Attorney General Jim Hood: No one can touch PERS benefits. Where is Simpson on this issue?

Earlier this week, Attorney General Jim Hood sent a letter to the PERS Study Commission members that basically told them they could forget about making changes to benefits.  He attached an opinion on this subject from last year.  Here's an excerpt:

Citing two Supreme Court decisions as well as the U.S. and Mississippi Constitutions, this opinion makes it clear that employees acquire contractual rights at the time the employees join PERS, and that such rights may not be impaired. (Emphasis in original.)

Republicans, of course, are running scared from this issue, and many people are trying to figure out why Gov. Barbour would bring up such a politically sensitive issue at this time.

So the question is, where is Republican Attorney General nominee Steve Simpson on this issue? Will he break with Gov. Barbour like he did when he said BP should have been sued immediately? We'll find out soon, I'm sure.