The Jan. 17 deadline for general legislation was met by the House with 1,035 bills being assigned to committees; the Senate had 887. There are later deadlines for revenue and spending bills. February 11th is the deadline for each chamber in order to pass their own bills and forward them to the other chamber. Click here to check the status of any bill in the Mississippi Legislature. Senate Bill 2444, which would increase teacher salaries by increasing years of experience and certification levels, is an example of a bill of interest. The bill would increase teacher pay by an average of $4,000. It also restructures the way teachers are paid in order to give them longer-term higher salaries. READ MORE: Senate leaders announce historic plan to increase teacher pay House bill 530 would raise all teachers’ salaries by $4,000 to $6,000 per year, and increase starting teacher’s pay from $37,000 to $43,125. This is higher than the national and Southeastern averages. READ MORE: Senate Bill 2095 passed the Senate unanimously and is pending in the House. This bill would allow Mississippians with chronic illnesses to legally use medical cannabis. It would replace the 2020 program that was approved by voters but rejected by the state Supreme Court due to a technicality. READ MORE: Mississippi Senate passes medical marijuana Senate Bill 2451, and House Bill 771 would ban Mississippi employers from giving different salaries to employees for the same job. After Alabama’s passing of an equal pay law in 2019, Mississippi is the only state without one. Mississippi’s women working full-time earn 27% less than their male counterparts, which is far more than the national gap of 19%. This gap is worse for Black and Latina Mississippi women, who receive 54 cents per dollar for each dollar earned by white men. READ MORE: Mississippi will continue to under-pay women for equal pay. HB437 is one of many bills that would ban the teaching and practice of critical race theory in kindergarten-12th grade schools. Some bills, such as Senate Bill 2113 would also prohibit critical race theory being taught at the university level. Officials from the State Department of Education have stated that critical race theory, which attempts to examine the effects of racial disparity on different aspects of society, is not being taught at public schools. The state Department of Education would be required to create a curriculum for African American Studies and Racial Equality in public schools under HB750. SB2695 would require that state financial aid be determined primarily on the basis of need. HC20 is one of many pieces of legislation that would allow people convicted for certain felonies to regain their voting rights after they have completed their sentences. HC16 would allow state elections to be moved to the presidential election year, including for county offices, governor and other offices. HB377 would allow military veterans who have been convicted of certain felonies to vote again. HB893 would ban public officials from changing political parties while they are in office. The term limit for legislators would be imposed by HC19. HB22 would allow early voting without any excuse. Online voter registration would be possible under HB292. HB108 would expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for the working poor, as per federal law. SB2107 would allow children to be exempt from vaccines if they are enrolled in public schools because of religious or parental objections. SB2726 would prohibit entities receiving state funding from imposing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate. SB2407 would allow people convicted of crimes to submit reports to probation officers. This will prevent them from having to send the employee home to report to a probation officer. Many people who were convicted would be eligible for parole after twenty years if they are under 18 years old. People convicted below 21 years old would be able to get supervised release easier under HB560. HB875 would establish a state-wide universal pre-kindergarten program. SB2573 would require social networking companies to submit reports to the Secretary of State’s Office detailing reasons for restricting candidates or elected officials via their social media platforms. SC 521 would allow citizens to collect signatures to bypass legislators and place issues on the November ballot. This proposal would amend the language the Supreme Court declared invalid this May’s initiative process. This process would also allow the initiative process be used to amend state law or to change the Constitution. The original process allowed the initiative only to change the Constitution. The Real You Act (also known as SB2356) would ban people convicted of crimes from changing names while in prison. Minors would need medical approval to legally change their sexual identity. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to us today as part of the Spring Member Drive.