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Rep. Noah Sanford
With February 13 being the deadline for most House bills to pass the full chamber, there was a flurry of debate on the floor concerning a variety of topics.
House Bill 928 would require hospitals with emergency departments to have personnel trained in collection and storage of rape kits. The bill, which passed 118-0, came as a result some reports of rapes that were unable to be prosecuted after the rape kits were poorly collected or maintained.
House Bill 74 would raise the speed limit on state highways by five miles per hour. Though opponents argued it would likely lead to an increase in crashes and fatalities, the bill passed overwhelmingly, 110 to 5.
House Bill 927, which passed 88-23, would provide for the licensure and regulation of midwives. Currently, there are no regulations concerning midwifery, and midwives have requested that standards be set to be licensed. Some opponents argued that the state should not encourage midwifery by licensing the profession and, instead, should encourage births to be in a hospital setting. If the bill becomes law, Mississippi would become the 35th state to license midwives, joining all of our surrounding states.
House Bill 291 would require county officials to win a majority of the vote to order to win election. Presently, general elections for county offices do not require a runoff when no candidate earns a majority of votes, leading in some instances where winning candidates fall far short of 50% + 1. The bill passed 95-13.
House Bill 1415 would create the Gospel Music Trail in Mississippi, to be overseen by the tourism division of the Mississippi Development Authority. Gospel would join the blues and country in having its own genre-specific trail markers. Mississippi is often called the “Birthplace of America’s Music” and attracts tourists from other parts of the country and the world.
Senate bills are in the process of being referred to House committees, where they will be taken up for consideration. In the meantime, we will pass initial appropriations bills for the various state agencies.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to serve. Please contact me if I may be of assistance or if you have questions or concerns.
Noah Sanford represents parts of Covington, Simpson, Jefferson Davis, Forrest, and Jones Counties in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He can be reached at NSanford@house.ms.gov.
MageeNews.com is the online news source for Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi
