This Week at Your Legislature
This was a busy week in the state legislature. Tuesday marked the deadline to introduce new bills. You can view all of the bills that have been filed thus far on the legislative website here. Committees are currently working to review all bills, discuss their merits, and approve legislation that will then head to the full House. On Tuesday evening, the legislature convened in a joint session to hear Governor Phil Bryant’s State of the State address. I applaud Governor Bryant’s commitment to avoid tax increases for the people of Mississippi. I will continue my pledge to stand against any increase in taxes, fees, or fines on the people of this state. This week, the Education and Appropriation committees of the House and Senate convened to hear recommendations from EdBuild regarding the education funding formula. Their recommendations focused on moving towards a student-centered formula that weights student funding according to the individual needs of students. I support this move towards fairer funding of students. You can view their full report with recommendations here. It’s important to remember that these are just recommendations and legislation has not yet been presented with specific amendments to the current funding formula. Three other committees on which I serve met this week to work on pending bills. I worked with the committees on Corrections, Drug Policy, and Youth and Family Affairs, among others. We are working on crafting meaningful legislation that will strengthen families, protect public safety, boost employment, and expand personal freedom for all Mississippians. The House passed a number of measures this week, including several that deal with traffic and parking regulations. You can view each of the bills we passed, along with my votes and an explanation, on my blog post here. The Governor designated two members of the Mississippi legislature to represent our body at today’s Presidential Inauguration – House Judiciary B Chairman Andy Gipson and Senate Finance Chairman Joey Fillingane. I hope you will join us in praying for guidance and wisdom for the incoming administration. Thank you for your friendship and your support!
Please let me know if you have thoughts, concerns, or questions about upcoming legislation, or if I can help you in any way. You can reach me anytime by email at [email protected] or on my cell at (601) 207-0813.