With a massive conservative majority in the Mississippi legislature, will they deliver real conservative policy? Or will we see the implementation of a soft-left, progressive-but-slower agenda to expand government?
We have created a legislative tracker to allow you to keep an eye on what is happening in the Capitol.
Here are some of the key things to watch for:
EDUCATION FREEDOM: HB1076 (Representative Boyd) proposes multiple Charter School Authorizers. Great! There are also some bills tweaking the limited Special Needs Education Savings Account program we already have. Good. Also interesting are HB867 (Representative Owen) and SB2234 (Senator Johnson) which allow a greater degree of school choice within the public school system between districts. Important. This is all good stuff, but where’s the beef on school choice, you might wonder?
The big question is will we see an Arkansas-type effort to implement universal Education Savings Accounts? We should know by this coming Friday.
Good news: Mississippi lawmakers will have the chance to pass plenty of meaningful conservative measures this session.
EDUCATION FUNDING: In 2018, Mississippi came very close to overhauling its antiquated system of school funding. During the last legislative session, the Senate voted to replace the current system. In this new session, SB2332 (Senator DeBar) proposes to reform the current system. I suspect that there will be a lot of interest in the legislature in school funding reform this session. Mississippi needs reforms so that we fund students, not a system.
BETTER HEALTHCARE: One in four people in Mississippi already receive Medicaid benefit. Adding to that number is not going to miraculously improve health outcomes, no matter how many politicians in the legislature believe that the answer is to spend someone else’s money.
Some bills that might actually improve health outcomes are HB419 (Representative Zuber), HB956 (Representative Scott) and SB2064 (Senator Hill). These all propose abolishing Certificate of Needs laws, which intentionally limit the provision of healthcare in our state, in order to safeguard provision by existing cartels.
TACKLING DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION: The divisive DEI agenda risks tearing America apart. With an enormous conservative majority, it ought to be possible to pass some legislation in Mississippi that prevents public institutions being taken over by the radical left, yes?
One such proposal, which would ban state funding for DEI programs, is SB2402 (Senator Hill). Let’s hope it has some success.
PARENTS' RIGHTS: There are already a couple of bills that aim to strengthen the rights of parents, including HB815 (Representative Crawford) and SB2469 (Senator Parker). I expect we will also see a broad parent’s and / or a women’s bill of rights, too. Good.
Riley Gaines speaking at our event in Jackson.
Next week will see some additional bills emerge, and we will then have to wait until March 5th to know which ones have made it out of committee (Committee chairmen exercise a de facto veto over legislation, not passing out of committee should they decide not to).
The good news is that there are already a number of excellent bills out there, and a good chance that we will see even more. Mississippi lawmakers could pass plenty of meaningful conservative measures this session should they choose to do so.
