Hurricane Recovery
- HB 565 continuing the homestead exemption for property on Coast even if destroyed by Katrina.
- HB 1323 to allow the reconstruction of residential structures destroyed by Katrina on original site regardless of lot size.
- HB 1316 toughens the penalties connected to the crime of home repair fraud to help prevent it from occurring to Katrina victims.
- SB 2943 to create the Mississippi Gulf Coast Region Utility Board to coordinate water, wastewater and storm sewer issues to assist in the redevelopment of the area in the wake of Katrina.
- SB 2947 to allow state, county, municipal and airport authorities located in the six southernmost counties to renegotiate certain loans for up to two years to help in redevelopment of the region
- HB 753 defines the exemptions to building codes for hunting and fishing camps. Also, members of the Building Codes Council must be Mississippi residents; counties and cities adopting or amending codes may adopt those established by the Council; and creates a hurricane damage mitigation program that could offer grants to encourage single-family, site-built, owner-occupied, residential property owners or commercial property owners to retrofit their properties to make them less vulnerable to hurricane damage. Green lumber cannot be sold under the bill.
- HB 1500 bolsters the state's "Wind Pool" insurance association, providing a stable market for both insurance consumers and companies to continue operations on the Mississippi Coast. We put $20 million annually into the fund for the next four years from the taxes on insurance premiums.
Taxation and the State Budget
- Passed tax incentives to lure more movie-producing companies to Mississippi.
- Enacted tax credits and incentives for development of abandoned brownfield sites, for businesses operating in economically disadvantaged areas and for companies engaged in the repair and maintenance of aircraft.
- HB 1250 to create a new sales tax incentive program for tourist-oriented enterprises
- HB 1142 enhances a state tourism sales tax incentives program, with the incentives being based on the amount of investment of qualified projects.
- HB 1549 to allow an income tax credit against expenses for adopting a child.
Law Enforcement & Public Safety
- Created a criminal offense of fleeing law enforcement officers and established training programs for officers involved in such chases.
- Passed the "Drug Kingpin" law to set up a task force to prosecute drug dealers for tax evasion.
- Limited access to pharmaceutical ingredients used in the making of crystal amphetamine, the illicit drug scourge sweeping Mississippi.
- Required sexual offenders to register in person and prohibited them from owning or working in child care settings.
- Set in place a plan to overhaul the juvenile justice system with more community-based programs and less incarceration, especially for first-time offenders.
- Established a statewide system to automatically notify a crime victim when an offender housed within the Department of Corrections is released, assigned to another facility or released on temporary leave.
- SB 2865 and SB 2527 to strengthen the registration requirements of persons convicted as a sexual offender. It also creates a study of the use of electronic monitoring devices.
- SB 2688 increases the death benefit from $40,000 to $65,000 for fallen law enforcement officers and firefighters in Mississippi.
|
