Last week we passed further legislation to protect our minor children from predators who increasingly use the Internet to exploit them.

Our passage of Senate Bill 2807 will mandate that film processors and computer repair persons alert authorities anytime they find materials that indicate child abuse in any form.

In recent years, we have seen children victimized by adults who use the Internet.  Savvy sexual predators often times use computers as a means of transferring illicit images of children. This law would give computer repair persons immunity when they provide law enforcement with information of child exploitation.

Along the same lines, we adopted Senate Bill 2479 that makes it illegal to buy or sell children. There have been cases reported in which a parent has tried to sell a child or children, often in an exchange for drugs. This bill will allow the courts to issue up to a 10-year jail sentence and a $20,000 fine upon conviction of that specific offense.

Senate Bill 2032 passed and makes it a felony for a retailer to misrepresent the grade of gasoline they sell. There have been instances where 87 octane gasoline was deceptively sold as either 89 octane or 91 octane at a higher price. We see this bill as a means of properly punishing those who are caught defrauding the public.

We passed Senate Bill 2360 to give employers the right to have drug and alcohol testing performed on employees who are injured on the job or involved in accidents while possibly under the influence. Many companies already have policies that give them the authority to order drug testing in those instances. This spreads across the board the ability of employers to exercise this safety measure.

And in this time when more citizens are concerned about the safety of themselves and their families, we passed Senate Bill 2306 that will allow citizens who have obtained concealed weapons carry permits to be able to exercise that right while in a public park.

Two transportation-related bills took the safety of drivers into consideration. Senate Bill 2148 would require motorists to turn on their headlights when driving in the rain to increase visibility and cut down on accidents.

And Senate Bill 3066 would force operators of dump trucks to cover the bed of their vehicles to prevent cargo from falling onto the road where it could become a hazard or cause damage to other vehicles. This could reduce the number of broken and cracked windshields on our roads.

Our passage of Senate Bill 2147 will make it a felony for persons to sell a counterfeit controlled substance. Some persons have been arrested for selling what they claimed was an illegal drug, but turned out to be counterfeit. Now if caught, those persons would face up five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

And in the age of global terrorism, our passage of Senate Bill 3100 makes official the state’s Office of Homeland Security, which will operate within the Department of Public Safety. There is no additional cost to the state, as the personnel are already in place.

A number of voting-related bills also passed the Senate this week. Among them were:

4Voter ID, Senate Bill 2548, which passed 32/17, and will require photo identification to be presented when voting.

4 Senate Bill 3035 that requires persons who assist the elderly or disabled voters in casting a ballot to identify themselves.

4 Senate Bill 3041, which empowers the Secretary of State to revise or purge voter registration books.

Our bills now will be sent to the House of Representatives for their approval.

Please contact me at 601-359-3244 or e-mail me at bdearing@senate.ms.gov.

Bob Dearing is a Mississippi senator who represents Adams County.