Members of the Mississippi Legislature passed significant pieces of legislation during the 2022 Mississippi Legislative Session that will impact the lives of farmers, ranchers and rural Mississippians for years to come. During the session, the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation worked hard on policy impacting private property rights, the labeling requirements of honey raised in Mississippi, the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, rural broadband, infrastructure, and funding for Mississippi’s land-grant universities.

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
One of the final acts of the Legislative Session included passing the  2023 Fiscal Year budget. Mississippi received $1.8 billion from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). These funds were distributed to municipal, state and tribal governments across the U.S. as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the funds distributed to Mississippi, more than $1.5 billion has been appropriated. The remaining $2.95 million must be distributed prior to December 31, 2024.

Ballot Measure Initiative Process
In May 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the medical marijuana initiative overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2020. They did this due to a discrepancy in the initiative process. Because of this, the entire initiative process was ruled invalid. Legislators rejected the old means of adding language to the state constitution in favor of codifying statutory language. However, the Legislature could not reach an agreement on the details and did not provide any avenue for referendum.

Eminent Domain
MFBF supported legislation that would uphold Initiative 31, the ballot-measured initiative championed by Farm Bureau in 2011. The constitutional amendment prevented the government from using eminent domain to take private land for the use of other private entities. On April 19, 2022, Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1769 into law, codifying the eminent domain constitutional amendment into general law.

Honey Labeling Legislation
MFBF supported the passage of Senate Bill 2007 which amended Mississippi Code of 1972 to revise the labeling requirements of commercial honey. The legislation requires farmers selling honey commercially to list all ingredients added to their honey to alter the flavor on the label. It also states any lab-grown product cannot be labeled as honey.

Infrastructure
In 2018, the Legislature created the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund (ERBRF) to revitalize public roads and bridges across the state. In 2022, they allotted $100 million to ERBRF and earmarked $89 million of Highway Infrastructure Program funds received by the Mississippi Department of Transportation pursuant to the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021.

Land-Grant University Funding
Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning received $56 million in allocations during the 2022 Legislative Session. The state’s land-grant institutions, Mississippi State University and Alcorn State University, received significant increases in their separately budgeted agriculture units that service a large portion of Mississippians through many programs.

The MFBF Public Policy Department staff is already preparing for the 2023 Legislative Session, which will convene on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Rest assured, we will continue to work on behalf of your needs!

Taylor McNair is the Public Policy Coordinator at the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation.