MS Legislature

THANK YOU for showing up at the polls and casting your votes for candidates who support public schools! On Tuesday, seven more incumbent legislators lost their seats, bringing the total to 12 incumbent losses in the 2019 Primary Election. With only two exceptions, the incumbents who lost their elections had poor education voting records, and they […]

Today is a watershed moment for our public schools. We need your vote! A strong turnout of public education voters is THE KEY to winning the day for public school children. We need for every single public education supporter to go to the polls and vote for candidates who support our public schools. Registered voters

Our heroes in the Mississippi Legislature came through again for our children! Voucher bill SB 2675 died on today’s deadline. Citing his own objections to the bill and lack of voucher support by his House colleagues, House Education Chairman Richard Bennett declined to take it up. Please join us in thanking Chairman Bennett and the many legislators who

The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) board of trustees will hold a special meeting Tuesday, February 12, 11:30 a.m., to discuss retirees’ ability to serve in the Mississippi Legislature without forfeiting their retirement benefits. Attorney General Jim Hood has issued a news release urging state employees and retirees to attend the meeting. We’ve heard from numerous retired educators

A repealer is provision included in a statute that sets a date on which that law is repealed, or ceases to be in effect. This provision is used when the law is needed only for a certain period of time or to force the Legislature to revisit a law to evaluate its effectiveness, correct any

Today, the PERS board voted to direct the PERS staff to amend their regulations to comply with the Attorney General opinion allowing state retirees to draw their state retirement pensions while serving in the Mississippi Legislature. PERS staff was further directed to ensure that the new regulation complies with federal tax law, does not jeopardize the health

If we want our legislators to cast votes that are in line with our priorities and values, we must let them know what our priorities and values are. If we expect them to vote for adequate school funding and strong standards, or against privatization efforts, we need to be sure that they understand that these

A bill must go through a lengthy process in order to become a law. Step 1. The bill is first introduced in the House or Senate (depending on whether a representative or senator authored the bill) and then referred to a committee. Examples of committees are education, finance, judiciary, and appropriations, to name a few.

Ad Valorem Tax ReductionA portion of a school district’s budget is made up of local ad valorem tax dollars (property taxes). This is often referred to as the local contribution. The Mississippi Legislature appropriates state dollars to offset (reduce) part of the local ad valorem tax.  Chickasaw CessionChickasaw Cession funding is an annual appropriation by the