Legislative Update – February 17, 2023

20 Feb Legislative Update – February 17, 2023

Posted at 22:16h in Legislative Update by Clarke Wise

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February 17, 2023

Thursday, February 16, 2023 marked day 45 in the Legislative Session and the midpoint of the 90 day session. The main focus of each chamber was the introduction and consideration of Revenue and Appropriation bills. These bills are not subject to the General Bill deadline. Unlike General Bills, Revenue Bills only have a deadline to be passed on the floor (there is no deadline for committees to report Revenue/Appropriations bills.)

At this point in the session ALL of MAR’s 2023 Legislative Priorities are alive and moving through the process! The next major deadline for General Bills is Tuesday, February 28. This is the deadline for committees to report on bills from the other chamber.

Next week, MAR legislative staff will be busy meeting with the stakeholders in the software tax legislation, including Chairman Josh Harkins to fine tune the language on the SaaS bill.

The bills concerning the PCDS have been referred to their respective committees in the House and Senate. As a reminder, HB 773 passed the House as drafted and if the Senate passes the bill without any changes, HB 773 will head to the Governor’s desk. SB 2647 passed the Senate, but it contains a reverse repealer and that must be amended before it can become law. If the House amends the bill, SB 2647 will be returned to the Senate where the Senate may Concur with the changes and send the bill to the Governor or they may Decline to Concur/Invite Conference.

If the Senate invites conference, each chamber will appoint three conferees to discuss changes and produce a conference report. If at least two conferees from each chamber sign off on the conference report, the bill goes to each chamber for a straight up-or-down vote. If the bill passes, it is sent to the Governor.

Perhaps the most anticipated action in the Legislature thus far is the introduction of legislation dealing with the personal income tax. This week, Legislators could see a variety of proposals including full elimination of the personal income tax, reduction in the car tag fee, a direct rebate to taxpayers, and/or expediting the already passed phase out of certain personal income tax brackets.

One other item of note, at this point in the session, the Senate will begin to receive nominations for confirmation. MAR makes recommendations to the Governor for positions to the Mississippi Real Estate Commission and the Mississippi Real Estate Appraisal Board. MAR will continue to monitor the Senate Nominations and report on their progress.

There are several bills that impact real estate/private property rights that are currently being evaluated by the Legislative Advocacy Team and will be reported to the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee should additional action be necessary. Some items of interest: legislation to separate the MS Appraisal Board from the MS Real Estate Commission, legislation to reduce the fee to apply/renew real estate licensees, legislation to protect the use of drones for commercial purposes, lowering the age of majority for the transfer of real property to 18, and legislation to prevent municipalities from assessing water usage based on property value.

At this point in the session, many of the bills introduced have died. While revenue and appropriations bills continue to be filed, the number of bills/resolutions introduced is quite large. Here is a breakdown of the bills filed:

Democrat		Republican		Total
Bill Type	Range	Filed	Enacted	Filed	Enacted	Filed	Enacted
House Bills	HB 1 – HB 1722	731	0	964	1	1695	1	0%
House Concurrent Resolutions	HCR 1 – HCR 38	19	0	19	0	38	0	0%
House Resolutions	HR 1 – HR 84	36	0	48	0	84	0	0%
Senate Bills	SB 2001 – SB 3100	391	0	709	0	1100	0	0%
Senate Concurrent Resolutions	SCR 501 – SCR 554	10	0	44	0	54	0	0%
Senate Joint Resolutions	SJR 999 – SJR 999	0	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Senate Resolutions	SR 1 – SR 40	14	0	26	0	40	0	0%
Total		1201	0	1810	1	3011	1	0%

Please check your email and the MAR website each week for legislative updates on MAR’s Legislative Priorities as well as updates on legislation that impacts the real estate industry. MAR staff will continue to monitor bills filed over the next couple of weeks and provide regular updates through email and www.msrealtors.org to keep you apprised of the activity at your state capitol.

Here is a detailed description on MAR’s 2023 Legislative and Regulatory Priorities (*Please remember that bills and amendments may be added to this list once additional legislation is filed or bills are amended throughout the committee process*):

Opposition to Real Estate Tax Increase

The Mississippi REALTORS® believe in the free enterprise system and oppose undue intervention by government in the affairs of American business. We oppose counterproductive taxation, governmental guidelines, regulations, rules, and procedures which unnecessarily increase consumer costs and overburden the business community.

The Mississippi REALTORS® oppose any taxation on software as a service (SaaS) for real estate and business services.

HB 968: Sales Tax and use tax; exempt sales of certain computer software and computer software services.

Principal Author: Rep. Trey Lamar

House Committee: Ways and Means

Last Action Report: Referred to Senate Finance and is subject to the 2/28/23 deadline

SB 2449: Sales and use taxes; bring forward code sections for the purpose of possible amendment.

Principal Author: Senator Josh Harkins

Additional Author: Senator Daniel Sparks

Senate Committee: Finance

Last Action Report: Refered to House Ways. And Means and is subject to the 2/28/23 deadline

Property Condition Disclosure Statement Liability

The Mississippi REALTORS® offer the benefits of our knowledge of real estate, our experience, and our technical resources to the public in general and the government which serves them. Current state law requires that a Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) be completed by sellers in transactions involving a licensee. The PCDS is a six-page form concerning the condition of residential property of 1-4 units. While the PCDS is a valuable tool in real estate transactions, the current law lacks clarity, and has been interpreted to place liability on the real estate licensee even though the seller is solely responsible for completing the form, a task in which the licensee has no role under statutory law. Current law and regulations have likewise been interpreted to hold licensees accountable for sellers’ failure to properly conduct themselves in real estate transactions involving a PCDS when the seller fails to properly complete the PCDS.

The Mississippi REALTORS® support a statutory change to clarify that licensees cannot and should not be held liable for any inaccuracy or omission in a Property Condition Disclosure Statement, and to clarify that licensees cannot and should not be disciplined or held liable with regard to a seller’s obligation to complete the PCDS or any contents thereof.

HB 773: Real estate brokers and agents; revise liability regarding disclosure statements

Principal Author: Rep. Clay Deweese

Co-Authors: Barnett, Bell (21st), Carpenter, Felsher, Ford (54th), Ford (73rd), Goodin, McKnight, Powell, Shanks, Steverson, Tubb, Yancey

House Committee: Judiciary A

Last Action Report: Passed the House of Representatives (108-7) and has been transmitted to the Senate. The bill has been referred to Business and Financial Institutions and is subject to the 2/28/23 deadline.

SB 2647: Real estate licensee; revise liability

Principal Author: Sen. Nicole Boyd

Co-Authors: Sparks, Michel, Williams, England

Senate Committee: Business and Financial Institutions and Judiciary A

Last Action Report: Passed the Senate (45-3) and has been transmitted to the House. The bill has been referred to Ways and Means and is subject to the 2/28/23 deadline.

Here is a brief summary of what the legislation (HB 773 and SB 2647) DOES and DOES NOT do:

What the bill DOES:

Clarifies that a licensee cannot and should not be held liable for any inaccuracy or omission in a PCDS
Clarifies that licensees cannot and should not be disciplined and held liable with regard to a seller’s obligation to complete and deliver the PCDS or any contents thereof

What the bill does NOT do:

Does not affect the MREC’s authority to define the PCDS form
Does not eliminate the requirement that a PCDS be completed and delivered by the seller to a prospective buyer when a licensee is involved in the transaction
Does not eliminate a seller’s duty to amend a disclosure
Does not negate Mississippi case law that a seller of real property and, by extension, his or her agent, has a legal duty to disclose any known latent defects
Does not create a “buyer beware” state because a seller and/or his/her agent can still be held liable for fraud, misrepresentation or deceit in the transfer transaction, including disclosures concerning physical condition of the property
Does not prohibit a licensee from answering questions about the PCDS or the procedures involving the PCDS
Does not prohibit a licensee from asking another licensee about a PCDS
Does not change MREC’s authority to discipline a licensee who makes any substantial misrepresentation in connection with a real estate transaction, who undertakes any misleading or untruthful advertising, or who acts in bad faith, dishonestly or fraudulently or improperly

2023 MAR Regulatory Priority

REALTORS® will be recognized by the real estate community and the public as the most valued, highly competent, and ethical professionals in the real estate industry. As the “Business Advocate for Mississippi Real Estate Professionals,” the Association will support efficient and effective governance policies and structure which enable the Association to anticipate and respond effectively to changing market conditions and opportunities. The Mississippi REALTORS® seek to cooperate with governmental agencies and to encourage compliance with all published rules and regulations which affect the real estate business.

The Mississippi REALTORS® continue to support and request a comprehensive re-write of the current Mississippi Real Estate Commission Administrative Rules and Regulations.

*Please remember that bills and amendments may be added to this list once additional legislation is filed or bills are amended throughout the committee process*

2023 MAR Legislative Watchlist

Below is a list of bills that have been monitored by MAR’s Legislative staff during this session. This list will change as the session progresses and legislation dies. *This is not an exhaustive list and some of these bills died on the first committee deadline (1/31/23) or were not approved by the original chamber before the 2/9/23 deadline.*

HB 104: Housing repair grant program; authorize issuance of bonds to provide funds for grants to low-income individuals for home repairs

HB 121: Housing Loan Assistance Pilot Program; create and authorize issuance of bonds to provide funds for

HB 246: Real property; right of first refusal expires on grantee’s death unless specifically stated otherwise

HB 280: Foreign governments; prohibit sale of agricultural lands to

HB 375: Ad valorem taxation; exempt real property

HB 390: Historic property income tax credit; revise certain provisions regarding

HB 522: Mississippi Individual On-site Wastewater Disposal System Law; extend repealer on

HB 537: Municipalities; authorize waiver of liens, under certain circumstances, for costs associated with cleaning menaced property

HB 556: “Property Clean up Revolving Fund”; establish

HB 627: Ad valorem tax; revise exemption for university, college, community or junior college foundation property

HB 663: Ad valorem taxation; provide partial exemption for certain business personal property

HB 664: Homestead exemption; increase for persons 65 years of age or older or totally disabled