The Legislative Report Header
January 31, 2022
The Legislative Report
The fourth week of the 2022 Mississippi legislative session was a busy one. Legislators continued to work on the heavy workload of bills that have been submitted to their corresponding committees. On Wednesday, January 26, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann stated that there are approximately 1,079 bills and resolutions that the Senate is currently considering. Many of the critical issues this year are still being considered by their respective legislative committees, including teacher pay and the income tax elimination. Committees have until February 1st to report on general bills and constitutional amendments originating from their own house.
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The first bill approved by the Governor this year was HB 384, the ‘Magnolia 1’ Congressional Redistricting Plan for Mississippi. Both the House and the Senate made the Magnolia 1 Plan a high priority this year in an effort to prevent the need for the courts to redraw the districts as has been done in the past. The biggest shift under Magnolia 1 was moving Adams, Wilkinson, Franklin, and Amite Counties from District 3 to District 2. This shift was due to the nearly 6,000 people who were lost from the state’s population since 2010, with most of that loss coming from District 2. Before the Governor’s signing, the House passed the plan with a vote of 75-44 and the Senate with a vote of 33-18.
 
On Wednesday, January 26, both the House and Senate Education Committees met to discuss a variety of bills that will impact education. Below are the bills taken up by the House Education Committee:
 
  1. HB 832 Mental Awareness Program for School Act – Would provide for trauma-informed training to teachers. This training would help teachers in identifying signs of trauma in their students. The bill would require school districts to have at least one school counselor or mental health services provider in each school.
  2. HB 884 Accelerate Mississippi Scholarship Plan – Aims to make scholarships available to students who become eligible to participate in the program for costs associated with dual-credit and dual-enrollment. Questions were presented over the equitability of given scholarships. Representative Kent McCarty stated that the money appropriated would be per student as opposed to one giant pot that would be on a first come first serve basis.
  3. HB 885 Education Enhancement Fund – Would provide a digital option for teacher procurement cards. This would allow teachers to have a “digital wallet” and would hopefully provide flexibility with the cards.
  4. HB 1170 Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program – Would expand this program to allow certified academic language therapists to provide dyslexia therapy services in order to alleviate shortages around the state.
  5. HB 1246 Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013 – Allows funding to be provided to early learning collaboratives with no less than $2,500 per student in a full-day program and no less than $1,250 per student in a half-day program. The bill also allows, subject to the availability of funds, for the increase of annual appropriations until the collaboratives serve 25% of all four-year old children in Mississippi no later than the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
  6. HB 1312 Equity in Distance Learning Act – This Act was passed a couple of years ago in order to get devices to students for virtual learning. HB 1312 would refresh the program so that the districts can repair or refurbish any needed devices.
  7. HB 1313 Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) Scholarship Act – Would provide postsecondary financial assistance to children in foster care. The bill would apply to college, junior college, and trade schools. Chairman Richard Bennett stated that this was an important bill for those children who have been dealt a hard hand in life and it would give them the ability to have a brighter future. The bill would cover the full tuition of those children who were aging out of foster care as long as they had at least a C average in school upon graduation.
 
Below are the bills taken up by the Senate Education Committee:
 
  1. SB 2415 Mississippi Adequate Education Program – Brings forward the MAEP code sections in case small tweaks need to be made.
  2. SB 2425 – This bill would set the maximum salaries for the State Superintendent of Education, I.H.L Commissioner, and the Director of the Community College Board at $250,000 for each. Currently, the State Superintendent of Education has a salary of $370,000, the I.H.L Commissioner has a salary of $420,000, and the Director of the Community College Board has a salary of $284,000. The current salaries of each position would not be impacted until their current contract expires.
  3. SB 2430 Public School Building Fund – Brings forth the code sections which provide for the state aid for construction of school facilities for the purpose of possible amendments. By doing so, the legislature is looking at adding more money for schools to use for local infrastructure needs.
  4. SB 2443 – Contains the teacher pay codes. This bill is being kept alive as a backup plan for the teacher pay raise.
  5. SB 2677 – Would show legislative support for the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District in building a new high school on local 16th Section land.
  6. SB 2685 Mississippi Year Round Grant Program – Some districts throughout the state have gone to modified school calendars which allow for year round school. Chairman Dennis DeBar stated that this bill encourages more schools to move to that type of calendar. SB 2685 allows those districts which are converting to this calendar to apply for a grant to aid in that process. The amount of the grant given is dependent on the district’s average daily membership.
  7. SB 2884 Equity in Distance Learning Act – Would appropriate $10 million in order to help repair or refurbish those devices that were granted to school districts a couple of years ago in order to aid with distance learning.
  8. SB 2885 Partnership between Energy High School Academy, and Vicksburg-Warren and Claiborne School Districts – Would keep this program alive and extend the date of repeal to July 1, 2025.
 
Each of the bills above, for both chambers, were double referred and will now go to their respective committees.
Governor Tate Reeves'
State of the State Address
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Each year, the Governor of Mississippi is required to give a report on the current state of the State of Mississippi. On Tuesday, January 25, Governor Tate Reeves delivered his State of the State address on the steps of the State Capitol. Members of the House and Senate were present. Governor Reeves began his speech discussing the different storms that Mississippi has weathered over the past couple of years. From pandemics to hurricanes and tornadoes, the Governor said that Mississippi is stronger than it has ever been.
 
Governor Reeves’ first topic was of the “crowning achievement of Mississippi’s ride through the pandemic and recession – our educators”. The Governor stated that Mississippi schools have seen a turnaround of historic proportions due to the dedication of the teachers, the intelligence of the people, and the conservative, common-sense reforms enacted by the leaders of Mississippi. The achievement by the state’s students includes an all-time high and above national average graduation rate of 87.7%, an all-time low drop-out rate of 8.8%, an all-time high passing rate on advanced placement exams, and the increase of the number of students who have completed career and technical courses.
 
The Governor stated that Mississippi students have outperformed previous generations in the classroom and that Mississippi has been the only state in the nation to improve its scores in 2019. Students of all backgrounds across the state have outperformed their peers nationally, especially those students living in poverty. The Governor said he attributes these gains to three important factors:
 
  1. Parents and Guardians of students who invest in their children’s education;
  2. Conservative and effective education reforms over the last decade; and
  3. Teachers.
 
Governor Reeves commended teachers throughout the state who stepped up and came to the classroom. He said that unlike other states, Mississippi teachers did not resort to Zoom, but instead took to the chalkboard. After leading a round of applause for Mississippi teachers, Governor Reeves called for the legislature to reward Mississippi teachers for their hard work. The Governor said that getting a significant pay raise in place for teachers is his number one priority during this session.
 
Other topics from the address included educational integrity, the fiscal and financial shape of the state, the elimination of the state income tax, abortion and adoption laws, and the Mississippi correction system. Governor Reeves reported that Mississippi ended the year a billion dollars over revenue estimates. He attributed this partly due to Mississippians' work ethic and remaining open for business while other states did not. The Governor said that another of his top priorities is to continue investing in the people of Mississippi through workforce and skills training. In closing, he challenged Mississippians to focus on what is right, to be proud of one another, and to tackle and seize the great opportunities before us. 
Recent Bills
Many other important bills have continued to make their way through the legislative process. The first bill is SB 2105 which seeks to increase the pay of school board members. Under SB 2105, school board members would have the choice to receive $112 per diem for no more than 36 meetings during a fiscal year or may choose to receive an annual salary in the amount of $4,000. Increased board member pay is a priority of MSBA and our members, and we will be keeping a close eye on this bill.
 
Another noteworthy bill is HB 1039 which would earmark 10% of all money deposited into the Mississippi Lottery Proceeds Fund in a fiscal year to be used by the Department of Education for the purposes of funding school improvements. All monies deposited into the lottery fund over $80 million in a fiscal year already go to educational purposes, but this would be another benefit to hopefully help infrastructure needs in local school districts.

To view the bills that have been assigned to the House Education Committee, click here.

To view the bills that have been assigned to the Senate Education Committee, click here.
Deadlines
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  • Tuesday, February 1, 2022 — Committees to report general bills and constitutional amendments originating in their own house.
  • Thursday, February 10, 2022 — Original floor action on general bills and constitutional amendments originating in their own house.
  • Friday, February 11, 2022 — Deadline for reconsideration and passage of general bills and constitutional amendments originating in own house.
  • Monday, February 14, 2022 — Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider general bills and constitutional amendments originating in own house.
Day at the Capitol
MSBA’s Day at the Capitol has been postponed until further notice.
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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
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