The House faced a deadline this week to consider revenue bills passed by the Senate.
Negotiations about the state budget are ongoing between both chambers. This week we passed a number of appropriations bills, but none of these are final.
They cannot become law as currently written.
Over the final two weeks of the session, legislators will work in conference committees to reach a consensus on how to spend your tax dollars.
You can view all of the bills that we voted on this week, along with my vote and an explanation, on this week’s blog post here.
Governor Phil Bryant signed HB 812 into law this week.
This bill brings some measure of transparency and accountability to the practice of civil asset forfeiture.
I was happy to serve on the Asset Forfeiture task force this year. We discussed the many threats this practice poses to property rights and worked to draft
these particular reforms. This bill was introduced by Representative Mark Baker, Chairman of the Judiciary A committee. I appreciate his leadership
on this issue.
You might have seen that seven students from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland scored a perfect score on the ACT this year. This week the House
passed a resolutionhonoring
them, as well as half of the graduating class that scored over a 30 on the test.
Next week, the House will work in conference to hash out differences on general bills and craft the budget.
You can view all of the measures still active here,
and you can see each of the bills that we will be voting on, along with how I’m planning to vote, on my calendar page here.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
It’s my honor to represent you!
God Bless,
Joel