MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Appropriations C; Appropriations A
By: Representatives Deweese, Read, Bennett, Creekmore IV, Currie, McGee, Scott, Turner, Young
AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO DEFRAY THE EXPENSES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2025.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Department of Human Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025.... $ 75,956,688.00.
SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Human Services which is comprised of special source funds collected by or otherwise available to the department for the support of the various divisions of the department, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025 $ 1,738,701,848.00.
SECTION 3. None of the funds appropriated by this act shall be expended for any purpose that is not actually required or necessary for performing any of the powers or duties of the Department of Human Services that are authorized by the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, state or federal law, or rules or regulations that implement state or federal law.
SECTION 4. With the funds appropriated in this act, the following positions are authorized:
AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT:
Permanent: Full Time............ 1,296
Time-Limited: Full Time............ 455
With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency's responsibility to make certain that funds required for Personal Services for Fiscal Year 2026 do not exceed Fiscal Year 2025 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or positions are added to the agency's Fiscal Year 2025 budget by the Mississippi Legislature. The Legislature shall determine the agency's personal services appropriation, which the State Personnel Board shall publish. In accordance with applicable laws, if an agency determines that its personal services amount is insufficient, the agency must contact the State Personnel Board. Any adjustment to the personal services amount must be approved by the State Personnel Director and the State Fiscal Officer after consultation with the Legislative Budget Office. Any adjustment shall be reported to the Legislative Budget Office and the House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen. The agency's personal services appropriation may consist of restricted funds for approved vacancies for Fiscal Year 2025 that may not be utilized for active Fiscal Year 2024 headcount. It shall be the agency's responsibility to ensure that the funds provided for vacancies are used to increase headcount and not for promotions, title changes, in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing salaries for current employees. If the State Personnel Board determines that an agency has used provided vacancy funds for any of the mechanisms previously listed, the State Personnel Board shall not process any additional salary actions for the agency in the current fiscal year, except for new hires determined by the State Personnel Board to be essential for the agency. It is the Legislature's intention that no employee salary falls below the minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel Board.
Additionally, the State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the projected annualized payroll costs based on current employees. It shall be the responsibility of the agency head to ensure that actual personnel expenditures for Fiscal Year 2025 do not exceed the data provided by the Legislative Budget Office. If the agency's projected cost for Fiscal Year 2025 exceeds the annualized costs, no salary actions shall be processed by the State Personnel Board except for new hires determined to be essential for the agency.
Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State Personnel Board shall not escalate positions without written approval from the Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to escalate any funds for salaries and/or positions without proof of availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated level.
No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are withdrawn and no longer available.
None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in violation of the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor.
SECTION 5. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services shall maintain complete accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal Year 2024. It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2026 shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail provided during the Fiscal Year 2025 budget request process.
SECTION 6. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2 herein to the Department of Human Services, One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) shall be transferred to the Department of Health, Child Care Licensure Program from the Child Care Development Fund or other appropriate special fund. These funds are to be transferred to the Board of Health no later than July 31, 2024. The Department of Health shall make a complete accounting to the Department of Human Services detailing the uses of these funds in accordance with federal and state regulations.
SECTION 7. It is the intention of the Legislature that whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are made without competitive bids.
SECTION 8. The Department of Human Services is authorized to expend available funds on technology or equipment upgrades or replacements when it will generate savings through efficiency or when the savings generated from such upgrades or replacements exceed expenditures thereof.
SECTION 9. It is the intention of the Legislature that none of the funds provided herein shall be used to pay certain utilities for state furnished housing for any employees. Such utilities shall include electricity, natural gas, butane, propane, cable and phone services. Where actual cost cannot be determined, the agency shall be required to provide meters to be in compliance with legislative intent. Such state furnished housing shall include single-family and multi-family residences but shall not include any dormitory residences. Allowances for such utilities shall be prohibited.
SECTION 10. In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the intended mission of this agency. Based on the funding authorized, this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted performance measures provided below:
FY2025
Performance Measures Target
Support Services
Percent of Referred/Directed
Investigative Audits Conducted 100.00
Percent of Special Investigations Conducted 95.00
Percent of Referred/Obtained Fraud
Investigations Conducted Timely 100.00
Percent of Referred Administrative
Disqualification Hearings & Fair
Hearings Conducted Timely 99.00
Percent of Monitoring Reviews Conducted
within Acceptable Timeframes 98.00
Total Amount of Funds Recovered 3,500,000.00
Aging & Adult Services
In-Home Services - Age 60 + (Persons Served) 32,680
Community Services - Age 60 + (Persons
Served) 193,617
Number of Congregate Meals 468,272
Number of Home Delivered Meals 2,700,000
Substantiated Incidences of Abuse of
Vulnerable Adults per 1,000 Population 0.17
Home Delivered Meals, Percent Reduction
of Persons on Waiting list 5.00
Child Support Enforcement
Number of Paternities Established 15,500
Percent Change in Paternities Established 3.30
Number of Obligations Established 16,000
Percent Change in Obligations Established 12.50
Total Collections ($) 378,000,000.00
Percent Change in Total Collections -2.50
Number of Absent Parents Located 68,000
Percent of Child Support Cases Current
on Payments -2.53
Community Services
Number of Elderly Served by CSBG & LIHEAP 20,352
Number of Disabled Served CSBG/LIHEAP 26,762
Number of Households Achieving
Self-Sufficiency CSBG/LIHEAP 0
Percent Increase in Rate of Households
Attaining Self-Sufficiency 0.00
Number of Households Stabilized CSBG/LIHEAP 0
Percent Increase in the Number of
Households Stabilized 0.00
Number of Households Weatherized 516
Early Childhood Care & Dev
Number of Children Served 30,138
Assistance Payments
Dollar Amount of Assistance 6,240,877.00
Food Assistance
Number of Average Monthly Households 225,000
Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program
- SNAP ($) 716,413,100.00
Percent of Mississippi Households
Receiving SNAP Benefits 22.51
Tanf Work Program
Number of Average Monthly TANF Households 8,864
Number of Average Monthly Persons Served
in TANF Work Program 1,107
TANF Work Program Participation Rate (%) 60.00
Number of Persons Employed Through the
TANF Work Program for the Year 832
Number of Households Receiving TANF
Benefits During the Year 9,969
Percent of Households Receiving TANF
During the Year 49.00
Percent of TANF Participants in Job Trng
Who Enter Employment 30.00
Percent of TANF Participants in Job
Training Who Enter Employment at A
Salary Sufficient to Be Ineligible for
TANF 19.00
Percent of TANF Participants in Job
Training Who Remain Employed For: One
Year After Leaving the Program 75.00
Percent of TANF Participants in Job
Training Who Remain Employed For: Five
Years After Leaving the Program 65.00
Social Services Block Grant
Number of Clients Served, Division of
Family & Children's Services 75,611
Number of Clients Served, Aging & Adult
Services 21,178
Number of Clients Served, Youth Services 12,880
Youth Services
Community Services (Children Served) 15,000
Institutional Component (Children Served) 300
Number of Volunteers - Community
Services/Institution 0
Number of Children Placed in Alternative
Placement 0
Percent of Children Diverted from
Institutional Care 95.00
Recidivism Rate (%) 20.00
A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for Fiscal Year 2026.
SECTION 11. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement, make a concentrated effort to increase collections of past due child support payments. On or before January 1, 2025, the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Office detailing year-to-date performance measures in the Child Support Enforcement Program compared with the prior year.
SECTION 12. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Department of Human Services shall have the authority to spend such additional funds as it shall receive from the federal government in incentives or the federal match on those incentives for the purpose of child support enforcement.
SECTION 13. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) shall be transferred to the Juvenile Facility Monitoring Unit at the Department of Public Safety no later than July 31, 2024.
SECTION 14. Of the funds appropriated herein, to the Department of Human Services One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), is provided for the support of the Home Delivered Meals Program and any additional funds that may be appropriated to this program.
SECTION 15. Of the funds provided in Section 1, herein to the Department of Human Services, an amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) is provided to fund the Senior Olympics Program.
SECTION 16. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Governor’s Office, Division of Medicaid and the Department of Human Services shall continue to work together to implement Section 43-12-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, known as the "Medicaid and Human Services Transparency and Fraud Prevention Act".
SECTION 17. As a condition of receiving and expending any funds appropriated under this act, the Department of Human Services:
(a) Shall use a competitive procurement process for entering into all TANF subgrant agreements with non-state entities when the federal government does not direct to whom the funds must be subgranted;
(b) Upon awarding of a grant to any subgrantee of the department, shall require the subgrantee to submit a monthly report to the department that contains, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(i) A listing of all costs incurred by the subgrantee during the previous month;
(ii) A listing of all clients served by the subgrantee, with an explanation of which services were provided to the clients;
(iii) A listing of all lower-tier subgrantees, who must be approved by the department before the execution of any such agreement by the prime subgrantee; and
(iv) Any other data required by the department to provide sufficient evidence of budgetary compliance;
(c) Shall not advance funds to a subgrantee for more than sixty (60) days; and
(d) Shall reimburse a subgrantee for expenses only after the required documentation is provided and is approved by the department.
SECTION 18. It is the intent of the Legislature, that within the funds available, the Department of Human Services may provide any qualifying grants of CARES Act or American Rescue Act funding in an amount not to exceed One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) to the three (3) regional food banks that serve Mississippi, including Feed the Gulf Coast, Mid-South Food Bank, and Mississippi Food Network.
SECTION 19. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is reappropriated out of any money in the Capital Expense Fund not otherwise appropriated for the Department of Human Services for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of Capital Expense Funds, as authorized in HB 1622, 2023 Regular Session to defray expenses of the Department of Human Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending
June 30, 2025.................................. $ 58,327,806.00.
This appropriation is made for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of funds as allocated herein:
(a) To defray the Department’s computer
expenses....................................... $ 4,327,806.00.
(b) To secure federal funding for a new
computer system................................ $ 54,000,000.00.
Notwithstanding the amount reappropriated under this section, the amount that may be expended under the authority of this section, shall not exceed the unexpended balance of the funds remaining as of June 30, 2024, from the amount authorized for the previous fiscal year. In addition, this reappropriation shall not change the purpose for which the funds were originally authorized.
SECTION 20. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 21. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024, and shall stand repealed June 30, 2024.