# Mississippi HB 1656: Strengthening Troop Retention for our National Guard (STRONG) Act; create. Mississippi HB 1656, Strengthening Troop Retention for our National Guard (STRONG) Act; create., is a 2025 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Lester Carpenter (Republican); status failed, last action 2025-02-28 (Died On Calendar) (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB1656-2025 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Mississippi HB 1656 - State: Mississippi - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: Strengthening Troop Retention for our National Guard (STRONG) Act; create. - Status: failed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-30 - Last action: 2025-02-28, Died On Calendar - Sponsor: Lester Carpenter (Republican) - Cosponsors: 94 - Subjects: Ways and Means - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 1 (114 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 0 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview No economic impacts identified for this bill. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Lester Carpenter (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Shane Aguirre (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brent Anderson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Otis Anthony (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: William Tracy Arnold (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Bailey - Cosponsor: Earle S. Banks (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Shane Barnett (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Manly Barton (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Donnie Bell (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Christopher Bell (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Richard Bennett (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Lawrence Blackmon (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Charles Blackwell (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Andy Boyd (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Elliot Burch (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Cedric Burnett (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Grace Butler-Washington (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Larry Byrd (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Billy Adam Calvert (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Carolyn Crawford (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Ronnie C. Crudup (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Becky Currie (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Oscar Denton (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Clay Deweese (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jim Estrada (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Dan Eubanks (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Casey Eure (Republican), House - Cosponsor: John G. Faulkner (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Kevin Felsher (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jimmy Fondren (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jill Ford (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Stephanie Foster (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Karl Gibbs (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Justis Gibbs (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Zachary Grady (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeffrey S. Guice (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeff Hale (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rodney Hall (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Greg Haney (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeffery Harness (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: W.I. Harris (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Josh Hawkins (Republican), House - Cosponsor: John W. Hines, Sr. (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Kenji Holloway (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Joey Hood (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeffrey Hulum III (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Celeste Hurst (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Timaka James-Jones (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Kabir Karriem (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Justin Keen (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Timmy Ladner (Republican), House - Cosponsor: John Thomas "Trey" Lamar (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Lancaster - Cosponsor: Steve Lott (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Vince Mangold (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Clay Mansell (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Steve Massengill (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brad Mattox (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Kent McCarty (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Hester Jackson McCray (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Missy McGee (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jay McKnight (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Dana McLean (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jonathan McMillan (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Carl L. Mickens (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Ken Morgan (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Fabian Nelson (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Gene Newman (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Karl Oliver (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jansen T. Owen (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Paden - Cosponsor: Bill Pigott (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brent Powell (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Kimberly Remak (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rob Roberson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Tracey T. Rosebud (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Randy Rushing (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Robert L. Sanders (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Noah Sanford (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Donnie Scoggin (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Troy Smith (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jody Steverson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Zakiya Summers (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Cheikh Taylor (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Rickey Thompson (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Joseph Tubb (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Mark Tullos (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Lance Varner (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Beth Luther Waldo (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Price Wallace (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Percy W. Watson (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Shanda Yates (Independent), House - Cosponsor: Henry Zuber III (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-02-11 | House | Passed | pass | 114 | 0 | | ## Actions (6) - 2025-02-28: Died On Calendar (House) - 2025-02-11: Motion to Reconsider Entered (Steverson, Lamar) (House) - 2025-02-11: Passed (House) - 2025-02-11: Committee Substitute Adopted (House) - 2025-02-04: Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub (House) - 2025-01-30: Referred To Ways and Means (House) ## Bill text - As Introduced: [HTML](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/1600-1699/HB1656IN.htm), [PDF](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/HB/1600-1699/HB1656IN.pdf) - Committee Substitute: [HTML](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/1600-1699/HB1656CS.htm), [PDF](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/HB/1600-1699/HB1656CS.pdf) ## Related bills - SB 2517: "MS Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation Rights Act" and "Uniform Athletes Agent Act"; bring forward. (signed) - HB 856: Pharmacy Practice Act; extend repealer on and make various changes to. (signed) - HB 1341: MS Health Care Industry Zone Act; extend repealer on act and related tax incentives. (signed) - HB 958: Department of Information Technology Services; revise certain provisions relating to acquisition of technology services. (signed) - HB 913: Meat labeling; require accurate labeling of meat and nonmeat products by processors, retail and food establishment prior to final sale. (signed) - HB 920: Distinctive motor vehicle license tag; authorize for supporters of various organizations. (signed) ## Sources - [As Introduced (HTML)](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/1600-1699/HB1656IN.htm) - [As Introduced (PDF)](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/HB/1600-1699/HB1656IN.pdf) - [Committee Substitute (HTML)](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/html/HB/1600-1699/HB1656CS.htm) - [Committee Substitute (PDF)](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/HB/1600-1699/HB1656CS.pdf) ## Related - [SB 2517: "MS Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation Rights Act" and "Uniform Athletes Ag…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-SB2517-2025) - [HB 856: Pharmacy Practice Act; extend repealer on and make various changes to.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB856-2025) - [HB 1341: MS Health Care Industry Zone Act; extend repealer on act and related tax incent…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB1341-2025) - [HB 958: Department of Information Technology Services; revise certain provisions relati…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB958-2025) - [HB 913: Meat labeling; require accurate labeling of meat and nonmeat products by proces…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB913-2025) - [HB 920: Distinctive motor vehicle license tag; authorize for supporters of various orga…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB920-2025) - [Mississippi bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/mississippi/bills) - [Mississippi state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/mississippi) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MS-HB1656-2025 (as of 2026-10-17).