Fitch unveils Attorney General’s legislative agenda
Jan 9, 2025-Attorney General Lynn Fitch has shared her five-part agenda for the 2025 Legislative Session, which includes bills to empower Mississippi families, secure our communities, advance election integrity, safeguard children’s health, and protect public funds.
“This agenda is designed to empower Mississippi families, ensure safe and secure communities, protect our children, and promote integrity and transparency in our elections and government,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am grateful for our partners in the Legislature, and I look forward to working with them in the 2025 session to move these initiatives forward.”
Attorney General Fitch’s agenda includes:
Supporting Women and Families:
- Enact paid parental leave for state employees;
- Require past-due child support to be collected from casino winnings;
- Establish the Public Assistance Programs Study Committee so that no federal money that can help meet the needs of our most vulnerable is left on the table;
- Ensure that every parent has a right to decide their child’s education, care and upbringing through the Parents’ Bill of Rights;
- Prohibit cell phones in classrooms during instructional hours; and
- Require all Mississippi students to take personal finance.
Ensuring Safe Communities by Securing Justice:
- Update Mississippi’s Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights;
- Prevent child exploitation by making child grooming a crime;
- Support victims of human trafficking while strengthening expungement statute; and
- Create a sliding scale for misdemeanor assessments deposited into the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund.
Promoting Election Integrity:
- Address criminal ballot harvesting; and
- Stop out-of-state dark money influence in Mississippi elections with improved transparency in our campaign finance laws.
Safeguarding Health and Safety of Minors:
- Correct age discrepancies in the Mississippi Juvenile Access Prevention Act; and
- Prohibit illegal vaping products from being sold in Mississippi.
Protecting Mississippians Money:
- Create an Opioid Settlement Fund Committee to distribute the more than $300 million secured through settlements with opioid manufacturers, distributors, and others who contributed to the opioid epidemic; and
- Require audits of nonprofit organizations that receive $10 million or more in public funds.
