This was the ninth week of the 2022 Legislative Session and we are moving forward at the Capitol.
Occasionally, we are honored with the presence of some really great visitors at the Capitol – a welcome break from the often-contentious goings on under the Dome.
This was the case last week when non-other than the National College Baseball Champions came to see us. As a proud alumnus of Mississippi State University, being able to greet these champions was certainly a highlight of my time as a House member. Not only do they represent MSU well, they also represent the State of Mississippi well. And, we are surely going to see even more great things from them during this season and in the future as they flex their leadership skills after college. Earlier in the session, House Concurrent Resolution 8, which I co-sponsored, was passed, commending the team on their accomplishment, and it was presented. It was great to see MSU President Mark Keenum as well. He has been a strong leader of the university, and we congratulated him on his work.
Last Tuesday was a do-or-die day, as the Senate bills that had come to our committees had to be passed by 8:00 p.m., or they were dead for the year. The same held true for House bills in the Senate committees.
There was quite a scare about the teacher pay raise bills after both House and Senate Education and Appropriations Bills had met without taking action on any pay raise measures. Late that afternoon, the Senate committees met and inserted their language into House Bill 530. On Wednesday it unanimously passed the Senate and was sent to the House.
We put the bill on the invite conference calendar because House leaders are not in full agreement with the Senate language. The House and Senate will appoint three conferees each to iron out differences and then come with a measure that will be approved before we leave by the full chambers and contain substantial raises for our educators. We will pass a substantial pay raise for teachers before we leave the session.
If anything has been a priority during this session, it has been to bring our educators’ pay up to the Southeastern average, or higher. We also believe teacher assistants should receive more pay. There were a few really good education ideas, like Community Schools and Mental Health services for students and teachers that did not make the Tuesday cut. That said, many of us believe those are worthy ideas that should be considered – if not during this session, but the next.
On the subject of mental health services in schools, the Mississippi Department of Education announced a grant for telehealth medical services in some rural schools last week. With the development of broadband availability into rural areas thanks to federal funds, this new service by the MDE should provide much needed help in the mental health area as well.
We will continue to work on Senate bills for the next week and they will continue to work on ours. Many of the bills look like that will end up in conference for the final week of session for both the House and Senate to work out the differences.
We were also honored to have lunch this week with our students from the Scott & Rankin Counties FFA. Thanks to our students for working so hard to keep the future of agriculture going in Mississippi.
Congratulations to Coach Maurice Bowie, who is a graduate and friend from Morton High School and the Lake High School Lady Hornets for winning the 2 A State Basketball Championship over the weekend. We are so proud of all of you.
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