Senate dispenses with routine readings, moves 63 bills as "pass and retain," schedules committee meetings and recesses

The Senate on Tuesday dispensed with routine readings of the journal, committee reports and the titles of bills and resolutions, placed 63 bills on the calendar as "pass and retain," scheduled multiple committee meetings for the following day and agreed to adjourn in memory of several residents before standing in recess until the final committee report was filed.

Senator Blackwell moved to dispense with the reading of the journal; the presiding officer called a voice vote and the motion passed. Blackwell also moved to dispense with the reading of the committee reports and later to dispense with the reading of the titles of bills and resolutions; both motions were carried by voice vote, with the presiding officer saying the "ayes have it." Declarations on the calendar included the clerk's note that there were "63 bills, all of which are pass and retain." The transcript does not list bill numbers or sponsors for those measures, and no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.

The floor session included a series of scheduling announcements: Judiciary A and Judiciary B meetings were set for the morning, the Elections Committee for 2:30 p.m. in Room 407, Technology in Room 210 at 9:00 a.m., Appropriations and Finance committee times were announced for the following day, and several standing and special committees (including Insurance, Public Health and Welfare, Drug Policy, Ports and Marine Resources, and others) gave specific meeting times and rooms. Several senators also announced receptions (including a Mississippi Hospitality Association reception) and other informal gatherings scheduled for the evening.

Multiple senators requested that the Senate adjourn in memory of local residents and public servants; the transcript records requests to adjourn in memory for William Gardner Hughes Jr.; John Bankhead; Kaye Alford; Peggy Moffitt; Donna Hill; Joseph Johnston of Vicksburg; and others. Those adjourn-in-memory requests were made during the announcements portion of the session and were recorded on the floor.

Senator Blackwell moved that the Senate stand in recess until the last committee report was filed and that the journal reflect the Senate would adjourn until 10 a.m. the next day; the motion was carried by voice vote and the Senate stood in recess.

The session opened with a guest from New Hebron Baptist Church offering an invocation and included the pledge of allegiance; the invocation and ceremonial remarks are noted in the transcript but are not the subject of this procedural summary.