Legislation
Early Learning Collaborative Act
At the time, Mississippi was one of only 10 states to not have a state-wide, state-supported early education program. Utilizing a conservative, bottom-up approach, in 2013, working with Mississippi First and its founder Rachel Canter, Brice authored the law that brought high-quality, voluntary, early education to Mississippi. Two of the law’s features transformed education policy in the state and, arguably, nationally: a 1:1 tax credit that allowed individuals and corporations to by-pass Jackson and end money directly to the education collaboratives resulting in millions of dollars in private investment and placing the National Institute of Early Education Research’s (NIEER) benchmarks into statute. The law became a cornerstone of what has become known as the “Mississippi Miracle.” Combined with the “Third Grade Reading Gate” and other education reforms passed at the same time, Brice, Mississippi students have skyrocketed up national rankings in reading and other metrics. Brice, the longest serving member of the Senate Education Committee, has been on the forefront of conservative reforms in education, including consolidation of school districts, enacting public charter schools and pushing for changing the public school funding formula.
State-wide Judicial Redistricting
Reviving the Mississippi Constitutional requirement to re-district the state’s trial courts, Brice as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary A Committee spearheaded the two-year process. When adopted by the legislature in the 2025 session it became the most in-depth redistricting of the state’s courts for the first time in 40 years. With it, it set the table for Republican areas of the state to be represented in the judiciary.
Katie’s Law
Calling on his past as an Assistant D.A. prosecuting criminals, Brice worked with DNA Saves, a national non-profit whose founder’s daughter was murdered and whose killer was only identified in an unrelated case when DNA could have solved it.(DNA Saves is now under the umbrella of DNA Justice Project. The law requires DNA to be collected after all felony arrests, not just convictions, important because many felony cases either result in pleading to a lesser charge or not a conviction at all. Once collected, it is placed in the national CODIS database to be cross-checked by law enforcement to determine if the arrested felon has committed any other crime in other jurisdictions.
Lonnie Smith Act
Soon after leaving the District Attorney’s office, in a horrible crime, the birth mother of Lonnie, and infant, put Lonnie in a pot of boiling hot water. While she ultimately pled to a charge and went to prison, the law at the time was not adequate to allow her to be charged with felony child abuse. Working with the Mississippi Prosecutors Association, Brice authored the initial legislation that became Lonnie’s Act. As a result, prosecutors across the State of Mississippi were given stronger laws to charge felony child abuse.
Gulf Coast Registration Fund (GCRF)
In the wake of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of America (then Gulf of Mexico, and soon after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina) Mississippi received hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to be paid out over more than a decade. Determined that the lack of oversight and proper spending seen after Hurricane Katrina damages, Brice committed to authoring legislation. In the 2018 Special Session, his bill passed, establishing what has become known as the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund directing hundreds of millions of dollars to the bottom-six counties of Mississippi who saw the largest economic damages from the BP Oil Spill. Brice, in his role as a senior Appropriations member, has overseen the legislative process to appropriate the funds. With his tutelage, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development have revitalized cities across Mississippi’s “Bottom Six Counties” and spurred economic activity that has never been seen. Additionally, the legislation directed $10 million a year to other parts of the state to address state-wide the damages brought on by the spill.
DMR Accountability Act
In 2012, then Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves named Brice Chairman of the Senate Ports and Marine Resources Committee, one of only two freshmen to be named a chairman. Brice set to work to address the Department of Marine Resources whose director, Dr. Bill Walker, ended up in prison as a result of financial mismanagement and fraud. Brice authored the DMR Accountability and Reorganization Act that brought annual audits and legislative oversight to the agency. Since then, DMR has had carried out its mission in a fiscally responsible way and has served as a model for how an agency should utilize the funds it receives from the state and the federal government.
