Mississippi teacher pay raise plan headed to governor
Mississippi legislators have agreed on a teacher pay raise plan, and it will head to Gov. Tate Reeves.
Mississippi tax overhaul appears headed to doom in Senate
A bill to overhaul Mississippi’s tax structure faces a critical deadline Tuesday in the state Senate, but it appears unlikely to survive despite a push from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.
Mississippi legislators chop pecan bill from to-do list
Critics had said it was nutty for Mississippi legislators to consider pecan harvesting bills during a year with big issues that required urgent attention — things like responding to the coronavirus pandemic or increasing teacher pay.
Analysis: Mississippi grappling with tax-and-spend ideas
Mississippi legislators are moving into the final weeks of their three-month session, and they still need to make significant decisions about taxes and spending for the year that begins July 1.
Mississippi House nixes change to tourism promotion
The Mississippi House has killed a bill that would have created a state Department of Tourism. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and the Senate had proposed taking tourism promotion duties away from Mississippi Development Authority, the state agency that works on job creation.
Analysis: Advocates split over Mississippi tax cut proposals
Policy groups are deeply divided over a proposal to phase out Mississippi’s personal income tax, with some saying the change could spur economic growth and others saying it could curtail funding for schools and other essential services.
Mississippi gov will sign bill limiting transgender athletes
Mississippi is on track to become the first state this year to enact a law banning transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams.
Teacher pay raise plan inches forward in Mississippi Senate
The Mississippi Senate is pushing forward with a plan to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the United States.
Wyatt Emmerich: Hold on to your pocketbook!
The LEGISLATURE is in session. Hold on to your pocketbook! So goes the old saying.
Senate panel advances plan for Mississippi teacher pay raise
Mississippi senators took steps Tuesday to keep a proposed teacher pay raise alive.
The House and Senate passed separate pay raise plans several weeks ago, then they exchanged bills for more work.
Mississippi bills alive: Athletes, alcohol, criminal justice
Bills to allow college athletes to earn money from their own name, likeness and image are still alive at the Mississippi Capitol. Among the bills that died under the latest deadline is one that would have required any governor to disclose information about donors to his or her inaugural fund.
Hosemann: Mississippi Senate will analyze House tax plan
Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said Monday that the state Senate will thoroughly examine a House bill that proposes several significant changes in state tax rates.
Analysis: Mississippi leaders try big, quick tax changes
When then-Gov. William Winter wanted to make substantial changes to Mississippi’s education system in the early 1980s, he and his staff spent months building support for their proposals.
Mississippi House kills proposal for gas tax election
The Mississippi House is backing away from a proposal for a statewide election on increasing gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to pay for improvements to state highways and local roads.
Bill to phase out state income tax, raise sales tax passes House
A bill that would phase out the state income tax in Mississippi and reduce sales tax on groceries, while raising the general sales taxes, is getting some pushback from local business owners and at least one local legislator who say it would seriously harm retailers.
Analysis: Mississippi finds wedge issue, even amid pandemic
Some Mississippi legislators thought the 2021 session might be tightly focused on responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and that might dampen enthusiasm for delving into divisive social issues.
They were wrong.
Mississippi could set deadline for posting campaign reports
Mississippi’s secretary of state could soon face a strict deadline for posting campaign finance reports, a demand the office says it is not equipped to handle without more employees to carry the workload.
Surviving bills in Mississippi: Alcohol, pecans, voting
Bills to allow home delivery of alcohol, to set stronger penalties for stealing pecans and to set new rules for removing people from voter registration lists are still alive at the Mississippi Capitol.
Local massage therapist opposes cuts to training hours
Proposed legislation to massage the licensing requirements for massage therapists in the state is rubbing one Columbus practitioner the wrong way.
House Bill 1315, which passed the House by a 74-36 vote Monday, would reduce the number of hours required to obtain a massage therapy license by 200 and cut the required number of hours of clinical training in half.
Republican-led Mississippi Senate OKs faster purge of voter rolls
A sharply divided Mississippi Senate voted Wednesday to speed up the process of purging inactive voters’ names from election rolls.
The bill passed 36-16, with all the support coming from Republicans and all the opposition from Democrats.