Mississippi Democratic Rep. Jay Hughes says he’ll introduce a “suspension resolution” today in the state legislature. The resolution, as he explains in a Facebook post, is the first step to repealing HB 1523, the anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ law.
HB1523 – Repeal? What will it take? Since the deadline for the introduction of new bills has passed, a “Suspension Resolution” will have to be filed in the House. Then, the Speaker will have to allow it to come up for a vote on the floor. It would then take 2/3 of all house members to vote to suspend the rules, and allow a bill to repeal 1523 to be introduced and voted upon.
From there, it would go to the other chamber – where the Lt. Gov would have to allow a vote. Assuming all pass, it would go to the Gov.
Nothing can happen if we do not take the first step. So, tomorrow morning I will join with many other legislators to introduce a suspension resolution. We call this the “Mississippi Economic and Tourism Recovery Act.”
Mississippi has been here before – we must give reasonable minds and the principles of democracy an opportunity to be heard. Repeal HB1523. All Mississippians are equal.
Jay Hughes
It ALL starts with education!
Do the repeal efforts have a chance? The Clarion-Ledger doesn’t seem to think so:
Such a suspension of rules and deadlines — a very rare occurrence in the Legislature — would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. This would appear doubtful, given the margins by which the final bill passed: 69-44 in the House and 32-17 in the Senate.
