Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes a University System Efficiency Task Force to examine the efficiency of state public universities in Mississippi.

Highlights:

• Establishes a “Mississippi University System Efficiency Task Force” to examine the effectiveness of the public university system in Mississippi (Sec. 1). 

• Requires the task force to develop recommendations to the Legislature on changes to policy and laws in Mississippi to help plan for future demographic shifts and enrollments (Sec. 1). 

• Specifies the members of the task force to either be the chairman, committee member, or designee from the following: 

• Appropriation Committee of the Mississippi Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives; 

• Finance Committee of the Mississippi Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives; 

• Director of the University Research Center and State Economist; 

• A designee who holds an undergraduate degree from a public regional university in Mississippi; 

• A designee who holds an undergraduate degree from a public historically black university in Mississippi; and

• A designee who holds an undergraduate degree from a public research university in Mississippi. 

• Requires the task force to meet within forty-five days of the effective date of the act (Sec. 1). 

• Clarifies the duties of the task force: develop plans, addressing challenges, collecting publicly available data (Sec. 1 ). 

• Authorizes the task forces’ meetings to be held at the State Capitol (Sec. 1). 

• Establishes compensation for the members of the task force who are not state employees to be at the per diem rate and reimbursed for any mileage or other expenses incurred during their duties (Sec. 1). 

Full Bill Text