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New Year, New Opportunity |
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Each new year brings excitement of its own, but 2024 promises to be special. On January 2nd, Mississippi will begin a new 4-year legislative term. After winning reelection in November, Governor Tate Reeves returns for his second and final term as the state’s top elected official. Additionally, many seasoned lawmakers, including Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann, will return to the Capitol in January.
Following November’s elections, there will be several new lawmakers who will certainly be eager to make a positive impact on the Magnolia State. Mississippi will also welcome a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, marking the beginning of a new era in that chamber.
As we look to 2024 and beyond, we are excited about the possibilities! There is much to do to ensure all Mississippians can thrive, and the opportunities are many.
We’ve narrowed down our priorities for the new year to a few things we think will positively impact the lives of Mississippians, and we are excited to share those with you. Below, you’ll find our 2024 legislative agenda for each of our three pillars: education, justice, and work.
Education Giving Parents the Freedom to Choose. We recognize that every child is unique, full of potential, and deserving of a quality education that meets his or her individual needs. That’s why one of our top priorities for 2024 is advancing robust school choice policies that empower Mississippi families to access the best educational opportunities for them. We don’t believe one type of school is better than another; rather, we believe that families should have as many options as possible to choose from to find the best educational fit for their children. That’s why we are advocating for universal education savings accounts, or ESAs, which will ensure families have the resources to select a nonpublic school, tutoring, educational therapies, and more. We will also be encouraging lawmakers to make it easier for public school students to transfer to another public school district and to lift restrictions that limit the ability of charter schools to open in areas of demand.
Adopting a new public school funding formula. The state’s current public school funding formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, is so complicated that only a handful of people understand it. More importantly, it doesn’t adequately address the needs of individual Mississippi students. We will be talking with lawmakers about adopting a new, student-based funding formula that is properly weighted for students who require additional resources, such as low-income students, students with special needs, and others.
Improving the state’s public school accountability model. The state’s current accountability model does not comprehensively reflect the performance of our state’s public schools in a way that’s easy for the public to understand. Our state’s accountability model should accurately show how well public schools are preparing students for life after graduation. In collaboration with other partners across the state, we will explore ways to improve Mississippi’s accountability model so parents can better gauge how well their local public schools or charter schools are performing.
Justice Reauthorizing the state’s parole statute. The law that establishes eligibility for parole is set to expire in 2024. Parole is an important piece of the criminal justice system, and we will encourage lawmakers to ensure this important law remains in place.
Expanding the Mississippi Department of Corrections work-release program. The Mississippi Department of Corrections’ work-release program offers non-violent prisoners the opportunity to find work outside the prison walls when they are nearing parole. The program helps set these people up for success when they return to society. The program is presently limited to 25 participants at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. We will ask lawmakers to consider expanding the program to more participants and additional locations in 2024.
Expanding the number of felony offenses that may be expunged from 1 to 3. Currently, Mississippi law allows for the expungement of one felony offense for a person who has committed a felony. In 2024, we will ask lawmakers to expand that number, allowing for up to 3 felonies to be expunged from a person’s record, upon approval by the court in which the person was convicted, excluding violent crimes and several other categories of crimes.
A recent report showed that 1 in 10 adults in Mississippians currently have a felony conviction on their record. We recognize that people do wrong things and make mistakes, and, when possible, they should not have to carry the weight of those mistakes for the rest of their lives. Having a felony record makes it much harder to find housing and work, even many years after they’ve “paid their debt to society,” which limits opportunities for those who are seeking a second chance to be successful.
Strengthening Mississippi’s public defender system. Public defense is a critical part of the criminal justice system. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty and are afforded the right to have legal representation. Our state’s public defenders perform this important function for those who cannot afford an attorney. There are a surprising number of people who have been in jail – some for more than a year – without being indicted, much less convicted, for a crime. Until a recent rule change by the Mississippi Supreme Court (which was initiated by Empower MS), people in that situation had no representation from a public defender. This session, we will work with lawmakers and partners across the state to find other ways to make reasonable changes in the state’s public defender system.
Ensuring sufficient availability of transitional housing for parole-eligible individuals. There are currently several hundred people who have been approved for parole who remain in prison because they do not have a place to live once released. This is a financial burden to the state and prevents individuals who have qualified for parole from returning to society. We’ll work with state lawmakers to increase the availability of transitional housing, which will save taxpayers money and ensure that people don’t languish in prison while trying to find a place to stay.
Work Expanding the Fresh Start Act. The state’s Fresh Start Act prevents occupational licensure boards from categorically denying a license to someone due to a criminal record if their offense is not related to the license for which they are applying. Currently, only 8 licensure boards are subject to the provisions of the Fresh Start Act, and we will ask lawmakers to revise the law to include all licensure boards, consistent with the original intent of the law.
Supporting efforts to increase access to care by granting full practice authority to nurse practitioners. Mississippi has one of the lowest physician-to-population ratios in the country. Access to affordable care, particularly primary care, is a concern for many Mississippians. Nurse practitioners who are adequately and appropriately trained can help address those concerns.
Currently, nurse practitioners must enter into a collaborative agreement with a physician in order to practice. Under such an agreement, the nurse practitioner pays a physician a certain amount in return for consultation, oversight, and/or a limited records review, which often involves only a handful of records and often occurs days or weeks after the patient is treated.
We’ll support efforts in 2024 to ensure qualified nurse practitioners can do what they were trained to do without having to pay physicians for the privilege to do so.
Supporting efforts to further reduce or eliminate Mississippi’s personal income tax. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once remarked, “Whatever you tax, you get less of.” We believe this certainly applies to work, and lawmakers should continue exploring ways to keep Mississippians’ hard-earned money in their pockets rather than sending it to Jackson.
In 2022, lawmakers passed the largest tax cut in state history, returning over half a billion dollars to Mississippi taxpayers. By 2026, Mississippi will have a 4% flat tax on personal income, which is 5th lowest in the nation among states that tax personal income. However, 9 other states don’t tax work at all. This includes our northern neighbor, Tennessee, and economic powerhouses like Texas and Florida.
We will support legislative efforts to further reduce or eliminate the state’s personal income tax in 2024 and encourage lawmakers to continue looking at the feasibility of doing so. MageeNews.com is the source for news and views in Simpson County, Mississippi. |
