Mississippi Today's team prognosticates on some major issues the state Legislature will tackle in this year's session, which kicks off Jan. 6. School choice and teacher pay, workforce development, prison health care reform and health care in general, and legalized online sports betting are all clear-and-present issues. Will there be any surprise issues at the Capitol this year?

Mississippi Today reporters Gwen Dilworth and Michael Goldberg recap some of the findings from their series "Behind Bars, Beyond Care," which uncovered widespread accusations of lack of adequate health care in Mississippi prisons and the suffering it causes. They discuss the potential for passage of reform in the upcoming 2026 legislative session.

Mississippi Today health reporter Allen Siegler and health editor Laura Santhanam give an update on the state's plan to spend its initial pot of opioid lawsuit settlement money. Siegler's in-depth reporting has chronicled some issues and raised serious questions about how the state and local governments are spending the money, which is supposed to help address the scourge of opioid addiction, which has cost at least 10,000 lives in Mississippi since 2000.

Ridgeland Police Chief Brian Myers and New Albany Fire Chief Mark Whiteside said pending changes the Legislature made to the state employee retirement system will make it even harder to hire and retain first responders. They want the Legislature to revisit an overhaul of the Public Employee Retirement System set to take effect in March for those who serve in high-stress, low paying and dangerous first-responder jobs.

Newly elected state Sen. Johnny DuPree is no stranger to state politics. He was longtime mayor of Hattiesburg and is a former Democratic nominee for governor. He outlines issues he'll tackle in his new job, and vows to keep his constituents informed of what's happening at the Capitol.

Mississippi Today CEO and Executive Director Mary Margaret White, Jackson Editor Anna Wolfe and Editor-in-Chief Emily Wagster Pettus discuss Mississippi Today's mission as a nonprofit newsroom and how donors' support helps pay for expenses such as public records that journalists use in their work.

Sen. Jeremy England, chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, says he plans to again introduce legislation for Mississippi to join most other states and allow in-person, no-excuse early voting. He also talks about the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear a Mississippi case challenging the counting of mail-in ballots after Election Day, and about major issues he foresees in the 2026 legislative session.

Mississippi Today's Michael Goldberg, Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance break down last week's special legislative elections, where Democrats gained three seats. Goldberg complains of a dearth of election-night pizza.

Republican House Corrections Chairwoman Becky Currie of Brookhaven began touring state prisons when she got her committee chair assignment a couple of years ago, and found a disturbing dearth of medical care for inmates. 'We're paying $124 million to a company for health care and they are not going it and they are keeping the money," said Currie, who is pushing for reform and been a centerpiece of Mississippi Today's investigative series on prison health care, "Behind Bars, Beyond Care.