The legislature is back in session. And while the economic fallout around the forced shutdown of the economy related to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent $1.25 billion from the federal government are the leading issues, legislators still have the opportunity to adopt reform-minded measures that will expand individual freedoms, while rolling back regulations.

With a June 9 deadline for committees to report on bills that passed the other chamber, here is a review of some of those bills still alive:

House Bill 1422 would create a pilot program to reduce state regulations at four agencies: Mississippi Departments of Health, Transportation, Agriculture and Commerce, and Information Technology Services. It passed on a largely party-line vote.

HB 1510 would require the state to recognize an occupational license from another state for military families who move to Mississippi. It passed the House unanimously. 

Senate Bill 2790 and HB 1104 would give the Occupational Licensing Review Commission the ability to do a review of an existing regulation 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. 

HB 1200, known as the Forming Open and Robust University Minds (FORUM) Act, would permit all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, speeches, guest speakers, distribution of literature, carrying signs, and circulating petitions on campuses of the state’s universities and community colleges. It passed in the House despite large-scale resistance from the state’s universities, particularly Ole Miss, on a largely party-line vote.

HB 4 would increase the number of liquor store permits one could own under present law from one to three. It is now in the hands of the Senate after a very narrow passage in the House.

SB 2552 would remove the prohibition on the amount of beer that can be sold directly to consumers at craft breweries. Right now, brewers are limited to selling either 10 percent of the beer produced there or 1,500 barrels, whichever is the lesser amount and this bill would eliminate this provision. The Senate approved the bill and sent it to the House. 

HB 1398 is a small civil asset forfeiture reform bill that would end a practice where law enforcement or prosecutors could request a property owner to waive their rights to their property, often in exchange for charges to be dropped. The new language in the bill will also change the burden of proof for forfeiture to clear and convincing evidence. 

SB 2725 and HB 1208, both known as the Hemp Cultivation Act, would allow the cultivation, processing, transportation and handling of hemp under strict guidelines. The Senate version passed with a 35-16 margin while the House passed its version by an overwhelming 104-10 margin.

The process of reopening the state slowly continues with outdoor entertainment businesses being the latest to again serve customers. This includes amusement parks, water parks, go-cart tracks, mini-golf, and other outdoor parks. They could open yesterday. 

Schools are also allowed to open gyms and weight rooms per the latest order, and MHSAA announced last week that teams will be able to resume practice June 1. 

Gov. Tate Reeves first issued a shelter in place order on April 1, and certain new industries have been able to reopen each week over the past month. This has included retail stores, restaurants, beaches, barber shops and salons, and casinos, most notably. Though they’ve had to open under strict new guidelines and at limited capacity. This has remained consistent. 

With businesses closing either temporarily or permanently during the pandemic, more than 220,000 Mississippians filed for unemployment, with claims spiking from 1,000 per week to 30,000 in two weeks. This has stabilized.

As Reeves has said, few businesses remain closed. So, what is closed? Mostly indoor entertainment businesses, such as movie theaters or trampoline parks. But look for that to change in the very near future. Reeves has said he’s working with the Department of Health to develop guidelines for all businesses to be open soon, possibly by June 1. 

And this is what Mississippians want, at least based on their traveling habits. 

Mississippians are getting out more. According to the latest mobility tracking data from Apple, Mississippians are generally back to their normal pre-pandemic traveling patterns after more than a month of steep decline. 

This is a national trend. Save for the most impacted states, including neighboring Louisiana, much of the south, midwest, and interior west, is leaving their house.  

As schools throughout the country closed, attacks on homeschooling grew louder and more organized.

Why are we seeing these attacks? Do they have any credence? And what should those who believe in education freedom do?

Corey DeAngelis with the Reason Foundation joined us to talk about these attacks, and why everything that homeschooling opponents are saying is incorrect.

"I am a hearing aid specialist and my company, I fear, is one to be 'left out' of relief funds! 

"I'm a sole proprietor, schedule C filer, no employees, take draws when I can. I filed for Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance on April 6, confirmed and issued a number expecting funds to my account within three days as stated in the offer, made three worthless information phone calls, and finally received an email from the Small Business Administration that they are processing my request May 6.

"My company is a hearing aid sales, fitting, testing and service company so naturally we've had no face to face customers in two months. No income either, living on receivables and paying absolute must bills with no hope of reducing my payables. So now I'm receiving 90 day notices.

"Normally, February through May are my largest sales months. May is National Better Hearing Month. However, sales normally average over half my gross for entire year with the coming months of June through August being the worst.

"So how can any of this help me? I am all in with what I can contribute to my own business and have no income to make a draw. My personal finances have been tapped dry over the last five years since I started and I can not borrow anymore."

Bonnie Sisk
Hearing Solutions LLC
Hernando, Mississippi

After much anticipation – and, for some, consternation – the U.S. Department of Education has finally issued a new rule aimed at reforming Title IX regulations regarding sexual harassment complaints.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the new rule here. According to a press release issued by the Department, the new regulation does the following:

• Defines sexual harassment to include sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, as unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex.
• Provides a consistent, legally sound framework on which survivors, the accused, and schools can rely.
• Restores fairness on college and university campuses by upholding all students’ right to written notice of allegations, the right to an advisor, and the right to submit, cross-examine, and challenge evidence at a live hearing.
• Requires schools to select one of two standards of evidence, the preponderance of the evidence standard or the clear and convincing evidence standard – and to apply the selected standard evenly to proceedings for all students and employees, including faculty.
• Requires schools to offer an equal right of appeal for both parties to a Title IX proceeding.  
• Protects students and faculty by prohibiting schools from using Title IX in a manner that deprives students and faculty of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Past Title IX revisions – most infamously, a 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter – have arguably circumvented the federal rulemaking process demanded by the Administrative Procedure Act.  

As articulated in an April 24, 2020 letter that I sent to the Department, however, the revision of the new rule strictly followed the proper process and provides for a transparent and fair implementation of Title IX. Attempts at delaying publication of the new rule, I argued, “would not only reinforce bad Title IX policy, it would also bring into question the legitimacy of the federal rulemaking process itself.”

By contrast, Title IX revisions advanced under the Obama (2011) and Clinton (2001) administrations evaded the formal rulemaking process, fueling ambiguity and inviting attempts at the state level to codify federal policies. The 2011 guidance, in particular, has been criticized for depriving the accused of due process and free speech rights. Here in Mississippi, the House has repeatedly passed legislation inspired by the Obama-era Dear Colleague letter. The latest iteration, passed in March 2020, is HB 158. This bill is double referred in the Senate. It is sponsored by House Judiciary A Chair Angela Cockerham.

Previous versions of the “Sexual Assault Response for College Students Act,” such as that passed by the House in 2017, included several problematic policies that mirrored the now-displaced federal guidance. These include: using a very low standard of evidence (preponderance) without proper procedural safeguards; limiting cross-examination of the accuser; and allowing institutions to restrict access to an attorney by the accused. 

Now that the federal guidance has been finalized, Mississippi has an opportunity to revisit this issue in 2021 by passing legislation that would codify the new federal rule.

In the meantime, schools need time to digest and implement the new guidance.

Saying for the second time that he is only allowing Jackson businesses to reopen because of an earlier order from Gov. Tate Reeves opening the state, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced today that Jackson businesses can reopen Saturday, not Friday as originally stated. 

And he may again close businesses if cases surge. 

Among the regulations, the same social distancing orders that are in place statewide will also be in place in Jackson, along with the same sanitary guidelines.

But Lumumba is adding a curfew to the city, something that has been popular with a few other mayors across the state. In Jackson, all bars and restaurants must close by 10 p.m. and everyone must be home by 11 p.m. They can then leave their house at 5 a.m. the next morning. 

And all residents will be required to wear a mask when in public. 

“We were issued a citation for reopening our gym on Monday, April 27.

“Our gym was ordered to close by government order on April 3. At the time we had only anticipated a two-week shutdown. But when that order expired, the governor announced he was continuing the shelter in place order and was only opening retail businesses. 

“We then announced on Facebook that despite the governors orders we were opening April 27 anyway. We opened and were met with law enforcement officers and were issued a citation. 

“We asked the amount of the citation, but the officials were unable to give us a direct order.

“During our 37 days of forced shut down we had to cancel 93 memberships and suspend 13. All but five were coronavirus related cancellations and suspensions.”

Ryan Bramlett and Wesley Bray
300 Fitness
Pontotoc, Mississippi

Gov. Tate Reeves announced today that salons, barber shops, and gyms in Mississippi will be able to reopen after being closed for over a month. 

In revising and extending the current safer-at-home, these businesses will be able to open under strict sanitary and social distancing guidelines. 

“I cannot allow our small business to fold and families to be destroyed because of a government order,” Reeves said today. 

The new order will be extended until Monday, May 25. 

While some businesses remain closed, most noticeably barbers and salons, a good chunk of the economy in Mississippi either never shut down or is in the process of reopening. But at the end of the day, it is the individual who will make the decision on when they are comfortable moving around.

Not an order from state or local governments. 

All Americans are traveling more than a month ago according to Apple’s Mobility Charts, which aggregates data from Apple maps. And Mississippians are traveling more than the average American. 

Mississippians began to greatly limit travel toward the end of March, down almost 60 percent at one point from a January baseline. Yet over the past weekend, the numbers were above the baseline and have floated up and down over the last week. Right now, travel is down 15 percent from the baseline. 

After Mississippians voluntarily distanced themselves for a certain period of time, they then voluntarily made the decision that it was safe to be out and about based on the personal risks surrounding each individual and their family.  

And that is why we see these numbers fluctuate, based on personal stories, circumstances, and where you live. 

Louisiana, which has one of the highest rates of positive coronavirus cases and deaths in the country, saw a decline that was greater than Mississippi and for a longer period of time. And the data reflects the impact. Travel in Louisiana is down 42 percent from the January baseline, with numbers 20 to 50 percent below the baseline over the past week. 

So, a state where the pandemic has had a much larger toll on the citizens sees fewer people traveling. Yes, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has taken a much more draconian push to shut down businesses than Gov. Tate Reeves in Mississippi, but it also shows the effect of personal responsibility and individual choices. 

It’s almost as if we can make the best decisions for ourselves.

We see that even within Louisiana. Much like the pandemic hasn’t impacted every state or region of the country the same, it hasn't impacted every part of Louisiana the same. So while travel is down over 40 percent in Louisiana, it is down almost 70 percent in New Orleans, a city that was among the hardest hit in the country.

Over the past month or so, the decline has been 60 to 80 percent in New Orleans. It’s starting to break some, but not in any large numbers. Again, these are choices individuals are making based on their perceived well-being. 

Some economies may open sooner than others, but the economy will truly open when Americans decide they are ready for that to happen. And that will vary among cities, states, and industries.

We never quit going to Walmart or Home Depot. But will Mississippians be back at restaurants on Thursday? We don’t know, but the market will decide if restaurants are really open. Just like restaurants will need to decide if they can be open at half capacity with a host of new regulations.

Even in a state of emergency, the market doesn't lie.