Category: JFP
[Desk] Wednesday, Jan. 17?House Passes 19 Bills
by Adam Lynch
Mississippi State Desk
January 17, 2006
The House engaged almost solely in committee meetings all day, convening briefly at 2 p.m. to pass 19 bills, 14 of those Senate commendations for things like the ?Magnolia Heights School Football Team for 2006 State Championship and undefeated season? or commending ?the life of Iraq casualty Sergeant Courtland A. Turner.? The other five bills were House bills such as HB 555, which extends the existence of the embattled Mississippi State Board of Health. Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville said he expected Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee Chairman Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, to enter his own bill to revamp the administration but entered HB 555 as a safety net preserving the organization if the Senate?s bill gets bogged down in argument. Other bills such as HB 566 provides a birth certificate for stillborn infants, while HB 801 increases paid training hours of poll workers.
Posted by ladd at 09:35 PM on 01/17/07. Discuss (2)
[Desk] Mississippi Democrats Blasting Haley Barbour
The Mississippi Democratic Party today announced an ad campaign blasting Gov. Haley Barbour. From a statement on their Web site:
A television ad campaign commissioned and funded by the Mississippi Democratic Party outlines how Republican Gov. Haley Barbour has failed to play straight with Mississippians on several high-profile issues. The ad highlights Barbour?s conflicting stand on taxes and education funding. And it points out that many Coast residents remain homeless and in trailers despite the state?s Katrina Homeowners Assistance Grant Program. The ad will begin airing on broadcast stations across the state this week.[...]
The ad talks about how Barbour says he opposes raising taxes but nevertheless vetoed bills during the 2006 Legislature that would have eliminated or reduced the state?s 7 percent tax on the sale of groceries. The ad also talks about how Barbour says he supports Hurricane Katrina victims. But despite the Homeowners Assistance Grant Program, one of Barbour?s top storm relief programs, thousands of people are without homes and continue to live in trailers.
Finally, the ad talks about the governor?s flip-flop on funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, a state-funded program designed to ensure K-12 students receive an education on par with a Level 3, or mid-level, accredited school.
Script here. Here’s a factsheet.
Posted by ladd at 04:46 PM on 01/17/07. Discuss (6)
[Desk] Clarion-Ledger Supports Barbour’s Crime Ideas
The Clarion-Ledger editorialized today on behalf of Barbour’s proposals to target felons who commit gun crimes (harder than non-felons who commit and to ratchet up the drug war in Mississippi. The editorial closes with:
Drugs are the driving force behind much of the crime that affects average Mississippians. Increasing the number of state narcotics officers would bolster enforcement locally, which is especially needed in light of federal budget cuts. Fighting drugs and illegal guns is effective crime fighting.
The question is: What is the research to support their last statement? Does the drug war lower crime?
Posted by ladd at 12:00 PM on 01/17/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] Mississippi GOP ‘Liberal’-Baits Sen. Gloria Williamson
It seemed to really tick off the state GOP when a Democratic senator made the political statement that voters need to elect a “genuine Democrat” to take back the seat of state Sen. James Shannon Walley who just defected from the Dems to the GOP for the upcoming election. She stated in a Democratic press release:
?This district is made up of hard-working people who support Democratic issues such as strong public schools, a higher minimum wage, strong health care, lower grocery taxes and Medicaid,? Williamson said. ?A Democrat will win this seat on these issues.?
In a snarky press release posted on their Web site, the GOP ripped at the senator from Neshoba County for daring to say the g-word:
Senator Gloria Williamson, the chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Party Caucus, recently boasted that Democrats will re-take the seat of Sen. James Shannon Walley, qualified for re-election as a Republican. “A Democrat will win this seat...,” said Williamson. In that statement Keelan Sanders, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, echoed Williamson: “The voters will elect a genuine Democrat.”
What does the Mississippi Democratic Party consider a “genuine Democrat?” Further more, does Mississippi really need more of them? Let’s look at Gloria Williamson:
Posted by ladd at 11:38 AM on 01/17/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] Melton Taps Leland Speed for Jackson Eco-Devo
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton announced that former Mississippi Development Authority Director Leland Speed will be the next director of the Jackson Revelopment Agency, which coordinates large developments in the city. This announcement is politically ironic because Melton’s staunchest supporters in Jackson’s black community do not like Speed at all, and see him as the symbol of white racism in the city. Last September, Melton supporter Charles Tisdale wrote in his Jackson Advocate editorial that Leland Speed is a primary reason that Harvey Johnson would want back into office. Tisdale writes:
?Undoubtedly the unfinished business is to finish selling out to the likes of Leland Speed and John Elkington (Beale Street developer), so they can more efficiently destroy black neighborhoods and culture.?
Sure enough, on Tuesday night, typical Melton follower Kenneth Stokes was outraged by the Speed announcement, saying: “I’m not going to curse. But I’m going to have to see what he’s going to be able to do. As of today, I’m not that kind of believer.”
Read more about the bizarre politics of Melton-Speed-Tisdale & Co. here.
Posted by ladd at 11:26 AM on 01/17/07. Discuss (6)
[Desk] Barbour Gives Good News at ?State of the State? Speech
by Adam Lynch
Mississippi State Desk
January 16, 2007
Gov. Haley Barbour delivered oodles of great tidings Monday night at his State of the State address in the House Chambers, even as some legislators were quick to point out the details he left out. (Click here for speech transcript.)
Barbour touted the spending the state is lavishing on its education system, saying education ?has been funded at record levels.? Lawmakers gave schoolteachers two 8-percent pay raises and appropriated state funding for K-12 to increase 19 percent. Barbour announced that the state is spending $323 million more on K-12 and promised that if lawmakers adopt his budget, K-12 will receive a $480 million increase during his administration.
Posted by ladd at 11:40 AM on 01/16/07. Discuss (2)
[Live Blog] Barbour’s ‘State of the State’ Address Verbatim
Madam Lt. Governor, Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature, distinguished guests and fellow Mississippians: For the fourth time I?m honored to report to you on the State of our State. I treat tonight as very special, for tonight is the eighth, and at least for now, the last time Lt. Governor Amy Tuck will be on this podium for a governor?s State of the State address. And Governor Tuck, I consider it my privilege to recognize and salute you for your dedicated and effective service to the people of Mississippi.
As you know, the Lt. Governor lost her dear mother a few weeks ago. Amy, you have been in Marsha and my thoughts and prayers . . . and so have the families of your colleagues, Senator Bunky Huggins, Senator Billy Harvey and Rep. Mae Whittington . . .and even this weekend we lost one of the true gentlemen of this Legislature, Representative Leonard Morris. Please lift up Belinda and their daughters in your prayers. Now I ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer in memory of these fine public servants.
Despite our losses and difficulties we have so much to be thankful for. For me that starts with the First Lady who has been my first lady for thirty-five years. Whether in the weeks and months after Katrina, when she went to the Coast seventy of the first ninety days to help our people most in need, to when she sets an example with, ?Haley, let?s go walking?, to tonight, when she told me my speech is too long; Marsha has been the centering influence for me and my family. I appreciate her and am very grateful for her.
Posted by ladd at 06:11 PM on 01/15/07. Discuss (22)
[Desk] Youth Justice Rally Draws Hundreds
by Matt Salda?a and Brian Johnson
Mississippi State Desk
Jan. 15, 2007
On a drizzling Martin Luther King Day morning, students, parents and advocates marched onto the Capitol?s south steps to call for educational reform and protest the incarceration of more than 1,000 Mississippi children. The rally, organized by the Mississippi Coalition for the Prevention of Schoolhouse to Jailhouse, featured speeches from both students and state legislators, a collective reading of Dr. King?s ?I Have a Dream? speech, and a rally cry that modified Lil? John and the East Side Boyz? ?Get Low? to say, ?We?re all free-free-free-free-free.?
Among a sea of self-made posters, several reading ?Books, Not Bars,? a young girl in pink held up a laminated portrait of Dr. King, the kind one might find on a classroom wall. In black ink that streaked like tears down an orange poster board, another girl?s sign read, ?The cry of our children must be heard.?
?You are not forgotten,? said Sen. John Horhn, D-Hinds, speaking through a megaphone about the plight of troubled children who had been taken from school and placed into jails.
Posted by ladd at 05:47 PM on 01/15/07. Discuss (3)
[Desk] MPB to Air ‘State of the State’; StateDesk to Blog It
Mississippi Public Broadcasting will air Gov. Haley Barbour’s “State of the State” address on Monday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. You can hear a live feed on MPB’s Web site. The Jackson Free Press will be live-blogging the speech right here on State Desk. Tune in the live feed, or your radio, and have your screen open to post live comments during the speech!
Posted by ladd at 03:23 PM on 01/12/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] It Ain’t Exactly the Party of Lincoln, Y’all
The Desk always gets tickled to see the current GOP talk about their party as if it is the same one that, oh, ended slavery and elected black statewide officials during Reconstruction. Over on Redstate.com (what it sounds like, they’re talking about Walley’s defection, as if it’s a turn to the halcyon days of the diverse Republican Party:
This is the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans have controlled the MS State Senate. Democrats still have a solid majority in the State House.
The part they inevitably leave out is that the parties flip-flopped in the 1960s when the GOP defected from its non-racist roots and started playing the “southern strategy” to take over the Dixiecrats, who were p.o.-ed that the national Democratic Party was becoming too integrationist. So what has actually happened in recent years is that more and more Democrats (defined the old way) have switched over to the Republican Party, with policies closer to the old days. The big change, of course, is that a new Democratic Party has emerged over all this years.
Posted by ladd at 02:17 PM on 01/12/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] House Passes MAEP After Huge Education Rally
Adam Lynch of the Jackson Free Press reports:
The House came out swinging this morning, passing through five bills through floor votes.
The most significant bill the House passed was was HB 238, a bill fully funding The Mississippi Adequate Education Program with more than $2 billion. After an hour-long debate, the vote passed 119 to 1, with only Republican Rep. Steve Horne, of Meridian, holding out in opposition.
Lawmakers like Rep. Jim Ellington, R-Raymond, voiced some concern at the idea of fully funding MAEP this early in the session, saying he would prefer to see the final revenue estimate in March before going forward with the vote. He and others consoled their fears with the belief that the Senate would delay its own approval of the bill well into the session.
Posted by ladd at 10:01 PM on 01/11/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] House Approves Wind Pool Funds, State Pay Increase, Partnership Bill
by Adam Lynch
Jan. 10, 2007
The Mississippi House approved three different bills Thursday, two of them leftovers that were stalled by a largely Republican minority last week that would not vote to change the rules to allow an early vote. HB 243 and HB 240 were the holdovers that passed the House after a second round of floor negotiations. HB 243 provides state funds to wind pool to reduce premium rates on commercial property, while 240 provides a pay increase for state employees. HB 240 passed with a unanimous vote while 243 passed with a lone holdout from Republican Dannie Reed, of Ackerman.
The House also passed HB 349, a bill that creates a program to replace the now unfunded Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. The Bill collected 101 yes votes, with 18 mostly Republican nays, though the bill initially looked doomed by dissenting votes from black legislators. Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, led arguments that the board of the fledgling tobacco-cessation program did not adequately represent minorities?who statistically engage in heavy use of tobacco products. Scott was one of the Democratic votes against 349.
All three bills will now face the Senate.
Posted by ladd at 11:11 AM on 01/11/07. Discuss (0)
[Breaking] Young Democrats Come Out Against Minimum-Wage Amendment
The Young Democrats of Mississippi today announced their opposition to an amendment to the minimum-wage bill passed yesterday by the House. The amendment exempts the higher minimum wage for high-school and college students working part time, meaning that businesses can discriminate against certain workers (or be tempted pass over full-time workers in favor of workers exempt from the new minimum wage). The Young Dems posted an open letter signed by President Kenneth Grigsby on their Web site today:
While House Bill No. 237 to increase the minimum wage in Mississippi is one of the most important bills to be written and passed by House Democrats this legislative session, we feel an amendment passed yesterday blatantly discriminates against young people based on age and their desire to have an education.
Amendment No. 1, introduced by Rep. Joey Hudson (D-91), eliminates part-time high school employees and part-time college student employees from earning the new minimum wage as set forth by the bill. If the bill passes, in 2008, the minimum wage will increase to $7.25 for all workers, except students.
This amendment is clearly unacceptable as it affects hard working students trying to balance the rigors of going to class with the challenge of also working a part-time job. For many high school and college students, working while you are in school is not an option, it is a necessity. By working and going to school, these young persons exemplify the type of responsibility and commitment that our state often requests from young people.
Posted by ladd at 09:56 PM on 01/10/07. Discuss (10)
[Desk] Welcome to StateDesk, Mississippi’s Political Newswire
The Jackson Free Press is thrilled to present a new statewide news and analysis site devoted to all things political in and of Mississippi. This site is in beta form right now; we are continually loading new features, including blogs by legislators, so keep an eye out. For now at least, you do not have to register in order to comment on the site, but please self-regulate, as we do not welcome ad hominem attacks and juvenile trolling for a fight. Those comments will be deleted, even as vigorous and intelligent debate and various positions are welcome. Meantime, read through the blog postings, and share your comments for what tools you’d really like to see emerge from StateDesk. The idea is to give you the news and analysis needed to help make smart, civic decisions in the state of Mississippi. Your input is vital.
Posted by ladd at 06:20 PM on 01/10/07. Discuss (0)
[Analysis] Legislative Round-up, Week 1
Here’s Adam Lynch’s take on Week 1 in the JFP:
Rep. Bill Denny, R-Jackson, called the bill onslaught a ?political action,? by House Democratic leaders to characterize Republicans as unsympathetic to Mississippi Adequate Education Program and state employees.
?What leaders have done is cut off one-half of that membership,? Denny said. ?In my 20 years of working in the House, we always had a reasonable situation in the House where we could disagree in a manner that would get something done. But (House Speaker) Billy (McCoy) putting forward those bills without letting us review them, the idea of him doing these kinds of things doesn?t serve the public at all. I can?t imagine that he wouldn?t have considered that a rule suspension?wouldn?t have happened.?
Posted by ladd at 03:43 PM on 01/10/07. Discuss (2)
