Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Bill calls for appointed superintendents
in low performing school districts

A bill that would replace elected superintendents with appointed superintendents in low-performing districts was passed by the Senate on Wednesday.

Supporters of the bill say this will be another option for improving low-performing school districts. The bill targets districts that fell below a level 2 for two consecutive years, requiring that any district with an elected superintendent, switch to an appointed superintendent at the end of that superintendent’s term.

The legislation that was passed is a compromise worked out between Education Chairman Videt Carmichael and Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and Senate President Pro Tem Billy Hewes, who was the author of the bill.

Under the original legislation filed by Hewes, all superintendents would be appointed rather than elected. The bill, which passed by a vote of 35-15, also calls for all school board members to be elected.

Bryant also supports appointed superintendents. The Mississippi Economic Council has long supported appointed superintendents. In a recent survey conduct by MEC, 73 percent of MEC business leaders favored appointing rather than electing superintendents.

“This is a step forward on a vital issue that will improve the quality of education in our state,” said MEC President Blake Wilson. “l applaud Chairman Carmichael, Lt. Gov. Bryant, and President Pro Tem Hewes for their leadership and diligence to reach a compromise.”

Mississippi is one of only a few states that still has elected superintendents, as 65 of the state’s 152 superintendents are elected. Nationally, there are less than 150 elected superintendents, something that Sen. Alan Nunnelee pointed out.

Countering those who opposed the bill, saying it would take away the people’s right to vote, Nunnelee said it’s time Mississippi starts working to move itself from the bottom of the national rankings when it comes to education and that means do what is necessary to have the best superintendents possible. 

Hewes said the “status quo” isn’t working and that this is a step in the right direction. 

Carmichael, who has long opposed requiring all superintendents be appointed, said he is willing to compromise because the bill’s intent is to improve opportunity for children in failing school districts. 

A former educator, Carmichael became emotional when talking about a former student. “If you could just take the time to see where some of our kids are coming from to get to our schools,” Carmichael said. “We need to do whatever we can to help them.” He said, even if it meant he had to compromise, he was willing to do it in order to help students. 

Deadline approaches

The House and Senate face a deadline for floor action on Thursday. Both Chambers worked late into the evening, dealing with a number off issues. 

The House passed changes to the Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Act and defeated a bill that would have allowed land around Jackson State University to be taken for redevelopment.  

In the Senate, a bill to create a Mississippi Tourism and Film Task Force was approved, as was a bill to grant immunity from lawsuits to doctors providing care to Medicaid patients. The Senate also passed a bill that allows Sheriffs to use radar.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Senate passes election reform bill

The Senate passed a comprehensive election reform bill on Tuesday.

The bill would enact a number of changes that have been proposed by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. The election reform proposal is one of MEC's priority issues for the 2008 session

Busy Monday on both ends of Capitol

Both the Senate and House came in a little earlier than normal for a Monday, but both bodies are trying to work through lengthy calendar before Thursday's deadline.

The Senate worked through fairly none controversial bills, while the House managed to move through about 20 bills before spending an hour on a bill that would make nonviolent offenders eligible for parole earlier than the current law allows.

The Senate is returning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, while the House will come in at 10 a.m. Any bill originating in their own House that isn't acted on by Thursday will die.

Senate approves power-rate bill

A bill to allow utility companies the right to petition the Public Service Commission for permission to build new facilities with a pay as you go approach passed the Senate after an hour-long debate.

Proponents of the bill say it will save rate payers money in the long run, because the total cost of the project will be less. Currently a public utility can not begin collecting from rate payers the cost for new power generation until the facility is put into use.

Under the bill, a company would begin passing along the cost of a new facility as the plant is built. The savings would come because the interest on the construction loan to build the facility would not accumulate if the company could begin recouping its money as the facility was being built. The customers would see a much higher rate increase if the company has to wait until the facility is put into use to start recoup its money.

Publicly regulated companies are allowed to charge back to customers the cost of power generation.

Voter ID bill passes Senate.

The Senate spent almost two hours debating a voter ID bill, before it finally passed.

The bill would require a voter to present on of many different forms of ID at the polling place prior to voting. The debate fell along party lines in most cases, as many Democrats and members of the Legislative Black Caucus said they feared forcing people to use ID would intimidate voters.

Two amendments to change the bill failed, including one that would have exempted anyone born before 1945.

But the debate wasn’t without a little levity. Sen. Hob Bryan was saying that he was concerned because of a situation that arose with is father prior to the 2007 election. Bryan said his father’s driver’s license had expired and he didn’t realize it and if voter ID had been in effect, his father would not have been able to vote for him.

Bryan said Sen. Billy Hewes asked him how he knew for sure that is father did vote for him.

High School Redesign gains House approval

A bill that would allow the Mississippi Department of Education’s to continue to phase in its high school redesign program was passed Thursday afternoon.

A pilot program for redesign program was approved and funded last year. The Senate also has a companion bill that continues the program. Continuing the redesign program is one of the components of the Quality Education Act, which is an MEC priority issue. 

In 2007, MEC also supported approving the redesign program.

Keeping up fast pace

Both Chambers dealt with a large number of bills on Thursday.

Despite long debates on the voter ID bill and the power generation bill, the Senate was able to address 61 bills on its calendar. 

The House also tackled almost 50 bills, despite a long debate on a bill that raises the tax on cigarettes by $1. The bill, which needed 70 votes to pass, won approval by a vote of 74-42.

Legislators begin full day of floor action

The House and Senate spent the day dealing with a long calendar as bills that survived the committee process now require floor action.

Once the dust cleared Tuesday, less than 600 bills had gained committee approval.

Both chambers worked in morning and afternoon sessions to tackle bills. Both the Senate and House dealt with about 50 bills each.

Senate Bill provides raises for teachers for up to 30 years

The Senate passed a bill Wednesday that will allow for salary increments for teachers for up to 30 years. Currently the experience increments stop after 25 years.

Tourism task force bill advances

A House bill that would create a task force that would adress tourism opportunities was passed by the full House Wednesday.

 The Momentum Mississippi-back bill creates a group to assist with tourism growth in Mississippi.

MEC priority legislation among bills approved
by committees prior to Tuesday's deadline

Legislative committees dealt with the first major deadline concerning pending legislation on Tuesday.

Committee action on bills originating in a chamber had to be taken by 8 p.m. On both the Senate and the House side, committees met non-stop throughout the day and most had wrapped up work by 4 p.m. The Senate Judiciary A committee was the only committee with a meeting scheduled as late as 4 p.m.

The vast majority of MEC Legislative priorities are still making their way through the process. Several have been reported on in previous updates.

On Tuesday, the Senate Tourism Committee, pass a proposal to create a tourism and film task forces, and a bill that calls for appointed superintendents passed the Senate Education Committee. Among the other priorities still alive are: Portions of the Quality Education Act; the Sunshine Legislation, when opens the process for hiring outside counsel by the state's Attorney General; reauthorization of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security; and election reform legislation.

The tourism task force bill passed out of committee Tuesday was slightly different than the companion version passed in the House earlier in the session, so it will likely end up with some changes as it makes its way through the process.

The appointed superintendents’ bill faces a tougher challenge. In MEC’s fall survey, business leaders overwhelmingly supported going to a system of appointed superintendents. It was pointed out today in a Senate Education Committee meeting that there are over 14,000 school districts in the U.S. Of those, only 127 have elected superintendents and 65 of those districts are in Mississippi. This bill has faced opposition in the past and will in the future, as many legislators are opposed to doing away with elected superintendents.

Both House are convening early tomorrow, as they will begin taking up bills. The next deadline is Feb. 28 when the bills must pass on the floor in the house where it originated.

Election reform gains committee approval in the Senate

A comprehensive election reform bill, developed with the help of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, gained approval of the Senate Election Committee on Monday.

The bill, which address vote re-registration, training for election commissioners and poll workers, training for Circuit Clerks and "No Excuse" voting, will now go before the full Senate. Two components, voter identification and party registration, were removed from the original version of the bill. The election reform package is one of MEC's Legislative priority issues.

The most discussed part of the legislation was the "No Excuse" voting, which will allow voters to go to the Circuit Clerk's office in their county to vote any time during regular business hours beginning 15 days prior to the election. It will eliminate the in-person part of absentee balloting beginning 15 days out from the election and calls for circuit clerks offices to be open on the weekend prior to election day. Sen. Merle Flowers proposed an amendment to eliminate the "No Excuse" part of the bill, but the amendment was defeated.

Sen. Terry Burton, chair of the Senate Elections Committee said the voter ID part of the bill was removed because there is already a separate piece of legislation that address this issue. The party registration was removed due to a federal court case that called for party registration. That case is currently being appealed.

Health Insurance Exchange bill stays alive.

A bill to create a Health Insurance Exchange was passed out of committee on Monday, but not before a repealer was place in the bill that would keep the legislation from ever going into effect. The purpose of the repealer was to allow the legislation to continue through the process and not die. Any bill that doesn't receive committee approval by 8 p.m. tomorrow night will be dead for this session.

Governor Haley Barbour held a Health Insurance Summit on Tuesday, Feb. 5 to tout the plan. The goal is to extend health benefits to thousands of small businesses and their employees.

One day to go

Expect things to get a little hectic at the Capitol on Tuesday. General bills must be passed out of committee by 8 p.m., or the legislationdies and no further action can be taken on it.

Ethics bill clears Senate

The Senate passed an ethics reform bill on Thursday that gives more authority to the State Ethics Commission to provide opinions on issues involving public officials.

Proponents of the bill said it will allow for better enforcement of the state’s open meeting laws and restrict favorable consideration being given to a potential state employee because they are related to a state official.

 For SB 2418

 Long days

Thursday marked the third straight day that members of the Senate and House started early and were scheduled to go in the evening.

Tuesday’s committee deadline is forcing numerous committee meetings, as Legislators decide whether to bring proposed legislation to the full body. If a bill doesn’t gain approval of the committee it is assigned to, it dies and no further action can be taken on it.

MDES reauthorization bill passes House

The House on Wednesday passed a bill to that would extend the repealer on the Mississippi Department of Employment Security for three years.

The bill came out of Ways and Means on Wednesday and was sent to the floor later in the day. A similar bill has passed the Senate, however the Senate version removes the repealer completely.

One of MEC’s priority issues is to reauthorize the MDES. Under legislation passed in 2004, the former Employment Security Commission was converted to MDES, which has oversight from the governor. It also set up the Workforce Investment Board, which is designed to optimize workforce training opportunities in the state. The 2004 legislation was set to expire on June 30 of this year.

By extending the repealer the department can continue to function.  

A bill to create an advisory board to address tourism opportunities passed the House Tourism Committee on Wednesday. The bill which is backed by Momentum Mississippi will now go to the House floor.

A similar bill is making its way through the process in the Senate and expected to gain committee approval before Tuesday’s deadline.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Senate bill improves pay for experienced teachers

A bill that would increase the teacher salary experience increments to up to 30 years passed the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. Currently, the yearly experience increases stop after 25 years.

The bill also calls for providing an additional $1,000 annually for teacher who  are mentors to new teachers.

Quick day on Monday, busy week ahead

Both Chambers had a quick day on Monday, as legislators prepared for a busy week of committee meetings.

Tuesday's schedule had meetings starting at 8 a.m. and running throughout the day. The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and the House will convene at 2 p.m. The committee deadline for bills is Feb. 19. Any bill that fails to gain committee approval by the deadline will die.

Senate calls for review of state government

The Senate has passed a bill authorizing a performance review of state government.

The bill introduced by Sen. Terry Brown is designed to allow the State Audit Department to do a full review of all state agencies and look for ways the departments and government can be more efficient. Brown said this bill was supported by Lt. Governor Phil Bryant.

Under the bill, consultants could be hired to help with the process; however, Brown said the review process would call on the expertise of all departments in state government.

Under the “Mississippi Performance Review Act of 2008” a performance review commission would work as an independent group to address the following issues:

• Identify obstacles to the efficient delivery of services provided by state government agencies.
• Identify and analyze procedures and policies in other states and the federal government that could be utilized to improve the operation of Mississippi state government.
• Identify and analyze policies, procedures and equipment employed by the private sector that may be applicable to state government and that would improve efficiency.
• Conduct public hearings, establish a Web site, and create a toll-free phone line in order to receive public input on the recommendations of the commission;
• Conduct a review of the functions of state agencies, including the organization and management of programs, services and activities operated by those agencies.
• Identify overlapping functions and outmoded methodologies and advances in technology applicable to state government functions;
• Determine methods to maximize the amount of federal funds received by the state for its programs.
• Identify any state agency or any program or service now offered by a state agency that can be eliminated or transferred to the private sector without injury to the public good and well-being.
• Examine state government's fiscal and debt management practices and the financial relationships among state agencies.
• Examine the financial relationships among state agencies for purposes of streamlining accountability.
• Examine workforce issues, including benefits provided to state employees.

The commission is to report its findings to the Legislature before the 2009 session. Brown said it will then be up to the Legislature to enact any changes in the process.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Leadership Mississippi heads to The Capitol

The 2008 Leadership Mississippi Class visited The Capitol on Thursday and received an extra treat, as Mississippi native Charlie Pride was honored in the Senate and Pride also sung to the Senate.

The group also heard from Sen. Billy Hewes, a Leadership Mississippi graduate, and Rep. Tyrone Ellis.

Both talked about the legislative process and how the class could have input into the process. Joe Nosef, the chief of staff for Lt. Governor Phil Bryant also talked about the powers of the Lt. Governor and Governor. Prior to his current position, Nosef served as chief counsel for Governor Haley Barbour.

Leadership Mississippi is the second oldest leadership program in the country. It is operated by the M. B. Swayze Foundation, a subsidiary of the Mississippi Economic Council.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Labor Chairman say workforce a major challenge

Senator John Horhn and Representative Rufus Straughter said one of the most pressing issues facing Mississippi is having a trained and available workforce.

Horhn, chair of the Senate Labor Committee and Straughter, chair of the House Labor Committee, spoke at Wednesday’s MEC Legislative Scrambler. Horhn said there is a real possibility companies in Mississippi could have are jobs available, but be faced with a lack of workers qualified to do the job.

Straughter, a former educator, said a solid education is the foundation to a solid work force. He said the education has to start early so that children are prepared to learn when the get to school. “It has to start at home,” he said.

Horhn said that we have to look at the way we deliver workforce training. There seems to be too much emphasis placed on getting students ready to go to college. Horhn said not everyone is cut out for college.

Horhn said he wasn’t sure why the Lt. Governor had selected him as Labor chairman, but that he was going to spend part of his time holding hearings so he could get a better understanding on issues that normally are handled by the committee. He said there are only two bills he plans to consider and both address raising the unemployment benefit, which is currently $210 a week. But he added he would have to wait to see what Rep. Straughter might send his way.

Quiet Day at the Capitol

Both the House and Senate adjourned early Wednesday to allow Legislators to attend the funeral of House Speaker Pro Tem J.P. Compretta’s son, Jody, who was killed in an accident this past weekend.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

A few notes from Tuesday’s session

The Senate and House decided to convene early on Wednesday. Both Chambers will gavel in at 9 a.m. and expect a short session in order to allow members to attend the funeral of Jody Compretta, son of House Speaker Pro Tem J.P. Compretta.

Jody Compretta was killed in a accident as he was getting off a float in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. He was 37 and very active in community activities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast…

Bills are still being processed after Monday’s deadline for filing non-revenue legislation. It will likely take a couple of days for all of the legislation to be assigned to committee…

Monday, February 4, 2008

Senate Bill limits gaming to where it currently operates

The Senate passed a bill to limit gaming to counties that currently conduct gaming. The bill introduced by freshman Senator Lee Yancey, takes away the right for people in six Mississippi River counties and Jackson County to vote in gaming.

Several attempts to approve gaming in Jackson County have failed. Sen. Dean Kirby said the Mississippi Gaming Commission said there has been no request or interest in establishing casinos in any of the river counties.

Several senators spoke against the bill, saying the legislation takes the right of the people in the counties that qualify under current law. But the bill overwhelming passed, 36-18 after about 45 minutes of discussion. The bill will now be sent to the House.

MEC Priority Issue
Bill to reauthorize MDES passes Senate

The Senate on Monday approved a bill to permanently remove the repealer in the Mississippi Comprehensive Workforce Training and Education Consolidation Act of 2004, which created the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the Workforce Investment Board.

Under the 2004 legislation, the act was set to expire in July. Reauthorization of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security is a priority issue for the Mississippi Economic Council.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, if approved in the House, it would then go to the governor for approval.

Senate goes high-tech with Web cast

The Monday afternoon proceedings from the floor of the Senate were available with a live video feed online. The feed was provided by Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Senate moves quickly on Immigration Legislation

On Friday, the Senate passed an immigration bill that would put additional restrictions on companies that are given state contracts.

The bill’s intent is to make sure all workers employed by companies working for the state are U.S. Citizens or legal aliens. The bill calls for a verification system of all aliens to be used by the contractors. Under the legislation, a company found to have illegal workers would face fines or possible termination of the contract.

The bill was approved by the Judiciary A committee on Thursday and was debated for a little over an hour on Friday before it was finally passed by a vote of 46-5 by the full Senate.

Busy week, busier weekend for staff

With the filing deadline for all non-revenue bills falling on Monday, legislative staff members are expected to be working over the weekend finalizing language in the bills requested by Senators and Representative.

As of Friday morning, both the House and Senate had filed about 500 bills each. 

On two different occasions, legislators were startled by loud thunder that occurred during lengthy debates.

The first came as a bill to limit gaming to counties where operations already exist was being discussed in a Senate Finance Committee meeting. Early in the meeting, Sen. Dean Kirby said the bill could make history because both the casinos and the churches were in favor of it.

A little while later, during a moment of continuous debate, a loud clap of thunder startled Kirby, who asked, “You think that’s a sign?” The bill passed in committee, but no action was taken on the floor of the Senate on Friday.

Over on the House side, during the debate over education funding, loud rolling thunder could be heard during an exchange between Education Chairman Rep. Cecil Brown and Rep. Greg Snowden. Brown asked, “You’d hear that?” and Snowden responded, “I don’t know if it was intended for you or me.”

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Senate Committee addresses issue of appointed judges

The Senate Judiciary A Committee held a hearing Thursday to discuss the state’s judicial system and explored the issue of appointed appellate judges.

Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith encouraged the committee to explore options and to create a system where judges on the appellate level are appointed in Mississippi. Currently all judges are elected.

It has been the Mississippi Economic Council’s longstanding position that appellate judges should be appointed.

"MEC strongly endorses the Chief Justice’s position – and our board of directors reaffirmed it this week for emphasis,” said MEC president Blake Wilson.  “This is an excellent time for Mississippi to move forward and enact necessary reforms."

Smith said the current election process “creates an image that justice is for sale.”

The Chief Justice said the committee should look at what works in other states to determine the best way to establish the selection process. He said no one system is perfect, but there are parts of what other states are doing that work.

Judge Leslie King, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, told the Senate committee he agreed with Smith on the need for appointed judges. “Look carefully and find a solution,” King said.

Bobby Bailess, a Vicksburg attorney and President of the Mississippi Bar Association, said the organization supports forming a commission or a task force to look at the state’s judicial system, including the issue of appointed judges.

 The hearing comes after a federal investigation led to bribery charges against several Mississippi attorneys. Bailess said the goal of the commission would be “to look at the entire justice system and to restore confidence in the system.”

Education funding approved in House

The House voted 95-26 to approve an appropriation package for K-12 education. The package fully funds the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and provides almost $50 million for other education initiatives.

Much of the debate centered around the bill's plan to provide additional funds to school districts that lost students and as a result will receive less money in fiscal 2009 than the district is receiving this year. Under MAEP, the amount of money each district receives is based on average daily attendance. The House plan would provide $15.9 million for districts statewide even though those districts will have fewer students. The House approved the money, despite the fact the formula is also designed to give school administrators two years to prepare for such losses due to a drop in enrollment.

  For SB 2418

Bill to maintain MDES passes Senate Committee

The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill to permanently remove the repeal in the Mississippi Comprehensive Workforce Training and Education Consolidation Act of 2004, which created the the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the Workforce Investment Board.

Under the 2004 legislation, the act was set to expire in July. Reauthorization of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security is a priority issue for the Mississippi Economic Council.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

New approach to budgeting pleases Nunnelee;
Spending one-time money concerns Stringer

Sen. Alan Nunnelee touted rules changes that will make the state’s budgeting process more open, during MEC’s Legislative Scrambler on Wednesday.

Nunnelee, chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, and Rep. Johnny Stringer, chairman of the House Appropriation Committee, were the featured speakers during the second week of the legislative breakfast.

Nunnelee said by adjusting the deadline calendar, conference reports for appropriations now fall on a Wednesday and he plans to give Senators an opportunity to review bills before voting on them. Bills filed by the conference committees are bills agreed on by members of both the House and Senate. Once filed, the legislation requires floor approval.

Stringer said that he has had an opportunity to review Gov. Haley Barbour’s proposed budget, and is pleased to see full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. However, he was concerned over plans to move funds from the Katrina relief fund and the tobacco settlement fund. He said this would be using one-time money in order to balance the budget.

This was the second of the weekly, Wednesday morning breakfasts. Next week, Labor Committee chairmen, Sen. John Horhn and Rep. Rufus Straughter, will be the featured speakers.

There was a flurry of activity at the Capitol on Wednesday, as legislators were trying to make sure all requests were made in order to have bills drafted. The drafting deadline was the first major deadline of the session and all non-revenue bills must be filed by Monday.

Mettetal switching parties

According to The Clarion-Ledger, Sen. Nolan Mettetal of Sardis is switching to the Republican Party. Mettetal, who first won the Senate seat in 1996, told the newspaper, conservatives were "no longer welcome in the Democratic party."  Democrats still hold a 27-25 edge in the Senate.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Quality Education Act among Senate bills

We are one day away from the deadline to request that bills be drafted and the deadline for filing non-revenue bills is Monday. More than 460 Senate bills have already been filed, and there are 360 House bills already assigned to committee. But if past years are any gauge, expect about 1,500 bills to be filed in both Chambers.

A Senate version of the Mississippi Quality Education Act was filed this week by Sen. Videt Carmichael, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. The bill's summary addresses, at least in some measure, all nine elements of the proposal that the Mississippi Economic Council supports.

The key elements are:

There are also some bills pending that address individual parts of the act, such as shifting from elected county superintendents of education to appointed superintendents. Two House bills have been filed that would do away with appointed superintendents. Mississippi is one of the few places in the U.S. that still elects superintendents of education.

 For SB 2418

Monday, January 28, 2008

"Sunshine Bill" sent to House

A motion to reconsider Senate Bill 2188 was tabled on Monday. The bill had passed the full body on Friday but was held. By tabling the motion, the Senate bill will now go to the House of Representatives.

For more details on the bill, see Friday's update below.

Preparing for first deadline

Neither the House nor the Senate spent much time in session on Monday. It will be a busy week as the deadline for requesting bills be drafted is Wednesday.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Senate passed legislation Friday to require the Attorney General to be more open about the way he assigns cases to legal counsel hired on a contract basis.

Commonly referred to as the Sunshine Bill, Senate Bill 2188, outlines a new process the state’s Attorney General would have to follow before hiring attorneys that do not work for his office to represent the state.

A similar bill was passed in the Senate last year, but it failed to gain approval in the House.

Under the legislation, which was approved by a vote of 29-18, the AG’s office would be required to bid any work that is expected to garner more than $500,000 in attorney’s fees. All bids would be reviewed by the Personal Service Contract Review Board.

However, the Attorney General would have still have the option of choosing whichever bid he felt was best.

The bill also limits the amount of the contingency fees to $1 million above and beyond the actual costs.

Senators in favor of this bill said previous litigation has prompted a need to change the procedure. Sen. Joey Fillingane, chairman of the Senate Judiciary A Committee, pointed to fees of $14 million received by Joey Langston in the state’s case against now-defunct WorldCom.

The bill also calls for a seven-day notification prior to the Attorney General’s office taking legal action on behalf of any state agency, “unless irreparable inquiry to the state would result by waiting for the expiration of the seven-day period.” After the seven days, the Attorney General could file suit without the consent of the executive director of the agency.

Passage of the bill was the first piece of major legislation to come from the Senate this session that created a lengthy debate. Several members of the Senate question whether or not this conflicted with the Attorney General’s constitutional powers. Fillingane said it didn’t. Sen. Alice Harden said she did not understand why the authors of the bill had not made an effort to talk with current Attorney General Jim Hood. Hood has said through media reports he opposes the bill.

When asked if the same bid rules applied for other agencies, Filliagane said contracts of more than $100,000 are subject to the bid process for all other state agencies.

 For SB 2188

Jones sworn in

Senator Kenny Wayne Jones was sworn in and seated on Friday after a week-long special hearing over the election in Senate District 21.

Jones had beaten incumbent Joseph Thomas, but Thomas had contested the election. A special appointed Senate panel ruled on Thursday that Jones should be seated and the Senate adopted a resolution from the committee, which allowed Jones to be sworn in.

Short day for House

The House did not take up any legislation on Friday; however, two bills were passed on Thursday to provide additional funds for Medical and the Department of Mental Health.

Under the legislation, the Department of Mental Health would receive an additional $59.5 million in the current budget year and $20 million would go to community mental health centers. A bill to provide non-emergency transportation to Medicaid patients for dialysis treatments was approved.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Barbour delivers budget proposal to Legislature

As promised earlier in the week, Governor Haley Barbour unveiled his budget today, calling for only a 0.4 percent increase in the state's budget for fiscal 2008. All totaled, the budget comes to $5.6 billion.

Key highlights of the budget recommendation, according to the governor's office are:

● Maintains commitment to fiscal responsibility
● Funds education reforms to improve results
● Increases support for improving transportation for job
creation
● Promotes public health and essential social services
● Provides the necessary management tools to save taxpayer
dollars

 For More

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Taxes, bonds topics at MEC Scrambler

MEC kicked of its Legislative breakfast program, as the first MEC Scrambler got under way at 7:30 a.m. at Dennery's Restaurant. Sen. Dean Kirby, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Percy Watson, chair House Ways and Means committee, were the speakers for the opening Scrambler.

Both Kirby and Watson said the state would have to issue some general obligation bonds for things other than economic development and job creation. On Monday, Gov. Haley Barbour said he didn't plan to sign any bond bill this session unless it was designed to create jobs.

Kirby said there were some previous commitments that the state must meet that would require bonds, while Watson pointed out that in some instances there would be a need for bonds to cover the cost repairs to building at state universities.

Committee work begins

The organizational process continues for committees, as many met for the first time on Wednesday. The House education committee met and heard from Dr. Hank Bounds, state superintendent of education. His talk focused on schools that are under performing.

The Senate education committee will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m.