DFA Administrative Rule regarding card and electronic payments; bring forward code sections within.

S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 1 (ab\kr)

To: Accountability,
Efficiency, Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Suber

SENATE BILL NO. 2627

AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 7-7-1, 7-7-9, 25-53-151, AND 1
27-104-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE WITHIN THE 2
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE RULE 3
REGARDING PAYMENTS BY CREDIT CARD, CHARGE CARD, DEBIT CARD OR 4
OTHER ELECTRONIC PAYMENT OF AMOUNTS OWED TO STATE AGENCIES, FOR 5
THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Section 7-7-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 8
brought forward as follows: 9
7-7-1. (1) As used in this chapter, the terms "State 10
Auditor" and "Auditor" mean the Auditor of Public Accounts. 11
(2) As used in this chapter, the term "State Fiscal Officer" 12
means the official created in Section 27-104-5, acting through the 13
Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management. 14
(3) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, 15
council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or 16
statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, 17
department, unit or the head thereof is authorized to appoint 18
subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a 19
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 2 (ab\kr)

legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, 20
department or unit thereof. 21
(4) For the purposes of Sections 7-7-1 through 7-7-65, the 22
term "public funds" shall mean all funds which are received, 23
collected by, or available for the support of or expenditure by 24
any state department, institution or agency, whether such funds be 25
derived from taxes or from fees collected by such state 26
department, institution or agency or from some other source, and 27
which should be included in the entity of the state under 28
generally accepted accounting principles, although such funds may 29
not be required by law to be deposited in the State Treasury. 30
Funds such as endowment funds and research funds, special 31
building and plant funds, funds of a proprietary function, and the 32
like shall be excluded from the meaning of the term, unless 33
specifically required by law to be handled through the State 34
Treasury or unless deemed necessary by the State Fiscal Officer to 35
be included. 36
All funds of state departments, institutions and agencies 37
within the contemplation of this section that are not required by 38
law to be deposited in the State Treasury, or are not declared to 39
be exempt from the provisions of Sections 7-7-1 through 7-7-65 by 40
the State Fiscal Officer shall be reported to the State Fiscal 41
Officer in reports of revenues, expenditures, assets, liabilities, 42
encumbrances, fund balances and other financial statements, at 43
such times and in the form required by the State Fiscal Officer. 44
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 3 (ab\kr)

It is hereby declared to be the intent of this section to 45
provide that all "public funds" necessary to present a complete 46
and comprehensive statement of the fiscal operations of the state 47
government shall be handled through the State Fiscal Officer, 48
whether through State Fiscal Officer receipt warrants and 49
disbursement warrants, as is generally provided, or through the 50
method of reporting, as required herein. 51
SECTION 2. Section 7-7-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 52
brought forward as follows: 53
7-7-9. The Mississippi General Accounting Office shall 54
maintain a complete system of general accounting to comprehend the 55
financial transactions of every state department, division, 56
officer, board, commission, institution or other agency owned or 57
controlled by the state, except those agencies specifically 58
exempted in Section 7-7-1, whether at the seat of government or 59
not and whether the funds upon which they operate are channeled 60
through the State Treasury or not, either through regular 61
procedures having to do with the issuance of the State Fiscal 62
Officer receipt warrants and disbursement warrants or through 63
controls maintained through reports filed periodically as required 64
by the State Fiscal Officer in accordance with the reporting 65
provisions contained in said Section 7-7-1. 66
All transactions in public funds, as defined in Section 67
7-7-1, shall either be handled directly through the State Fiscal 68
Officer and the State Treasury, or shall be reported to the State 69
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 4 (ab\kr)

Fiscal Officer at the times and in the form prescribed by the 70
State Fiscal Officer and the Legislative Budget Office, so that a 71
complete and comprehensive system of accounts of the fiscal 72
activities of all state governmental agencies shall be made 73
available at all times in the General Accounting Office. 74
SECTION 3. Section 25-53-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 75
brought forward as follows: 76
25-53-151. (1) There is established in the State Treasury 77
the "Electronic Government Services Fund," into which shall be 78
deposited specific funds appropriated by the Legislature for 79
developing and providing electronic government services within the 80
State of Mississippi. Any funds in the Electronic Government 81
Services Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the 82
State General Fund, but shall be available for expenditure in the 83
subsequent fiscal year. The funds in the Electronic Government 84
Fund shall be available for expenditure pursuant to specific 85
appropriation by the Legislature beginning in fiscal year 2002, to 86
the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services. 87
(2) There is hereby established an Electronic Government 88
Oversight Committee to oversee the implementation of E-Government 89
and related technology initiatives. Duties of this committee 90
would include: (a) prioritize and make recommendations for all 91
electronic government services, in order to cut across state and 92
local governmental organizational structures; (b) address policy 93
issues such as privacy, security, transaction fees and 94
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 5 (ab\kr)

accessibility; (c) review ongoing fiscal and operational 95
management and support of portal; (d) provide a mechanism for 96
gathering input from citizens, businesses and government entities; 97
(e) encourage self-service models for citizens through state 98
websites and other electronic services; and (f) promote economic 99
development and efficient delivery of government services by 100
encouraging governmental and private sector entities to conduct 101
their business and transactions using electronic media. The 102
Electronic Government Oversight Committee shall be composed of the 103
following: (a) the Executive Director of the Mississippi 104
Department of Information Technology Services, or his designee; 105
(b) the State Auditor, or his designee; (c) the State Treasurer, 106
or his designee; (d) the Secretary of State, or his designee; (e) 107
the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and 108
Administration, or his designee; (f) the Commissioner of Public 109
Safety, or his designee; (g) the Commissioner of Revenue, or his 110
designee; (h) the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department 111
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks or his designee; (i) the 112
Executive Director of the Department of Archives and History or 113
his/her designee. The committee shall annually elect one (1) 114
member to serve as chairman and one (1) member to serve as vice 115
chairman, who shall act as chairman in the absence of the 116
chairman. The committee shall meet monthly or upon the call of 117
the chairman, and shall make necessary reports and recommendations 118
to the Legislature and the appropriate agencies of state 119
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 6 (ab\kr)

government. All agencies of state government shall cooperate with 120
the committee in providing requested information, shall work 121
closely with and provide information to the committee and shall 122
report to the committee at its request. The Mississippi 123
Department of Information Technology Services shall provide 124
administrative support for the committee. Nonlegislative members 125
of the committee shall serve without compensation. 126
(3) The Electronic Government Oversight Committee shall 127
advise and provide direction to the Department of Finance and 128
Administration to develop a procurement portal that will enable 129
potential vendors of goods and services to access relevant and 130
necessary information related to the sale of the following types 131
of goods and services to the State of Mississippi and its 132
agencies: 133
(a) Commodities, as defined by Section 31-7-1; 134
(b) Contract personnel, as defined by Sections 25-9-107 135
and 25-9-120; and 136
(c) Computer equipment and services, as defined by 137
Section 25-53-3. 138
(4) The procurement portal provided for in subsection (3) 139
must provide potential vendors with the following: 140
(a) A searchable database of business procurement 141
opportunities with the state which includes a breakdown by product 142
or service and by the organization seeking the product or service; 143
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 7 (ab\kr)

(b) Listings of the published date and closing date for 144
each business procurement opportunity; 145
(c) A "Frequently Asked Questions" section regarding 146
doing business with the respective agencies; 147
(d) A breakdown of "Frequently Asked Questions" 148
regarding the selection process with the respective agencies; 149
(e) An open-air forum for questions and answers 150
relating to the procurement process, in general, as well as 151
specifically relating to a single contract; and 152
(f) Links to individual agency websites and contacts to 153
enable potential vendors to obtain more specific information, if 154
necessary. 155
(5) The procurement portal must be linked to the 156
Transparency Mississippi website established in accordance with 157
Sections 27-104-151 through 27-104-163. The Mississippi 158
Department of Information Technology Services shall develop and 159
maintain a link to the procurement portal from the state website. 160
From and after July 1, 2018, the expenses of this agency 161
shall be defrayed by appropriation from the State General Fund. 162
In addition, in order to receive the maximum use and benefit from 163
information technology and services, expenses for the provision of 164
statewide shared services that facilitate cost-effective 165
information processing and telecommunication solutions shall be 166
defrayed by pass-through funding and shall be deposited into the 167
Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services 168
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 8 (ab\kr)

Revolving Fund unless otherwise specified by the Legislature. 169
These funds shall only be utilized to pay the actual costs 170
incurred by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology 171
Services for providing these shared services to state agencies. 172
Furthermore, state agencies shall work in full cooperation with 173
the Board of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology 174
Services (MDITS) to identify computer equipment or services to 175
minimize duplication, reduce costs, and improve the efficiency of 176
providing common technology services across agency boundaries. 177
SECTION 4. Section 27-104-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 178
brought forward as follows: 179
27-104-33. The State Department of Finance and 180
Administration shall establish policies that allow the payment of 181
various fees and other accounts receivable to state agencies, and 182
the payment for retail merchandise sold by state agencies, by 183
credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and other forms of 184
electronic payment in the discretion of the department. Any fees 185
or charges associated with the use of such electronic payments 186
shall be assessed to the user of the electronic payment as an 187
additional charge for processing the electronic payment, so that 188
the user will pay the full cost of using the electronic payment. 189
Agencies, with the approval of the Department of Finance and 190
Administration, may bear the full cost of processing such 191
electronic payments if the agency can demonstrate to the 192
department's satisfaction that they are able to assume these costs 193
S. B. No. 2627 *SS36/R1205* ~ OFFICIAL ~
26/SS36/R1205
PAGE 9 (ab\kr)
ST: DFA Administrative Rule regarding card and
electronic payments; bring forward code sections
within.
and provide the related service for the same or lesser cost. 194
However, state agencies may bear the full cost of processing such 195
electronic payments for retail merchandise sold by state agencies. 196
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 197
and after July 1, 2026. 198