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SB 3042

Appropriation; Secretary of State.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Briggs Hopson and 4 co-sponsors

Authorizes FY2026 funding for the Secretary of State, sets staffing caps, limits uses (voting-system bond costs, litigation), imposes anti-nepotism rules; bill died in conference.

Died In Conference
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Bill Summary · SB 3042

SB 3042 — Appropriation; Secretary of State

Status: Died in Conference (Mar 29, 2025)
Introduced: April 7, 2025 | Primary sponsor: Sen. Kouchi
Subject: Appropriations for the Office of the Secretary of State (Appropriations A & D)

Purpose / Intent

SB 3042 is an annual appropriation bill that would fund the operations of the Office of the Secretary of State for Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026). The bill sets dollar authorizations from the State General Fund and from special source funds, establishes staffing/compensation controls, specifies allowable uses (including litigation and voting-system support), and sets performance targets for program areas.

Key provisions and changes

  • Funding authorizations (as shown in the bill text):
    • Special source funds authorized for expenditure: $16,924,899 (Section 2).
    • An amount shown in the headcount/authorization section: $16,690,305 (Section 3).
      (The printed amendment text is fragmented; these figures are taken from the bill pages as provided.)
  • Staffing and personal services controls:
    • Agencies must ensure Fiscal Year 2027 personal services do not exceed FY2026 personal services appropriation unless the Legislature adds programs/positions.
    • Vacancy funds for FY2026 may be used to fill approved FY2025 vacancies, but funds designated for vacancies cannot be used for promotions, title changes, in-range salary adjustments, or other salary increases for current employees.
    • The State Personnel Board must publish the personal services appropriation and projected annualized payroll costs; escalations or position increases require written approval from the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and proof of available funds.
    • General funds cannot be used to replace federal or other special funds withdrawn.
    • Compliance with IRS Publication 15-A reporting for contract employees as interpreted by the State Auditor is required.
  • Allowable expenditures:
    • Up to $500,000 of Section 1 funds may be used to pay principal and interest on bond issues for county voting systems (Section 9).
    • Funds may be used to defray litigation expenses related to enforcing the Mississippi Securities Act, Regulation of Charitable Solicitations Act, and administration of the Public Trust (Section 7).
    • Section 10 (truncated in provided text) references an allocation from special funds of $1,750,000 (appears to be for a specific purpose; full text not provided).
  • Recordkeeping and budgeting:
    • The Secretary of State’s office must maintain complete accounting and personnel records at the same format/detail as FY2025 and submit the FY2027 budget request in comparable detail to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
  • Restrictions and ethics:
    • Anti-nepotism clause: no appropriated funds may pay persons related within the third degree to the official; violations make approving officials/recipients jointly and severally liable to repay three times the amount to the State Treasury (recoverable by the Attorney General).

Performance measures (FY2026 targets included in the bill)

The bill lists agency performance targets to be reported with the FY2027 budget request, including:
- Business Services: 95% of customer phone calls answered.
- Elections: 6,400 poll workers to complete online training; 60% of poll managers to complete poll manager training on first attempt.
- Publications: 650 (metric unclear in fragment).
- Website visits: 9,000,000 visits to Secretary of State’s website.
- Public lands: 1,000 tax-forfeited properties sold.
- Support services: Support services to be 25% of total agency expenditures.

Who is affected

  • The Office of the Secretary of State: funding, headcount and operational restrictions.
  • County election offices and vendors: potential funding support for county voting systems.
  • Parties involved in securities and charitable solicitation enforcement: litigation expense funding.
  • State personnel/payroll administration: constraints on salary actions and escalations.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Introduced April 7, 2025; referred through Finance and Appropriations committees; transmitted to House and amended.
  • Conferees were named in March 2025 but the measure ultimately "Died In Conference" on March 29, 2025 — the bill did not become law.
  • Companion bill: HB 2353.

Notes / caveats

  • The provided amendment text was partially truncated and contains formatting irregularities. Dollar figures and section attributions above reflect the numbers printed in the amendment pages provided; readers should consult the official enrolled or session journal text for definitive line-item allocations and any language omitted in the fragment.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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