2006 Legislative Wrap-Up

April 12, 2006

The 2006 Mississippi Legislative Session was adjourned on March 31, 2006. The session left many issues unresolved, but not silenced. With a budget surplus due to an influx of federal dollars for Hurricane Katrina recovery, there was little haggling over the budget. Medicaid and the Department of Corrections was fully funded, while education’s funding will be phased in over four years. State employees got a pay raise and breastfeeding finally became legal in Mississippi. Many legislators from the storm-ravaged region complained that there was not enough action taken on the problems of the Gulf Coast considering the enormity of the destruction. However, the legislative three-ringed circus of cigarette tax increase/grocery tax decrease, the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi and abortion consumed a great deal of legislators’ time and energy. These will not be topics soon forgotten and are assured to appear for next legislative session. The list below outlines a small sampling of some if the legislation and its final status.

• HB 229 implements a temporary non-emergency transportation program to Medicaid recipients who are on dialysis. This bill is targeting the PLAD coverage group that lost Medicaid eligibility in January 2006. Under the program, public and private entities (i.e., faith-based organizations) and individuals may be reimbursed by Medicaid for providing this service. The bill takes effect immediately and is set to be repealed on October 31, 2006. (Passed)

• HB 542 extends the repealer on the Board of Pharmacy to July 1, 2011. The most significant actions taken by the bill are on behalf of pharmacists and small-town pharmacies. Pharmacy benefit managers are businesses that administer the pharmaceutical drug/device portion of pharmacy benefit plans or health insurance plans on behalf of plan sponsors, insurance companies, unions, and health maintenance organizations. They will now be required to pay claims within 15 days of electronic submission or 35 days in the case of a written clean claim by the pharmacist, which otherwise known as the “prompt pay act.” Pharmacy benefit managers are also required to update their average wholesale pricing (AWP) index every three days to ensure that pharmacists receive the maximum amount of reimbursement for the drugs they purchase. Finally, pharmacy benefit managers will be required to annually register with the Board of Pharmacy a financial statement and any other information relating to the operations of pharmacy benefit managers. The bill would take effect June 30, 2006. (Passed)

• HB 1034 creates a task force that will be charged with developing a long-term strategic plan for the economic revitalization of the Mississippi Delta. The counties included in the plan are: Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo. The task force will be appointed by May 1, 2006, and will conduct public hearings to receive community input on the needs of the Delta Region. The plan is a five-pronged approach that will assess factors such as: the region’s workforce and educational conditions, minority business and commercial activity, capability, potential, and needs, income in the region among various income groups, and programs in other states and in the federal government that seek to foster, encourage, and assist minority involvement in economic development. The final legislative package will be prepared and presented in bill format. The bill would go into effect immediately upon passage. (Passed)

• HB 1115 seeks to provide legislative oversight for the funds given to the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi annually. The bill would require that the Board of Directors for the Health Care Trust Fund review expenditures and outcomes of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi and no money be appropriated until such report has been filed. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage. (Not Passed)

• HB 1318, known as the Hurricane Katrina Response and Recovery Act, would have provided oversight to ensure the adequacy of the State and Federal responses to the needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The bill would also require that any agency of State government submit copies of any State plans that it would be tendering to any agency of the U.S. government as a precondition to receipt of any funds for hurricane recovery for review and comment by the committee. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage. (Not Passed)

• HB 1379 , known as “Money Follows the Person” would use Medicaid funding designated for nursing home care to instead be used for home and community based waiver services to Medicaid-eligible recipients. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage. (Not Passed)

• HB 1548 would have established a loan program for persons that sustained flood damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina. (Not Passed)

• HB 1643 would have imposed a $1.00/pack increase on cigarettes, while decreasing the grocery sales tax to 3.5% effective July 1, 2006. The bill would also divert 37% of the total sales tax revenue back to the municipalities in order to compensate for the loss of grocery sales tax. (Not Passed)

• SB 2310 proposed to increase the cigarette excise tax to $1.00/pack and completely phase out the grocery tax by 2014. (Not Passed)

• SB 2384 extended homestead exemption in certain counties devastated by Hurricane Katrina for two years. (Passed)

• SB 2922 would have banned abortion in Mississippi with the exception of cases in which the mother’s life was endangered or conception occurring by rape/incest. (Not Passed)

• SB 3084 would have raised the cigarette tax to $1.00/pack over two years and decrease the grocery tax to 3.5%. The bill would also divert 37% of the total sales tax revenue back to the municipalities in order to compensate for the reduction of grocery sales tax. (Not Passed)

• HB 1320 would provide for the tracking of Hurricane Katrina funds into the State. The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) would be charged with creating and maintaining a monthly database of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) assistance each Hurricane Katrina homeowner received. The information collected would be available to the public via MDA’s website. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage. (Not Passed)
  

2006 Legislative Updates