Mississippi Business Journal » legislative branch

Cochran supporting bill to stop new regulations for H-2B program

MBJ Staff — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:37:47 +0000

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) will support legislation to stop the implementation of new federal regulations governing a temporary foreign worker visa program, saying the regulatory changes are flawed and detrimental to seasonal industries like shrimping on the Gulf Coast. Cochran announced that he would cosponsor a joint resolution of disapproval challenging the [...]

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Producers give lawmakers input as Farm Bill develops

MBJ Staff — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:50:41 +0000

WASHINGTON — With the process to draft a 2012 Farm Bill accelerating, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said the wide range of views offered by agriculture producers are necessary for developing a successful 2012 Farm Bill. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry conducted a hearing on some of the more complex aspects of [...]

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Senators lobbying House to pass BP oil spill bill

MBJ Staff — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:36:53 +0000

MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are hoping the House of Representatives will look favorably on “overwhelming” Senate support for legislation that will direct fines from the BP oil spill to Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states. The Senate yesterday approved (74-22) the Moving Ahead for Progress in [...]

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Senate passes bill allowing for appointed school superintendents

Associated Press — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:23:40 +0000

JACKSON — Mississippi’s local school superintendents would have to be appointed by 2016, unless voters opt to keep electing their local chief, under a bill the Senate passed yesterday. Another bill would require the state Department of Education to rate schools and school districts on an “A” to “F” scale, instead of the current seven-step [...]

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Bill approved requiring abortion doctors to be OB/Gyn certified

Associated Press — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:09:20 +0000

JACKSON — Doctors at Mississippi’s lone abortion clinic would be required to be certified in obstetrics and gynecology and have privileges to admit patients to local hospitals under a hotly contested bill that passed the House yesterday. During a debate that lasted more than an hour, opponents argued the requirement could close the clinic in [...]

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House passes insurance-discount legislation

Associated Press — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:08:47 +0000

JACKSON — The Mississippi House passed a bill yesterday to require insurance companies to offer discounts on costly hurricane coverage in five southern counties, including three on the Coast. Discounts are required by July 2013. They would go to single-family homes and some manufactured homes for meeting strong-house standards in the current building code, those [...]

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Santorum, congressional incumbents win primaries

Associated Press — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:43:49 +0000

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Rick Santorum won Republican presidential primaries in Alabama and Mississippi but he didn’t gain any ground in the race for delegates against frontrunner Mitt Romney. Romney wiped out Santorum’s gains by winning caucuses in Hawaii and American Samoa Tuesday. For the day, Romney added at least 41 delegates and Santorum won at [...]

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Lawmakers approve measure aimed at reducing state’s debt

MBJ Staff — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:03:54 +0000

JACKSON — The Mississippi Senate today passed legislation that would direct additional funds to pay off state debt and move toward reducing the state’s total debt, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves announced. “We need to get control of the state’s debt, and this bill is one way we can do that and be responsible stewards of [...]

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Craft beer legislation passes Senate, moves to House

Associated Press — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:45:42 +0000

JACKSON — Lovers of craft beer won another victory yesterday in their efforts to ease Mississippi’s restrictions on beer brewing and consumption. Three bills with the goal of expanding beer offerings in the state and relaxing restrictions on breweries passed the state Senate. There was little debate on the Senate floor, but about a dozen [...]

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House votes down bill allowing employees to receive tax breaks

Associated Press — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:45:15 +0000

JACKSON — The Mississippi House has rejected a bill to let businesses pass some tax breaks to individual employees. House Bill 1264 needed 71 votes, but only got 67. House Ways and Means chairman Jeff Smith says he plans to bring back the bill to try to pass it. Democrats objected to the expense, and [...]

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