Attorney General Lynn Fitch shared her four-part agenda for the 2024 Legislative Session, including a crime package, campaign finance reform, bills to protect children and families, and additional initiatives under her Empowerment Project.
“Whether it is in the courtroom defending our laws, on the streets taking down human traffickers, or at college campuses distributing Fentanyl Harm Prevention Kits across the state, this office is always committed to working for Mississippi,” said Fitch. “This agenda will help to build strong families and safe communities and will give Mississippians tools to define and pursue our best future. And I am grateful to our partners in the Legislature who are working with us to advance these initiatives.”
Attorney General Fitch’s agenda includes:
Crime Package:
Create a criminal cause of action for sextortion to honor the life of Walker Montgomery;
Streamline the post-conviction legal process to get justice for victims and their families more swiftly;
Require notification of certain data breaches to the Attorney General’s Office so hackers can be held accountable;
Enhance penalties for gang violence; and
Improve notifications process to ensure parole hearings are fully informed by law enforcement, prosecutors, and victims.
Campaign Finance Reform:
Prohibit all corporate contributions over $1,000, not just those made by Mississippi corporations;
Require coordinated expenditures and coordinated communications to be reported by campaigns;
Streamline the administrative penalties process and eliminate grace periods that can put off enforcement until after bad behavior can be impacted or even after the election;
Increase criminal penalties to make them meaningful and include penalty of perjury, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, for all campaign finance reports; and
Make clear that the Secretary of State has authority to do his job to make the public reporting portal usable and ensure reports are readable and complete.
The Empowerment Project:
Create a state tax credit for employers who provide paid leave for employees for pregnancy, childbirth, adoption, and foster placement;
Enact paid maternity leave for state employees;
Require past-due child support to be collected from gaming winnings; and
Implement the recommendations of the Legislature’s Task Force on Foster Care and Adoption.
Protecting Children and Families:
Codify the definitions of sex-based words, like woman and man, to preserve opportunities, privacy, and safety for women;
Require that companies implement safety policies and procedures to protect minors on social media;
Address vaping problems for Mississippi teens;
Require personal finance for Mississippi middle and high school students;
Add the use of controlled substances by a pregnant woman to the definition of felony child abuse; and
