YP – Sen. Roger Wicker talks Inauguration, Impeachment, Big Tech with Y’all Politics
Mississippi senior U.S. Senator Roger Wicker joined Y’all Politics on Tuesday to discuss the changes in Washington D.C. as Joe Biden is set to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States tomorrow.
Senator Wicker will no longer be the Senate Commerce Chairman as the U.S. Senate will have a 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats but thanks to new Vice President Kamala Harris, the chamber will be a Democrat majority for all intents and purposes. However, the Senator is still seeking to address the censorship by Big Tech companies like Twitter and Facebook targeting conservative voices as the committee’s ranking Republican member.
President Trump issues a farewell message
YP – Teacher pay raise bill moves forward in Mississippi Senate
The Mississippi Senate is moving forward on a promised piece of legislation from Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann – the teacher pay raise bill.
SB 2001, which is essentially the same bill presented last year, would raise teacher and teacher assistant pay by $1,000. However, it did not go into law last year because of budgetary issues brought on by COVID-19.
The bill was passed unanimously by the Senate Education Committee last week and was double referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee which took it up Tuesday afternoon. It passed there unanimously as well.
“Hopefully this is one of the few more such raises over the next couple of years,” said Senator DeBar.
YP – Governor Tate Reeves appoints John Rounsaville as Director of MDA
Tuesday, Governor Tate Reeves appointed John Rounsaville as the official Director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Rounsaville has been serving as interim for the department since May of 2020.
YP – Bill of the Day: No more straws for you, unless you ask nicely
The potential for a straw ban has made it to Mississippi. In a bill offered by Senator Simmons (12th) it would prohibit a restaurant from providing a single-use plastic straw to a patron unless it is asked for.
SB 2071 classifies a single-use straw as a mostly plastic straw. It doesn’t include straws that are made from paper, pasta, sugar cane, wood or bamboo. The law would be enforced by the State Department of Health and if you violate it you could be fined up to $300.
YP – RNC Committeeman Henry Barbour talks future of GOP
The Mississippi Republican Party’s National Committeeman Henry Barbour joined Y’all Politics Tuesday morning to discuss where the party goes from here on the national level as Democrats are set to take the majority in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, and having won the White House.
Barbour, who chairs the GOP’s WinRed fundraising operation, talked about the recent Republican National Committee meeting where the party’s officers were re-elected. He says Republicans must stay on message and focus on conservative principles heading into 2022 mid-terms and beyond.
YP – Pascagoula’s Thomas to be first female to officiate Super Bowl
Pascagoula’s Sarah Thomas to be first female to officiate in a @NFL Super Bowl. #SBLV
Thomas was named as one of Mississippi's most influential persons in the @MSTop50 in 2019.https://t.co/6Tq47cT8vb
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) January 19, 2021
WLOX – Mississippi bill would find anyone who performs an abortion guilty of murder
A new bill introduced into the Mississippi legislature would find anyone who performs or induces an abortion guilty of murder.
The bill, written by Rep. Dan Eubanks of DeSoto, would also make it a felony for anyone to willfully cause an abortion.
This comes a little over a year after a federal appeals court stated that Mississippi’s ban on abortion at 15 weeks was unconstitutional, siding with a 2018 ruling from U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
State legislators would come back and pass a more restrictive law to ban most abortions at about six weeks. Reeves blocked that, too.
YP – Hinds County opposes landfill in Madison County
Hinds County opposes landfill in Madison Countyhttps://t.co/btxdoSnQK6
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) January 19, 2021
WLOX – Bill would make street racing, traffic obstruction a felony
A bill introduced during the 2021 legislative session could mean that individuals involved in street racing incidents like the one that occurred in North Jackson on New Year’s night could face felony charges.
A group of 10 lawmakers, including many members of the Jackson delegation, have authored H.B. 655, which would “revise the penalty for illegal drag racing to make it a felony.”
The bill has been referred to the House’s Judiciary B Committee.
Magnolia Tribune
