House Bill 915

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 5-1-87, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE TO HAVE ONE OR MORE LINKS TO WEBSITES THAT CONTAIN INFORMATION RELATED TO BILLS THAT THEY HAVE INTRODUCED PLACED ON THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE'S BILL STATUS WEBSITE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE LEGISLATIVE PEER COMMITTEE STAFF SHALL CATEGORIZE THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITES TO WHICH THE LINKS REFER AS "EVIDENCE BASED," "RESEARCH BASED" "PROMISING PRACTICE," OR, IN THE CASE OF PROGRAM PROPOSALS THAT ARE NOT INTERVENTION PROGRAMS, AS TO STANDING AS A "BEST PRACTICE," AND THE LEGISLATURE'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STAFF SHALL PLACE THE LINKS AND THE CATEGORIZATION OF THE INFORMATION ON THE LEGISLATURE'S BILL STATUS WEBSITE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 5-1-87, Mississippi Code of 1972:

5-1-87. (1) The Legislature finds that, in order to promote the increased use of evidence-based intervention programs and best practices as the basis for proposed solutions to critical public policy concerns, legislators seeking to establish new programs shall have an opportunity to publicly provide the evidence base or best practice standing supporting the program being proposed.

(2) For any bill or concurrent resolution that is introduced by a member of the Legislature that contains provisions seeking to establish a new program or to alter an existing program that is or may be subject to performance-based budgeting guidelines or cost/benefit modeling, the primary author and/or any coauthor of the bill or resolution may have one or more links to websites that contain information related to the bill or concurrent resolution placed on the Mississippi Legislature's bill status website in the manner provided in this section.

(3) The members who wish to have those links placed on the Mississippi Legislature's bill status website must first submit the links to the Legislative PEER Committee staff for review. Within fourteen (14) days after receipt of a link or links from a member, the PEER Committee staff shall categorize the information contained on the referenced websites to which the links refer as "evidence based," "research based" or "promising practice" based on the presence and quality of research on the proposed program or proposed program alteration contained in a nationally recognized research clearinghouse. A program proposal that is not an intervention program may be classified as to its standing as a "best practice" based on whether the program or activity is found in a recognized compendium of best practices compiled for the relevant field. For purposes of this section, the term "intervention program" means a set of activities designed to achieve a specific outcome or outcomes by positively affecting the educational, economic, social, behavioral and/or health status of the citizens of the state and that may be subjected to experimental review for efficacy. The PEER Committee staff shall transmit, as an "Evidence-Based Assessment Note," its categorization of the information to the Legislature's information technology staff, who shall place the links and the categorization of the information on the Mississippi Legislature's bill status website on the web page that provides the bill or resolution text, description, background information, history of actions, amendments and additional information for the bill or resolution.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.