HB 1714 passed the House and died in the Senate, and it was not an HOA bill
HB 1714 passed the House and died in the Senate, and it was not an HOA bill
2026-09-15 · Mississippi · Legislation · Did not pass
One coastal resilience bill got further than any other in Mississippi's 2026 session, and it still did not make it. HB 1714, the Make Mississippi Resilient and Strong Act, passed the House on February 5, 2026 and died in Senate Insurance and Appropriations on March 3.1
It is not law.
What it was
The bill would have created a Mississippi Windstorm Mitigation Association and structured windstorm mitigation grants to individual homeowners.
Note the word “association” in that name, because it is the reason this bill is repeatedly miscategorised. It refers to an insurer pool, in the same sense as the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association — not to a homeowners association.
Why it still matters to associations
Because it was competing with what did pass. SB 2409, the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Act, was signed in April 2026 and took effect July 1, renaming and refunding the Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program with $10,000 FORTIFIED roof grants administered by the Insurance Department.
Two companion House bills, HB 988 and HB 1060, also carried Strengthen Mississippi Homes language and did not survive. The Senate vehicle did.
What the session's shape tells a coastal board
Four separate bills in one session addressed windstorm mitigation for Mississippi homeowners: HB 988, HB 1060, HB 1714 and SB 2409. Only the Senate bill became law, and it did so after the program it revives had been shut down by the Legislature itself in July 2025.
That is a legislature that agrees on the problem and disagrees on the instrument. For an association, the practical reading is that the policy direction is stable — Mississippi intends to reduce coastal wind exposure through building standards and grants — while the specific program is not.
The structural gap none of the four bills addressed
Every one of these measures is framed around a homeowner retrofitting a home. None of the descriptions we found addresses a condominium association retrofitting a common-element roof.
That is the gap we flagged in reporting SB 2409, and HB 1714's failure does not change it. A coastal Mississippi condominium association carrying its wind exposure through the windpool, facing the 16% increase effective January 1, 2026, has no described route into any of these programs.
We are not asserting that associations are excluded by statute — no source we found addresses them either way. We are reporting that four bills in one session on coastal wind mitigation appear to have been drafted without the common-element case in view.
What else did not survive, for the record
The 2026 session's final tallies: 1,878 House measures died in committee, 1,235 Senate measures died in committee, and 368 were approved by the Governor. The session convened January 6 and adjourned sine die April 15, extended by HC 64. The 2026 First Extraordinary Session ran July 16–17 and produced eight measures, all youth-court reform and Department of Human Services appropriations — no property legislation. A further special session floated for June 2026 was cancelled.2
No HOA or COA measure was vetoed. Only seven measures in the entire session drew a veto action, and none was association-related.
The upshot for a coastal board
Do not wait for a program. Four bills, one survivor, and no described path for common elements. An association planning its roof replacement around a grant it has not confirmed it can receive is planning on an assumption.
Ask the Insurance Department whether an association can apply to the program that did pass. That question is answerable by a phone call and nobody appears to have asked it publicly.
Build FORTIFIED into the next roof cycle regardless. The premium reduction is the point, the incremental cost is lowest at replacement, and it does not depend on any legislature.
What to watch next
The 2027 session convenes in January; no bills are pre-filed and the Legislature's bill-status system has not opened a 2027 session. Whether a fifth windstorm-mitigation vehicle appears, and whether anyone drafts one that reaches common elements, is the question for the coast.
Related Mississippi HOA Topics
Stay on top of Mississippi HOA law
Every week: new Mississippi legislation, court rulings, and regulatory developments affecting condos, planned communities, and property managers. Free.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.