The Legislative Report Header
February 14, 2022
The Legislative Report
The sixth week of the 2022 Mississippi legislative session continued with bills being presented on both the House and Senate floors. Each chamber was hard at work in an effort to consider all important bills by Thursday, February 10. Any bill not passed by its chamber before this deadline died on the calendar. 
School Board Members
May Receive Pay Raise
Dollar pay raise graph
We want to highlight one bill that received an important amendment on the Senate floor this week. Senate Bill 2105, as originally presented, would have given all school board members a pay increase to receive an annual salary in the amount of $4,000. However, on Tuesday, February 8, Senator Kevin Blackwell proposed an amendment that would allow for school board member pay to increase based on student enrollment. Below is the breakdown of the amendment:
 
  1. School board members with districts having less than five thousand students enrolled in the school district shall receive an annual salary of $4,000.
  2. School board members with districts having at least five thousand students but less than ten thousand students shall receive an annual salary of not less than $4,000 but not more than $5,000.
  3. School board members with districts having greater than ten thousand students shall receive an annual salary of not less than $4,000 but not more than $6,000.
 
The amendment would allow those board members in districts with higher enrollment to vote on a higher salary up to a certain amount. Every district, regardless of size, would still get at least an increased salary of $4,000 annually. The amendment was passed by the Senate, and the bill will now travel to the House for consideration. We will continue to follow this bill closely as it makes its way through the process.
Notable Bills
Below is a list of other notable bills that survived this week’s deadline:
 
  1. HB 530 and SB 2444 (Teacher Pay Raise Bills) which both will raise the level of pay for Mississippi teachers.
  2. SB 2083 will require legislative advisory committee members to be invited to stay during executive session.
  3. SB 2087 will require all regular and special meetings of public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Law to be broadcast via livestream on the front page of the official website of the public body or on a designated government channel. Any action taken at a meeting is void and of no effect if the public body fails to comply with the livestreaming requirement.
  4. SB 2415 brings forward the Mississippi code sections for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) for possible amendment.
  5. SB 2424 will give school boards the option to pay employees in monthly or bimonthly payments.
  6. HB 502 will increase the amount of bond that is required for the purchasing agent of any school board from $50,000 to $100,000.
  7. HB 1170 will expand the Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program in order to allow certified academic language therapists to provide dyslexia therapy services to help alleviate shortages around the state.
 
Each of these bills will now head to the other chamber for consideration. Below is a list of a few notable bills that died on their respective calendars:
 
  1. SB 2043 would have a prescribed school board members salary scale based on school district student enrollment.
  2. SB 2360 would have allowed retired teachers to draw retirement benefits and be reemployed as a teacher if they had 30 years of creditable service.
  3. HB 354 would have allowed for excused absences from board meetings for school board members in the event of a family emergency, such as the illness or death of an immediate family member.
  4. HB 790 would have required that video surveillance cameras be installed in classrooms and certain other areas of public schools.
  5. HB 1349 stated that only the receiving district would have to approve the transfer of a student to another district. The sending district would have no longer been able to impact the transfer.
Deadlines
post it reminder bell
  • Monday, February 14, 2022 — Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider general bills and constitutional amendments originating in own house.
  • Wednesday, February 23, 2022 — Deadline for original floor action on appropriations and revenue bills originating in own house.
  • Thursday, February 24, 2022 — Deadline for reconsideration and passage of appropriations and revenue bills originating in own house.
  • Friday, February 25, 2022 — Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider appropriations and revenue bills originating in own house.
Day at the Capitol
MSBA’s Day at the Capitol has been postponed until further notice.
Questions?
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austin gilbert
Austin Gilbert, Esq.
MSBA Policy & Legislative Services Manager
601-924-2001
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MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION
Denotris R. Jackson, M.Ed., Executive Director
380 Zurich Drive │ Ridgeland, MS 39157 │ 601-924-2001 │ msbaonline.org