A typo in a House appropriations bill has prevented $15 million in funding for a Mississippi program designed to strengthen homes against storms, state Insurance Department officials said.
The Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program, administered by the Mississippi Insurance Department, offers grants of up to $10,000 to retrofit roofs and improve wind and water resistance, the department said. The program was created after Hurricane Katrina and was funded this year in a separate appropriations measure.
Lawmakers made the $15 million contingent on passage of Senate Bill 2406, but the funding was intended to be tied to Senate Bill 2409, the storm resilience measure, the department said. SB 2406 died in a Senate committee in February. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney blamed the error on human mistake, saying, “You got 2406 instead of 2409, that’s easy to do. If you look at a (keypad), the six is right above the nine.”
The Insurance Department secured $2 million from the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, commonly called the state wind pool, but that money is limited to the state’s three coastal counties, department officials said. That leaves the program about $13 million short of the amount lawmakers originally pledged and restricts eligibility compared with the intended statewide funding.
Chaney said such scrivener errors are often corrected before bills become law, but Gov. Tate Reeves would not allow a correction when he signed the measure. Reeves’ press secretary, Shelby Wilcher, pointed to the governor’s signing message acknowledging the $15 million could not be spent because SB 2406 died and did not answer a follow-up question about why the mistake was not fixed, the department said. Andy Case, the Insurance Department’s director of property and casualty rating, said the department expects the Legislature to restore the $15 million when lawmakers reconvene in 2027. A Mississippi Today project last year identified the state as among the most vulnerable to climate change, and officials have said mitigation funding is a key strategy to reduce future disaster impacts. The governor last week requested a federal disaster declaration after Tropical Storm Arthur damaged more than 500 homes, a request that would mark the state’s third declaration so far in 2026 if granted.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
