Legislative Session 2021

The final deadline has now passed for Governor Reeves to sign or veto bills approved by the Legislature in the session that officially ended April 4.  Of the 2,623 bills that legislators introduced, only 13% made it to his desk.

In Washington DC, Congress is working to pass a bill that would dramatically change election laws in the country. It appears that the Mississippi Legislature is attempting to do the same.

The Mississippi Legislature could be allowing the state’s two investor-owned utilities to get into the broadband business in a way that might serve both broadband customers and electricity ratepayers.

The Mississippi legislature is nearing the halfway point of its 2021 Regular Session, which is expected to adjourn at the end of March. There are some bad bills that might be acted on this week, but overall, the session has produced fairly positive results. The House has passed several major reforms designed to repeal or relieve unnecessary regulatory burdens on small businesses.

Mississippi is one of 35 states that require a Certificate of Need (CON) for healthcare providers.  They must receive approval from the state Department of Health to build a new facility, add beds or diagnostic equipment to an existing facility, or even when a capital project goes over budget.

Gov. Tate Reeves received a mediocre grade in an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) scorecard ranking the nation’s governors on economic policy performance and results during and before the COVID-19 pandemic despite being in office less than a year.