After two weeks of the 2022 Mississippi Legislative session, nearly 1,000 bills and 43 resolutions have been introduced in the state’s two chambers.

Lincoln County residents want to keep track of what their senator and representatives are working on during this session. Here are the bills introduced or co-authored by Representative Becky Currie of Brookhaven.

So far in the 2022 Mississippi Legislative session, 637 House bills have been introduced, including 22 authored or co-authored by Rep. Currie.

Currie’s bills are as follows:

• HB20/435, to enact Cole’s Law to prohibit discrimination against recipients of an anatomical gift or organ transplant based on disability.
• HB362, to do away with the requirement for a referral from a doctor or other physician before a physical therapist can provide services.
• HB363, to authorize nurse practitioners, physician assistants and clinical nurse specialists to prescribe or order home health services and plans of care, certify/recertify eligibility for such services and conduct required initial face-to-face visits with service recipients.
• HB364, to work in conjunction with HB362 to revise circumstances and criteria under which a physical therapist may implement therapy without referral and to amend licensure.
• HB433, to require the State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan to include coverage for annual pap smears and biennial bone density tests.
• HB 434, to make additional appropriation from the Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters Death Benefits Trust Fund to the Department of Public Safety, and provide that the funds only be spent on payment of death benefits for which the cause of death is covered under The Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act of 2020.
• HB436, to create The Patriot Guard Act, which prohibits certain size vehicles from driving without suitable protectors/flaps on rear wheels.
• HB437, to establish the Teaching Racial and Universal Equality (TRUE) Act, to prohibit schools and teachers from including or promoting divisive concepts as part of curriculum or instruction, to prohibit censorship of American or Mississippi history/heritage based on religious references and to provide for withholding of state funds for violations. Rep. Vince Mangold of Brookhaven is one of this bill’s co-authors.
• HB438, to create the “Mississippi Police Funding Protection Act,” to require the governing authority of any county or municipality to notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee if the police/sheriff’s department’s operating budget is reduced by 10 percent or more and not as the result of decreased tax collections, providing that the county/municipality may be subject to certain penalties.
• HB439, to eliminate requirements for state agencies to prepare and publish annual reports.
• HB442, to prohibit municipalities from receiving certain funds if their police departments are defunded.
• HB443, to exempt sales of tangible personal property or services to the Lincoln Civic Center Foundation in Lincoln County.
• HB447, to provide that people with occupational licenses who move to Mississippi be licensed without having to repeat licensure requirements.
• HB448, to transfer the responsibility of administering the Electronic Verification of Work Authorization Program from the Department of Employment Security to the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and to impose additional penalties on employers found to be in violation of e-Verify.
• HB449, to provide 10 percent of net proceeds from the Mississippi Lottery Corporation monthly to the Mississippi Park Fund.
• HB450, to require all autopsies to include inquiry to determine if the death was a direct result of seizure or epilepsy, and to provide that if the findings support Suspected Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, that the death certificate be forwarded to the North American SUDEP Registry.
• HB453, to create the Mississippi Tourism Recovery Fund Round 2 to provide funds to destination marketing organizations to assist in costs of certain marketing activities.
• HB454, to increase reimbursement rates for providers of assisted living services under the Medicaid Program.
• HB460, to provide that health insurers not deny right to participate as a contract provider to community mental health centers.
• HB462, to require certain insurance policies and contracts to provide coverage for physician-prescribed proton beam therapy for cancer treatment, including the State Employees Life and Health Insurance Plan.
• HB495, to revise penalties and suspend licenses for receipt of stolen property by sellers of scrap metal.