close precincts.
Summers said she strengthened the legislation for the 2025 session by working with the Mississippi House and Senate Elections Committee chairmen as well as the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.
Direct Wine Shipping
Mississippians can now purchase wine from out of state and get it delivered to their doorsteps under Senate Bill 2145. Mississippians could get up to 12 cases of nine-liter wine bottles per household yearly under the new law.
Licensed out-of-state wineries would need to apply for a direct wine shipper’s permit from the Mississippi Department of Revenue to participate in the program. Wine made or sold in Mississippi does not qualify for the program under the legislation.
“These wines never have to go through our ABC warehouses, so the costs associated with that do not apply. So this is revenue directly to the state,” the bill’s author, Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, said when introducing the legislation on the Senate floor on Feb. 13.
Alcoholic-Beverage Permits
A person convicted of certain felonies may be able to obtain an alcoholic-beverage permit from the Mississippi Department of Revenue 10 years after completing all sentencing requirements under a new law.
The person must not have felony convictions of “crime or violence or a violation of state or federal controlled substance laws,” Senate Bill 2143 says.
Cigarette and Vape Directories
Retailers and manufacturers must register all cigarette and vape products with the Mississippi Department of Revenue to sell tobacco products in Mississippi under House Bill 916. Manufacturers and retailers must obtain an annual certification with DOR under the new law.
DOR will create separate directories for cigarettes and vapes. If a tobacco product is not on the registry, a retailer cannot sell it in Mississippi.
“We have really what I would call an epidemic in the State of Mississippi with convenience stores, c-stores, gas stations, other stores of the like selling products that we don’t know where they came from. Some of these products come in from overseas, they’re not properly regulated, they haven’t been reviewed by the proper regulators on the federal level,” the bill’s author, Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Jan. 29.
Seafood Country of Origin Labeling Requirement
Wholesalers, processors, retailers and food-service establishments must provide country of origin labeling for crawfish and seafood under a new law. House Bill 602 says that people and businesses that sell seafood must not falsely claim that seafood is domestic, whether verbally, on a menu or on a sign.
In 2024, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, a historic seafood restaurant in Biloxi, Miss., admitted in federal court to selling foreign, frozen seafood and passing it off as “fresh Gulf seafood.”
Mississippi Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Gulfport, helped pass the legislation on the Senate side. He said he wants to boost the public’s awareness of local seafood by working on marketing.
“I think everyone acknowledges that we want to make a little bit better effort to try to coordinate labeling with a marketing effort to create that demand for local seafood,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on June 27.