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Rep. Noah Sanford
The House met its most recent deadline—the date at which all bills must have passed on the House floor—on midnight, Thursday, February 9. More than sixty bills that had previously passed out of House committees, however, were not taken to a vote and met their deaths. One of these was the EdBuild proposal to revamp the funding formula for public education.
A few bills of importance that passed out of the House and will now head to the Senate are detailed below.
The Rivers McGraw Act will require that—in instances that someone under the age of 21 is arrested on DUI or drug charges—their parent or guardian be notified before the child is allowed to bond out. The Act is named after Rivers McGraw, a boy from the Jackson area who committed suicide after bonding out of jail; he was in college at the time, and his parents were unaware he had a drug problem.
The Capitol Complex District passed by a wide margin. This would create a large area in downtown Jackson where the state would provide funds to the city of Jackson for infrastructure and security. This would include the areas around the Capitol grounds and nearby statewide buildings, UMC and the healthcare complex, and Jackson State University. The city is supportive of the bill; city officials argue that being the seat of state government has had a big downside—the city cannot collect property taxes on any government buildings (and there are a lot of them in downtown Jackson).
Internet sales tax also passed by a decent margin. It would require online businesses that sell more than $250,000 worth of product in Mississippi to collect the 7% sales tax and remit it to Mississippi; proceeds from this will go to infrastructure improvements on the state, county, and city levels. This issue has been the source of a lot of consternation around the Capitol. Opponents argue that taxing internet sales would grow the size of government and that such a tax is unconstitutional, given a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Supporters argue that the Supreme Court has to revisit the issue anyway (since 1992 was before internet sales existed at all) and that taxing sales of local businesses at 7% and not taxing similar sales of online business creates a disincentive for people to shop locally. There is some truth to all of these arguments.
I appreciate your giving me the opportunity to serve. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at nsanford@house.ms.gov or at 601-765-4122.
Rep. Noah Sanford represents parts of Covington, Simpson, and Jefferson Davis Counties in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
