Bills in the 2013 Regular Session, Senate.
Michael Watson
Sponsored
Passed the Senate1
Controlled substances; enhance penalty for illegal sale in proximity to drug rehab facility.
Out of committee2
Medicaid program; establish reciprocal reimbursement policy regarding payment of nonresident health care providers.
Public Trust Tidelands; auth. leases for residential purposes on Lowry Island and auth. SOS to share sublease income with city.
In committee34
Trusty status; offenders convicted of murder or any other crime of violence shall not work at Governor's Mansion.
Indecent assault; create crime of unlawful sexual touching.
Youth sports concussions and head injuries; provide procedures and education requirements.
School board members elected in all districts; superintendents appointed after January 1, 2016.
Legislature; reduce size beginning with 2015 statewide general election.
Public assistance benefits; require applicants to verify United States citizenship and take drug tests to qualify.
Gaming winnings of parents with past-due child support; provide for intercept and seizure.
Salary cap on state employees; exempt certain employees of the Division of Medicaid from.
"Mississippi Opportunity Scholarship and Educational Improvement Tax Credit Act of 2013; establish.
School accreditation; include financial accountability rating system and student achievement in performance-based accreditation.
Mississippi Digital Learning NOW Act; create.
Unlawful absences from school; no promotion or graduation if student has accumulated 21 or more absences in preceding school year.
Teacher Incentive Fund Grant Pilot Program; authorize salary supplements based upon student performance.
Employment Protection Act; revise and clarify.
Taxation; limit prosecution's authority to plea-bargain.
Local school district budgets; require at least 75% to be expended for instructional purposes.
Homeschool students; authorize participation in extracurricular activities in public school.
Homestead exemption; increase for persons 65 years of age or older or totally disabled.
Sales taxation; exempt retail sales of school supplies during the last weekend in July.
Alcoholic beverages; allow direct shipment of certain wines, authorize a wine only package retailer's permit and allow wine tasting.
Property insurance; prohibit hurricane deductible unless damages arose from a named storm.
Health care insurance; no person, employer or health care provider shall be required to participate in any health care plan.
Public defenders; clarify authority over employees of the office.
Pawnshop transactions; require electronic transmission if law enforcement supplies software.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program; require IHL to grant minimum credit to graduates of.
Immigration Reform Act of 2013; enact.
Intercept gaming winnings of parents with a child support arrearage; provide procedures for.
Charter schools; enact the "Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2013."
Smoke-free school zones; revise penalty for employees violating law; require "no smoking" signs.
Sex offense; revise definition.
Licensed vessel pilots; limit liability of pilots and trainees.
Concealed-carry permits; make records of confidential.
Chemical endangerment of a child or fetus; create crime of.
Income taxation; allow a deduction for amounts contributed to accounts established to pay for uninsured wind damage to homesteads.
Co-sponsored
Became law · 12
Sales tax; exempt sales of tangible personal property made to raise funds for schools.
Rural Physicians Scholarship Program; remove limitation on number of students admitted each year.
Literacy-Based Promotion Act; establish in public schools to achieve grade-level reading by end of 3rd Grade.
Murder; distinguish between first- and second-degree of.
Professional licenses; certain military-trained applicants and military spouses shall receive by reciprocity when in Mississippi.
Cottage food operations; exempt from certain licensing requirements.
Public officers and employees; revise punishment for embezzlement and restrict government hiring of felons.
"Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013"; enact.
Mississippi Education Works Program; enact education reforms.
Volunteer fire department; include within the scope of immunity under the Tort Claims Act.
Licensed vessel pilots; limit liability of pilots and trainees.
Income tax; credit for adoption expenses is allowed in the same year that the child is claimed as an exemption.
Passed the Senate · 8
Weapons; clarify definition of "concealed" and revise gun-carry permit.
Domestic violence; revise and clarify elements of the offense.
Dogs and cats; clarify humane euthanasia.
State agency property; authorize DFA as central leasing agent for all state agencies.
Corporation franchise tax law; exclude deferred gains and deferred income from certain computations under.
Tourism; create the MS Tourism Advisory Board and the Tourism Advertising and Marketing Fund; create a pilot program to fund.
Headquarters sales tax and job tax credit; revise number of jobs necessary to qualify for.
Severance tax; reduce for 30 months for oil and gas produced from and after 7/1/13 from horizontally drilled wells.
Out of committee · 1
Income tax; provide a deduction in gross income for expenses incurred as result of serving as a volunteer firefighter.
In committee · 11
Jury service; revise exemption based on age.
Tidelands; exempt municipal small water craft harbors from obtaining a tidelands lease from the Secretary of State.
Income tax; exclude from gross income certain amounts spent by teachers for classroom supplies.
Sanctuary cities; prohibit.
Kyle Todd Memorial Act; persons convicted of manslaughter or aggravated assault must serve 50% of sentence.
State Board of Medical Licensure; add nurse practitioner member of Mississippi Board of Nursing to.
Firearms Protection Act; create.
Health insurance exchange; Governor shall have sole authority to establish.
Public benefits; verify applicant's lawful presence in U.S.
Firearms; prohibit state cooperation with federal effort to ban.
Health insurance exchange; prohibit State of Mississippi from establishing.