MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: State Affairs; Appropriations A

By: Representative Lamar

House Bill 1619

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-3-31 AND 5-1-43, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGES TO THE SALARY SCHEDULES OF CERTAIN STATEWIDE OFFICIALS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 5-1-51,  5-1-41, 5-1-45, 5-1-46 AND 5-1-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE COMPENSATION OF LEGISLATORS, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 25-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

 * * *[Beginning July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2023, this section shall read as follows:]

25‑3‑31.  (1)  The annual salaries of the following elected state and district officers are fixed as follows:

Governor $122,160.00

Attorney General 108,960.00

Secretary of State   90,000.00

Commissioner of Insurance   90,000.00

State Treasurer   90,000.00

State Auditor of Public Accounts   90,000.00

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce   90,000.00

Transportation Commissioners   78,000.00

Public Service Commissioners  78,000.00

(2)  To assist the elected state and district officers in subsection (1) of this section in efficiently performing the official duties imposed upon him or her by law, the officer may employ suitable and competent persons who possess the professional skill and expert knowledge needed to fulfill those duties.  The State Personnel Board, based upon its findings of fact, shall exempt those persons from the provisions of Section 25‑3‑39 when the acquisition of such professional services is precluded based upon the prevailing wage in the relevant labor market.  This subsection (2) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2024.

[From and after January 1, 2024, this section shall read as follows:]

     25-3-31.  (1)  The annual salaries of the following elected state and district officers are fixed as follows:

Governor........................................... $ 160,000.00

Attorney General..................................... 150,000.00

Secretary of State................................... 120,000.00

Commissioner of Insurance............................ 150,000.00

State Treasurer...................................... 120,000.00

State Auditor of Public Accounts..................... 150,000.00

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.............. 120,000.00

Transportation Commissioners.........................  95,000.00

Public Service Commissioners.........................  95,000.00

     (2)  To assist the elected state and district officers in subsection (1) of this section in efficiently performing the official duties imposed upon him or her by law, the officer may employ suitable and competent persons who possess the professional skill and expert knowledge needed to fulfill those duties.  The State Personnel Board, based upon its findings of fact, shall exempt those persons from the provisions of Section 25-3-39 when the acquisition of such professional services is precluded based upon the prevailing wage in the relevant labor market.  This subsection (2) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2024.

     SECTION 2.  Section 5-1-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

 * * *[From and after July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2023, this section shall read as follows:]

5‑1‑43.  (1)  The salary of the Lieutenant Governor and of the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000.00) annually, and they shall receive for attending each extraordinary or called session the same compensation and mileage as is provided for members of the Legislature.  However, in the event the Lieutenant Governor serving on the effective date of Laws, 1997, Chapter 577, shall be re‑elected for the term beginning in the year 2000, he shall continue to receive an annual salary of Forty Thousand Eight Hundred Dollars ($40,800.00).

(2)  On the first day of each month, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall receive in twelve (12) equal monthly installments the compensation provided for pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.

[From and after January 1, 2024, this section shall read as follows:]

     5-1-43.  (1)  The salary of the Lieutenant Governor and of the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be Eighty-five Thousand Dollars ($85,000.00) annually, and they shall receive for attending each extraordinary or called session the same compensation and mileage as is provided for members of the Legislature.

     (2)  On the first day of each month, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall receive in twelve (12) equal monthly installments the compensation provided for pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.

     SECTION 3.  Section 5-1-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     5-1-51.  The mileage and one-third (1/3) of the salary for a regular session shall be paid at the beginning of the session.  After thirty (30) days of the session have expired, another one-third (1/3) of the salary shall be paid.  The remaining one-third (1/3) of the salary shall be paid (a) on the last Friday before the ninetieth day of a ninety-day session, or (b) on the earlier of the last day the Legislature is convened or the last Friday before the one-hundred-twenty-fifth day of a one-hundred-twenty-five-day session, as the case may be.

     SECTION 4.  Section 5-1-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     5-1-41.  Beginning with the 1986 Regular Session of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, each Senator and Representative of the Legislature shall receive as compensation at each regular session the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) and the mileage allowance provided by Section 25-3-41, for each mile of the distance by the most direct route usually traveled in coming to and returning from the place where the Legislature sits. Beginning on April 16, 1997, each Senator and Representative shall receive for attending each extraordinary session or called session the sum of Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) per day and mileage at the same rate as per regular session.  In addition to the above, beginning on April 16, 1997, each Senator and Representative and the Lieutenant Governor shall receive the sum of One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) per month for expenses incidental to his office for every full month of his term, except any month or major fraction thereof when the Legislature is convened in regular or extraordinary session; and payments shall be made to each Senator and Representative and the Lieutenant Governor by the State Treasurer between the first and tenth day of each month following the month for which the payments are due.

     SECTION 5.  Section 5-1-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     5-1-45.  Beginning on June 4, 1997, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall receive an annual salary in an amount equal to Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00).  The salary provided for the President Pro Tempore under this section shall be in addition to the compensation and expense allowance established for members of the Legislature under Section 5-1-41.

     SECTION 6.  Section 5-1-46, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     5-1-46.  Beginning on June 4, 1997, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives shall receive an annual salary in an amount equal to Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00).  The salary provided for the Speaker Pro Tempore under this section shall be in addition to the compensation and expense allowance established for members of the Legislature under Section 5-1-41.

     SECTION 7.  Section 5-1-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     5-1-47.  (1)  In addition to the regular salary and mileage provided by law, an expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations for each legislative day in actual attendance at a session shall be paid to the Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, together with an additional mileage allowance as provided by Section 25-3-41, for each mile of the distance by the most direct route usually traveled in coming to and returning from the place where the Legislature is in session, which expense allowance and additional mileage allowance shall be paid at the end of each seven-day period while the Legislature is in session.

     (2)  In addition to the mileage allowance provided for in subsection (1) of this section, an expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations, per day, shall be paid to:

          (a)  The Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate, upon the approval of the Senate Rules Committee, for attending to legislative duties on any of the following days that the Senate does not convene in session on that day:  (i) any day between legislative regular or extraordinary sessions, or (ii) any day of a legislative regular session that has been extended beyond the number of calendar days specified in Section 36, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, when that day falls after the ninetieth or one-hundred-twenty-fifth day of the session, as the case may be, or (iii) any day during a legislative extraordinary session; and

          (b)  Members of the House of Representatives, upon the approval of the House Management Committee, for attending to legislative duties on any of the following days that the House does not convene in session on that day:  (i) any day between legislative regular or extraordinary sessions, or (ii) any day of a legislative regular session that has been extended beyond the number of calendar days specified in Section 36, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, when that day falls after the ninetieth or one-hundred-twenty-fifth day of the session, as the case may be, or (iii) any day during a legislative extraordinary session.

     (3)  The expense allowance and additional mileage allowance provided by this section for the Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate shall be paid from the appropriate legislative fund of the Senate as provided by law, and the expense allowance and additional mileage allowance for members of the House of Representatives shall be paid from the appropriate legislative fund of the House of Representatives as provided by law, upon warrants drawn for such purpose in the manner provided by law.

     SECTION 8.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.