Philip Gunn speaks to Coast leaders

This morning, Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn recapped the 2019 Legislative Session to a room of Coast business leaders.

In three months, lawmakers were able to complete the state budget, approve a $1,500 pay raise for teachers, and work to reform criminal justice.

However, Gunn tells News 25 coming out of the session he feels his biggest accomplishment is passing a human trafficking bill.

House Bill 571 will prevent charges from being filed against trafficking victims who are younger than 18. The minor would be taken into protective custody and counseling would be provided. “One of the things that traffickers use is to scare the girls by saying you are going to jail. If you tell on us, if you report what is happening, you will go to jail. That discourages many of them from coming forward. If you can protect the girl below the age of 18 from being charged with prostitution then they have more of a freedom to come forward.”