We are very pleased to announce that for the third straight year all the bills introduced to the Mississippi Legislature have passed and have either already been signed into law or are only awaiting Governor Bryant’s signature. These new laws will be in place on July 1, 2017. We thank the members of the NGAMS Legislative Committee and Major General Durr Boyles and his staff, especially LTC (Ret) Tim Prater, for their leadership, assistance and efforts. Many of these new laws are the result of communication from our Service members on the issues that impact their lives. As we have stated many times, this is why it is so important for our Service members to be active members of NGAMS and to attend the state and national conferences.
We are especially pleased this year to not get our budget cut like so many other state agencies. Listed below are the specific bills by number along with a brief description. Please follow the link at the bottom of this post to read the history and full text of each individual item. It takes you to the front page of the Mississippi legislature. From there you may simply plug in the respective House and Senate bill numbers.
Finally, we are very thankful to the members of the legislature and their staff for working with us. It is a very difficult task they face each year but they were very accommodating to us throughout the process.
HB 336: Amends MS Code Ann. Section 33-4-1 to provide that monies in the Mississippi Military Family Relief Fund may be used to provide assistance to families that experience a financial hardship as a result of a family member who is a member of the Mississippi National Guard regardless of whether the family member is a resident of Mississippi.
HB 383: Amends MS Code Ann. Section 63-1-208 to require the commissioner of public safety to adopt rules and regulations that provide for the military skills test waiver for commercial driver’s licenses.
SB 2620: Amends MS Code Ann. Section 33-13-151, to revise the composition of summary courts-martial; Amends Section 33-13-159 to provide that the decision to grant a request for trial before a special or general courts-martial is reserved to the general court-martial convening authority, and to revise the maximum sentence which may be imposed by a summary courts-martial for a single offense; Amends Section 33-13-179 to revise who may convene a summary courts-martial; Amends Section 33-13-183 to provide that a military judge or a summary court officer shall preside over sessions of the court-martial to which he or she has been detailed; Amends Section 33-13-325 to increase the amount of fine which may be imposed by a military court for contempt.
HB 1026: Creates in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the “Mississippi National Guard State Active Duty Emergency Operations Fund” for the purpose of maintaining annual general fund budget restrictions and enabling the Mississippi Military Department to respond to domestic events as directed by the governor during declared states of emergency or in conjunction with approved emergency management assistance compacts.
SB 2967: Provides an appropriation for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Mississippi National Guard for fiscal year 2018.
http://www.legislature.ms.gov/Pages/default.aspx
