The Mississippi House Agriculture Committee sent several bills to the House floor on Tuesday during their first meeting since last month. The first three bills passed the full House on Wednesday and were sent to the Senate. The last bill passed the House Agriculture Committee and was sent to the Public Health Committee.
The bills included:
- HB 326 – The bill would increase the maximum annual gross sales of a cottage food operation to $35,000 and authorize cottage food businesses to advertise on the Internet.
- HB 551 – The bill, called the Mississippi Seafood Marketing Law of 2020, would require consumer notice and labeling of country of origin on all foreign and imported seafood.
- HB 687 – The bill, called the Mississippi Boll Weevil Management Corporation, would extend the repealer on the requirement that audits be submitted by November 15.
- HB 609 – The bill would eliminate a small exemption for the sale of raw goat milk.
“This week has been busy for agricultural related bills,” Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation President Mike McCormick said. “The hard work our legislators are putting in does not go unnoticed.”
Legislators must have submitted a request to draft all general bills and constitutional amendments by Wednesday. The deadline for filing general bills or constitutional amendments is Monday, February 17. Currently, more than 1,500 bills or resolutions have been filed.
In other news:
- The Rankin County Farm Bureau held a legislative breakfast on Monday to thank their legislators.
- Secretary of State Michael Watson released his Service, Information, Professionalism (SIP) plan on Monday. The plan would transfer driver’s license services from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to the Secretary of State’s office, allowing law enforcement officers to focus on helping keep Mississippians safe and improving the way people get or renew their driver’s license.
- Speaker Philip Gunn received the Angel Award for his work on human trafficking.