Mississippi, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.
State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.
Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.
Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining
Approximately 52 percent (159,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (2022). This number represents a decrease from 53 percent (175,000) in 2016.1
Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High
Black, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.2
State General Fund Appropriations: Growing
In June of 2025, Mississippi’s governor signed the fiscal 2026 budget authorizing $7.86 billion in state support funds, a decrease of $514 million, or 6.1 percent, from fiscal 2025. General fund appropriations total $7.14 billion in fiscal 2026, an increase of $62 million, or 0.9, percent over fiscal 2025. General fund revenues are projected at $7.63 billion, a 0.4 percent increase from the current year. The budget sets aside 2 percent of projected revenue, or $152.5 million, as required by law. The legislature retained $2.76 billion in reserve funds that is available to address shortfall in revenues or fiscal 2026 deficits.3
Key Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):4
Mississippi uses all major state and local taxes, although in 2025 the legislature passed a historic bill to phase out the state’s income tax. Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls.
State Budget Rules:4
Mississippi uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget and is prohibited from carrying a deficit over into the following year. Mississippi further limits both spending and revenue growth with binding rules that require a legislative supermajority or vote of the people to override. A three-fifths supermajority is also required for legislation that raises taxes or revenue. The state also limits total authorized debt incurred by the state.
There is no permanent state funding stream—such as lottery revenue, nicotine tax, or trust fund distributions—dedicated by statute to early childhood supports.9 (Examples of states with such funding in place can be found in the Alliance’s Revenue and Early Childhood Finance resource center.)
Political Alignment: Aligned Republican
During the 2025 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.6
Types of Common Ballot Measures Available: One
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:7
Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:9
In 2025, the Mississippi legislature made a historic, first-time investment in child care. The Child Care Payment Program, Mississippi’s childcare voucher program funded through the Child Care Development Fund, was appropriated $15M in HB 20 for additional child care vouchers for low-income children and families. This significant appropriation will help reduce the number of children who are not renewed for child care assistance due to the sunsetting of pandemic-era funds. Of the 36,000 children Mississippi serves, about 10,000 children, or a third, are not going to be renewed as the Mississippi Department of Human Services seeks to rightsize its budget.
HB 1063 provides six weeks of paid parental leave to state employees who are primary caregivers, most often mothers. Additionally, school districts are granted the authority to opt in to the policy, but they do not receive funding to cover the cost of the adoption.
HB 42 level-funded the early learning collaborative program, state-funded pre-K, with a $29M appropriation. This continues to allow the state to maintain a higher per-pupil funding rate of $7,000, half paid by the state and half paid by the local program. The general fund will cover $7,789,474 of this appropriation, and the remaining $21,210,526 is lottery funds. The legislature again supported pre-k teachers by committing $3.25 million for pre-k coaches. This will help the Mississippi Department of Education continue to provide high-quality professional experiences to pre-k teachers in collaboratives without dependence on philanthropy.
Our lead ally in Mississippi, Mississippi First, works to champion transformative policy solutions ensuring educational excellence for every child. The organization is the lead advocate for the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013, Mississippi’s state-funded pre-k law. They conduct research, and support advocacy and implementation efforts for the state pre-k program, including supporting the Mississippi Department of Education-funded pre-k programs and applicant communities. The organization is currently expanding its advocacy efforts to the 0-5 space in the state.
Mississippi First is working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:
Child Care
Child Care Workforce
K-3 Education
Preschool and Pre-K
Family Economic Supports
Data Systems
Early Childhood Finance and Cost Modeling
Early Childhood Governance
Mississippi just celebrated the ten-year anniversary of its launch of a collaborative pre-k program, a mixed-delivery model that allows families in communities to choose the setting and style that works for them. The 2013 debut allocated $3 million for 11 early learning collaboratives. By 2023, $24 million is enabling Mississippi to support 35.
NOTES:
1 Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.
2 National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.
3 National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2026.
4 Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, April 2025.
5 Alliance for Early Success, State Examples of Dedicated Funding Streams, 2025
6 National Conference of State Legislatures, 2025 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, January 31, 2025.
7 Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, 2025.
8 Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.
9 Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2025.
