Mississippi
Bills to watch in the 2023 Mississippi legislative session
![Bills to watch in the 2023 Mississippi legislative session Bills to watch in the 2023 Mississippi legislative session](https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/3X0A4281-scaled.jpg)
Editor’s notice: This listing might be up to date all through the legislative session. This submit was final up to date on Feb. 1.
About 3,000 payments have been filed within the Mississippi Legislature to be thought of in the course of the 2023 session. The final main deadline was Jan. 31, when lawmakers needed to cross normal payments out of their unique committees.
The deadline, although, didn’t apply to income and appropriations payments, which face a Feb. 22 deadline.
Poll initiative
A number of payments within the Home and Senate had been filed this session to revive the state’s initiative course of, which permits voters to bypass the Legislature and place points on the poll for the voters to resolve. The state Supreme Court docket rendered the state’s initiative course of unconstitutional in 2021 on a technicality and the legislative management has vowed to resume it. However that didn’t happen within the 2022 session.
Only one invoice coping with the poll initiative — Senate Invoice 2638, authored by Sen. McCaughn, a Republican of Newton — survived the Jan. 31 deadline. However the invoice confronted criticism in committee earlier than it was saved alive. The proposal, as written, doesn’t seem to permit voters to utterly circumvent the legislative course of, as is mostly the aim of poll initiatives. It merely lets voters make options to legislators, who can later select to change the desires of voters.
Senators, together with McCaughn, vowed to enhance the invoice because it strikes by the legislative course of.
READ MORE: Senators maintain watered-down poll initiative invoice alive, vow to enhance it
Medicaid growth
Lawmakers in each the Home and Senate filed 17 complete payments in 2023 coping with increasing Medicaid as is allowed below federal regulation to offer well being care protection to primarily the working poor. Beneath the proposal, the federal authorities would pay the majority of the prices.
All 17 payments died in Senate and Home committees with out a vote and even debate.
Senate Invoice 2070, authored by Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Level, and Home Invoice 108, authored by Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, had been amongst a number of payments filed to broaden Medicaid.
Postpartum protection
A number of payments had been filed this yr to increase postpartum Medicaid protection for brand spanking new moms from the present two months to 12 months. Physicians and advocates say the coverage, which might price the state simply $7 million per yr, would save numerous lives of moms and kids who can’t in any other case afford needed well being care.
Senate leaders handed Senate Invoice 2212, authored by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, earlier than the Jan. 31 deadline. In the meantime, Home Invoice 426, authored by Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, died with out being thought of in committee.
These actions mirror what occurred final session. Senate leaders handed the invoice overwhelmingly earlier than Speaker of the Home Philip Gunn killed it.
READ MORE: Stress grows for lawmakers to cross postpartum Medicaid extension
Well being care & hospital disaster
Senate Invoice 2371, Senate Invoice 2372, Senate Invoice 2373 and Senate Invoice 2323, authored by Senate leaders with assist from Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, are aimed toward serving to Mississippi’s struggling hospitals and shoring up the well being care workforce. The payments would spend a mixed $111 million of the state’s federal pandemic reduction cash. This contains $80 million in grants to hospitals primarily based on their variety of beds and sort of care, a nursing scholar mortgage compensation program, grants to assist group faculties beef up their nursing packages. Senate Invoice 2323 would get rid of authorized obstacles to consolidation of or collaboration amongst hospitals. All of those payments stay alive following the Jan. 31 deadline.
Senate Invoice 2793 and Home Invoice 1081 would create licensure and regulation — by a brand new board — for midwives in Mississippi. Presently, midwifery isn’t regulated in Mississippi as it’s in 36 different states, which means anybody right here can declare to be a midwife with out formal coaching or certification. Greater than half of Mississippi counties are thought of “maternity care deserts,” with no hospitals training obstetric care, no OB-GYNs and no licensed nurse midwives. Advocates say midwives might assist in these areas. However many physicians teams say youngster supply needs to be overseen by skilled physicians. Each these payments died in committee on Jan. 31.
Burn heart
Home Invoice 469, authored by Home Speaker Philip Gunn, would offer $12 million for Mississippi Baptist Medical Heart to create a burn heart or unit on the hospital in 2024.
The state’s solely accredited burn heart closed final yr, however not too long ago the College of Mississippi Medical Heart introduced it should enhance its burn remedy capabilities.
One other invoice, Senate Invoice 2817, brings ahead code sections to permit attainable modification later within the session.
Each these payments stay alive following the Jan. 31 deadline.
READ MORE: Will Baptist and UMMC battle over burn care?
Jackson water disaster
Senate Invoice 2889 would create a regional utility authority that might place the long-term management of Jackson water, wastewater and sewer below a nine-member board. 5 of the members could be appointed by the governor and lieutenant governor, and 4 could be appointed by Jackson’s mayor. This invoice handed Senate committee on Jan. 24 and stays alive.
Senate Invoice 2338 would require that cities cost clients for water primarily based on consumption. Jackson is at the moment taking a look at a proposal to as a substitute cost clients primarily based on their property values. This handed Senate committee and was accredited by the complete Senate on Jan. 26. It stays alive and now strikes to the Home for consideration.
Welfare company reform
Home Invoice 184 and Home Invoice 188, authored by Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, would set up a board to supervise Division of Human Companies, taking the company out of the only oversight of the governor’s workplace. Home Invoice 1054, filed by Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, would require legislative watchdog PEER to guage TANF subgrants. Senate Invoice 2331, filed by Sen. Rod Hickman, D-Macon, would take away the kid assist cooperation requirement for TANF and SNAP beneficiaries.
All these payments died in committee on the Jan. 31 deadline.
READ MORE: Democrats, not Republicans, search to reform Mississippi welfare company in wake of embezzlement scandal
Felony suffrage
Senate Invoice 2405, authored by Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson, and Home Invoice 1247, authored by Rep. William Tracy Arnold, R-Booneville, are amongst a number of payments filed to vary the state Structure to permit folks convicted of felonies to regain their voting rights in some unspecified time in the future after ending their sentence.
All these payments died in committee on the Jan. 31 deadline.
Elections & voting
Senate Invoice 2299, authored by Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, would set up a mechanism for voters to recall state and native officers, together with legislators. This invoice died in committee on Jan. 31.
Home Invoice 370, authored by Shanda Yates, I-Jackson, would set up a mechanism for voters to recall municipal officers. This invoice handed out of committee on Jan. 11 and is pending earlier than the complete Home chamber.
Authorities accountability
Senate Invoice 2667, authored by Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Brookhaven, with a number of co-sponsors, would reiterate that the open conferences regulation covers the Mississippi Legislature. The invoice is a response to a controversial 2022 ruling by the state Ethics Fee saying the Legislature isn’t lined by the open conferences regulation. The invoice additionally will increase the positive for violations of the open information regulation from $100 to $500.
This invoice died in committee on Jan. 31.
Gender procedures ban
Home Invoice 1125, the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures Act,” is just like measures handed or debated in different states and was authored by Rep. Gene Newman, a Republican from Pearl. The invoice, handed on a partisan 78-28 vote by the total Home early within the session, would ban gender affirming surgical procedure and medicines for Mississippians 18 and below.
It handed out of Senate committee on Jan. 31 and is predicted to be taken up within the full Senate chamber in coming days.
Taxes
Home Invoice 418, authored by Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, and co-sponsored by others, would get rid of the gross sales tax on most grocery gadgets.
The deadline to file tax payments isn’t till Feb. 22, so most definitely others might be filed.
Faculty monetary assist
Laws that might revamp two state monetary assist packages, Senate Invoice 2580 and Home Invoice 771, handed out of each chambers. The Home is debating upping the brand new revenue cap for eligibility below the Mississippi Resident Tuition Help Grant from $90,000 per household to $150,000, a change the Senate isn’t at the moment contemplating.
The invoice is probably going headed to convention.
READ MORE: As lawmakers hear proposal to revamp monetary assist, schooling coverage specialists say it’s a ‘unhealthy concept’
Home Invoice 730 and Senate Invoice 2585 broaden eligibility for the Winter Reed Mortgage Reimbursement Program for academics to incorporate alternate route academics and academics who’re now not of their first yr. Each payments survived the Jan. 31 deadline.
Schooling
Senate Invoice 2811 and Home Invoice 1365 prohibit native faculty districts from lowering their wage dietary supplements for trainer assistants when the state minimal wage is raised. These payments are alive following the Jan. 31 deadline.
Senate Invoice 2079 and Home Invoice 532 create a “Faculty Security Guardian Program,” which might prepare academics with hid carry permits to reply aim of responding to energetic shooter conditions. This system could be opt-in and academics could be eligible for legal responsibility protections for actions taken on this position. These payments stay alive.
READ MORE: How is Mississippi responding to the specter of faculty shootings?
Home Invoice 1070, authored by Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon., would create grants for colleges to show patriotic schooling. This invoice handed Home committee on Jan. 31 and stays alive.
Senate Invoice 2777 raises the minimal wage of faculty attendance officers to match the trainer pay elevate given final yr. It additionally establishes a 2,000 scholar restrict for every officer’s case load. This invoice is alive.
READ MORE: State truancy officers face stagnant pay and ‘unmanageable caseloads’
Home Invoice 294, authored by Rep. Carolyn Crawford, R-Move Christian, would prohibit public colleges and universities from imposing masks mandates. This invoice died in committee on Jan. 31.
Home Invoice 112, authored by Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, would create the Mississippi Common Preschool Act. This invoice died in committee on Jan. 31.
Home Invoice 595, authored by Rep. Bo Brown, D-Jackson, would authorize the Division of Schooling to create curriculum for African American research and racial variety. This invoice died in committee on Jan. 31.
Atmosphere
Home Invoice 1094 would authorize the state Division of Environmental High quality to positive Jackson for improper disposal of wastewater or sewage into the Pearl River, as much as $1 million for every occasion. This invoice handed Home committee on Jan. 31.
Home Invoice 18 would impose a $3.50 tax on vehicles charged at alternative-fuel stations. Senate Invoice 2020 and Home Invoice 378 would repeal the annual tax imposed on electrical (at the moment $150) and hybrid vehicles ($75). All of those payments are alive and face a Feb. 22 deadline for ground motion.
Legislation enforcement
Home Invoice 1020, authored by Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, creates a separate judicial district inside the Capitol Advanced Enchancment District, which is an space round downtown Jackson the place lots of the state-owned buildings are situated. The judges, who would hear civil and felony instances, could be paid equal to chancery and circuit judges, however could be appointed by the Supreme Court docket chief justice as a substitute of elected like different judges in state. This invoice handed Home committee on Jan. 25 and stays alive.
Home Invoice 1222, authored by Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany with different co-sponsors, would make plenty of modifications to state psychological well being insurance policies, together with requiring regulation enforcement businesses to supply “first assist psychological well being coaching.” It will appoint courtroom liaisons to work with households in counties the place greater than 20 individuals are involuntarily dedicated annually, require chancery clerks to maintain extra detailed information on civil commitments, and intention to cut back delays in conducting screenings of individuals being civilly dedicated. Beneath the invoice, group psychological well being facilities could be required to rent an accountant and conduct common audits. It will additionally change the composition of the board of psychological well being to incorporate extra subject material specialists and at the least one sheriff and scale back board members’ time period lengths. This invoice handed Home committee on Jan. 26 and stays alive.
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Mississippi
How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff
![How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/03/PNAS/75060541007-usatsi-24129028.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5472,3078,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is preparing to play a team that, at least through one game, looks vastly improved from last season.
Coach Jeff Lebby admitted on Monday, and Bulldog players have noticed it too after Arizona State (1-0) thumped Wyoming 48-7 in its opener.
MSU (1-0) must also factor in the late kickoff that is scheduled Saturday (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Mississippi is hot, but so is Arizona — a different kind of hot, too.
Modifications and remedies are being made, such as the team leaving Starkville on Thursday instead of how it normally would on a Friday for a Saturday game.
“For our guys, just knowing exactly what we are getting into,” Lebby said. “We continue to talk about that through yesterday and this morning and (are) having those conversations to understand what it’s going to look like late in the week. We got to do a great job from a preparation standpoint of how we are hydrating, how we are eating and how we are resting to give us the ability to go on the road on this flight and be able to be at our best Saturday night.”
Just this week, Phoenix broke a record with its 100th straight day of 100-degree temperatures. According to AccuWeather, the high on Saturday in Tempe will be 107 degrees with a low of 86. The temperature should dip to around 91 near kickoff with a humidity of 24%.
“Coach Lebby has already been harping on that,” tight end Justin Ball said. “We’ve already been hydrating and making sure we are getting rest every single day. We leave on Thursday, so we already talked about the plan to make sure we are hydrating the entire plane ride there, making sure when we get there we get acclimated as quickly as you can and just staying together. Making sure we’re focused, make sure we keep the goal first and then execute the game plan.”
MORE: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here’s how he’s wrong
Mississippi State played well the last time it played in Arizona
The Bulldogs played Arizona in Tucson two seasons ago. They squandered a pedestrian Wildcats team 39-17. Kickoff for that game was at 8 p.m. PST though the temperature was 84 degrees at game time.
Not many players remain on Mississippi State’s roster from that 2022 season. But the ones who are, like linebacker Nic Mitchell, can benefit from the experience and also share it with teammates.
“We know it’s going to be a long flight, so we know we got to be hydrated,” Mitchell said. “It gives people experience that have done it before and they can tell the young guys how it’s going to be in the flight, how you got to hydrate and stuff like that.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Playing for Mississippi State not an option for Arizona State back Kyson ‘Sipp’ Brown
Arizona State forces 3 turnovers in win over Wyoming to start 2024
All offseason, coach Kenny Dillingham preached getting turnovers. Forty seconds into the season’s first game, the defense produced its first one.
Sophomore running back Kyson Brown is one of the faster players on the Arizona State football team. But Brown seems to have a little more pep in his step this week. Why? Well, the Sun Devils (1-0) are set to take on Mississippi State (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Sure an SEC opponent is enough to get any athlete fired up. But the 6-foot, 200-pounder hails from Tupelo, Mississippi, which is where he got his nickname, Sipp. Tupelo is 67 miles north of the Mississippi State campus in Starkville that Sipp has visited a handful of times.
“I have family, growing up they were all Mississipp State fans and some Ole Miss fans,” he said. “Some of my family are debating whether they want to cheer for me or not. It’s going to be good. A lot of hometown friends. Got a couple guys I went to high school with there. It’s going to be good seeing those guys and hopefully, we compete at a good level and get the W.”
Brown, a mechanical engineering major, is enrolled in ASU’s Barret honors program, He emerged as one of the team’s most improved players. He saw some time on special teams as a true freshman in 2023 and has set himself up for a bigger role, although the ASU backfield has a lot of depth.
In the last week’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, Brown pitched in with six rushing attempts for 25 yards and two receptions for 73 yards. His 68-yard touchdown reception was the longest play from scrimmage that ASU had on the night.
“It felt amazing just to get back in the end zone again,” Brown said. “You come out of high school, you know I’m used to being in the end zone every game, all the time. That play, I knew — once I made the first guy miss — I knew I wasn’t going to let anybody catch me.”
Brown lived in Mississippi until moving to Lancaster, Texas, outside of Dallas, after his sophomore year of high school. He sat out junior year after the transfer. As a senior he averaged 9.5 yards per carry, finishing with 707 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries while adding 14 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Sitting out his junior year hurt his recruiting, but he still had notable offers from Purdue, Missouri and Houston. The balance of his options were lower-profile schools. Mississippi State didn’t offer.
He is happy with the end result. A place on the ASU football roster. In the offseason, he worked on his agility, flexibility and catching the ball, which was evident in his recent scoring play.
“We all have the big-play potential,” he said of his fellow running backs. “I feel my role is to make plays, wherever they put me be able to perform.”
Mississippi
Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why
![Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/30/PJAM/73515915007-tcl-legislature-06.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2999,1687,x0,y100&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Lawmakers, PERS director agree they must work together in the future
How to plan for retirement using an online calculator
Retirement calculators can give you an idea of when you’ll financially be able to retire.
Problem Solved
State lawmakers will need to readdress concerns about the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi in 2025 if it is to remain viable long term, according to a July study.
Legislative actions in the 2024 Session to reduce public employer contribution rate hikes and increase state funding are not enough to address billions in unfunded future benefits to retirees, according to a report released by the Legislature’s third-party watchdog group, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee.
Projections show the state’s retirement plan being less than 50% fully funded by 2047 and having $25 billion in liabilities. According to several municipal leaders who spoke to the Clarion Ledger earlier this year, the legislative move from lawmakers in the past session should save public employers from cutting positions and raising taxes to keep and hire more public employees.
“Change in approach for increasing the employer contribution rate, in addition to the one-time funds transfer, reduces the plan’s projected future funded ratio from 65.5% to 49.9%,” the report reads. “…The PERS plan is currently expected to be at a lower-funded level in the future than it currently is today.”
PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins told the Clarion Ledger he wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings.
“The PEER analysis seems to be an accurate report and generally reconciles with our information,” Higgins said. “Also, the legislative action from last session appears to be a short-term solution.”
While the report does not list out any specific recommendations for lawmakers this coming year, it says continued work will be necessary to fix the retirement system that has 118,000 retirees receiving benefits and 147,000 active members paying into the system.
In 2023, the PERS governing board, made up of mostly elected members, as advised by financial actuaries who watch over the state’s retirement plan, passed a rate increase on public employers, such as cities, counties and school districts from 17.40% to 19.90% that was to take effect July 1. The rate would have continued to increase to 22.4% by 2027.
In the 2024 Session, the Legislature passed two bills. Senate 3231, prohibits the PERS Board’s plan to gradually increase the employer contribution rate and replaces it with a plan to increase to 19.90% over the next five years in 0.5% annual increases. SB 3231 also takes the board’s only regulatory power to increase rates and puts it in the hands of the Legislature.
SB 2468 enacts a one-time transfer of $110 million of capital expense funds into the PERS trust.
More on PERS bill MS Legislature passes bill restricting state retirement board’s authority
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Rupp Smith told the Clarion Ledger efforts Hosemann helped push forward that resulted in those bills’ passage led to a potentially more stable retirement system.
“To avoid this calamity while developing a future solution, the Legislature adopted a less-aggressive employer increase,” Smith wrote via email. “We are now informed the plan has a projected future funding ratio of 65.5% as of 2047, as compared to 48.6% projected one year ago.”
Republican House Speaker Jason White’s Communications Director Taylor Spillman did not reply to several emails requesting White’s comments on the report.
What are the big problems?
Higgins previously said the ratio of retirees to active members has seen a reverse trend since 2013, when there were 93,000 retirees and 162,000 active members. This increases the unfunded liability of the system as fewer people take jobs in government, reducing active members and more people retire, increasing the funding obligation of PERS.
The other issue lies with projections for the retirement plan’s future if state lawmakers decide not to take action in the years to come.
“While the ($110 million) funding for the first year is comparable, each year in the future could potentially see a greater deviation in expected employer contribution revenues for the PERS plan,” the report reads. “This deviation does not immediately constitute a problem for the PERS plan; however, careful evaluation of the plan’s future liabilities and funding needs will be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the PERS plan.”
Are there any solutions?
Higgins and Smith both said future work on PERS is still a top priority.
Higgins specifically mentioned a new retirement benefits package that could be offered to new public sector employees, which the PERS board has called tier 5.
“The Board has previously recommended a tier 5 for new employees to help better sustain PERS in the future and is currently considering what may be included or resubmitted in next year’s legislative package,” Higgins said.
Read about new Medicaid program Mississippi Medicaid prenatal care access program still awaiting federal approval. Why?
Earlier this year, Hosemann told the Clarion Ledger he wanted to see evidence that a new tier of benefits could help maintain the retirement system long term. Smith did not confirm whether Hosemann’s office is currently studying that idea in the legislative off season, but she did say the Legislature is looking at several ideas.
“The Legislature is exploring any option for a more viable plan,” Smith said. “The Lt. Governor continues to be committed to fulfilling current employee and retiree benefits, including the cost-of-living adjustment for these individuals.”
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
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