Maddy summaryHB 857 expands Mississippi's literacy program to support students in grades 4 through 8 by requiring evidence-based reading instruction and interventions. It mandates annual universal reading screenings for all students in these grades, professional development for teachers focused on the "science of reading" (including phonics and decoding), and prohibits the use of "three-cueing systems" for teaching word reading. The bill also creates a system to identify "Middle Literacy Support Schools" based on reading data and requires the state education department to develop a structured literacy course for grades 6-8. Schools must provide targeted interventions for struggling readers, and the department must submit annual implementation reports to the legislature.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryHB 266 establishes Mississippi’s minimum wage at $10.00 per hour for most workers, with a separate $3.62 base wage for tipped employees (who must earn at least $10.00 total when tips are added). It requires overtime pay at 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 40 per week, specifically protecting manual laborers, first responders (like police and firefighters), and other workers who earn $455 or less weekly from being exempt. The bill directly affects all Mississippi employers and employees, ensuring baseline pay and overtime rights while exempting tipped employees from the $10.00 hourly requirement. It also aligns with federal Fair Labor Standards Act provisions for non-exempt workers.
Maddy summaryHB 1059 would authorize Mississippi's Capitol Police Chief or the Department of Public Safety Commissioner to create and employ a part-time reserve law enforcement unit. This reserve would specifically assist Capitol Police in carrying out their duties within the Capitol Complex Improvement District, including enforcing state laws on state-owned properties there. The bill amends existing law (Section 45-1-19) to formally establish this part-time reserve option, without changing current jurisdictional responsibilities or requiring new funding. It directly affects Capitol Police operations and their ability to manage security at state properties in the Capitol Complex.
Maddy summaryHB 269 prohibits corporal punishment (the use of physical force for discipline) in all Mississippi public and charter schools. It directly affects school staff, including teachers and administrators, who may now face civil lawsuits for damages if they administer corporal punishment. The bill amends existing law to explicitly ban this practice and holds violators liable for any harm caused to students. The law takes effect on July 1, 2025.
Maddy summaryHB 270 revises Mississippi's "Fresh Start Act" to prohibit licensing authorities (e.g., for nursing, contracting, or cosmetology) from requiring applicants to disclose certain criminal records. Specifically, it bans inquiries about arrests without convictions, sealed/expunged cases, nonviolent misdemeanors, or convictions older than three years (except for serious offenses like sexual assault, fraud, or violent crimes). The bill also requires authorities to allow applicants to submit evidence of rehabilitation when petitioning for license eligibility and to make application forms available online. Licensing decisions must now follow clear standards, considering the crime's nature, time passed, relevance to the job, and rehabilitation efforts.
Maddy summaryHB 268 automatically restores voting rights for Mississippi residents convicted of vote fraud, specific crimes listed in Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution (like treason or murder), or other crimes later deemed disenfranchising by Attorney General opinions. It directly affects individuals who have completed all sentencing requirements (such as prison time, probation, or fines) for these convictions. The bill amends multiple election codes to ensure voting rights are restored without requiring additional applications or court actions once sentencing is fully satisfied. This change applies to all eligible voters who meet the standard registration requirements but had their rights suspended due to these specific convictions.
Maddy summaryHB 267 (Mississippi House Bill 267) amends Mississippi Code Section 99-19-71 to remove specific types of embezzlement from the list of crimes excluded from expungement. This change allows individuals convicted of these embezzlement offenses to petition courts for expungement after completing their sentences and waiting five years, provided they meet other eligibility criteria. The bill directly affects people with qualifying embezzlement convictions who were previously barred from expungement. It makes no other changes to the expungement eligibility rules or other excluded crimes. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
Maddy summaryThis bill proposes amending Mississippi's constitution to adjust the signature requirements for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. It directly affects individuals or groups gathering signatures to place constitutional initiatives on the ballot. The key change updates Section 273 to require that signatures from any single congressional district cannot exceed the total required signatures divided by the *current* number of congressional districts at the time the petition is filed. This ensures the signature quota per district automatically aligns with the actual number of districts, avoiding outdated calculations from past redistricting.
Maddy summaryHB 590 would include school resource officers (SROs) in Mississippi's law enforcement death benefits program. The bill amends the legal definition of "law enforcement officer" to explicitly cover SROs who die while performing their duties. This change would make SROs eligible for the $100,000 death benefit payment to survivors, which currently applies to other sworn law enforcement officers. The policy change extends existing benefits to SROs without altering the benefit amount or eligibility criteria.
Maddy summaryHB 22 expands eligibility for Mississippi's special disability license plates to include residents with vision 20/200 or worse in one eye (with correction), adding this condition to the existing definition of disabilities that limit walking ability. This change directly affects Mississippi residents with qualifying vision impairments who previously did not meet the walking-based criteria for these plates. To qualify, applicants must provide physician certification confirming the vision disability will last at least five years, similar to current requirements for other qualifying disabilities. The bill amends existing law to include this visual impairment under the same renewal and documentation processes for special plates and decals.