Week of March 15, 2021

This was the eleventh week of the 2021 Legislative Session. Because it is late in the session, much of the
week was spent deciding whether or not to concur with any changes made to House bills by the Senate
or to invite conference on those bills. In conference, representatives and senators work together to
finalize the details of each bill before they are sent to the governor. Included in the bills being sent to
conference are most of the revenue and appropriations bills from both the House and Senate, which will
decide the state’s budget.
Several bills were passed concurring with changes made in the Senate, including House Bill 852, which
came through the House earlier this session. The bill will provide $1,000 raises for teachers and
teacher’s assistants in Mississippi public schools. HB 852 will now be sent to the governor for his
signature.
Last week, both Medicaid technical bills died on the calendar in each house. The Senate and House
passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 535 on Tuesday afternoon suspending the rules and resurrecting
both bills (HB 1008 and SB 2799). House Bill 1008 came back before the House, and the bill has been
sent to conference.
Next week as the session begins to wind down, legislators will spend the majority of their time in
conference committees ironing out the final details of bills that were sent to conference. These
conference committees will then have to file reports before the end of session.