Rep. Dana Criswell - From Your Capitol, Week of January 8, 2018

Good morning from the frozen tundra of north Mississippi. I know anyone living north of Tennessee thinks this is nothing, but for Mississippians this is crazy weather. I am glad the legislature took off Friday because if I had not come home early I would have been stuck in Jackson all weekend.

The second week of the 2018 legislative session was another busy week and so far I'm still hopeful that positive things are happening. The major deadline of the week was Wednesday night, January 10. All proposed legislation had to be submitted to the House attorneys.

HOW A LEGISLATOR WRITES A BILL

The first step for writing legislation begins when an legislator has an idea or someone brings them an idea of how a law needs to be written or changed. Hopefully the legislator takes that idea and does some personal research into the issue and comes up with how they want to solve the issue or problem. The Mississippi House of Representatives has seven attorneys who will assist the member by providing legal opinions and research.

Once the legislator has a concrete idea about what the bill should say he returns to the House attorney and explains what he wants. The attorney then creates a bill that accomplishes that goal. Often this process includes several re-writes of the bill until the legislator is satisfied with the results.

The second step begins once the bill is written. Now the legislator who authored the bill begins the process of convincing other legislators to become co-authors of his bill. This is often where the real work of a legislator happens. During this period you might see the original author walking around the capitol with a copy of his bill ready to discuss what the bill does and gathering co-author's initials on a blue cover sheet, this is often called, "signing-on" to a bill. The purpose of this process is to show leadership that your idea has broad support among the members.

The next step is submitting your bill for review by the Speaker. This is called "dropping the bill." There is actually a box on the House floor where legislators physically place their bill. The Speaker will then review the bill and assign it to a committee for a committee chairman to consider.

The deadline for "dropping" a bill is this coming Monday, January 15. Which means Monday will be a frantic day while legislators make final changes and gather last minute co-authors to meet the 8:00 pm deadline. Other legislators can "sign-on" even after its been dropped, so you will often see new authors added to a bill as it makes its way through the process. By the way, if a bill is amended in committee or on the House floor a legislator can also remove his name from a bill, this way if the bill is changed to do something different than its original intent the legislator isn't stuck supporting something they don't like.

MY LEGISLATION

Below is a list of my bills. If my name is listed to the far right I am the original author, if another legislator's name is listed then that indicates I have signed-on as a co-author of their bill.

HB 135

Concealed firearms on school premises; authorize local school board to adopt policy permitting certain school employees to carry.

    01/02 (H) Referred To Education;Judiciary B Carpenter

HB 181

Law Enforcement Death Benefits Trust Fund; authorize transfers from rainy day fund when trust funds are insufficient.

   01/02 (H) Referred To Appropriations Hale

HB 413

Stun gun; remove the term from the firearms category.

   01/05 (H) Referred To Judiciary B Criswell

HB 493

Deputy sheriffs; remove requirement to be qualified elector of the state.

   01/08 (H) Referred To Judiciary B Criswell

HB 542

Enhanced carry firearms license; authorize to be carried onto public property.

   01/08 (H) Referred To Judiciary B Gipson

HB 668

Vagrants and tramps; revise and repeal laws regarding.

   01/08 (H) Referred To Judiciary B Criswell

HB 722

* Use tax; use portion of revenue to assist municipalities and counties with road and bridge improvements.

   01/11 (H) Passed As Amended Gunn

HB 928

School term; revise to prohibit beginning before last Monday in August.

   01/11 (H) Referred To Education Criswell

HB1017

Local and private bills proposing to extend local tax for second time; require direct referendum.

   01/12 (H) Referred To Local and Private Legislation Criswell

HB1018

Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship Program; prescribe standards for participation.

   01/12 (H) Referred To Education Criswell

Did you know;

• the United States has some of the most unhealthy children in the world. We are 20th in the world when it comes to the health of our children. Our children are also the most vaccinated children in the world, so if vaccines are so effective how can this be true.

• the vaccines you are forced to give your newborn child have never been tested before they inject children.

• in 1986 the federal government protected vaccine manufactures from all liability if their vaccine harms a child. That's right, if your child is harmed from a vaccine you CAN NOT hold the manufacturer liable.

• since 1986, when the government protected vaccine manufacturers, the federal government has paid out nearly $3 billion dollars to parents of vaccine injured children.

• vaccines are produced by using cells from aborted babies.

• the ingredients in vaccines as listed in the manufacturers' package inserts. In addition to the metals, check out the highlighted foreign tissue and DNA.

This year I will be supporting Rep. Andy Gipson as he fights for the rights of parents to make healthcare decisions for their children.

As the 2018 legislative sessions continues I welcome your comments and questions. During the session I will read and discuss hundreds of bills and ideas, sometimes I miss something so your involvement is invaluable.

Email: Dana@DanaCriswell.net

Phone: 901-275-4191

Dana