SB 2917 · 2026 Regular Session
The state is putting $100 million into a new cancer center in Jackson
A budget-transfer law sets aside $100 million for UMMC’s planned cancer center on State Street, plus $253 million for lawmakers’ local projects and $150 million for highways.
- In effect since
- The transfer takes effect with the law; the tracker’s summary says the money can be spent once the Legislature appropriates it.
- How it became law
- Signed by the governor
By Jackson Wire Staff · October 9, 2026
What it does
The law creates a Cancer Center Fund and moves $100 million into it to help the University of Mississippi Medical Center build and equip a Cancer Center and Research Institute, according to the bill summary the Wire read. The summary says Finance and Administration can spend the money only after the Legislature appropriates it, meaning passes a bill releasing it, and that interest goes to the general fund, the state’s main account. UMMC, Mississippi Today and SuperTalk all describe the $100 million as an appropriation already made; the Wire could not resolve that difference from its sources.
The same bill moves money into more than a dozen other funds. The Wire’s read: the biggest, a 2026 Local Improvements Projects Fund that gets $233 million now and $20 million on July 1, matches the $253 million ‘Christmas tree’ bill of lawmakers’ district projects that Mississippi Today described. Transportation gets $150 million for capacity projects.
Universities get $75.1 million for buildings and community colleges $40 million. Southern Miss gets $30 million for a science research building and Mississippi State $32 million for its veterinary school. Vicksburg National Military Park’s visitor center gets $30 million, industrial site grants $43.5 million, and the Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund $15 million.
Why it happened
Mississippi’s cancer death rate is 23% higher than the national average, Mississippi Today reported. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s vice chancellor for health affairs, calls it the highest cancer mortality in the nation. About 16,000 Mississippians are diagnosed each year and roughly 6,500 die, SuperTalk reported. There are 73 National Cancer Institute-designated centers in the country and none in Mississippi, Louisiana or Arkansas; patients who want one travel to Alabama, Tennessee or Texas, Mississippi Today reported.
UMMC is the only institution in Mississippi able to earn the designation, Woodward told the Senate Appropriations Committee in January, Mississippi Today reported. ‘It’s either us, or it doesn’t happen,’ she said. UMMC says a new building is the key to earning it, and the designation brings federal support and access to early clinical trials.
What's behind it
By March 30 UMMC’s campaign had raised $100 million of its $125 million goal, SuperTalk reported. The gifts included $25 million from Sandy and John Black, $10 million each from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation and the Bower Foundation, and $5 million from C Spire. ‘UMMC didn’t just show up with their hand out,’ Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Belmont Republican, told SuperTalk, ‘so if you want to talk about skin in the game, they have it.’
The House and Senate settled the bill in a conference committee, a small group from both chambers that works out one version; both chambers adopted its report April 2. Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill April 13, according to the bill history. Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg and Finance Chairman Josh Harkins of Flowood had previously confirmed ‘significant’ funding, SuperTalk reported.
What it costs, and who pays
The $100 million comes from the state’s capital expenditure funds, SuperTalk reported; those are state accounts for one-time projects such as buildings. The whole building is estimated at $250 million, Mississippi Today reported. UMMC’s campaign has raised $100 million toward $125 million, the state is adding $100 million, and the federal government gave $8.5 million for site preparation; by the Wire’s arithmetic that is $208.5 million so far. The state also kept the center’s annual operating appropriation at $9 million, a level set in 2024, Mississippi Today reported.
As of the April reports the Wire read, the money was set aside but not yet spent. UMMC still has to earn the designation, which Dr. Rod Rocconi, the cancer center’s director, told Mississippi Today could take up to a decade.
What changes for you
The Wire found nothing that changes care at UMMC’s existing clinics this year. UMMC planned to break ground later in 2026, Mississippi Today reported. Once open, UMMC says patients will get advanced therapies and clinical trials in Jackson instead of out of state.
If your town or county was in the local projects list, that money is in the same law. The Wire has not yet read the list.
What it means for Jackson
A five-story building of more than 250,000 square feet will sit on State Street across from the medical center, SuperTalk and Mississippi Today reported.
Watch for
The groundbreaking, which UMMC said would come later in 2026 with site work funded by the federal $8.5 million. The Wire has not confirmed a date.
The project list for the $253 million local improvements fund, and whether any Jackson or Hinds County projects are in it. Recipients must report quarterly, and Finance and Administration must report twice a year.