Accomplishments

2012

Education Reforms and Funding

 

• House Republicans spearheaded the effort to pass the Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship, which provides students in grades 1 through 6 suffering from dyslexia an opportunity to attend a public or nonpublic school that meets their needs better than their current public school. 
• Republicans led the way in passing the Mississippi Dyslexia Education Scholarship Program. This law provides scholarships for students enrolled or accepted into a master’s program for dyslexia therapy. This law is helping equip Mississippi’s future teachers with the tools to better serve students with dyslexia.
• In order to hold school districts more accountable and keep parents more informed, Republicans crafted language changing the unclear accountability and accreditation rating system to a simplified A-F format. These reforms allow parents to know exactly where their child’s district stands in scholastic achievement.
• We held school districts accountable for making sure schools effectively taught children and prepared them for life. We consolidated the administrative offices of Sunflower County’s three failing school districts into one countywide school district; this will free up over $1 million and make clear that we will not tolerate failing schools.
• We also passed reforms that allow consolidation of failing school districts, transfer of students from districts that have lost their accreditation, and stripping extracurricular activities from failing districts. 
• House Republicans passed a law that prohibits any school or district official from changing or influencing a teacher to change a student’s grade. This law preserves the integrity of the grading process.

 

Pro-Business, Pro-Growth

 

• To encourage health care related businesses to locate in certain areas of a county, Republicans passed the “Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Act”. This law provides tax incentives for qualified businesses that locate within hospital or medical zones. In order to qualify for the tax incentive, the business must create at least 25 full-time, permanent jobs.

 

Pro-Gun

 

• We broadened 2nd Amendment rights for Mississippians who seek to travel with their guns. By revising how the Department of Public Safety enters into reciprocal agreements with other states regarding concealed carry permits we have expanded the possible states where Mississippi firearms permit holders can legally carry. 
• Republicans eliminated requirements on weapons dealers that required them to keep duplicative and obsolete records on weapons & ammunition bought or sold.

 

Pro-Family

 

• We passed legislation requiring all physicians performing abortions to be certified OBGYNs and have admitting privileges at a local hospital. This was passed in an effort to protect the health of women seeking an abortion and their unborn children.
• We passed the Mississippi Child Protection Act of 2012, which requires particular groups to report alleged or suspected sexual abuse against children. It also requires retention of DNA evidence for use in potential prosecution of sexual predators.
• We made it easier for families to adopt children by modifying the state’s adoption laws.

 

Taxes

 

• We passed the Inventory Tax Bill during the last term; it increases the income tax credit authorized for the ad valorem tax paid on inventory. The Inventory Tax reform is especially significant for the border areas of the state, because our sister states have enjoyed a significant tax advantage over Mississippi.   

 

Budget

 

• Our first year in control of the House, Republicans crafted a lean, responsible budget; increasing state spending by less than one half of one percent. We also set aside $200 million to use as reserves for next year’s budget.

 

Loose Ends

 

• Maintaining integrity at the ballot box was a priority for the majority of Mississippians. Republicans answered the call by supporting and passing the Voter ID law.
• The Attorney General Sunshine Act allows state agency heads to hire their own attorneys rather than requiring the Attorney General to represent them in lawsuits. This law requires full disclosure of contracts to retain attorneys, including the fees promised.

 

2013

Education Reforms and Funding

• Republicans took steps to improve education by passing the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013. Charter schools are public schools that are given more operational flexibility in exchange for heightened accountability standards. These schools will give parents a choice in where their child attends school, instead of being assigned to a school based on their address.
• Recognizing that reading is the foundation on which all learning is built, Republicans led the way in passing the “Third Grade Reading Gate”. The law requires that students be able to read at a third grade level by the end of third grade or they will be prevented from proceeding to the next grade. This prevents teachers from passing students without making certain the students are equipped to handle the next grade.
• We passed the Early Learning Act of 2013, which authorizes the Mississippi Department of Education to offer voluntary pre-K programs for parents who want their children to get an early start on learning.
• We passed legislation that will protect students’ religious liberties while at school. The Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013 protects a student’s expressions of faith on classroom assignments, the formation of religious clubs and other religious activities.

FY2013

• MAEP Funding – $2,035,334,205
• Total K-12 Funding – $2,271,667,019

Pro-Business, Pro-Growth

 

• Republicans have supported and passed into law significant legislation over the past four years that has jump-started our economy and decreased unemployment. The sales tax exemptions on electricity and fuel for certain industrial manufacturers, farming entities, and shrimping/fishing industries will help those industries grow in Mississippi. Tax incentives like these will help businesses currently operating in Mississippi while also luring new businesses to Mississippi.
• Republicans passed a sales tax exemption and income tax credit for businesses that relocate their headquarters to Mississippi and create 20 jobs. This is another incentive that will bring businesses to Mississippi.

 

Pro-Gun

 

• We saw the need to protect the privacy and second amendment rights of Mississippians so we passed legislation exempting the names and addresses of people with concealed carry permits from being a matter of public record.
• We clarified the concealed carry language in state law to allow open carry of firearms.

 

Pro-Family

 

• We amended the sex offender registry law to require offenders to wear a GPS tracking device upon release from prison. This amendment to the law also prevents sex offenders from living within 3,000 feet of a school. This law will help protect the most vulnerable of those in our communities.
• To strengthen our laws against drunk driving we passed a law that allows a judge to require someone convicted of DUI to install an ignition-interlock device in their car. The ignition-interlock device prevents the car from starting if a person has alcohol on their breath. Our streets will be safer from drunk drivers because of this law.

 

Anti-Obamacare

 

• Democrats have worked for years to push unworkable, liberal policies in Mississippi, none more potentially disastrous than Medicaid expansion through Obamacare. Republicans fought off multiple attempts by Democrats to force Obamacare on Mississippians’ pocketbooks and stifle the economic progress we’ve made as a state over the last four years of Republican control. Expanding Medicaid would have swollen our Medicaid rolls to 1/3 of the state’s population and put enormous strain on our already tight budget. 
• It is important that we build our Republican majority in the House to stave off future attempts by Democrats to push Medicaid expansion and other liberal ideas in Mississippi. 

 

2014

Education Reforms and Funding

• A law that we passed and are very proud of is the teacher pay raise, which gives teachers their first pay raise since FY 2008. This puts us on a more equal playing field with other states. We secured teachers a pay raise of $1,500 effective July 2014 and a $1,000 raise effective July 2015. This raise guarantees that our teachers receive the money that they have earned and deserve for their hard work educating our children; it will also help with teacher retention and recruitment.
• We also passed a merit-based pay system for quality teachers at “A” and “B” schools or any school that improves a letter grade in a year. Republicans also recognize that there are wonderful teachers in poor schools, so we authorized the formation of a pay schedule that awards high-performing teachers in “C”, “D”, and “F” schools.

FY2014

• MAEP Funding – $2,062,543,065
• Total K-12 Funding – $2,324,701,352

 

Pro-Business, Pro-Growth

• We passed legislation authorizing the sale of lands sold or forfeited to the state to corporations for use in their operations. We believe this will revitalize depressed areas, decrease the number dilapidated buildings and unimproved lots and eventually bring jobs to those areas.

• The Prohibition Against Employer Intimidation Act prevents organizations and individuals from harassing, making threats, or damaging property of businesses. The passing of this legislation sends a message to companies that Mississippi is business friendly and is a place where they can keep or relocate their business.

 

Pro-Gun

• Mississippians can now take advantage of the sales tax exemption on firearms sales during the designated “Second Amendment Weekend” beginning on the first Friday of September.

• We protected 2nd Amendment rights by affirming that state law preempts local ordinances as it pertains to the possession of firearms during emergencies and natural disasters. 

 

Pro-Family

 

• We passed legislation banning abortions at or after the 20-week mark; this law will protect the unborn 
• We increased the death benefits for firefighters, police officers, and other emergency personnel from $65,000 to $100,000 if they are killed in the line of duty. This $35,000 increase will help their families as they deal with the loss of their loved one and a relied upon income.
• In order to protect children who play sports in Mississippi, we passed a youth concussion law that prevents children from returning to the playing field unless a healthcare provider clears them.

 

Budget

 

• We continued our responsible approach to budgeting by crafting a conservative budget that provides for our current and estimated future needs as a state while limiting the amount of debt we pass along to future generations. 
• When Republicans took control of the House our goal was to cut back and eliminate the state’s dependence on one-time monies for recurring expenses. We worked diligently each year to sever that dependency.
• We passed a General Fund budget of approximately $6 billion; nearly half of the budget went to K-12 education, it received $2.4 billion. We increased spending on our state universities by 4.6 percent; community colleges received a 4.5 percent increase. The Rainy Day fund was also completely filled this year; this allows us to have money set aside in case of financial emergencies.

 

2015

Education Reforms and Funding

• Under Republican leadership the legislature passed legislation to create “Districts of Innovation” which allow school boards to apply to have their district labeled a district of innovation. Districts granted this label are afforded flexibility in operations with the primary goal of boosting performance in their schools.
• Republicans answered the call to act on state test cheating by passing legislation that authorizes penalties and jail time for teachers or administrators found to be willfully participating in cheating. This law will make sure teachers and administrators are conducting state tests appropriately.
• Republicans did not give up after the Democratic leadership killed the Special Needs Bill in 2014; we instead revived the bill in 2015 and passed a stronger version of the bill. The Special Needs Bill gives children with special needs a $6,500 voucher that they can use on school tuition, tutoring and other educational expenses. Because of Republican resilience, parents of special needs children are given more choice over their child’s education.

FY2015

• MAEP Funding – $2,134,674,610
• Total K-12 Funding – $2,420,372,114

Pro-Business, Pro-Growth

 

• To encourage employers to create more jobs we passed a tax credit for employers who hire honorably discharged veterans who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001 and have been unemployed for six consecutive months.

 

Pro-Gun

 

• The leadership sought to make the laws less restrictive and the costs more affordable for Mississippians to exercise their constitutional rights to own and carry firearms. To do this we lowered the price of firearms permits and renewals; we exempted disabled veterans and active duty members of the Armed Forces from paying for permits; and we also authorized the concealed carry of firearms without permits in purses, bags, or fully enclosed cases.
• We also exempted Armed Forces members and veterans from taking the enhanced carry classes if they completed military combat training for handguns.
• In response to the Obama Administration’s threat to ban “green tip” ammunition, we passed legislation that keeps “green tip” ammo legal for those who own it in Mississippi regardless of future regulatory actions by the ATF. 

 

Taxes

 

• The leadership proposed two major tax overhauls during the 2015 legislative session: the franchise tax elimination and the income tax elimination. Democrats were able to kill both tax plans because Republicans did not have the 3/5ths vote required to pass the tax cuts. 
• The franchise tax is an archaic tax that requires businesses to pay taxes for the pleasure of doing business in Mississippi. This tax is harmful to businesses and growth. Republicans wanted to eliminate this tax and allow businesses to invest that money in their Mississippi operations instead.
• The income tax elimination plan proposed by Republicans would have allowed Mississippians to keep more of their hard earned money instead of handing that money over to the state.

 

Budget

 

• We have gone through great effort over the last four years to attain our state’s outstanding financial position. We are limiting the amount of debt we pass on to our children and still managing to effectively run government; so in 2015 we called on the federal government to do the same. 
• Republicans led the effort to pass legislation that would call a constitutional convention that would require the federal government to balance its budget and refrain from raising the debt limit without the states approving.