The Senate appropriations subcommittee advanced Senate Bill 3054, a deficit-appropriation measure that the committee chair described as the panel’s “first stab” at funding several ongoing lawsuits and program deficits, including legal claims against state agencies, corrections contract costs and child protective services placements.

The bill lists a number of specific requests and continuing obligations. Section 1 includes approximately $156,842 for the attorney general’s office broken into five items, including $6,224 to cover a Superfund-site cleanup in Gulfport and a $25,000 claim by a student at the Mississippi School for the Deaf and the Blind. Two statutory wrongful-incarceration claims of $50,000 each were also included. Other Section 1 items mentioned a Hinds County lawsuit ($25,617–$25,618 reported in the packet) and a continuing “Olivia Y” settlement obligation. The packet also shows legal expense requests tied to corrections litigation and a $75,000 IRS claim related to penalties from the Affordable Care Act implementation.

Later sections of the bill request larger sums. Section 3 shows a deficit request from the Department of Corrections for a contract related to inmate insurance and medical services, listed in the packet as roughly $4,314,000. Section 4 covers continuing legal services related to the City of Jackson water litigation; the subcommittee heard that the $4,000,000 figure for that item is for legal services. Sections 5–7 cover Child Protective Services deficits: funding for out-of-state therapeutic placements, funding to cover an increased caseload (the packet lists a figure of $3,390,000), and temporary placement expenditures for hotel placements and sitter costs (the packet lists $3,988,000).

Senators asked clarifying questions about the nature of some costs. One senator asked whether the $4,000,000 in Section 4 was for “actual hard cost expenses for services” or for legal services; the chair confirmed it was legal services and noted the volume of documents and claims underlying the litigation. On the corrections-related contract sums, senators asked about justification and whether the Department of Corrections had presented plans to curb rising medical expenses. The chair said the amount reflected bids that came back higher than anticipated when the agency reprocured services and that performance clauses and some recovery mechanisms are part of the current contract.

The committee advanced the bill on a voice vote after the explanation and questions; the motion was described in the record as title-sufficient, and the chair announced the ayes had it.

Why it matters: The deficit bill seeks to cover court-ordered or settlement obligations and contract shortfalls that the state must pay from available appropriations. If passed by the full Senate and the House and signed into law, the requested amounts would affect the final year-end spending plan and could influence how agencies prioritize legal and contractual risk management going forward.

The subcommittee chair said a more complete budget recommendation will be presented on the floor before the session concludes.