Bills in the 2008 Regular Session, Senate.
Alice Harden
Sponsored
Became law1
Enrollment in public school; delete repealer on law prescribing evidence of date of birth required.
Out of committee2
City of Jackson; authorize the levy of an occupancy tax on hotels and motels.
Hinds County; authorize to establish an economic and community development authority.
In committee48
Unemployment compensation benefits; eliminate one-week waiting period for eligibility.
Eminent domain; public entities may proceed only under state law.
Unused sick leave earned by teachers; authorize one-time payment by school district.
Gun shows; prohibit attendance by certain minors without a parent or legal guardian.
School district; elect members of all school boards in 2009.
School districts provide an annual report of teacher vacancies to the SBE and the Legislature; require.
Student loans; provide graduate degree teacher incentive loans to applicants agreeing to teach in public schools or universities.
Study selection and governance structures of local school boards; create task force.
Voter; define all convicted felons as not qualified.
Workers' compensation; injured employee may select specialists who provide type of treatment prescribed.
Personal care homes; create program of Medicaid assistance payments for.
Substitute teachers may be paid twice per month and while student teaching; authorize.
Mississippi Department of Labor and Commissioner of Labor; establish.
Accumulated personal leave; authorize transfer between state and county agencies.
Campaign finance disclosure; failure to receive notice of late filing may mitigate civil fine.
School bond issue; authorize for one-year period without election unless petition of the electorate calls for an election.
Research and Development Center; increase assessment charged by IHL for services.
School guidance counselors; provide state funds for.
Mississippi Community/Junior College Transfer Scholarship Fund; create.
State Board of Dental Examiners; provide for two additional members from the state at large.
Public purchasing laws and regulations; Board of Trustees IHL may adopt purchasing regulations for member institutions.
Donated leave; return unused leave pursuant to school board policy.
Human Relations Commission; establish.
Annual leave for teachers; allow additional accumulation of personal leave.
Access to Postsecondary Education Act; enact.
Birthday cutoff date for 5- and 6-year old enrollment in public kindergarten or first grade; move to January 1.
Flexible office hours for certain state agencies; authorize.
School bonds; require 55% vote to pass.
MS Veterans Memorial Stadium; transfer and convey to Jackson State University.
Consumer collection agencies; require registration and prohibit certain acts.
Pawnshops; prohibit dealing in handguns.
Workplace medical services and transportation under Workers' Compensation Law; require.
Office of Occupational Safety and Health; State Department of Health shall establish.
Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP); create.
Bonds; issue for Americans with Disabilities Act for compliance and repair and renovation of facilities at JSU.
Retired teachers; may draw retirement benefits and be reemployed as teachers if they have 25 years of creditable service.
Sales tax; exempt retail sales of certain foods for human consumption.
Income tax; provide credit for out-of-pocket classroom supply expenditures made by public school teachers.
Retirement; retirees may be reemployed for 195 days per fiscal year.
MS Civil Rights Museum; create under authority of Department of Archives and History/issue bonds to construct.
Agreement between child development tech programs at the community colleges and the universities; require.
Appropriation FY09; fund community college transfer program.
Legislature; shall not meet on General Robert E. Lee/Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.
Local privilege tax; raise minimum amount imposed.
Tuition-free attendance at any state IHL or comm. college; authorize for students with at least 3.0 GPA regardless of immigration status.
Interpreter fund; create and place under management of Administrative Office of Courts.
Teachers' salaries; increase next 5 years and determine "living wage" for assistant teachers.
State Workforce Investment Board; make report to the Legislature on the economic contributions of immigrants.
Co-sponsored
Became law · 19
Parole; provide that certain nonviolent offenders may be eligible for parole.
Levees; clarify prohibited activities.
"Teach For America" grant program; establish to provide a national teacher corps program in the Mississippi Delta.
Children adopted through state-supported adoption agency; provide for continuation of Medicaid benefits.
DNA evidence; create task force to study proper preservation of.
Superintendent of schools; authorize to temporarily employ staff.
MS Telecommunication Conference and Training Center; transfer to the Capital City Convention Center Commission.
Pharmacies; require drug manufacturers to provide for returns of outdated drugs for full credit or replacement.
MS Alternative Housing Program units; authorize disposal in accordance with federal grant guidelines.
Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act; increase percentage of fines deposited with municipalities.
Appropriation; Banking and Consumer Finance.
Appropriation; Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Appropriation; Tax Commission.
Appropriation; MS Workers Compensation Comm.
Appropriation; Bd. of Architecture.
Appropriation; Mississippi Board of Registered Professional Geologists.
Appropriation; Motor Vehicle Comm.
Appropriation; Bd. of Public Accountancy.
Appropriation; Public Contractors Bd.
Passed the Senate · 18
Appropriation; Department of Finance and Administration to study state tax system.
Tort immunity; include food donated to needy.
Major medical leave; state law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty shall not be required to use.
Radar; authorize use by sheriffs and Highway Safety Patrol.
Assault; enhance penalty against certain classes of victims.
Unemployment compensation; increase the maximum weekly benefit.
Bonds; increase the amount of bonds issued for the Emerging Crops Fund for minority economic development.
Bonds; authorize issuance of g.o. bonds to provide funds for Mississippi Rural Impact Fund.
Bonds; increase amount issued under the MS Business Investment Act for loans and grants to cities and counties for infrastructure.
Children's Health Insurance Program (C.H.I.P.); bring forward sections.
City of Jackson; authorize continuation of payments to Keep Jackson Beautiful, Inc.
City of Jackson; extend the repeal date on the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Public records act; clarify law enforcement exemptions.
Drug houses; revise municipality authority over.
Eminent domain; restrict to direct public use.
"Mississippi Health Insurance Exchange Act of 2008"; enact.
Memorial highway; designate certain segment of U.S. Highway 84 in Adams County as "Richard Wright Memorial Highway."
Metal recyclers; revise regulation of.
Out of committee · 2
2008 First Extraordinary Session · Alcoholic beverages; revise restriction on sale or storage within certain distance of schools or churches.
Law enforcement officers; provide minimum due process rights for municipal.
In committee · 16
Investigators; license and regulate private and legal.
Minimum standards; revise time during which terminating officer must reimburse employing entity.
Retired teachers; may draw retirement benefits and be reemployed as teachers if they have 25 years of creditable service.
Task force to report on incentives for teachers and administrators in the Delta to serve at-risk students; create.
Prekindergarten programs; require under-performing school districts in the Delta to implement.
Fuel taxes; allocate a portion to the City of Jackson to defray costs incurred as a result of being the seat of state government.
MS Affordable Housing Trust Fund; create to assist in the development, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing.
Insurance; prohibit use of credit information in underwriting and rating.
Taxation; authorize an income tax credit for installation of energy-efficient products in homes.
City of Jackson; require state provide funds to defray ad valorem tax loss & increased costs incurred as seat of state government.
City of Jackson; require payments in lieu of taxes on state-owned property located in the city.
Sales tax; provide diversion to Jackson to defray ad valorem tax loss and increased costs incurred as the seat of state government.
Pearl River Valley Water Supply District; add two board members from the City of Jackson.
Nonprofit corporations; revise audit threshold amount.
Cigarette tax; increase and earmark revenue from increase to Medicaid.
Alcoholic beverages and cigarettes; increase tax and deposit proceeds in special fund for trauma care/Medicaid.