Appropriation; Rehabilitation Services, Department of.

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To: Appropriations C;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Deweese, Read, Bennett,
Creekmore IV, Currie, McGee, Mickens, Scott,
Turner

HOUSE BILL NO. 1921
(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEFRAYING 1
THE EXPENSES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION SERVICES FOR 2
FISCAL YEAR 2027. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 4
SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 5
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General 6
Fund not otherwise appropriated, for the purposes of defraying the 7
expenses of the Department of Rehabilitation Services for the 8
fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027...... 9
............................................... $ 33,776,232.00. 10
SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 11
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in 12
the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of 13
Rehabilitation Services which is comprised of special source funds 14
collected by or otherwise available to the department for the 15
support of the various offices of the department, for the purpose 16
of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal year 17
beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027.................. 18
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............................................... $ 227,778,917.00. 19
SECTION 3. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of 20
Section 2, Three Million Six Hundred Eighty-one Thousand Eight 21
Hundred Two Dollars ($3,681,802.00) shall be derived from the 22
Health Care Expendable Fund created in Section 43-13-407, 23
Mississippi Code of 1972. The above funds shall be allocated as 24
follows: 25
Fully match all available federal 26
funds................................ $ 2,826,899.00. 27
Independent Living Program which 28
includes the State Attendant 29
Care Program......................... $ 854,903.00. 30
SECTION 4. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of 31
this act, not more than the following amount of funds, with the 32
exception of the provisions in this section, shall be expended 33
only for "Personal Services," which includes "Vacancy Funding," 34
for the following authorized number of employment headcount: 35
FUNDING: 36
General Funds: $ 10,781,781.00 37
Special Funds: $ 52,033,092.00 38
Total Funds: $ 62,814,873.00 39
PERSONAL SERVICES: 40
Employee Salaries, Wages and 41
Fringe Benefits: $ 59,674,129.00 42
Progressions: $ 0.00 43
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Vacancy Funding: $ 3,140,744.00 44
Total Personal Services: $ 62,814,873.00 45
AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT: 46
Permanent: 828 47
Time-Limited: 212 48
As used in this section, the term "Personal Services" shall 49
mean funds provided under the major object of expenditure category 50
Personal Services for Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits. Funds 51
in this category shall not be transferred to any other category. 52
It is the intention of the Legislature to ensure compliance 53
with the Variable Compensation Plan, as outlined in Section 54
25-9-147, Mississippi Code of 1972. Payment from these funds 55
shall be in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan 56
promulgated by the Mississippi State Personnel Board. It is the 57
Legislature's intention that no employee's salary falls below the 58
minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel 59
Board. 60
The State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the 61
projected annual cost of "Personal Services" based on monthly and 62
year-to-date payroll expenditures in compliance with the 63
provisions of this act. 64
With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency's 65
responsibility to ensure that no single personnel action or 66
combination of personnel actions, when annualized, exceeds the 67
Fiscal Year 2027 appropriation for "Personal Services" with the 68
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exception of escalated funds. Further, it shall be the agency's 69
responsibility to ensure that funds required to be appropriated 70
for "Personal Services" for Fiscal Year 2028 do not exceed Fiscal 71
Year 2027 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or 72
positions are added to the agency's Fiscal Year 2027 budget by the 73
Mississippi Legislature. 74
If, at the time the agency takes any action to change 75
"Personal Services," the State Personnel Board determines that the 76
agency has taken or will take an action that would cause the 77
agency to exceed the funds appropriated in this act when 78
annualized for Fiscal Year 2027 or increase the need for "Personal 79
Services" for Fiscal Year 2028, when annualized, the State 80
Personnel Board shall process no salary actions until such time as 81
the requirements of the provisions of this section are met with 82
the exception of new hires determined to be essential for the 83
agency. 84
When used in this section, "Vacancy Funding" shall mean funds 85
included in the Total Personal Services amount listed above and 86
designated for approved vacancies in Fiscal Year 2027. These 87
funds are to be utilized to increase the number of filled 88
headcounts that were authorized but unfilled as of the last day of 89
Fiscal Year 2026. If the agency fills additional headcounts after 90
March 1, 2026, until the end of Fiscal Year 2026, the amount of 91
available Vacancy Funding may be proportionally adjusted to 92
reflect the updated number of filled headcounts. The agency shall 93
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be responsible for ensuring that "Vacancy Funding" is used to 94
increase headcounts and not for promotions, title changes, 95
in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing 96
salaries for current employees. 97
Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with 98
the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or 99
allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State 100
Personnel Board shall not escalate positions or increase the 101
Personal Services total without written approval from the 102
Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of 103
Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to 104
escalate any funds for salaries and/or headcounts without proof of 105
availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated 106
level. Unless specifically noted, all Fiscal Year 2026 escalated 107
headcounts have been accounted for and shall be converted to 108
authorized time-limited headcounts. 109
No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be 110
used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for 111
salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are 112
withdrawn and no longer available. 113
None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in 114
violation of the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A 115
relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as 116
interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor. 117
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If the agency's total authorized headcount decreases from 118
Fiscal Year 2026 to Fiscal Year 2027, it will be the agency's 119
discretion as to what headcounts are removed. 120
SECTION 5. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 121
Department of Rehabilitation Services shall maintain complete 122
accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all 123
funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be 124
in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal 125
Year 2026. It is further the intention of the Legislature that 126
the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2028 shall be 127
submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format 128
and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail 129
provided during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request process. 130
SECTION 6. The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the 131
Blind shall remain accredited by using not more than Five Hundred 132
Dollars ($500.00) of the funds appropriated along with matching 133
funds for payment of fees to an accreditation agency recommended 134
by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. 135
SECTION 7. Of the funds appropriated herein, the Mississippi 136
Department of Rehabilitation Services through the Office of 137
Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind is authorized to expend an 138
amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) 139
for the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) News line service 140
to allow blind and visually impaired persons to access newspapers 141
through toll-free telephone calls. 142
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SECTION 8. It is the intention of the Legislature that 143
whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the 144
purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things 145
stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, 146
quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind 147
shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to 148
the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are 149
made without competitive bids. 150
SECTION 9. In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance 151
Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of 152
the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized 153
in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the 154
intended mission of this agency. Based on the funding authorized, 155
this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted 156
performance measures provided below: 157
FY2027 158
Performance Measures Target 159
Disability Determination Services 160
Number of Dispositions 65,000 161
Processing Time (Days) 125 162
Voc Rehabilitation For The Blind 163
Number of Blind & Visually Impaired 164
Persons Served 2,100 165
Number of Persons Rehabilitated 315 166
Number of Independent Living Persons Served 535 167
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Percent Change in Persons Employed 168
Compared to Persons Served 13.00 169
Vocational Rehabilitation 170
Number of Clients Served 15,100 171
Number of Clients Rehabilitated 2,565 172
Percent Change of Persons Employed 173
Compared to Persons Served 16.00 174
Persons Employed with Pay Rate Greater 175
than Federal or State Minimum Wage 2,565 176
Persons with Significant Disabilities 177
Leaving VR With Competitive, Self, or 178
BEP Employment, Wage = or > Than Minimum 1,600 179
Spinal Cord & Head Injury Program 180
Number of Clients Served 1,050 181
Percent Change in Number of Spinal Cord 182
& Brain injuries per Year 3.00 183
Special Disability Programs 184
Number of Clients Served 3,100 185
Percent Change in Persons Receiving HCBW 186
Services Compared to Waiting List 25.00 187
Ratio of Cost to HCBW Services per 188
Person Compared to an Institutional 189
Setting 38.00 190
Support Services 191
Percent of Total Budget 2.00 192
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A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets 193
set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the 194
agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget 195
Committee for Fiscal Year 2028. 196
SECTION 10. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, it is 197
the intention of the Legislature that One Million Five Hundred 198
Sixty-three Thousand Thirty-nine Dollars ($1,563,039.00) shall be 199
allocated to the Spinal Cord & Head Injury Trust supported from 200
General Fund court assessments. 201
SECTION 11. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1 and 202
Section 2 of this act, it is the intention of the Legislature that 203
continued funding at or above the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriated 204
amount shall be provided for up to four thousand one hundred 205
(4,100) slots in the Home and Community Based Waiver programs for 206
Independent Living and Spinal Cord/Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver 207
programs. 208
SECTION 12. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 209
funds herein appropriated shall be expended in compliance with 210
Section 27-104-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, that no state agency 211
shall incur obligations or indebtedness in excess of their 212
appropriation and that the responsible officers, either personally 213
or upon their official bonds, shall be held responsible for 214
actions contrary to this provision. 215
SECTION 13. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by 216
the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the 217
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ST: Appropriation; Rehabilitation Services,
Department of.
credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon 218
warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal 219
Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the 220
proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law. 221
SECTION 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from 222
and after July 1, 2026. 223