During the Mississippi legislative session, we do our best to follow bills that could interest families and others who are part of our organization. Here is the complete list of bills we are following.
Legislative bills must come out of committee in the chamber they originated in by the end of the day on March 5 to move forward. The chairperson decides which bills they will bring up for a vote in their committees. Many bills do not come up for a vote. That means they die in committee and do not move forward.
If you think a bill is good and should move forward, you can call the committee chairperson and tell them you believe the bill should come up for a vote. If you think the bill is bad and should not come out of committee, you can call the committee’s chair and say you believe the bill should not come up for a vote. If you think the bill needs to be changed, you can call the chairperson and tell how you feel the committee should change the bill.
You can call the Capitol switchboard at 601-359-3770 and leave a message for any legislator, including the chairpersons of committees. We also provide the contact information for committee chairpersons that they list on the legislative website within the information about each bill below. Remember that legislators are very busy this time of year and may only check their email sometimes. Committee meeting times are subject to change.
BILL HIGHLIGHTS:
House Bill 1380, titled “Child abuse; provide that babies born who test positive for controlled substances shall be considered,” allows a mother to be charged with felonious child abuse if her baby tests positive for specific substances at birth. House leadership referred the bill to the Judiciary B House committee. The committee plans to meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 29, in room 113 of the Capitol. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman Kevin Horan at (601)359-3311 or khoran@house.ms.gov.
House Bill 1691, titled Department of Child Protection Services; authorize to make care payments to fictive kin whom a child is placed with, authorizes care payments to grandparents and other relatives caring for children in the Department of Child Protection Services custody. House leadership referred the bill to the Judiciary A House committee. The committee plans to meet on Tuesday, March 5, at 11 a.m. in room 113 of the Capitol. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman Joey Hood at (601)359-2428 or jhood@house.ms.gov.
Senate Bill 2027, titled, Health insurance carriers; require to cap patient cost for prescriptions for insulin drugs, limits the out-of-pocket payment for insulin to $100/month. Leaders referred the bill to the Insurance Senate committee. The committee plans to meet on Tuesday, March 5, at 9 a.m. in room 216 of the Capitol. The meeting will be live-streamed. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman J. Walter Michel at (601)359-2886 or wmichel@senate.ms.gov.
Senate Bill 2294, titled Open Meetings Law for public bodies; require official meetings to be broadcast via video livestream applications, with exceptions, requires most state agency meetings and other government meetings to be live-streamed. Senate leadership referred it to the Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency Senate committee. The committee is not currently listed as scheduled to meet. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman David Parker at (601)359-4088 or dparker@senate.ms.gov.
Senate Bill 2852, titled, Lunancy; remove all references in statute, removes negative and stigmatizing language about disabilities on state laws. Senate leadership referred the bill to the Public Health and Welfare Senate Committee. The committee plans to meet on Tuesday, March 5 at 3 p.m. in room 216 of the Capitol. The meeting will be live-streamed. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman Hob Bryan at (601)359-2395 or wendellbryan@gmail.com.
Senate Bill 2744, titled Community mental health centers; rename and require certain oversight measures by Department of Mental Health, strengthens the authority of the Department of Mental Health over the community mental health centers and requires the community mental health centers to report data quarterly. It also changes the pre-evaluation screening for civil commitment. The bill requires that before filing an affidavit for commitment of an individual, the family member or whoever is seeking commitment must go to a mental health center for a pre-affidavit screening. The mandatory screening must include examining the person considered for commitment. Senate leadership referred the bill to the Senate Judiciary Division A committee. The committee plans to meet at 3 p.m. on Thursday, February 29, in room 216 of the Capitol. The meeting will be live-streamed. If you have feedback about whether or not this bill should come out of committee, contact Chairman Brice Wiggins at (601)359-3237 or bwiggins@senate.ms.gov.
