The Mississippi House today passed The Life Equality Act, sending it to Gov. Tate Reeves for his signature.
The Life Equality Act, House Bill 1295, prohibits the use of abortion as a tool of genetic manipulation, conforming Mississippi’s abortion policies to state and federal civil rights protections. The bill prohibits the use of abortion as a means of discriminating against minorities, women, and the disabled.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Crawford, with a companion bill by Sen. Jenifer Branning. Rep. Nick Bain and Sens. Brice Wiggins and Joey Fillingane also directed the bill to passage in their respective chambers, with the strong support of Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.
“If abortion is about choice, a forced abortion absolutely violates the right to choose,” stated Dr. Jameson Taylor, Vice President for Policy at Mississippi Center for Public Policy. “Women should not be pressured to have an abortion because their child is different: of a different ability, of a different race, of a different sex. Mississippi has an obligation to repudiate and reject its dark past that includes the forced sterilization of African American women.”
A May 2019 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court (Box v. Planned Parenthood) urged states to consider that “abortion is an act rife with the potential for eugenic manipulation” and that “from the beginning, birth control and abortion were promoted as means of effectuating eugenics.” In addition, the December 2019 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down Mississippi’s 15-week abortion law cautions that the “history of abortion advocacy” is infected with the “taint of racism” because abortion “has proved to be a disturbingly effective tool for implementing the discriminatory preferences that undergird eugenics.”
“Mississippi lawmakers are taking a cue from both the U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit, which have indicated it is time for states to consider the discriminatory impacts of abortion,” Taylor added. “The Life Equality Act sends a clear message that abortion should not be used to discriminate against women and children, regardless of race, sex or ability.”
The Box decision observed that the abortion rate for babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in utero is 67 percent in the United States and that the abortion rate “among black women is nearly 3.5 times the ratio for white women.” Likewise, a recent study from the Institute for Family Studies finds that U.S. sex ratios at birth suggest a growing trend of sex-selective abortions aimed at baby girls.
As the on-again, off-again 2020 legislative session winds down, largely with appropriation bills, conference reports, and a potential vote on a new state flag remaining, we did see several bills that cut red tape for businesses and families, make it easier to work, and help ex-offenders re-enter society.
HB 326, sponsored by Rep. Casey Eure, will expand the sales cap for cottage food operators from $20,000 to $35,000 and also remove the restriction on the prohibition of posting pictures of your goodies on Facebook and Instagram. This bill is headed to the governor.
HB 658, sponsored by Rep. Noah Sanford, will update the state’s expungement law to allow individuals with multiple convictions for drug offenses to apply for expungement. Right now, only one offense is eligible for expungement. This is in conference.
HB 838, sponsored by Rep. Nick Bain, will allow individuals leaving state prisons to use MDOC documents as qualifying papers to obtain a driver’s license. For ex-offenders to land gainful employment, they generally need a driver’s license. Something that has been a hinderance. This will make that process easier by allowing MDOC documents in lieu of a birth certificate or social security card. This is in conference.
HB 1024, sponsored by Bain, will make various reforms to Mississippi’s “three strikes” habitual offender law for nonviolent drug offenses. It prevents offenses from more than 15 years ago counting toward the enhancement and prevents nonviolent offenses from triggering a life sentence. This is in conference.
HB 1104, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Turner, will give the Occupational Licensing Review Commission the ability to do a review of an existing regulations to determine whether it increases economic opportunities for citizens by promoting competition and uses the least restrictive regulation to protect consumers. Right now, the OLRC, which is comprised of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, is limited to review only new regulations. This bill is headed to the governor.
HB 1295, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Crawford, will prohibit abortions from taking place because of the preborn child’s race, sex, or disability. The Life Equality Act will require the Department of Health to create a documentation process that all those performing abortions would need to follow prior to the abortion. The law authorizes the attorney general to bring enforcement action against those who perform abortion and do not follow the law. This will be returned to the House for concurrence.
HB 1336, sponsored by Rep. Kent McCarty, is innovative Learn to Earn legislation will expand upon alternative learning opportunities for students in Mississippi. With this program, high school students are able to work toward earning an occupational license while still in school. This bill is headed to the governor.
HB 1476, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Horan, will make inmates with certain medical conditions eligible for parole. This is in conference.
SB 2112, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Witherspoon, is the ‘Ban The Box Act,’ which will prohibit public employers from using criminal history as a preliminary bar for employment. This is in conference.
SB 2117, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Younger, will provide universal recognition of occupational licenses for military families. Military families that move to Mississippi will no longer have to jump through new government hoops to acquire an occupational license. This bill is headed to the governor.
SB 2123, sponsored by Sen. Juan Barnett, will allow the Parole Board to consider individuals after they have served 25 percent of their sentence for a nonviolent offense and 50 percent for a violent offense. This is in conference.
SB 2759, sponsored by Sen. John Horhn, will update the state’s Fresh Start Act, initially adopted last year, that prevents occupational licensing boards from denying an individual an occupational license because of a past offense unless the conviction is directly linked to the occupation. This is in conference.
SB 2830, sponsored by Sen. Josh Harkins, expands Mississippi’s Right-to-Try law. Right-to-Try laws give terminally ill patients and others the ability to try life-saving therapies and medications otherwise caught up in federal red tape. This bill adds victims of a traumatic injury to the list of eligible patients who may take advantage of experimental procedures that have passed FDA safety trials. The bill also adds adult stems cells to the list of approved therapies. This bill is headed to the governor.
An adult beverage is generally one of the easiest items for lawmakers to tax, and Mississippians pay for it every time they purchase beer, wine, or liquor.
The same is true of virtually every state in the country, where excise taxes are paid on top of the traditional sales tax.
When it comes to alcohol, Mississippians pay $8.11 per gallon in excise tax on their favorite wine or other beverage. That is 18th highest in the nation. Residents of Washington pay the most – $33.22 – per gallon. Among neighboring states, Alabama residents pay $19.11 per gallon, the highest in the south. Louisiana has one of the lowest rates at $3.03. Tennessee residents pay $4.46 while Arkansas pays $8.41. New Hampshire and Wyoming do not have an excise tax.
These rates may include a wholesale tax rate converted to a gallonage excise tax rate; case and/or bottle fees, which can vary based on size of container; retail and distributor license fees, converted into a gallonage excise tax rate; as well as additional sales taxes.
When it comes to beer, the southeast generally pays higher tax rates than the rest of the country. And Mississippi moves up to the 12th highest excise tax rate in the country. We pay $0.43 per gallon. That’s not as bad as Tennessee, who has the highest rate in the country at $1.29 per gallon. I guess they want to make sure you're skipping beer and going straight to Jack Daniels. Alabama is third at $1.05. It’s $0.34 per gallon in Arkansas and $0.40 in Louisiana. Wyoming has the lowest rate at $0.02.
Excise taxes are paid prior to the point of sale. But although you can’t see it in on your receipt, every vendor who is taxed passes these costs along to the consumer in the form of higher prices for their product. Taxes on beer are so high that it is estimated that 40 percent of the retail price goes toward taxes.
Remember that next time you purchase a six-pack.
Those wanting to be able to order wine online and have it shipped to their house like residents in 43 other states are close to getting a small win.
While direct shipment has long been dead for the year, something that looked even sillier after the coronavirus pandemic had most quarantined at home, House Bill 1088 will allow individuals to purchase wine from a winery and have it shipped to a liquor store.
The House adopted the conference report in a 102-14 vote Friday morning. Soon after, it passed the Senate 37-10. It now awaits Gov. Tate Reeves' signature.
The main benefit of this is if you would like a product that the state liquor warehouse does not carry, you can order directly without having to jump through the traditional ABC-government hoops.
And perhaps Mississippians having the ability to order wine online, something they largely want, along with the continued inconvenience of having the liquor store middleman will help legislators move within the next year or two to allow true alcohol delivery. Rather than ceding to the demands of liquor stores who don’t want competition and can use their power created by a government monopoly to get their way.
Whether it is wine or liquor you order online or a drink you’d like delivered via an app like Uber Eats or Drizly, all Mississippians should have the option to make that choice for themselves.
We just need to remember our free market principles when it comes to alcohol.
After 24 hours of back-and-forth, the Senate has concurred with changes from the House to a bill that will authorize the cultivation of hemp in Mississippi.
When the adoption of Senate Bill 2725, Mississippi will become the 48th state in the nation to legalize hemp.
We have seen a massive move toward hemp legalization at the state level after the 2018 Farm Bill expanded the cultivation of hemp. Previously, federal law did not differentiate hemp from other cannabis plants, even though you can’t get high from hemp. Because of this, it was essentially made illegal. But we did have pilot programs or limited purpose small-scale program for hemp, largely for research.
Now, hemp cultivation is much broader, with the Farm Bill allowing the transfer of hemp across state lines, with no restrictions on the sale, transport, or possession of hemp-derived products. There are still limitations, but most states have taken the opportunity to find new markets for those who would like to cultivate hemp.
Yesterday, a concurrence vote – which required three/fifths for passage – narrowly failed on a 31-21 vote. We then saw a motion to reconsider entered and withdrawn, before it was entered again prior to today’s concurrence vote.
While there has been an unsuccessful push for years from liberty-minded Republicans and many Democrats to legalize hemp, this bill came out of the Hemp Cultivation Task Force that met last year and heard from officials in various fields. This included law enforcement, who raised multiple concerns over the ability to police this crop that looks like – but isn’t – marijuana.
The bill, like at the federal level, is heavily regulated, and whether Mississippi farmers will see a boom from hemp remains to be seen.
The bill is effective upon passage.
Legislation to make it easier for military spouses to obtain an occupational license when they move to Mississippi will be among the item’s legislators will be able to consider when they return to finish out the session.
Today, about one in five need a license to work, a strong contrast from the 1950s when just five percent of the population needed permission from the government to earn a living. The impact on military families is even more pronounced than the public as a whole. Data from over the past year – before governments shut down the economy because of the coronavirus pandemic – showed military spouses had unemployment rates that ranged from 20 to 25 percent.
Why do we see this? One of the reasons is the obvious. The average military family moves every two to three years, meaning new town, new schools, new lives, and, if the spouse is working, a new job for him or her.
But obtaining an occupational license from another state, which includes new classes and testing, doesn’t make finding a new job easy, and it certainly doesn’t make it quick. By the time the paperwork and testing are completed, and you receive a license and then find a new job, you will likely be moving before too long. This process then repeats itself with every move. Eventually it gets to the point that it isn’t worth it. And we see absurdly high unemployment rates for military spouses.
Senate Bill 2117 would make important changes to ease that burden off military families. It is now headed to the governor after the Senate agreed to House changes today.
Under the proposal, occupational boards in Mississippi will be required to recognize occupational licensed obtained from other states for military members and their families, if the applicant holds a current license from another state and is in good standing. The board will have 60 days after the application is filed to issue (or deny) a license.
If someone has already jumped through the necessary hoops to obtain a license in another state, we should recognize that license in Mississippi.
Amidst a national backdrop of protests, civil unrest, and renewed calls to change the state flag in Mississippi, the Republican dominated state legislature in the Magnolia State is quietly pushing a number of new criminal justice reform measures.
If these bills become law, it will continue and expand upon a five-year trend in the right direction for a state with a prison system that cost taxpayers more than $340 million a year to house more inmates per capita than all but two other states.
HB 658: This will update the state’s expungement law to allow individuals with multiple convictions for drug offenses to apply for expungement. Right now, only one offense is eligible for expungement.
HB 838: This will allow individuals leaving state prisons to use MDOC documents as qualifying papers to obtain a driver’s license. For ex-offenders to land gainful employment, they generally need a driver’s license. Something that has been a hinderance. This will make that process easier by allowing MDOC documents in lieu of a birth certificate or social security card.
HB 1024: This will make various reforms to Mississippi’s “three strikes” habitual offender law for nonviolent drug offenses. It prevents offenses from more than 15 years ago counting toward the enhancement and prevents nonviolent offenses from triggering a life sentence.
HB 1476: This will make inmates with certain medical conditions eligible for parole.
SB 2112: This is the ‘Ban The Box Act,’ which will prohibit public employers from using criminal history as a preliminary bar for employment.
SB 2123: This will allow the Parole Board to consider individuals after they have served 25 percent of their sentence for a nonviolent offense and 50 percent for a violent offense.
SB 2759: This will update the state’s Fresh Start Act, initially adopted last year, that prevents occupational licensing boards from denying an individual an occupational license because of a past offense unless the conviction is directly linked to the occupation.
After Wednesday's legislative deadline, all of these bills are still alive and will likely be headed to conference where the House and Senate will hash out differences before agreeing to a final bill that lawmakers will again have to support.
In 2014, Mississippi policymakers began to study criminal justice issues and explore policy options that would help decrease both crime and incarceration while providing better outcomes for people who encounter the criminal justice system.
The passage of House Bill 585 in 2014 began this process by establishing certainty in sentencing and prioritizing prison bed space for people facing serious offenses. This helped reduce the state’s prison population by 10 percent and generated nearly $40 million in taxpayer savings. Prior to this year, policymakers have also passed several pieces of legislation since then aimed at removing barriers to re-entry for those leaving the prison system.
While the state has been lauded for these reforms, the prison population remains stubbornly high. The latest numbers show that the state is falling further behind economically, as our workforce participation is growing at a slower pace than most other states. While other states are moving to reform their criminal justice systems to reduce reliance on prison, Mississippi cannot rest on its laurels.
But by advancing innovative policy solutions, Mississippi can begin to close the gap by reducing our state’s prison population, ending the cycle of crime, and better spending taxpayer dollars to protect public safety.
The Senate adopted the Life Equality Act today to prohibit abortions from taking place in Mississippi on the basis of race, sex, or genetic abnormality except in medical emergencies.
House Bill 1295, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Crawford, would require the Department of Health to create a documentation process that all those performing abortions would need to follow prior to the abortion. The law authorizes the attorney general to bring enforcement action against those who perform abortion and do not follow the law.
Diagnoses of genetic abnormalities like Down Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis lead to termination of the child more often than not. Even in non-fatal cases, as many as 67 percent of babies with Down syndrome are aborted in the United States.
Recent evidence suggests that as many as 95 percent of parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis elect to terminate the child. On the basis of race and sex, a family’s preference for a male or a non-bi-racial child must absolutely come to an end in Mississippi. The pressure many women receive to have a particular kind of child is unacceptable in our diverse society.
The legislation will now return to the House for concurrence. If the House does concur, it will then head to the governor’s desk.
Ten other states have passed similar measures to ban abortions on the basis of sex, seven on the basis of disability.
New legislation giving the Occupational Licensing Review Commission the ability to review existing regulations is one step closer to becoming law after the House concurred with changes from the Senate.
House Bill 1104, authored by Rep. Randy Boyd, allows OLRC to review, on its own discretion, the substance of an “existing occupational regulation promulgated by an occupational licensing board.”
Under the law, regulations must increase economic opportunities for all of its citizens by promoting competition and thereby encouraging innovation and job growth and use the least restrictive regulation necessary to protect consumers from present, significant, and substantiated harms that threaten public health and safety.
If a regulation does not, the OLRC can declare that the noncomplying regulation will become invalid 60 days after the date of review, according to the new law.
The OLRC is made up of the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
Today, Mississippi has more than 117,000 regulations, which numerous empirical studies show to have a detrimental effect on economic growth. Mississippi also licenses 66 low-and-middle income occupations. According to a recent report from the Institute for Justice, Mississippi has lost 13,000 jobs because of occupational licensing and the state has suffered an economic value loss of $37 million.
HB 1104 passed 97-17 in the House and 36-15 in the Senate. After the concurrence, it is now headed to the governor.