2007 Legislative Session Wrap-Up
May4, 2007
The 2007 legislative session seemed to run like a well-oiled machine and depending on what issue you were championing, it ran right over some. The session ended on March 30 th, two days before sine die. The pace this year was more urgent and issues that are usually not addressed until much later in the session took place center stage. However, the looming presence of an upcoming election tends to make that happen. After much wrangling, legislators were able to approve and send a $5 billion budget to the Governor. The budget included full funding of MAEP, state worker salary increases, and funding for improvements in Jackson. This session was also a big year for a broad gamut of health issues. The burn center, State Department of Health, and the ever present cigarette tax were also well-publicized topics. As legislators prepare to go back out on the campaign stump, many will have some explaining to do on their stances taken here and hope that it will be enough to warrant a return trip by their constituents next year. The list below outlines a sampling of some the more critical pieces of health legislation and their final status.
- HB 247 was introduced in the early days of the session and proposed to increase the cigarette tax to $1.00 and decrease the grocery tax to 3.5%. The bill passed the House, but eventually died in the Senate Finance Committee in the waning days of the session.
- HB 349 was proposed to create the Mississippi Tobacco Control Commission. The purpose of it was to assume the responsibilities of the now defunct Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. It would have become a new State agency and would solely be responsible for tobacco control for Mississippi. The bill passed the House, but died in the Senate committee process.
- HB 474 proposed raising the cigarette tax to $1.00 and earmarking the monies for Medicaid and UMC. This bill died in the House Ways and Means Committee.
- HB 528 was the Medicaid technical amendment bill. This bill encompassed a myriad of issues within the Division of Medicaid. One of the more significant accomplishments of the bill was the “money follows the person” amendment that allows nursing home funds to be used for home-based care. This enables people to stay in their homes and communities longer, rather than being in long-term care facilities. This bill passed both the House and Senate after conference and was signed into law by the Governor on April 20.
- HB 567 proposed the creation of a burn center that would be housed in UMC. After much wrangling, legislation was passed to authorize the creation of a burn center, but there were no State funds allotted to pay for it. During the special session called by the Governor in April, Rep. Holland attempted to secure funding, but was unsuccessful.
- SB 2369 was signed into law on April 11. Beginning in 2008, public school elementary and junior high students statewide will be required to participate in at least 45 minutes of health education and 150 minutes of exercise per week. There will be additional physical education or physical activity requirements are required before students are eligible for graduation. Public schools will also be required to adapt school nutrition guidelines to offer healthier eating choices.
- HCR 103 was a last ditch effort by legislators to pass the cigarette tax increase. This resolution proposed putting the issue on a statewide ballot for voters to decide. This resolution died in the House Rules Committee.
- SB 2260 was a bill that proposed the use of helmets and a required course in safety to operate an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). It would have banned the use of ATVs by those under 16 years of age on public or private property without a helmet. The bill died in committee in the early days of the session.
- SB 2764 was one of the most talked about pieces of legislation this year. This bill essentially proposed the removal of the State Health Officer and reconstituted the make up of the State Board of Health. As of June 30, 2007, Dr. Brian Amy will no longer be Mississippi’s State Health Officer and there have been changes in who can be appointed to the Board and who can appoint them. This bill was signed into law by the Governor on March 30 th.
- SB 2863 reestablishes the Trauma Care Task Force. This task force is charged with studying the state of trauma care in Mississippi and making recommendations to the Legislature on how to improve the delivery of these services. This was signed into law by the Governor on March 15 th.
- SB 3098 was the Senate’s version of the cigarette tax increase/grocery tax decrease. Unfortunately, this bill met the same fate as other attempts to pass this legislation. It too died in the Senate Finance Committee.
- SCR 621 was a resolution introduced to suspend the rules and have SB 3098 be taken up by the whole Senate, rather than going through the Senate Finance Committee. The resolution was voted down by a narrow margin.
- HB 1137 was a bill introduced to expand the scope of sources that the newly formed Child Death Review Panel could collect information from. With the well publicized increase in infant mortality in Mississippi, this bill would give the panel more latitude to investigate the root causes of infant mortality in the State. The bill was signed into law on March 15 th.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||