The Tuesday deadline for general bills to be moved out of committee leaves a number of hot topics on the table.
On Tuesday, Mississippi legislators faced a deadline for general bills to be moved out of committee in their respective chamber. All general bills that are not passed out of the originating chamber’s committee by 8 p.m. died.
According to Mississippi Statewatch, nearly 75% of general bills that have been introduced typically die at this initial deadline.
After last night, a variety of bills died in their respective committees including bills pertaining to vaccine mandates, mobile sports betting, capping the salary of the Mississippi Department of Education State Superintendent, and more.
SB 2045, also known as the “Anti-Covid Vaccine Mandate Act,” was one of many bills that did not pass out of committee. The bill, authored by Senator Joey Fillingane (R), sought to prohibit discrimination based on a person’s vaccination status or possession of an immunity passport. It also required that a person, business entity, or governmental entity could not require a person to receive a vaccine that is allowed under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
READ MORE ON ANTI-COVID MANDATES BILL HERE: Most all anti-COVID mandate bills die in committee as deadline day comes and goes in Mississippi Legislature
SB 2186, a bill that would have required the State Superintendent of Education’s salary to not exceed the salary of the Governor, also failed. In a report published by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, they found that Mississippi has some of the highest paid officials, among them the State Superintendent of Education.
Another bill that did not pass committee is SB 2111, which would have created the “Transgender 21 Act,” a bill that would have prohibited the state, its agents and political subdivisions from infringing on a parent’s right to withhold for any treatment, activity, or mental health care services that are intended to form their child’s conceptions of sex and gender.
HB 1165, a bill that would have authorized the use of digital platforms in sports betting, as well as House and Senate Concurrent Resolutions surrounding the initial procedure (SC 529, SC 521, HC 42, HC 40, HC 24, HC 1472) did not pass out of committee.
However, among the 567 Senate bills and 1042 House bills that were killed, according to Mississippi Statewatch, there were a number that are still breathing and made it out of committee. Some of those are listed below:
- SB 2261, also known as “Buddy’s Law.” It is authored by State Senator Angela Hill (R) and would require psychiatric evaluations for any child adjudicated delinquent who has abused a domesticated cat or dog.
- SB 2634, or the “Mississippi Savings Initiative,” would provide for the establishment of individual development accounts and authorize the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance (MDBCF) to contract with fiduciary organizations to serve as intermediaries between individual development account holders and financial institutions holding account funds.
- HB 917, or the “Home-based Opportunity Freedom Act of 2022,” provides protection for those who engage in home-based work, prohibiting the government from enforcing ordinances that restrict home-based work.
- SB 2425 caps the salaries of the State Superintendent of Education, the Institutions-Higher Learning (IHL) Commissioner, and the Director of the Community College Board.
- HB 1349, authored by Rep. Jansen Owen (R), allows open enrollment to all public school districts in the state.
- HB 1408, authored by Speaker Phillip Gunn (R), would increase the annual salaries of Sheriffs in Mississippi.
- SB 2515 would transfer jurisdiction over state parks from the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to Mississippi Department of Tourism.
To view more measures that are not dead, click here.
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**Contributions to this article from Sarah Ulmer, Y’all Politics Capitol Correspondent.**
Anne Summerhays
