HB 53 would authorize a 60-second "period of quiet reflection" at the start of each school day in the state's 152 public school districts. The proposal is in the wake of repeated calls across the nation to return prayer to the public schools. The proposal does not require any school to offer the period, nor does it contain any penalty for schools that do not offer it.  While Constitutional questions have arisen about the measure, proponents believe it will withstand any court challenge.

HB 527 would require the non-renewal of a public school teacher’s contract to be based on a “valid education reason,” rather than leaving the decision to the discretion of school boards, as is currently the law.  Opponents of the bill pointed out that the standard for a “valid educational reason” is vague, and that such a limitation could unduly restrict the ability of school boards and administrators to remove a teacher for unacceptable conduct that arguably does not relate directly to teaching duties.   

HB 298 would mandate all instruction, textbooks and teaching materials in the public schools to be delivered to students in the standard English language, regardless of students' ethnicity or national origin.

HB 396 would authorize the State Board of Education to award honorary high school diplomas to World War II and Korean War veterans who were unable to complete their education due to their military service. Many of these vets were called away to the service during their education period and never returned to the classroom.

HB 1448 would provide state support for expansion of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program. Several Mississippi school districts offer JROTC to its students and surveys have shown that participants fare much better in the classroom and socially than other students. The bill includes no funding due to a tight state budget.

HB 1428 would require the State Department of Education to establish a pilot program for students in grades K-3 to include research-based reading instruction. The curriculum in the pilot schools would include intensive instruction in phonemic awareness and in sound-symbol relationships, better known as phonics.

HB 169 would allow a mother to leave her newborn baby at a health-care facility within 72 hours of birth and avoid prosecution for abandonment. The bill was precipitated by a flurry of incidents in recent years where mothers would leave newborns in trash receptacles and other places that posed a threat to the child's life.

HB 692 would provide that any professionally installed lawn sprinkler system, lawn irrigation system, swimming pool, water fountain or cooler or fire sprinkler system connected to a public water system is considered a low risk and not required to have a backflow preventer. Also, backflow preventers would not be required for carbonated beverage dispensers if they already have the device.  The backflow regulations have caused great controversy during the last year, and there have been reports of price gouging by unscrupulous installers and inspectors around the state.  The State Department of Health confirmed to the House that Mississippi does not have a single documented case of any person becoming sick because of a backflow problem.

HB 422 would give someone only 15 days to pay a bad check, instead of the current 30 days, and HB 1122 would raise to $250 the threshold amount before the writer is charged with felony bad-check.

HB 1162 would double the amount of the penalty for crimes against the elderly, HB 1419 would create a crime of impersonating an officer or an employee of a state government agency, HB 1421 would create the crime of assault against state social workers and HB 625 would increase penalties for manufacturing crystal methamphetamines in the presence of children.

HB 196 would license and regulate massage therapists in the state. The bill would exempt from the licensing procedure any therapist who has had more than 300 documented class hours of massage therapy education before January 1, 2001, and those having more than five years of professional massage therapy experience and a minimum of 150 hours of approved massage therapy education.

HB 986 would require physicians and other medical professionals to inform parents of newborns about a variety of tests available to ensure the long-term healthiness of their children. An estimated 30 tests beyond those administered at birth are available that experts say could prevent many illnesses that pose a threat in the early years of a life.

HB 1007 would allow the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Commission to enter into a lease agreement that could result in the Jackson Bandits hockey team moving into a new 7,500-seat arena that would be built onto the stadium's open south end. Under the plan, the team, the state and the City of Jackson would participate in funding the proposed arena. The agreement would be for 25 years initially. The bill calls for the privately-owned team to pay the state for any stadium improvements if the project fails.

HB 306 would raise the pay of county tax assessors and tax collectors under a formula based on the assessed valuation of personal property in each county. The salaries would range from $73,000 annually in the largest counties to a low of  $51,910. Persons serving as both tax assessor and collector in a county would be paid an additional $10,000 annually, under the plan.  Under the bill as passed by the House, the Lauderdale County Tax Collector and the Lauderdale County Tax Assessor each will receive a new salary of $64,700, up from $49,639 in 1999.  Bill proponents stressed that assessors and collectors have not received a real raise for many years, and that even the proposed new salaries are less than currently received by most Circuit Clerks and Chancery Clerks.  The measure now goes to the Senate.