Senate Bill 2296

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL SECURITY IN PUBLIC PURCHASING ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) This act may be cited as the "Mississippi National Security in Public Purchasing Act."

(2) For the purposes of this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, university, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes.

(b) "Political subdivision" means any body politic or body corporate other than the state responsible for governmental activities only in geographic areas smaller than that of the state, including, but not limited to, any county, municipality, school district, charter school, volunteer fire department that is a chartered nonprofit corporation providing emergency services under contract with a county or municipality, community hospital as defined in Section 41-13-10, airport authority, or other instrumentality of the state, whether or not the body or instrumentality has the authority to levy taxes or to sue or be sued in its own name.

(c) "Technology-related" equipment means any device capable of downloading, accessing, collecting, transferring, manipulating, storing, processing or transferring electronic data, including but not limited to: business and personal computing devices, including tablets and smartphones, printers, televisions, video cameras, servers, modems, routers, hard drives, headsets and aerial surveillance drones.

(d) "Hostile foreign nation" means any foreign nation who is:

(i) Determined by the U.S. Department of Defense to be openly hostile to the interests of the United States; or

(ii) Determined by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to be in violation of international human rights law; or

(iii) One of the following countries: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia or Syria.

SECTION 2. It is the policy and the will of the Mississippi Legislature that the State of Mississippi avoid any national security risk in the business dealings of this state and to avoid all business dealings with countries that violate international human rights laws. The Mississippi Legislature recognizes that the United States Congress has banned the Department of Defense from purchasing and using drones and other components manufactured in China due to national security risk, and this act seeks to do the same and more in Mississippi.

SECTION 3. (1) It shall be an unlawful practice for any state agency or political subdivision to purchase with public funds any technology-related equipment manufactured within the borders of a hostile foreign nation or by a company headquartered within the borders of or having significant corporate or political ties with a hostile foreign nation.

(2) The use of any technology-based equipment owned by a state agency or political subdivision in violation of this chapter as of the passage of this act shall cease as of July 1, 2024. The agency or subdivision must sell or otherwise dispose of the equipment by January 1, 2025.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.