Mississippi's legislature approved Senate Bill 2409 on Wednesday, sending to Governor Tate Reeves a measure that would establish the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program offering homeowners grants of up to $10,000 to retrofit their properties against storm damage. State Senator Walter Michel, a Republican from Ridgeland, introduced the measure.

The program would fund roof upgrades to meet FORTIFIED standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, helping protect homes from hurricane, tornado, hail and other windstorm damage. Single-family, primary residence homes anywhere in Mississippi would be eligible for the grants. To qualify, homes must carry windstorm insurance and, if located in a flood zone, flood insurance.

The Mississippi Department of Insurance would administer the program, funding the grants through fees collected from insurance agents. A separate appropriation bill being considered by the governor would allow the department to spend up to $15 million for the program from those collected fees. The bill would also create an advisory committee — consisting of three appointees from the Senate, three from the House and the executive director of the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriters Association — that would meet with the Insurance Department about the program three times a year.

The state had not implemented a statewide home mitigation program for nearly two decades. Mississippi officials first developed the program in 2007 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but the legislature did not fund it until 2024. That initial funding in 2024 was limited to a pilot program, and lawmakers declined to renew the funding in 2025.

A main point of contention over funding had been whether the program should be administered by the Insurance Department or by a separate nonprofit authority. Distrust between lawmakers and State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney dated to a 2016 scandal involving unaccounted funding handled by a different state agency. In 2025, State Senator Scott DeLano criticized the Insurance Department's management of the grant fund, citing a lack of information and concerns over department oversight.

DeLano said he and Chaney were able to work through their differences before the legislative session and commended the commissioner for his work developing the mitigation program. According to Smart Home America and Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the proposal largely mirrored the design Chaney had put forward.

Chaney said in a statement that the mitigation program puts Mississippi "on a level playing field with other coastal states such as Alabama and Louisiana."

Homeowners insurance premiums in Mississippi, particularly on the Coast, have increased since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Alabama, which has the highest number of homes built to FORTIFIED standards among U.S. states, runs its home mitigation program through its state insurance department. A 2025 study released in Alabama found that homes built to FORTIFIED standards had lower losses than other homes following Hurricane Sally in 2020, and grants for home mitigation under Alabama's program have helped reduce home insurance costs.