Update on PBM Reform, Dei Ban Bill
Senate announces tax plans for food and income tax reductions
Gov. Delbert Hosemann will announce the Senate tax plans on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Michigan.
With regard to legislative priorities both House Speakers Jason White, R. West, and Lt. Col. Delbert Josemann, some are still alive in Congress, some are dying at the hands of the political process.
As the week moves quickly, Congress will be even closer to its most important deadline on March 29th. By then, many more of this year’s top priorities have been dead and gone.
At this point, four major initiatives proposed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House will die unless they win a two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Commerce to suspend rules for Congress and revive those bills.
All dead as of Friday are reforming the state’s retirement system, restoring voting initiatives, restoring the right to vote for non-violent felony owners, and education reforms that will make it easier for students to transfer school districts.
Other priorities such as income tax cuts are very alive, with some priorities being expanding the thread, such as expanding the selection of schools where only vehicles remain. Increased state funding for the Children’s Promise Act, a tax program for families who donate to charities, including private schools.
Speakers who do not want to consider the revived Senate education bill
As for other education reforms, the Senate lawsuit in the first half of the session that killed several house school selection bills appears to have exacerbated White’s position by considering either of the Senate proposals.
On Thursday, White posted on his previous Twitter account on X.com, saying that the Senate efforts currently being viewed to ban cell phone use in classrooms have not received a warm welcome at the home.
“There’s no need to send Milkethoast. The Senate education agenda is back home. It’s not even worth debating,” White wrote. “We showed the Senators what the future of Mississippi education would look like in the House bill. They wholeheartedly refused without a whisper. The governor of Mississippi and his Senate leaders are beginning to realize they are bidding on the current situation.
PBM reforms still alive in MS Congress
On Wednesday, the Mississippi Senate handed the bill to the House, which demands that pharmacy benefits managers, the kind of broker who manages drug prices and drug health plans, among other things, be more transparent in the pharmacies they do business with.
The bill, House Bill 1123, allows a Mississippi Pharmacy Commission to conduct an audit and prevent PBMs from implementing spread pricing.
The bill also prevents PBM from encouraging patients to pay for the drug at affiliated pharmacies by providing cheaper prices for the same drug sold at other pharmacies.
HB 1123 returns to a home where lawmakers can either vote to send the bill to Reeves’ desk, send it to a meeting for further negotiations, or kill it.
White told reporters at the start of the 2025 session that dealing with PBM’s business practices is a priority for the House. The Mississippi Independent Pharmacists Association says that independent pharmacists have been shut down in the past, likely causing more in the future.
Dei Ban Act Still Lived in MS Congress
Last week, Congress lived through proposals to ban diversity, equity and inclusion from K-12 public schools, universities and universities.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed House Bill 1193 and sent back to the House, either approving some changes that have been made or sending them to a meeting, or both the House and Senators attempt to rule out the final contract.
Both House and Senate Republicans are shooting for anti-DEI laws, but there are a variety of approaches.
The law sent back to the House removed the university and university efficiency task force committee, which originally belonged to the Senate plan. It also did not feature some educational bans in the former House proposal.
The issue completely divided Congress along the party line between Republicans and Democrats. On the right, supporters argue that Day’s policies and education discriminated against, putting people in a “oppressive” box with the victims.
Opponents of the anti-DEI law in Mississippi within Congress argue that these policies will help provide fair and equal opportunities for Mississippi minority groups following the civil rights movement of the 20th century.
Stories you might have missed
Check out these stories below for other legislative updates from last week.
Grant McLaughlin covers Congress and state government for the Clarion ledger. He can be contacted at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
