Rep. Omeria Scott

Maddy summaryHB 211 would have required high schools in Mississippi school districts rated "C," "D," or "F" under the state accountability system to offer four specific courses: vocational education, agriculture, forestry, and home economics (covering child development, nutrition, and health). The State Board of Education would have created uniform curriculum standards and materials for these courses, which students could count as graduation-required electives. The bill also amended existing law to mandate home economics instruction in Grades 10-12 for these districts starting in 2026-2027. This legislation died in committee on February 3, 2026, and was never enacted.

Maddy summaryHB 219 proposed establishing a pilot program (M.P.A.C.) within Mississippi's State Department of Education to provide grants to six selected school districts (three urban, three rural) for parental involvement services. It would require parents of compulsory-school-age children in participating districts to attend school events after certain student rule violations (not serious enough for expulsion) and link student withdrawal from school to driver's license suspension (with exemption from reinstatement fees). The program would fund school-based family support services, including parenting classes, after-school care, and community partnerships, modeled after the Communities In Schools approach. This pilot would apply to families of children in participating districts starting in the 2027-2028 school year.

Maddy summaryHB 233 would require rural hospitals (defined as those with 50 or fewer general beds) to transfer patients to major hospitals (over 50 beds) when a doctor at the rural facility deems it medically necessary. The bill mandates the State Department of Health to create rules defining specific situations considered medically necessary for transfers, considering factors like care disparities, chronic conditions, emergencies, and efficient transfer processes. It directly affects patients at rural hospitals and the hospitals themselves, establishing a formal transfer process based on medical judgment. The bill was scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026, but died in committee on February 3, 2026, and never became law.

Maddy summaryHB 214 requires comprehensive sex education in Mississippi public schools for grades K-12, emphasizing abstinence as the expected norm while mandating medically accurate instruction on STI prevention, contraception effectiveness, and healthy relationships. It specifies that all course materials must be age-appropriate, fact-based, and include topics like HIV prevention, consequences of unintended pregnancy, and sexual assault resources. Parents may opt their children out of the program in writing without academic penalty. The bill died in committee on February 3, 2026, and was never enacted into law.

Maddy summaryHB 236 establishes the African-American Resident Physician Scholarship Program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. It provides financial assistance to African-American medical residents to increase the number of Black physicians serving in Mississippi's underserved municipalities, counties, or rural areas. Participants must practice for at least five years in designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), medically underserved areas (MUAs), or approved rural locations; failure to fulfill this obligation requires full repayment of all scholarship funds received. The bill, which died in committee in February 2026, aims to address physician shortages in underserved communities through a service-based scholarship model.

Maddy summaryHB 217, titled "Vision 2031: An Education Blueprint for Two Thousand Thirty-one," requires Mississippi's State Board of Education to create a detailed education plan by 2031. The plan must include five specific goals: raising academic achievement above national averages (using NAEP, ACT, and SAT scores), preparing all students for college/career, ensuring adult literacy, promoting student health/safety, and providing equitable education. Key mechanisms include setting measurable objectives with timelines, strategies for implementation, progress indicators, and benchmarks - all tied to national/international standards. The bill died in committee in 2026 and never became law.

Maddy summaryHB 238 would require Mississippi public community and junior colleges to waive all tuition, required fees, on-campus housing, meal plans, and required course materials for graduates of Mississippi high schools. To qualify, students must be Mississippi residents, have graduated within two years, enroll for the first time (including dual credit coursework), and meet the college’s general admission requirements. The waiver covers costs up to the actual cost of attendance, excludes school supplies and extracurricular fees, and requires academic progress for renewal. The bill also mandates specific state funding through line-item appropriations starting in 2026-2027 to cover waived tuition costs. The bill died in committee on February 3, 2026, and was never enacted.

Maddy summaryHB 231, the "Dropout Prevention and Student Re-engagement Act," creates an Office of Dropout Prevention within Mississippi's State Department of Education to coordinate statewide efforts reducing high school dropouts and increasing graduation rates. The bill requires local school districts to develop student graduation and completion plans, notify parents when a student drops out, and adopt evidence-based strategies for re-engaging students who have left school. It also establishes a grant program to fund re-engagement services for disconnected students and mandates the Office to compile research on effective prevention methods for reporting to the legislature. The legislation directly affects school districts, students at risk of dropping out, and re-engagement service providers across Mississippi.

Maddy summaryHB 207 is a procedural bill that reorganizes existing sections of Mississippi law related to motor vehicle tax credits. It brings forward Sections 27-51-101, 103, 105, and 107 (which govern a tax credit for private passenger carriers and light property carriers) and Section 27-65-75 (which handles sales tax revenue distribution) to a new location in the code. The bill does not change the credit amount (currently 4.25% of assessed value for qualifying vehicles) or the mechanism of the Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund, which reimburses counties for lost tax revenue due to the credit. It only aims to update the legal structure for potential future amendments. The bill died in committee in 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 208 requires all Mississippi state agencies, departments, institutions, and local governments providing child-related services to create annual itemized reports. These reports must detail program descriptions, funding sources (federal/state), costs, outcomes, performance metrics, and the number of children served. The reports must be submitted to Mississippi State University's Stennis Institute by September 1 each year, with the compiled data shared with specific legislative committees by December 1. The bill died in committee on February 3, 2026, and is not currently law. It would have affected all state entities delivering services to children, aiming to improve transparency in child-service funding and outcomes.