What’s alive at the Capitol?

What’s alive and what’s dead at this point in the session? The Mississippi legislature is getting close to Sine Die, or the last day of the session, on May 5. We wanted to provide you with an update on where legislation stands:

PROTECTING WOMEN’S SAFE SPACES:

SB 2753, Sponsored by Sens. Josh Harkins and Jeremy England, the SAFER Act:

– Protects the safety and privacy of Mississippi’s girls and women in historically same-sex spaces,

– Defines a woman and man from birth, and

– Provides a cause of action for any violation of the Act.

This bill has passed the Senate and House and will be headed to conference for consideration after the House put a reverse repealer on the bill.

HB 585, Sponsored by Rep. Gene Newman, Dignity and Safety of Incarcerated Women Act: Protects women’s privacy in prison by ensuring that biological men are not permitted to enter women’s safe spaces.

After passing the House, this bill was not considered by the Senate and is dead.

PROTECTING PARENTAL RIGHTS:

HB 1100, Sponsored by Rep. Lee Yancey, Protecting Parental Access to Children’s Medical Records and Consent for Healthcare: Mississippi Hospitals are blocking parents from accessing their kids’ medical records. The Biden Administration is also setting up Obamacare in public schools – and pushing parents out. Rep. Lee Yancey is standing up for parental rights. Yancey’s bill (HB 1100) would protect the basic right for parents to direct their children’s healthcare, including making sure they have access to their children’s medical records.

After passing the House, this bill was not considered by the Senate and is dead.

HB 900, The Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act, Sponsored by Rep. Randy Rushing: This bill also ensures a parent’s rights to their child’s medical records.

After passing the House, this bill was not considered by the Senate and is dead.

SB 2873, Sponsored by Sen. David Parker: An amendment to this bill would also make sure parents can access their children’s medical records.

This bill has passed the Senate and House, and will be headed to conference for consideration.

HEALTH CARE:

SB 2858, Sponsored by Sen. Josh Harkins, Enabling Mississippi Patients to Access Lifesaving Care: Bureaucracy and red tape are annoying, but when bureaucracy prevents American patients from getting access to lifesaving treatments readily available in other countries, it becomes downright deadly. FDA clinical trials that take decades and cost millions are not suited to new medical technologies that are customizing treatments for individual patients with rare diseases.

Sen. Harkins’ bill creates a pathway for patients in Mississippi to work with their doctor to try innovative, potentially life-saving treatments, when no other option is available. (This bill is near and dear to my heart after my hard-fought battle with cancer last year!)

The bill passed the Senate and House. After the House made changes, the Senate concurred with the changes and the bill will be headed to the Governor.

ELECTION INTEGRITY:

SB 2367, Sponsored by Sen. Jeremy England, Stopping Radical Progressive Voting Schemes: The Republican National Committee and Donald Trump oppose Rank Choice Voting; Rep. “AOC,” Senator Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, not to mention Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, support it. It is already being used in other states to block Republicans from getting elected. Mississippi needs to follow other states, like Tennessee and Florida, and prohibit Ranked-Choice Voting before it’s too late.

After passing the Senate, this bill was not considered by the House and is dead.

PROTECT AGAINST CHILD PORN:

HB 1363, Sponsored by Rep. Price Wallace Preventing Child Pornographers from Repeatedly Victimizing Children: Child pornographers are using children’s images to make obscene content on the internet. Even after sex offenders go to jail, websites are still profiting from the use of children’s images. Fortunately, Sen. Joey Fillingane and Rep. Price Wallace have a solution. These bills allow parents to sue websites that post child pornography, forcing them to remove this filth and other forms of illegal obscenity.

After passing the House, this bill was not considered by the Senate and is dead.

On a couple of these dead bills, lawmakers are working together to try and find another vehicle to attach them to in order to keep them alive.

We’ll talk to you soon!

– Lesley