House Bill 1 provides for $18,446,578 to ensure full funding of the teacher pay raise for 2019-2020; a bureaucratic error had resulted in a shortfall in the original FY2020 appropriation for the $1,500 raise for certified and assistant teachers (passed in the 2019 Legislative Session).

• Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 1/8/2020

• Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 1/8/2020

• Passed by House; yeas: 120, nays: 1, vacant: 1, 1/9/2020  See vote

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 1/14/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 1/15/2020

• Passed by Senate; yeas: 52, nays: 0, 1/16/2020  See vote

• Signed by Governor, 1/23/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 1647 authorizes local school boards to grant teachers and other school district employees leave with pay during a state of emergency; gives the same authority to city and county governments; the governor on March 14 declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

• Passed by House Rules Committee, 3/17/2020

• Passed by House, 3/17/2020  See vote

• Passed by Senate Rules Committee, 3/18/2020

• Passed by Senate, 3/18/2020  See vote

• Signed by Governor, 3/19/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 1700 – funds pre-k through grade 12 education for Fiscal Year 2021 (2020-2021 school year); “placeholder” bill pending budget negotiations which are expected to be completed in June.

• Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 5/26/2020

• Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 5/27/2020

• Passed by House, 5/27/2020

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/3/2020

• Amended by Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/11/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee as amended, 6/11/2020

• Passed by Senate, 6/12/2020

• Returned to House for concurrence, 6/15/2020

• House declined to concur and invited conference, 6/17/2020

• Conferees named by House: Read, Bennett, Ladner, 6/22/2020

• Conferees named by Senate: Hopson, DeBar, Blackwell, 6/22/2020

• Conference report filed, reduces MAEP funding for 2020-2021 by 1.65% below prior year; level funds teacher supplies and literacy initiatives; increases pre-k collaboratives’ funding by $1.1-million; eliminates School Recognition Program with those funds used to mitigate cut to MAEP; fully funds National Board Certification Program; reduces funding for Schools for the Blind and the Deaf, vocational education, and Chickasaw Cession; includes $3-million for ESA vouchers (does not include the additional $2-million in ESA private school voucher funds added in 2019), 6/28/2020

• Conference report passed by Senate, 6/29/2020

• Conference report passed by House, 6/29/2020

• Conference report recommitted to conference by Senate, 6/29/2020

• Conference report recommitted to conference by House, 6/30/2020

• Conference report #2 filed, adds to MDE general education funding a $4.7-million reappropriation that had been left out of original conference report, 6/30/2020

• Conference report #2 passed by House, 6/30/2020

• Conference report #2 passed by Senate, 6/30/2020

• Partially vetoed by Governor; veto applies to funding for the MAEP (teacher salaries), classroom supplies, special education, Schools for the Blind and the Deaf, and other programs; veto protects funding for the Department of Education and vouchers for private school tuition, 7/8/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote to override the Governor’s veto.

• Governor’s veto overridden by House; yeas: 110, nays: 6, absent: 3, vacant: 3, 8/10/2020  See vote

• Governor’s veto overridden by Senate; yeas: 41, nays: 1, absent: 8, vacant: 2, 8/10/2020  See vote

HB 1788 – establishes the Mississippi Pandemic Response Broadband Availability Grant Program for public school districts, private schools, and Native American tribal schools for purpose of expanding broadband access in unserved areas; proposes a budget of $50-million.

• Suspended from legislative deadlines per HC 69, 6/25/2020

• Referred to House Rules Committee, 6/25/2020

• Passed by House Rules Committee, 6/26/2020

• Passed by House, 6/26/2020

• Referred to Senate Energy Committee, 6/29/2020

• Amended by Senate Energy Committee to add a reverse repealer, 6/29/2020

• Passed as amended by Senate Energy Committee, 6/29/2020

• Amended by Senate to delete reverse repealer and to delete lines 32-1039 which removes purchasing act exemptions from the bill, 7/1/2020

• Passed by Senate as amended, 7/1/2020

• Returned to House for concurrence, 7/1/2020

• House concurred with Senate, 7/1/2020

• Became law without Governor’s signature, 7/8/2020

HB 1792 – appropriates $200-million to the Mississippi Department of Education for implementation of the Technology Instruction and Digital Access to Learning (TIDAL) Act.

• Suspended from legislative deadlines per HC 69, 6/26/2020

• Referred to House Rules Committee, 6/26/2020

• Passed by House Rules Committee, 6/27/2020

• Passed by House, 6/28/2020

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/29/2020

• Strike-all bill passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, appropriates $150-million for the Equity in Distance Learning Act as established in Senate Bill 3044, 7/1/2020

• Passed by Senate, 7/1/2020

• Returned to House for concurrence, 7/1/2020

• House concurred with Senate, 7/1/2020

• Became law without Governor’s signature, 7/8/2020

HB 1797 – appropriates $50-million to the Mississippi Department of Education for implementation of the Mississippi Pandemic Response Broadband Availability Act as established in House Bill 1788.

• Suspended from legislative deadlines per HC 69, 6/28/2020

• Referred to House Rules Committee, 6/28/2020

• Passed by House Rules Committee, 6/29/2020

• Passed by House, 6/29/2020

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/29/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 7/1/2020

• Passed by Senate, 7/1/2020

• Became law without Governor’s signature, 7/8/2020

Senate Bill 2511 amends criteria for entrance into an approved teacher education program as follows: ACT score of 21 (or SAT equivalent) or achieve qualifying passing score on Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exam as established by State Board of Education, or minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on coursework prior to admission.

• Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/14/2020

• Amended by Senate Education Committee to add lines 649-663 regarding supplemental teaching endorsement and licensure classification, 2/19/2020

• Passed by Senate Education Committee as amended, 2/19/2020

• Passed by Senate, 3/4/2020  See vote

• Referred to House Education Committee, 3/17/2020

• Amended by House Education Committee to delete lines 649-663, 6/1/2020

• Passed by House Education Committee as amended, 6/1/2020

• Passed by House, 6/2/2020  See vote

• Returned to Senate for concurrence, 6/3/2020

• Senate concurred with House, 6/10/2020

• Sent to Governor (due from Governor 6/23), 6/17/20

• Signed by Governor, 6/23/20

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2594 amends ESA voucher statute; requires that the eligible student have had an active IEP within the past 3 years; restricts eligible nonpublic schools to special purpose schools, nonpublic schools with special purpose programs, or online learning programs; requires that the eligible nonpublic school be able to provide special education services independently, without assistance from the participating student’s home public school district; requires that a participating student’s remaining ESA funds be distributed to the home school district when the student returns to the home public school district; deletes the requirement for a lottery and requires that ESA vouchers be assigned in the chronological order in which applications are received.

• Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/17/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors removal of provisions that allow online schools to be eligible schools.

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate Education Committee:  eliminates online schools from eligibility, requires eligible nonpublic schools to certify to MDE that they will provide services for a participating student’s disability or special education needs or provide services addressing a participating student’s IEP, allows eligible schools to use public schools to provide special education services but requires that public schools be reimbursed at fair market value; 2/27/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee,  2/27/2020

• Passed by Senate,  3/6/2020

• Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 3/25/2020

• Passed by House Education Committee, 6/1/2020

• Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 6/9/2020

• Passed by House, 6/12/2020

• Held on a motion to reconsider in House, 6/12/2020

• Motion to reconsider tabled, 6/15/2020

• Sent to Governor (due from Governor 6/25), 6/19/20

• Signed by Governor, 6/25/20

The Parents’ Campaign has no position on the bill as it passed Senate and House committees; VOTE NO on any amendment to broaden current language.

SB 2772 – budget transfer bill; as amended on 5/1/20, affirms authority of Legislature to appropriate funds and protects right of citizens to have a voice in that process; transfers $1.15-billion in CARES Act funding into budget contingency fund for legislative appropriation, leaves $100-million in Department of Finance & Administration fund for governor’s discretionary spending.

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 2/17/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 2/25/2020

• Passed by Senate, 3/6/2020

• Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 3/25/2020

• Amended by House Appropriations Committee, 5/1/2020

• Passed by House, 5/1/2020  See vote

• Senate concurred in House amendment, 5/1/2020  See vote

• Due from Governor, 5/7/2020

• Held on a motion to reconsider by Senate, 5/7/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this amended bill.

• Senate reconsidered bill, declined to concur, and invited conference, 5/13/2020

• Conference committee named by House and Senate, 5/13/2020

• Conference report filed; amends SB 2772 to transfer $900-million in CARES Act funding into budget contingency fund for legislative appropriation, $60-million in CARES Act funding to new Mississippi COVID-19 Relief Payment Fund, and $240-million in CARES Act funding to new Back to Business Mississippi Grant Fund,  5/13/2020

• Conference report adopted by House, 5/13/2020

• Conference report adopted by Senate, 5/13/2020

• Signed by Governor, 5/20/2020

SB 3044 – establishes the Equity in Distance Learning Grant Program to be administered by the Mississippi Department of Education, subject to legislative appropriation.

• Suspended from legislative deadlines per HC 69, 6/17/2020

• Referred to Senate Education Committee, 6/17/2020

• Passed by Senate Education Committee, 6/17/2020

• Amended by Senate to specify that school districts should implement distance learning provisions for special education students and that the act applies to state residential schools (Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, School for the Arts, School for Math and Science), 6/18/2020

• Passed by Senate as amended, 6/18/2020

• Held on a motion to reconsider in Senate, 6/19/2020

• Motion to reconsider tabled, 6/22/2020

• Referred to House Rules Committee, 6/23/2020

• Amended by House Rules Committee to create the Equity in Distance Learning Fund which provides $129.7-million to be distributed to public school districts based on average daily attendance, $20-million to be distributed to public schools based on needs assessment, and $300,000 for MSIS technology upgrades, 7/1/2020

• Passed by House Rules Committee as amended, 7/1/2020

• Amended by House to provide for distribution of funds to districts based on average daily membership rather than average daily attendance, by deleting the word “attendance” from lines 137 and 140 and inserting in lieu thereof “membership,” 7/1/2020

• Passed by House as amended, 7/1/2020

• Returned to Senate for concurrence, 7/1/2020

• Senate concurred with House, 7/1/2020

• Became law without Governor’s signature, 7/8/2020