I only have a few more weekly updates to send to y'all as time is winding down on the 2023 Legislative Session.
While the last day on the calendar is scheduled for April 2, several lawmakers believe that the legislature could adjourn earlier than anticipated.
Here is what has been going on over the past week in the Mississippi Legislature:
Mississippi's school funding formula has been the same since its creation in 1997. MAEP, or the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, outlines how much funding school districts receive each year. The complex formula allocates money based on average daily attendance, student cost and several other factors.
HB 1369, with companion bill HB 1613, would increase funding for state education by $181 million. Local contribution requirements would increase from 27% to 29.5%, or equal in value to 28 mills of a special district.
While MCPP is proud that our school's education system will be fully funded - one of only three times since MAEP's existence that this will happen - we believe there is more our legislature should do to revamp our funding formula, such as giving parents control over their children's tax dollars.
This bill passed the Senate Tuesday, but several House members and leaders have expressed opposition to the legislation, indicating that it will probably fail once it is sent to the House.
The right to initiative has been a major talking point throughout this entire session. After the 2021 Supreme Court ruling striking down the state's current initiative process, Mississippi has needed a new initiative procedure - it just should be carried out in a proper manner.
SCR 533 requires that 12% of the Mississippi electorate sign an initiative in order for a referendum to appear on a ballot. This 12% approximates nearly 240,000, quite a large difference from the previous threshold of around 106,000.
The new initiative process would exclude several topics from being taken up through a referendum, such as abortion, changes to the state's Public Employees’ Retirement System and state constitutional amendments. While we believe Mississippians should have the right to an initiative, the threshold required under this bill is unattainable, and excluding particular subjects from the process is undemocratic, therefore, we do not support this bill.
This bill has passed the Senate floor, the House Constitution committee and is on the House calendar to be discussed on the floor.
Several controversial bills have now passed both chambers in anticipation of today's floor action deadline and are now on their way to Gov. Tate Reeves' desk for his official stamp of approval.
HB 401, commonly referred to as the "Tesla bill," passed the Senate floor last Thursday. This bill revises certain provisions relating to a manufacturer's ownership of a motor vehicle dealership and prevents electric vehicle manufacturers from locating dealerships in the state.
This bill goes against free-market principles and discourages competition, and one we are not behind. Our only hope is that Gov. Reeves vetoes the bill when it comes across his desk.
HB 1020, or the "CCID bill," passed the Senate floor Tuesday looking quite different from the original legislation sent over from the House.
The initial bill called for the expansion of the Capitol Complex Improvement District, giving Capitol Police more jurisdiction and creating an appointed court system for the area. After several amendments in both the Senate Judiciary A committee and on the chamber floor, the bill would give Capitol Police jurisdiction over the entire city of Jackson, and funding will go toward hiring new judges and public defenders for Hinds County and putting money into the state crime lab.
The amended bill will be sent back to the House for approval.
Several bills were introduced and debated this session involving drug policy.
HB 722 from Rep. Christopher Bell decriminalizes fentanyl testing strips. These strips help prevent drug overdoses and deaths. This bill has passed both chambers and is heading to Gov. Reeves for approval.
HB 4 includes Tianeptine on the controlled substance list. Tianeptine is an unregulated antidepressant sold in gas stations and convenience stores. HB 4 would ban this substance from being sold in the stores and would only be available through a prescription. This bill was amended in the Senate and will be sent back to the House.
On a brighter note, our state now has an official gemstone and fruit. SB 2138 from Sen. Lydia Chassaniol deems the Mississippi Opal as the official state gemstone, and HB 1027 from Rep. Jill Ford designates the blueberry as our state fruit.
