Committees have been named in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Rep. Richard Bennett of Long Beach will return as chair of the House Education Committee, and Rep. Kent McCarty of Hattiesburg will serve as vice chair. Other committee members are Representatives Manly Barton of Moss Point, Randy Boyd of Mantachie, Charles Busby of Pascagoula, Larry Byrd of Petal, Alyce Clarke of Jackson, Angela Cockerham of Magnolia, Carolyn Crawford of Pass Christian, Sam Creekmore of New Albany, Clay Deweese of Oxford, Stephanie Foster of Jackson, Debra Gibbs of Jackson, Jeffrey Guice of Ocean Springs, Greg Holloway of Hazlehurst, Mac Huddleston of Pontotoc, Timmy Ladner of Poplarville, Vince Mangold of Brookhaven, Jay McKnight of Gulfport, Carl Mickens of Brooksville, Daryl Porter of Summit, Rob Roberson of Starkville, Rufus Straughter of Belzoni, Zakiya Summers of Jackson, Cheikh Taylor of Starkville, Kenneth Walker of Carthage, and Jason White of West. We look forward to working with them!
Gov. Reeves signed HB 1, the $18.4-million teacher pay raise deficit appropriation to cover the shortfall that occurred at the end of the last legislative session, and Lt. Gov. Hosemann met again today with education advocates, making good on his promise to keep us in the loop and seek our input on education initiatives. We are off to a good start!
Now that House committees have been appointed, I expect activity in the Legislature to pick up considerably. We’ll keep you posted as education bills are considered, and we’ll let you know when we need your help. In the meantime, ask a friend to join us, and check out The Mississippi Collective – a public education advocacy network of Mississippians under 40. The more of us there are, the better for Mississippi kids. Because together, we’ve got this!
