Can a Mississippi state agency contribute to a federal Section 530A 'Trump account' for an employee's child as part of the employee's benefits package?
Plain-English summary
The Mississippi State Auditor asked whether state agencies can put money into the new federal "Trump accounts" for state employees' kids as an extra fringe benefit. These accounts were created by Section 70204 of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025) and are codified at 26 U.S.C. § 530A. They are tax-advantaged investment accounts for eligible children, similar in structure to a 529 plan but with their own rules.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office said the answer under Mississippi law is no, not yet. State agencies in Mississippi can only spend public money on employee benefits the legislature has expressly authorized. The legislature has authorized salaries, vacation, sick leave, retirement, deferred compensation, group insurance, cafeteria plans, and (newly in 2025) paid parental leave. It has not authorized contributions to Trump accounts. Until it does, state agencies cannot fund these accounts on their own.
The opinion stresses that the AG's office cannot interpret federal law. The conclusion is purely about Mississippi authority, not about whether Trump accounts themselves are valid or how they work under federal tax rules.
What this means for you
If you are a state agency HR director or benefits administrator
Hold off on adding Trump-account contributions to your benefits package, even if a vendor or consultant is pitching it. Without express statutory authority, an agency contribution would be an unauthorized expenditure of public funds. The State Auditor's office (which requested this opinion) is the office that audits agency expenditures, so the issue is not abstract.
If your employees are interested in funding Trump accounts for their own children, that is a personal decision and likely outside the scope of agency benefits entirely; nothing in this opinion stops an employee from opening a Trump account on their own. The narrow question is whether the agency itself can put state dollars in.
If you are a Mississippi state employee with a young child
Your agency cannot, on its own initiative, contribute to a Trump account on your behalf. If you want to use a Trump account as part of your child's college or future-savings plan, you would need to fund it personally or through some federal mechanism, not through your state employer. Watch the 2026 and 2027 legislative sessions: the AG's opinion explicitly notes the legislature could authorize this benefit, just as it authorized paid parental leave in 2025.
If you are a state legislator
The opinion is a clean roadmap for what would be needed. To allow agencies to contribute, the legislature would have to pass a statute authorizing the contribution, similar in form to Miss. Code Ann. § 25-3-105 (the Paid Parental Leave Act). Because Trump accounts are a federal creation with their own contribution limits and eligibility rules, drafting would need to address: which employees are eligible (e.g., parents of qualifying children only); the contribution amount and frequency; whether the contribution is an entitlement or discretionary; how funds are appropriated; and how the benefit interacts with cafeteria-plan provisions in chapter 17. The opinion does not say anything about whether such a benefit would be wise; it just confirms that without legislation, it cannot be done.
If you are a tax advisor or benefits consultant
Be cautious about advising Mississippi state-agency clients (or quasi-state entities funded primarily by state appropriations) that they can offer Trump-account contributions as a recruiting or retention benefit. The opinion makes clear there is no implied authority for this, and the State Auditor is the office that flags unauthorized expenditures. Private employers are unaffected.
Common questions
Q: What is a Trump account?
A: It is a federally created, tax-advantaged investment account for eligible children, established by Section 70204 of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act of 2025 and codified at 26 U.S.C. § 530A. The opinion does not analyze how the account works in detail; it only addresses whether Mississippi state agencies can contribute.
Q: Why can't a state agency just decide on its own to offer this?
A: Under Mississippi law, state agencies "have only such powers as are expressly conferred by law or which arise by necessary implication." That principle has been settled at least since Farrish Gravel Co. v. Mississippi Highway Commission (1984) and has been repeated in many AG opinions since. Employee compensation and benefits are a legislative subject; the legislature has filled out chapters 3, 11, 14, 15, and 17 of Title 25 with the categories of benefits agencies can offer. A new category requires a new statute.
Q: Could the legislature add this benefit?
A: Yes. The opinion specifically points to House Bill 1063 (2025), which created the Paid Parental Leave Act, as a model. The legislature could pass a statute authorizing contributions to Trump accounts (for example, framing it as an additional benefit "in addition to other leave benefits available to state employees by state or federal law").
Q: Does this stop me from opening a Trump account for my own child?
A: No. The opinion is only about whether your state-agency employer can fund one. Personal contributions, contributions by friends and family, or contributions through a federal program are outside the scope.
Q: What about local government employers (counties, cities, school districts)?
A: This opinion is specifically about state agencies. Local entities have their own statutory framework and may be governed by different rules (and a different statutory analysis). If you are a county or city benefits administrator, do not assume the answer is the same; consult your jurisdiction's counsel.
Q: Why didn't the AG interpret the federal Trump-account statute itself?
A: The opinion explicitly declines to do so. Mississippi AG opinions, under Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25, address prospective questions of state law only, not federal law. The AG cited its 2024 Ladner opinion, which previously made the same point.
Background and statutory framework
The principle that state agencies cannot create benefits the legislature has not authorized is one of the oldest rules of Mississippi public-finance law. The opinion cites Farrish Gravel Co. v. Mississippi Highway Commission, 458 So. 2d 1066, 1068 (Miss. 1984), for the proposition that state agencies have only "such powers as are expressly conferred by law or which arise by necessary implication." That doctrine flows from the constitutional principle that public money can be spent only for purposes authorized by the legislature.
The opinion lays out the existing benefits framework in Title 25 of the Code:
- Chapter 3, sections 1 to 73 (Salaries and Compensation)
- Chapter 3, sections 91 to 105 (Vacation Time, Sick Leave, and the new Paid Parental Leave Act)
- Chapter 11, sections 101 to 147 (Social Security and Public Employees' Retirement)
- Chapter 14, sections 1 to 15 (Government Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Law)
- Chapter 15, sections 1 to 411 (Group Insurance for Public Employees)
- Chapter 17, sections 1 to 11 (Cafeteria Fringe Benefit Plans)
Trump-account contributions do not fit cleanly into any of these chapters. The deferred compensation plan covers traditional retirement-style accounts, not § 530A vehicles for children; cafeteria plans (chapter 17) operate within their own federal tax framework under § 125 of the Internal Revenue Code; and group insurance (chapter 15) covers insurance products, not investment accounts.
The 2025 enactment of the Mississippi State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (House Bill 1063, codified at § 25-3-105) shows the path forward. That act gave eligible state employees six weeks of paid parental leave and explicitly placed the new benefit "in addition to other leave benefits available to state employees by state or federal law." A similar legislative move could authorize Trump-account contributions if Mississippi decides that is the policy it wants.
Citations and references
Federal law:
- Public Law 119-21 § 70204, 139 Stat. 72 (July 4, 2025) (Working Families Tax Cuts Act)
- 26 U.S.C. § 530A (Trump accounts)
State statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (AG opinion authority, prospective state law only)
- Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-3-1 et seq. (statutory benefits framework cited above)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 25-3-105 (Paid Parental Leave Act)
Cases and prior AG opinions:
- Farrish Gravel Co. v. Miss. Highway Comm'n, 458 So. 2d 1066 (Miss. 1984) (state agencies have only powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied)
- MS AG Op., Johnson (June 19, 1989) (same principle)
- MS AG Op., Ladner (Feb. 20, 2024) (AG cannot interpret federal law)
- MS AG Op., Giddy (May 24, 2024) (AG opinions limited to prospective state-law questions)
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/S.-White-March-30-2026-State-Agency-Contributions-to-Section-530A-Trump-Accounts.pdf
Original opinion text
March 30, 2026
Honorable Shad White
Auditor, State of Mississippi
Post Office Box 956
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Re: State Agency Contributions to Section 530A "Trump Accounts"
Dear Auditor White:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Questions Presented
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Under current state law, may a state agency contribute to Section 503A "Trump accounts" as an additional employment benefit to state employees?
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If question 1 is answered in the affirmative, must each employee with qualifying children in that agency receive the same additional benefit or may the agency determine the distribution among eligible employees through policy?
Brief Response
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There currently exists no statutory framework in Mississippi law for state agencies to provide contributions to Trump accounts as an employment benefit.
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Because state law does not provide statutory authority for state agencies to contribute to Trump accounts, your second question is moot. However, the Mississippi Legislature could enact legislation, as it did with the Mississippi State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, to authorize state agencies to contribute to Trump accounts as an additional employment benefit.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 70204 of Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (July 4, 2025), also known as the Working Families Tax Cuts Act ("WFTCA"), established "Trump accounts," which provide for the creation of tax-advantaged investment accounts for eligible children. See 26 U.S.C.A. § 530A. In your first question, you ask whether Mississippi state agencies may contribute to Trump accounts as an employment benefit to their employees.
As an initial matter, to the extent your question seeks an interpretation of the WFTCA, this office is unable to "opine on questions that require interpretations of federal law." MS AG Op., Ladner at 1 (Feb. 20, 2024). "Opinions of this office are issued pursuant to [Mississippi Code Annotated] Section 7-5-25 on prospective questions of state law only." MS AG Op., Giddy at 1 (May 24, 2024).
"State agencies have only such powers as are expressly conferred by law or which arise by necessary implication." MS AG Op., Johnson at *1 (June 19, 1989); see also Farrish Gravel Co. v. Miss. Highway Comm'n, 458 So. 2d 1066, 1068 (Miss. 1984) (recognizing same). The types of compensation and benefits available to state employees are provided by statute. See Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-3-1 to 25-3-73 (Salaries and Compensation), 25-3-91 to 25-3-105 (Vacation Time and Sick Leave), 25-11-101 to 25-11-147 (Social Security and Public Employees' Retirement and Disability Benefits), 25-14-1 to 25-14-15 (Government Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Law), 25-15-1 to 25-15-411 (Group Insurance for Public Employees), 25-17-1 to 25-17-11 (Cafeteria Fringe Benefit Plans), and 25-3-105 (Mississippi State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act).
As a matter of state law, there currently exists no statutory framework in Mississippi law for state agencies to provide contributions to Trump accounts as an employment benefit.
Because state law does not provide statutory authority for state agencies to contribute to Trump accounts, your second question is moot. However, the Legislature could enact legislation authorizing state agencies to contribute to Trump accounts as an additional employment benefit. By way of example, in 2025, the Legislature passed H.B. 1063 granting eligible state employees six weeks of paid parental leave. Section 25-3-105(5) of the Mississippi State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act provides that "[t]he paid parental leave provided under this section shall be in addition to other leave benefits available to state employees by state or federal law and shall not be counted against accrued personal leave or major medical leave . . . ."
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: /s/ Kristi D. Kennedy
Kristi D. Kennedy
Special Assistant Attorney General