Richton Pages
This week, the Senate was privileged to have two pages from Richton. Gabbi Ledet (left) and Reid Overstreet (right) both did a wonderful job, and we were glad to have them with us!
Working Through House Bills
The Senate spent the majority of the past week working through legislation passed by the House. On many issues, the House passed legislation similar to what the Senate passed earlier this year. Sometimes, we accept the different language offered by the House and allow the bills to pass as they were received. But for many others, the Senate replaces the language in the House bills with our own language that we believe to be better for Mississippians. For instance, upon receiving the House’s teacher pay raise bill, the Senate replaced the language with our own teacher pay raise language that was passed several weeks ago. While I commend my counterparts in the House for their work on the issue, it is the belief of the Senate that our own bill is better for Mississippi’s teachers, students, and taxpayers. As a member of the Senate Education Committee, this is an issue that I take very seriously, and I look forward to continuing to work for our state’s teachers and students.
Interesting Bills
Several interesting bills passed through the Senate this week, and I’d like to share a few of them with you. We amended HB 1006 to create the Mississippi Healthcare Workforce Development Program, the Mississippi Nursing Preceptor Grant Program, and the Mississippi Health Science Training Infrastructure Grant Program. These programs will go directly to bolstering Mississippi’s healthcare workforce. HB 1029 creates a commission to oversee the hundreds of millions of dollars received by the state from the federal government for expanding broadband access throughout Mississippi. HB 779 provides better benefits to rural volunteer firefighters who lose their lives in the line of duty. I’ll continue to keep y’all updated on interesting bills as they work through the legislative process.
Let me know
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Shoot me an email at chjohnson@senate.ms.gov for any thoughts, concerns, questions, or suggestions related to the legislative session!