Mississippi legislators voted last week to suspend the session in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Speaker Gunn and Lt. Governor Hosemann will decide when the legislators come back.
Before they suspended the session, we were monitoring two bills that were in the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee. One passed out of the committee, and one did not.
SB 2814, authored by Senators Blackwell, McMahan, and Parks, addressed the Medicaid eligibility of certain children with disabilities who require specialized care and services to remain in the home. This bill died at the committee deadline. Families as Allies is working with a coalition of organizations led by the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities on the Medicaid eligibility problem that SB 2814 tried to address. We will post any updates as they occur.
SB 2610, authored by Senator Hob Bryan, creates the temporary (3-year) position of coordinator of mental health accessibility. The bill requires the coordinator to perform a comprehensive review of the mental health system and then to report back to certain elected officials and governmental entities.
This bill passed out of the Public Health and Welfare committee and passed unanimously by the entire Senate on March 11, 2020. The Senate sent it to the House on March 13. We will monitor its progress in the House once the House and Senate come back into session.
[photo credit: Chuck Kelly]
