Legislative agenda for The Empowerment Project detailed

Attorney General Lynn Fitch has outlined details of the 2024 legislative agenda for The Empowerment Project, the policy initiative focused on empowering women and promoting strong Mississippi families that she unveiled last year.

“Thanks to the Legislature’s support of The Empowerment Project last year, we have helped thousands of families find the resources they need to support their families, extended healthcare coverage for new mothers, assisted families who lovingly offer forever homes to a child in need, and offered tax relief to make childcare more affordable,” said Fitch. “Mississippi has made a meaningful impact in a short time and has inspired other states to follow our example. I am grateful for the support and assistance of legislators in this session who are eager to continue showing the nation what it means to offer hope, love and support for all women and all children.”

Fitch’s 2024 Empowerment Project agenda is comprised of legislation to require past-due child support be collected from gaming winnings, as well as legislation to promote workplace flexibility, including:

• Creating a state tax credit for employers who provide paid leave for employees for pregnancy, childbirth, adoption, and foster placement; and
• Enacting paid maternity leave for state employees.

In addition, together with partners at Child Protection Services (CPS), Fitch is proposing legislation to implement the legislative recommendations of the Legislature’s Task Force on Foster Care and Adoption, including:

• Exempting adoptions involving CPS from adoption fees;
• Streamlining the process for voluntary release of parental rights;
• Revising the definition of neglect to prioritize the attention of the system on the children most in need of State assistance and care;
• Requiring appointment of counsel to an indigent, custodial parent who is a party in an abuse, neglect, or TPR case; and,
• Allowing courts to establish minimum child visitation schedules for noncustodial parents, if visitation is in the best interest of the child and child support is ordered.

Learn more about The Empowerment Project at AttorneyGeneralLynnFitch.com/TheEmpowermentProject.