By District 56 Representative Clay Mansell
The deadline for introducing general bills and constitutional amendments was during the start of the eighth week of session, and committees began to meet even more frequently as the Legislature approached the next deadline. After Tuesday, March 5, no additional bills will be added to the House calendar, and members will meet in session for longer periods to discuss the bills that have made it out of committee. If a bill is not passed out of committee by this deadline, it is considered dead.
Although most work is still happening in committees, the House also took up legislation, including House Bill 922, which would make the office of county election commissioner nonpartisan. The bill passed the House by a vote of 112-6 before being held on a motion to reconsider.
House Bill 1035 would amend the “Nonpartisan Judicial Election Act” to include justice court judges. The bill passed 106-11 before being held on a motion to reconsider.
House Bill 438 would increase the penalty for shoplifting. Currently, the fine for the first shop- lifting conviction is $1,000, the fine for the second is $2,500 and the fine for the third is $3,000. Under HB 438, these would increase to $1,500, $3,000 and $4,000, respectively. The bill passed by a vote of 89-28, and it has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 313 would create the Board of Cosmetology and Barbering to regulate their respective professions. There are two separate boards which oversee cosmetologists and barbers, and HB 313 would combine them into one board. The bill passed 115-0 and has been sent to the Senate.
During week eight, I presented a bill for the first time before the House, House Bill 628, which would extend the repealer on the statute granting persons the right to access public records.
Joining me in presenting their first bills were Representatives Justin Keen, with HB 697, the Mississippi Aviation Safety Act; Josh Hawkins, with HB 940, which would revise publication and bid requirements for Design- Build projects for the Mississippi Transportation Commission; Steve Lott, who presented HB 751 to extend the repealer on the authority of the Commissioner of Public Safety to create a voluntary inspection program of commercial motor vehicles; Fabian Nelson, with HB 873, which would establish the Purple Alert as an additional means to aid the search for missing persons with cognitive disabilities; Grace Butler-Washington, who presented HB 1121, which would make minor, non-substantive changes regarding the swearing-in of state officers; Chuck Blackwell, with HB 1149, which would authorize counties to only maintain an electronic format of law books in county courtrooms and public county law libraries; and Kimberly Remak, who presented HB 653, which would extend the expiration date of the moratorium on the application of the trip optimizer system to state agencies.
Also in week eight, the House Medicaid Committee conducted a hearing on the potential impact of Medicaid expansion for Mississippi workers. The House State Affairs Committee also conducted a hearing on Mississippi’s Certificate of Need. Both issues greatly impact the state’s health care system.
Committees met frequently during the ninth week of the legislative session. Members also met in session for longer periods to discuss the bills that made it out of committee. Despite most work still happening in committees, members took up several bills on the House floor.
House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee presented House Bill 1725, or Healthy Mississippi Works. The act would direct the Mississippi Division of Medicaid to seek a federal waiver to allow coverage for persons described in the Affordable Care Act. The persons included in the expansion are 19- to 64-year-olds whose income is not greater than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. They must also work twenty hours or more a week, be a full-time college student or be enrolled in a workforce training program. HB 1725 passed by a vote of 99-20, and it has been referred to the Senate Medicaid Committee.
Two bills that would affect package retailers were introduced during the ninth week. House Bill 328 would increase the number of package retailer’s permits a person or entity may own from one to three. No location could be within 100 miles of another location held by the same permittee. HB 328 passed 65-28. House Bill 329 would authorize local authorities of a wet jurisdiction to permit package retail sales on Sunday. HB 329 passed 68-31. Both bills have been held on a motion to reconsider.
House Bill 1354 would increase the amount of state revenue bonds to assist with the construction of a new warehouse for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. The proposed site of the new warehouse would be at the Holmes County Industrial Park, the approximate geographical center of the state. HB 1354 passed 107-7.
House Bill 903 would prohibit the manufacture and possession of machine gun conversion devices. These “Glock switches” or “auto sears” can easily change a semiautomatic handgun or rifle into a fully automatic weapon. The bill is named in honor of fallen George County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Malone who was gunned down during a routine traffic stop in January. HB 903 passed 112-8 and has been sent to the Senate.
Sexual extortion would become illegal under “Walker’s Law,” or House Bill 1196. Sextortion refers to when a person entices another into sharing explicit images or videos and then threatens to post the material online, usually to extort money or sexual favors from the victim. HB 1196 passed 116-0.
House Bill 1378 would allow an honorably discharged veteran aged 90 years or older to have an exemption on all ad valorem taxes on a homestead property. The bill passed unanimously by a vote of 120-0 and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
Governor Tate Reeves delivered his fifth State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature speaking of the two Mississippi Major Economic Impact projects passed earlier this year, and he encouraged the Legislature to continue focusing on economic development, infrastructure and education.
Visitors during this period included the Jackson Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Mississippi Valley State University, the Department of Child Protective Services, the DuBard School of Language Disorders at USM, the Florence High School Dance Team, the Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and Delta State University, NA- SA’s Stennis Space Center, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the Association of Mississippi Midwives, Mississippi Farm Bureau and the Mississippi State Troopers Association.