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Dear Jack,

The legislature continues to move at full speed, debating hundreds of bills in both chambers. Tomorrow is the deadline for floor action on general bills that originated in their own house, meaning in order for a bill to stay alive it MUST pass its original chamber floor by tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Here’s your legislative update from MCPP!
While the number of active bills continues to dwindle as the session proceeds, several pieces of legislation have piqued our interest.

GOOD BILLS
- HB 850 from Rep. Cedric Burnett authorizes county boards of supervisors to deny millage increases through school board ad valorem requests. This ensures that school boards are properly spending taxpayer dollars and are held accountable. This bill has passed the House and has been sent to the Senate.
- HB 729 from Rep. Kent McCarty establishes the "Mississippi Successful Techniques Resulting in Delivering Excellence in Education and Employability (STRIDE) Scholarship Program." This would make scholarships available to students who become eligible to participate in dual-enrollment courses. This bill has passed the House and will move to the Senate.
- HB 510 from Rep. Jill Ford creates the Foster Parents' Bill of Rights. The bill helps foster parents understand their rights as overseers of the children and provides them the ability to be more involved in the education and visitation of the child. This bill has passed the House and will be sent to the Senate.

INTERESTING BILLS
- HB 1168 from Rep. Trey Lamar seeks to limit special sales taxes to pay only for upgrades and improvements on water infrastructure. The city of Jackson, for example, would use its food and hotel to fund water improvements. This bill has passed the House but has a motion to reconsider.
- SB 2228 from Sen. Walter Michel establishes provisions for the sale and renewal of pet insurance policies. This bill has passed the Senate and has been sent to the House.
- SB 2608 from Sen. Chuck Younger requires the Mississippi Armed Forces to include the United States Space Force. This bill has passed the Senate and has been sent to the House.
We are upbeat about several policy aims we have been pushing throughout this session that are making progress through the legislature.

- SB 2053
from Sen. John Polk ensures that state agencies better manage their budgets. A new requirement to report deficits in a timely manner would enable our state officials to operate their overall budget in a more financially responsible and accountable way. This bill has passed the Senate and has been sent to the House.
- SB 2849 from Sen. Chad McMahan ensures the board invests the state's pension funds in a manner that prioritizes the safety and highest return on investment rather than on environmental, social and governance causes. This bill has passed out of the Senate Finance committee and is on the calendar to be discussed on the Senate floor.
- HB 370 from Rep. Shanda Yates would give local residents the power to remove locally elected officials when they fail. Too many mayors in our state are not effectively accountable outside of election time, and we feel this bill would allow citizens to take a stand against neglectful politicians. This bill is on the calendar to be discussed.

Have a great rest of your week!
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All the best,

Tyler B. Jones
Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs

PS you can stay up to date with every bill introduced during the session through the 2023 Legislative Tracker ([link removed]) found on our website.

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