Another big deadline has passed in the Legislature, with the number of bills still alive in the legislative process continuing to dwindle.
Bills were due to be passed by the originating chamber on February 10 and any bill that didn’t receive a floor vote, barring a rare suspension of legislative rules, is dead for the year.
Among the bills that survived was a bill that would reform the state’s business incentive law, another that would prevent state and local governments from imposing vaccine mandates and another that would ensure that registered voters are U.S. citizens.
Among the dead are bills that would’ve transferred state parks from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to the Mississippi Development Authority’s Tourism Division and another that would’ve changed the way the Charter School Authorizer Board’s finances and organization were arranged.
The next deadline of the session is March 1 for committees to approve bills from the opposite chamber for floor votes.
Here are some of the more interesting bills that have been submitted so far:
House Bill 1509 would prohibit state and local governments from imposing vaccine mandates and was sponsored by House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton. It passed by a 75-41 vote in the House on January 27 and is headed to the Senate, where it awaits a committee assignment.
Senate Bill 2159 would reform the state’s 42 different incentive programs to lure new companies to the state and urge existing ones to expand. The bill is authored by state Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch, and the bill offers a one easy-to-use calculation on initial investment, jobs, wages and benefits with a minimum investment of $2.5 million and a minimum of 10 jobs created. The bill would also repeal an income tax incentive ($1,000 per each qualifying employee with a minimum of 75 employees) originally passed in 2013.
The bill passed by a 51-0 vote in the Senate and is now in the hands of the House. A version of the bill is also in the House, HB 627, sponsored by state Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia. Since it is a revenue-related bill, it is subject to later deadlines. Revenue and appropriations bills must be passed by the originating chamber by February 23 to remain alive.
HB 1344 would provide salary hikes for both state troopers and officers in the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. The bill would increase the salary for both starting state troopers and MBN agents from $38,000 to $45,314. It passed by a 118-4 vote in the House on February 3 and is now in the hands of the Senate.
HB 1510 is sponsored by state Rep. Brent Powell, R-Flowood, and would require county election commissioners to compare the voter rolls with the statewide driver’s license database to determine if the registered voter is a U.S. citizen. The bill would also change the distribution of the state’s Election Support Fund to a ratio of 70 percent to counties and 30 percent to the Secretary of State’s office for upgrades to the Statewide Elections Management System, election security and voter education.
HB 1510 passed on February 10 by a 95-24 vote, but was held over on a motion to reconsider. The next day, the House amended it and passed it by a 75-43 vote to send it to the Senate. The amendment gives a voter four years after a renewal notice is mailed to their address by the county registrar to renew their registration before their name is removed from the voting rolls.
The bill has a reverse repealer on it, a legislative tactic that allows lawmakers to keep a bill alive while performing more work on it.
SB 2879 would create a grant program to be administered by the Secretary of State’s office to modernize voting machines statewide. Counties could apply to receive grants to upgrade their voting machines under a few conditions. The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Tate, R-Meridian.
HB 1365 would forbid state and local election officials from either soliciting or accepting private funds from any non-governmental source for election-related expenses or voter education, voter outreach or registration. The bill is sponsored by Gunn and it passed after being amended on February 9 by a 78-39 margin.
SB 2113 would ban the teaching of critical race theory and was authored by State Sen. Michael McClendon, R-Hernando. The bill passed on a 32-2 vote on January 21 after black senators walked out in protest before the vote.
The bill, which has been transmitted to the House, forbids the teaching that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion or national origin is inherently superior or inferior or that individuals should be adversely treated based on those same criteria. The bill does lack an enforcement mechanism.
House Bill 884 is known as the Accelerate Mississippi Scholarship Program and was sponsored by state Rep. Kent McCarty, R-Hattiesburg. In addition to dual credit and dual enrollment courses, the new scholarship program — which would be managed by the Community College Board and the state Board of Education — would provide scholarships for vocational and technical students for classes that lead to an industry certification.
It passed by a 114-5 margin and is now headed to the Senate.
HB 1394 is sponsored by state Rep. Manly Barton, R-Moss Point and would create a scholarship program for dual credit students. The scholarship program would be managed by the Community College Board and there would be two scholarship funds. It passed by a 113-6 margin on February 9 and is now with the Senate.
HB 33 is sponsored by state Rep. Timmy Ladner, R-Poplarville, would require that candidates for municipal and county offices file their campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State’s office. Right now, only candidates for state offices need to file their campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State and local candidates often require a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain from the city or county clerk. The bill passed by a 116-4 margin on February 9 and is now in the hands of the Senate.
SB 2474 would allow any municipal utility that serves one third of its customers outside municipal boundaries to have the same powers as a non-profit electric cooperative. Under the bill authored by state Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, municipal utilities could also enter interlocal agreements with an adjacent public utility.
The bill was passed out two committees (Energy and Municipalities) in the Senate before the deadline and a reverse repealer was added as it was passed in the Senate on February 2 by a 51-0 vote. It has been double-referred (much as it was in the Senate) to the Energy and Municipalities committees in the House.
Dead as the proverbial door nail
HB 31 would’ve staggered the terms of office of the Charter School Authorizer Board and required it to devise a formula to ensure that the per-student funds are similar between the charter school and the district where it is located. The bill would’ve also required the Legislature to appropriate money separately for the Authorizer Board (it is contained in the Mississippi Department of Education’s appropriation).
SB 2634 would’ve created an individual development savings account program with matching funds provided by Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) funds. Participants would’ve been limited to 185 percent of the federal poverty level and a net worth of $10,000 or less.
SB 2518 would’ve transferred state parks to the MDWFP to the MDA’s Tourism Division. It was passed by the Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee in January, but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote.
