Legislature Concludes 2024 Session & Attaché honored at State Capitol

by | May 15, 2024 | Statewide

Mississippi District 56 Representative Clay Mansell is pictured presenting Senate Bill 2244 to the House. The bill, which passed unanimously, would allow foster care children to have free access to museums and state parks, and free transcripts from public universities and junior colleges.

By District 56 Representative Clay Mansell

Mississippi District 56 Representative Clay Mansell is pictured presenting Senate Bill 2244 to the House. The bill, which passed unanimously, would allow foster care children to have free access to museums and state parks, and free transcripts from public universities and junior colleges.

Mississippi District 56 Representative Clay Mansell

We recently concluded the eighteenth and final week of the 2024 legislative session. Legislators worked through the weekend to finalize the state budget and other bills. Most of the budget was not completed by Monday’s deadline, so the legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution 64, extending the session by several days and suspending the deadlines for certain bills. HCR 64 also set the date for adjournment sine die as Tuesday, May 14, if needed.

Though the hours at the Capitol were long, legislators worked extremely hard. The Legislature adopted the almost $7.9 billion state budget, including more money than ever going to K-12 public education.

On Saturday, April 27, the House took up Senate Bill 3231, which rescinds the scheduled employer contribution increase to the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). This would have been a 5% increase over three years starting in July. Under SB 3231, the employer contribution will increase by one-half percent every year from 2024 to 2028. The bill also expresses the intention of the Legislature to create a new tier for future members of the system during the 2025 legislative session. SB 3231 passed by a vote of 107-1, and it has been sent to the governor for his signature.

As the week continued, it became clear that the House’s plan for expanding Medicaid to working Mississippians (House Bill 1725) would not be adopted. Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, Public Health Chairman Sam Creekmore, IV and Judiciary A Chairman Joey Hood served on the conference committee, and, despite their efforts, talks with the Senate deteriorated throughout the week. After filing and refiling conference reports, HB 1725 died in conference on Thursday.

The House adjourned pursuant to HCR 64 on Saturday, May 4. If the Legislature decides not to gavel in on May 14, this concluded the 2024 legislative session, the first in a four-year term.

Attaché honored at State Capitol

Attaché honored at State Capitol

Clinton High School’s Attaché Show Choir was recently honored at the Mississippi State Capitol when Senator Hillman T. Frazier led the Senate’s presentation of a proclamation honoring the choir and District 56 Representative Clay Mansell introduced House Concurrent Resolution 50 to recognize the group, which took home Best Vocals, Best Choreography, Best Overall Effect and Grand Champion at the 2024 Homewood South Central Classic in Homewood, Alabama. The Attaché Show Choir’s most recent victory represents a significant milestone for the show choir, as this is Attaché’s 100th Grand Championship. Their current win streak of twenty-nine Grand Champion titles dates back to 2014. To achieve this streak, the group has traveled from California to Florida and in total competed against schools representing twenty-two states and one hundred thirty-one different high schools. Attaché is under the direction of Executive Directors David and Mary Fehr, Pit Directors Robert Allen and Sam Lovorn, and Crew Director Deborah Morgan. Choreographers are Dexter Bishop, Kellis Oldenburg and April James.