Lawmakers consider cost saving methods in Mississippi’s licensure boards

Lawmakers consider cost saving methods. Lawmakers consider cost saving methods in Mississippi's licensure boards.

Key points

• The Mississippi of State Board of Dental Examiners has only $802, 000 in its reserves.
• The regulatory agency boards occupy regarding 118, 000 square feet throughout the state, with 8, 500 square feet of office space at present available.
• Experts informed the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity on Tuesday that doing so would provide cost savings and provide uniformity in protecting the state's data.
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians receives $12 million in federal grants to expand economic development drivers.
• On a monthly basis, costs jumped 0.6% from August to September, up from 0.4% the previous month.

Notably, the Senate Administration Structure Committee is looking at ways to optimize office space, apply shared services to reduce costs, and subsequently lower licensure fees.

Efforts are underway to consider methods for licensure boards in Mississippi to save funds through the consolidation of office space and the apply of shared services.

Working out of a state-owned building would provide cost savings in rent and in turn provide a means to lower licensure fees, enticing more individuals to enter the careers overseen by the licensure boards.

Senate Administration Structure Committee Chair state Senator Tyler McCaughn (R) advised those in attendance that it was his intent not to delete any board or administration office, but rather see if legal, financial, IT work, and human relations needs could be consolidated.

In Mississippi, there are separate licensure boards for the various professional fields working in the state, such as doctors and nurses, even though they are both in the medical field. While there is no intent to combine those licenses under one board, the two could share services as described by McCaughn.

While Georgia combines all independent boards in one building but continues to apply independent investigation, licensure and disciplinary personnel, ted Booth, Deputy Director of the Mississippi Joint Legislative PEER Committee, remarked there are states like Texas that combine all licensures under one board in one building. Booth remarked the Georgia model is best suited for Mississippi. "There are benefits from government operating more efficiently, " Booth remarked.

Throughout Jackson's Capitol Complex consolidation of board offices into existing state-owned buildings is a possibility. By Booth's estimate, there is regarding 124, 000 square feet of office space that could optimized, saving the state the $74 million cost of a new structure with comparable space.

"We can renovate what we have for less than that, " Booth explained. "But not only can we, but we're going to have to renovate these buildings regardless of whether we increase the occupancy."

For context, the regulatory agency boards occupy regarding 118, 000 square feet throughout the state, with 8, 500 square feet of office space at present available. Spending $60 million over five years to renovate the available state buildings could save $3.5 million annually and provide workspace for 500 individuals.

Nevertheless, there would be matters with consolidating office spaces into state-owned buildings, mostly centered around how offices would be shuffled while renovations took place due to the lack of a spare building, Booth noted.

For context, the Mississippi State Board of Architecture discovered it a challenge in moving to a centralized state-owned building. John Cothron, director of the architecture board, remarked they would need a larger space to accommodate the printouts they work with daily.

Five boards, including chiropractors, massage therapy, and optometry, are at present using third party contractor J-Bar and Associates to provide executive director services.

Yvonne Laird, President of J-Bar and Associates, remarked those boards additionally have offices in a building her firm owns. A number of of the services provided include internet, cybersecurity and fax services.

Representatives with each of the boards that contract with her business remarked they are receiving stellar service at a reduced cost of hiring their own executive director, with one saying their contract with J-Bar and Associates is a third of the cost of their previous executive director's compensation. Additionally, some boards noticed essential tasks were not being completed by their executive directors, but that is not the case with Laird's firm.

During the Senate committee session, the problem of boards maintaining sizeable sums of funds in reserve was additionally discussed.

While that is not the case with every board, those with larger sums remarked they plan to reduce their licensing fees.

One example is the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure. It handles medical doctors, doctors of osteopathic medicine, podiatrists, physician assistants and X-ray technicians, to name a few. Deputy Agency Director Adrianne Brantley remarked the current licensure fees are growing the reserve balance by concerning $1.2 million annually. Their plan is to cut some fees from the current $550 to $150, reducing that expansion to $800, 000 annually. The board has regarding $13 million on hand. It equates to three years of operational costs.

Committee members asked that the agency to consider ways to employ those reserve funds to entice more residents to take medical roles in rural areas of the state through scholarships or other programs.

For context, the Mississippi of State Board of Dental Examiners has only $802, 000 in its reserves. The agency licenses general dentists, dental hygienists, specialty dental licenses and permits, such as for dental assistants to be able to perform radiographs. Facility inspections are performed at no cost to the dental professional but costs the board on average $600 per inspection.

Denny Hydrick, director of that dental board, remarked not charging for the inspections is one way the board is giving back to the field it oversees. State Board of Health.

State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney agreed that there is a need to consolidate services.

"This is my second hearing on government efficiency and I am just begging that something will come out of it because state government is horribly inefficient and it's incredibly expensive, and it need not be, " Edney remarked.

Nevertheless, most of Edney's time was employed to create requests to the committee, such as seeking the ability to control how much his employees are paid, the funds to cover that cost, and the ability to apply his allocated positions to meet the changing needs of the Mississippi State Department of Health.

At present, the personal identification numbers, or actual positions, allocated to his office have specific job descriptions.

"There are days that I need more public health nurses, I have the PINS but I don't have public health nurse PINS, " Edney explained.

He additionally asked lawmakers to consider more stringent regulations on kratom products, more specifically banning the sale of those products within certain businesses.

"The main thing I would plead in relation to kratom is can we not just agree that even if we need to provide access to this, it doesn't need to be in a gas station, " Edney remarked. "I think we're all in agreement there."

In terms of consolidating services, Edney remarked his agency's current IT protections. It are extensive, can benefit more agencies.

"We have the IT infrastructure for a large agency, " Edney remarked. "There's capacity there to bring more people under one umbrella."

All boards and agencies were additionally asked concerning their cybersecurity confidence during the Senate hearing. Most remarked they are up to date on their security and training methods, but not every agency uses the same database or website provider.

For context, the boards receiving services from J-Bar Associates were lately hit by a cyberattack that has left two of the five boards without some essential services. Between the five boards, there are three different databases, three different website providers, and four different computer maintenance contracts.

Laird remarked all of the boards are not under a singular data base contract as the individual boards create that decision. Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

News Jeremy Pittari October 14, 2026.

Lawmakers pressed to move to a centralized cybersecurity system in Mississippi to protect from attacks.

Experts informed the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity on Tuesday that doing so would provide cost savings and provide uniformity in protecting the state's data. Mandating that local governments report cyberattacks to the state was additionally suggested. More From This Author. Education Jeremy Pittari October 12, 2026. IHL extends commissioner's contract, increases pay. News Jeremy Pittari October 9, 2026.

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For now, lawmakers consider cost saving methods in Mississippi’ s licensure boards remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.