These are bills related to mental health, disabilities and children that Families as Allies is tracking. The list sorts bills according to their content areas: mental health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice, special health care needs, disability rights and transparency/access to information. If we included a bill on the list that indicates the bill is related to the issue listed. It does not imply that we agree with or endorse it. 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.
Lt. Governor Hosemann in the Senate and Speaker Gunn in the House place bills that passed out of committee on the calendar to be voted on by the entire Senate or House, whichever chamber the bill started in. You can tell which chamber a bill started in by looking at the bill number. Senate Bill numbers start with SB, and House Bill numbers start with HB. (House and Senate Resolutions, Concurrent Resolutions and Senate Nominations do not always follow the same timelines that bills do.)
February 10th is the deadline for general bills to be voted out of the House or Senate. Unless a bill is held for extra consideration, it will die if not voted out of its originating chamber by February 10th. General bills are those that do not have to do with money. Revenue and appropriations bills must be voted out of their originating chambers by February 23rd—or die.
Both the House and Senate publish “calendars” each day the legislature is in session that show what bills are “on the calendar” that day. Being on the calendar does not guarantee a bill will come up for a vote, but it is a good indicator. Sometimes bills die on the calendar. They also die if they are voted on and do not pass.
Since we updated you last week, several bills have moved from their originating chamber to the opposite chamber. The hyperlink underneath each bill explains the latest action on the bill. Bills that moved to the opposite chambers will be assigned to committees and must come out of those committees by March 1st.
If you support a bill that is still in its original chamber, one of the quickest and most effective ways to give feedback is to call the Capitol switchboard at (601) 359-3770 and ask them to tell your State Senator (if it’s a Senate bill) or State Representative (if it’s a House bill) that you would like them to vote yes on the bill.
To find out who your state legislator is, go to Open States Find Your Legislator and put in your address. It will also list your federal representatives, but you want to contact your state senator and representative. Contact your state senator about senate bills (the ones that start with SB) and your state representative about house bills (the ones that start with HB).
To give feedback on a bill that has been assigned to a committee in the opposite chamber, call the Capitol switchboard at (601) 359-3770 and ask them to give a message to the relevant committee chair. If you think the bill is a good idea, say that it should be brought out of committee and why. If you do not think the bill is a good idea, say that you do not think it should be brought out of committee and why. This link lists the chairs of each committee.
To read what a bill says on our list or the legislative website, click on the bill number. The underlined information in the bill is typically the new part that the bill’s author is proposing. What is not underlined is already in state law.
To find out what is happening with a bill, click on the hyperlink underneath the bill. The hyperlink connects to a page with information about the bill. About halfway down the page, a section titled History of Actions explains the current status of the bill. These are some common phrases that you may see in the history of actions right now and what they mean:
- Title Suff Do Pass – The committee passed the bill as written, and it has gone to the full chamber to be placed on the calendar for a vote.
- Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub – The committee passed a committee substitution of the bill, and it has gone to the full chamber to be placed on the calendar for a vote. The substitute bill may or may not be similar to the original bill. You can read all bill versions at the top of the information page under the phrase Bill Text for All Versions.
- (H) Passed: The House passed the bill as written.
- (H) Passed As Amended: The House passed an amended version of the bill. You can read the amendment about halfway down the information page under Amendments.
- Transmitted To Senate: The House has transmitted the version it passed to the Senate.
- (S) Passed: The Senate passed the bill as written.
- (S) Passed As Amended: The Senate passed an amended version of the bill. You can read the amendment about halfway down the information page under Amendments.
- Transmitted To House: The Senate has transmitted the version it passed to the House.
- Tabled Subject To Call: The bill has been tabled but can still be brought back up. It is not dead.
- Motion to Reconsider Entered: The bill passed, but is being held for more consideration and will be voted on again.
- Motion to Reconsider Tabled: The motion to reconsider is tabled and the bill will proceed as originally voted on.
- Referred To Ways and Means, Referred To Appropriations or Referred To Finance: The bill has to do with funding and has later deadlines.
To find a specific bill not on our list, use the legislation tab on the legislative 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 at the top of the page.
The Mississippi House and Senate are both live-streamed. Senate committee meetings are live-streamed as well. The link to join is at the top of the Senate committee agenda schedule.
