Each year, MFA monitors hundreds of bills introduced in the Mississippi Legislature and alerts members to legislation affecting the forestry community.  While the Mississippi Legislature is in session, MFA provides members with a weekly Legislative Bulletin outlining legislative activity, particularly subject areas regarding forestry.  MFA also partners with national organizations to support federal legislation and initiatives that support the interest of forestry.

In recent years MFA's lobbying efforts and members have been instrumental in the passage of significant legislation including:

2023 - Senate Bill 2559 removed the ever-present repealer on the code section that authorizes harvest permits. When enacted back in the 1990s, the section contained a repeal provision. During the year of repeal, the legislature has been routinely extending the law for another four years. This year, Senate Highways and Transportation Chair Jenifer Branning introduced the bill with a four-year extension. As the bill moved through the process, she was able to completely remove the repealer date, making it more permanent and out of the four-year routine of taking a look at the authorization. 

Another piece of significant legislation, Senate Bill 2525, was introduced by Senate Forestry Committee Chair Tyler McCaughn. The new law creates the Mississippi Forestry Facility Grant Fund and Program. Its purpose is to provide grant funds for utility, infrastructure, and transportation projects for designated forestry facility projects with investments of $10 million and over.

Senate Bill 2548 was enacted to clarify timber load length restrictions. The limitation for any vehicle transporting projecting loads will be the same restrictions for daylight or nighttime hours.

Senate Bill 3120 provided $100 million to the Mississippi Department of Transportation for the Emergency Road and Bridge Fund. 

2022 - Specific successful legislation for forestry interests included HB 1485. Provisions in current law that allow for 84,000 pounds on harvest permit vehicles were continued forward. A previously-passed provision in the law triggers that allowance to 88,000 pounds on July 1, 2023. 

Two other forestry-related bills were signed into law. Senate Bill 2519 clarified the requirement for truckloads of timber products traveling from sunset to sunrise be equipped with a rotating or oscillating amber strobe type lamp or light-emitting diode light on loads that extend four feet or more beyond the rear or body of the vehicle.

Senate Bill 2517 provides an opportunity for loggers to be proactive in safety efforts. The Commissioner of Public Safety will create a voluntary program for inspections that will result in documentation of that inspection to have available for road checks.

2021 - The cream of the crop for 2021 was SB 2825. This transportation-focused bill has multiple purposes. It transfers law enforcement personnel and law enforcement duties related to The Motor Carrier Regulatory Law from the Mississippi Transportation Commission and the Mississippi Department of Transportation to the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division within the Department of Public Safety (DPS). It also transfers the Appeals Board of the Transportation Commission to the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division of DPS. The bill includes a transfer of $89,000,000 of highway infrastructure program funds received from the federal CARES Act to the Emergency Road and Bridge Fund.

A major change within the legislation, effective July 1, 2023, is in the weight tolerance for a vehicle operating under the harvest permit law. The tolerance is increased from 84,000 to 88,000 pounds; penalties are adjusted accordingly. A policy council is also created to devise recommendations for best practices for harvest permit holders. The Harvest Permit Transportation Stewardship Council will exist from July 1, 2021, until July 1, 2023. There will be 20 members representing agriculture and forestry interests, as well as cities, counties, and related leadership positions in the legislature and private sector.

House Bill 628 is another transportation-related bill. It revises the weigh categories for privilege taxes from 80,000 to 84,000 pounds to be inclusive of the harvest permit holders. It provides that a license plate may be obtained designated as an "HP" license plate. This plate assists loggers crossing state lines with a load of logs.

2020 - A priority of the association was to clarify the entitlement to a one and a half percent sales tax on logging equipment. The 2009 Legislature had reduced the tax from three percent to one and a half percent, but a recent interpretation of legislative intent cast a question on the eligibility for certain equipment. SB 2319 cleared both houses and was signed by the Governor on June 23, making the intent very clear to the Department of Revenue.

Another positive piece of legislation for loggers was SB 2716. This bill also received final approval of the Governor in late June. It provides that the Mississippi Department of Transportation issue permits for heavy logging vehicles as loggers move them from site to site.

Landowners across the state pay a forest acreage tax that is dedicated to fund the purchase of firefighting equipment for the Mississippi Forestry Commission. The renewal of the tax was approved, and the customary sunset language for periodic review of this tax was removed.

A fear of COVID-19 included the liability of businesses regarding possible alleged exposure to customers. The legislature addressed the matter with the passage of SB 3049, providing certain immunity to businesses, schools, and medical facilities as these entities operate in an environment where COVID-19 continues to exist.

2019 - The Mississippi Legislature funded certain amounts in agency and higher education budgets to provide raises for those who had not seen one in recent years. Of particular interest to the forestry community is the Mississippi Forestry Commission. The Commission's FY 20 budget provides ample funding to cover an increased contribution to the Public Employees Retirement System on behalf of its employees and a slight increase in dollars to allow the agency to complete its realignment of some positions that will provide higher salaries.

The Forestry Commission had four gubernatorial appointees approved by the Senate: Jim Luckett; Mike Mikell, Pat Thomasson and Al Hankins Jr.

Key legislation passed during the Session included HB 754, extending the harvest permit program and adding two additional qualifiers, haulers of wood pellets and bulk feed. Another major accomplishment was the passage of SB 2901, the Landowners Protection Act. The bill protects landowners from willful and intentional criminal actions of third parties on their land.

A couple of other measures of interest were also approved. HB 1329 provides that rear and front projecting loads of vehicles may extend to the length allowed be federal law. This includes vehicles transporting forest or agricultural products in their natural state. HB 1307 dealt with issues on land tax sales. The bill provides that no purchaser of land at any tax sale nor the holder of legal title under him by descent or distribution, shall have any right of action to challenge the validity of the tax sale.