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Week of January 23, 2023
By Representative Price Wallace
Committees met frequently during the fourth week of the legislative session, as next Tuesday’s deadline to have House Bills out of their corresponding committees quickly approaches.
After Tuesday, Jan. 31, no additional general bills will be added to the House calendar for consideration. Members will also meet in session for longer periods to discuss the bills that make it out of their respective committees. More than 150 general bills have made it out of committee thus far, and this number should increase before the deadline.
House Bill 1029 would provide that reference to the “Armed Forces” or “Uniformed Services” in the Mississippi Code will also include the United States Space Force. HB 1029 was introduced by Representative Jeffrey Hulum, III (D – Gulfport), marking his first time at the well to present a bill. The bill passed unanimously and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 626 would authorize county boards of supervisors to expend certain funds in the last six months of their term in office if the county has a project funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to meet the federal spending deadline in 2026. The bill passed 107-5 before being held on a motion to reconsider.
The Mississippi Regional Preneed Disaster Clean Up Act (House Bill 858) would authorize county boards or governing bodies of municipalities to enter into joint bid agreements for disaster clean-up to prepare for disaster-related events. The bill passed 114-5.
Several appropriations bills were passed including House Bill 603 and House Bill 1088 which are both related to the state budget. This was done so that work can begin on the budget which will be finalized towards the end of session.
House Concurrent Resolution 10 was introduced and passed on Wednesday. The concurrent resolution honors the late Representative Noal Akins who passed away in October. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012. Representative Akins is the father of Senator Nicole Akins Boyd (R – Oxford).
The House passed House Concurrent Resolution 31 which authorizes a joint session of the Legislature to next Monday evening to hear Governor Tate Reeves’s annual State of the State address. The address will take place on the south steps of the Capitol, or in the case of inclement weather, in the House Chamber.
MageeNews.com is a news source covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
