After an unprecedented legislative session, the Mississippi House of Representatives adjourned sine die on Friday, October 2, 2020 in accordance with House Concurrent Resolution 69. When HC 69 was passed earlier in the session, the Legislature was given six days to meet and pass bills related to COVID-19 before October 10. The final two days were used this week to appropriate the remainder of the CARES Act funds received from the federal government. House Bill 1812 appropriated $10 million to the Wireless Communication Commission for upgrades to their network. The WCC controls the Mississippi Wireless Information Network, a public safety radio communication platform used by first responders
Lawmakers at the Capitol have had an extremely busy last two weeks. After many hours of working in conference committees to finalize the state budget and other bills, legislators completed most regular session work on Thursday, July 1. The Legislature could come back in October or before if needed as laid out in House Concurrent Resolution 69, which extended session and allowed for more flexible deadlines for COVID-19 related legislation. Over the course of the two weeks, representatives introduced conference reports, which had to be adopted by both houses before being sent to the governor. Because these bills had been discussed and amended throughout the entire session, most conference r
This week, representatives were extremely busy working to meet deadlines and finish any remaining legislation. Wednesday was the deadline for original floor action on Senate bills, so any general bills left on the calendar died. A large portion of the week was been centered around attempts to change the state flag. As leadership in both chambers worked hard to secure enough of their needed votes to suspend the rules (a required 2/3rds majority vote), some of us legislators have been fighting hard to send any decision to change the flag back to the people of Mississippi. In 2001 the Democrat governor (and Democrat led house and senate), set the precedent of giving our state a voice in the m
This week, representatives were extremely busy working to meet deadlines and finish any remaining legislation. Wednesday was the deadline for original floor action on Senate bills, so any general bills left on the calendar died. Because it is late in the session, much of the week was spent deciding whether to concur with any changes made to House bills by the Senate or to invite conference on those bills. In conference, representatives and senators work together to finalize each bill before they are sent to the governor. Included in the bills being sent to conference are most of the revenue and appropriations bills from both the House and the Senate, which will decide the state’s budget. On
The deadline for House committees to report Senate bills occurred on Tuesday evening. Any Senate bills that did not make it out of committees died. Throughout the rest of the week, the House met to discuss bills that survived the deadline. Representatives passed over forty Senate bills, including the following: The Mississippi Correctional Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2020 (Senate Bill 2123) was one of the most discussed bills on the floor this week. The bill would amend certain code sections regarding parole eligibility requirements. Proponents of the bill called it a step towards criminal justice reform in the state, while opponents argued that violent offenders could possibly be eligi
The end of this week marked the deadline for House appropriations and revenue bills to be introduced and passed. Most legislation came from the Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, while some general bills from the Senate were also introduced. Although much of the state’s budget was discussed last week, several appropriations bills were introduced before the House. These four bills will help defray COVID-19 related expenses by appropriating funds to different state agencies: the Department of Health (HB 1749), the Department of Finance and Administration (HB 1750 and HB 1752), and the Department of Education (HB 1751). All four bills passed with bipartisan support and were sent to t
This week, the Legislature shifted focus back to regular business after working to pass the coronavirus relief bill (SB 2772) earlier this month. Before the legislative session was suspended in March, the House was just beginning to take up appropriations and other revenue bills. House Concurrent Resolution 65, which was passed on March 17, adjusted the session deadlines to conform with the extended session. Next Wednesday, June 3, is the new deadline for original floor action on House appropriations and revenue bills. After that, House committees will begin considering bills which passed through the Senate. The House was responsible for looking at the preliminary budgets of about 50 state a
