The Mississippi State Legislature began its new session on January 3, 2023. The session lasts 90 days and ends (or adjourns) on April 2 (also known as sine die). Monday, January 16, is the last day for introducing new bills.
We will follow the session and encourage you to do so as well. The House and Senate webcasts are live on the Mississippi Legislature Youtube channel. Some of the Senate committee meetings are also streamed on the channel live. All the meetings and sessions are recorded and available if you want to watch them when it’s convenient for you (they are archived on the Youtube channel). You can also visit the Capitol and observe legislative sessions and committee meetings.
The Mississippi Legislature website has excellent information on legislators, legislation, House and Senate committees, calendars and schedules. You can find information about any legislator, follow a specific bill’s progress during the session or download the bill’s text.
If you do not know who your state legislators are, you can search for them using your address on openstates.org. Remember, they represent you, so it is OK to let them know what is important to you. If you would like to contact your senator or representative, one of the quickest and most effective ways to do so is to call the Capitol switchboard at (601) 359-3770 and ask them to give your legislator(s) a message to contact you. You can also look up legislators’ contact information on the Mississippi legislative website.
When a legislator introduces a bill, it is given a number and assigned to a committee in the chamber (House or Senate) where it originated. Committee chairs decide which bills will come up for a vote in their committees. Bills they don’t bring up for a committee vote do not progress and will not become law—the bill “dies.”
The deadline for bills to be voted out of committee is January 31. Most bills will die on that day. Those still “alive” will be placed on the calendar to be voted on by the full House or Senate. You can learn more about how a bill becomes a law here.
To find a specific bill from this year’s session, use the Legislation tab on the website and go to the bottom of the page to click on “select a measure.” Then choose HB (for House bill) or SB (for Senate bill) and fill in the number of the bill. If you don’t know the number of a bill, you can also search by text, committee, or legislator.
Families as Allies does not typically take stances on legislation. Still, we want you to have as much information as possible so that you can advocate for what you think is best for your children and family. If you would like us to help you understand a piece of legislation or contact a policymaker, feel free to contact us. We will follow bills related to mental health; children with special health care needs; transparency and accountability, and the child-serving systems as the session progresses and provide more detailed information about them.
A special note to Mississippi legislators: Families as Allies is always happy to assist you with policy research and to help you when families contact you about challenging issues with their children and the systems that serve them. Feel free to contact us.
