Mississippi House of Representatives Weekly Summary for Week of March 20, 2017
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At this point in the session, a majority of bills have either been sent to the governor to be signed into
law or are being discussed in conference.
Conference on a bill occurs when further discussion is needed by both sides to reach the best solution. A
conference consists of three representatives and three senators who work together to finalize a bill.
Once a bill is out of conference, it must go to both the House and Senate for a vote before being sent to
the governor.
Along with the conferences that were held, the House did meet as a whole to discuss and pass local and
private bills, and honor special guests in the chamber.
On Tuesday, Terry High School basketball star Nyah Tate was honored for her achievements on and off
the court. The Florence High School football team was recognized for an outstanding season and the
boys soccer team also made an appearance to be recognized for winning the MHSAA Class 4A State
Championship.
Madison Station Elementary School first-grade teacher Allison Ruhl was honored with House Resolution
21 on Wednesday for being the only Mississippian to receive a 2017 Milken Educator Award. That same
day, seven students from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School were honored with House Resolution 64 for
obtaining a perfect score of 36 on the ACT college admissions test. Students from Davis Magnet
International Baccalaureate Elementary School received House Concurrent Resolution 64 for being
named best elementary school in Mississippi by SchoolDigger.com. Finally, House Concurrent
Resolutions 57, 58 and 60 were presented to Mississippi’s Male Athlete of the Year (Brian Fleming),
Female Athlete of the Year (Evelyn Watkins) and Youth Athlete of the Year (Megan Heggie), respectively.
On Thursday, House Concurrent Resolution 71 was passed to designate August 26 as Women’s Equality
Day in Mississippi. The Raymond High School boys basketball team was presented with House
Resolution 72 to commend and congratulate them on winning the MHSAA Class 4A State Championship.
House Concurrent Resolution 104 was also presented to recognize the grand opening of the Mississippi
Arts and Entertainment Experience.
More Mississippians were honored Friday, including Dr. James Anderson, who was recently named a
Healthcare Hero for his 50-plus years of healthcare service to low-income, uninsured minority
populations. Similarly, Dr. Freda McKissic Bush was honored for her life of healthcare service to
Mississippians. This year’s Miss Black Mississippi USA Kristy D’Anna Johnson was also recognized for her
title.
With only one week left in the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers will remain in Jackson to work
throughout the weekend. Deadline for bills to come out of conference and pass the House and Senate
occurs next week. Any bills that are passed will be sent to the governor to be signed into law.
Among the special guests that were honored, other visitors to the Capitol this week included Mississippi
Farm Bureau, NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Mission Mississippi and the Center for Education Innovation.
3/24/17
Magnolia Tribune
