Thursday, March 1, 2012

Interesting votes on the 8% beer bill

Here are the votes (or non-votes) that strike me as odd on HB 1422, the bill that will raise the ABW limit from 5% to 8%:

Rep. Bill Denny (R - Jackson): Rep. Denny continues to leave his district behind as he votes more and more conservatively.  First he voted against adding "life of the mother" language in the abortion section of the Child Protection Act.  In a district that voted over 70% against the Personhood amendment, that's out of touch.  Now he's voted against raising the limit on beer.

Rep. Deborah Dixon (D - Jackson): Rep. Dixon has done some strange things thus far in her first session, and this is no exception.  Taking a walk on this vote wasn't anything she had to do, as her district probably would have supported her on this bill.  (She was present today, and then didn't vote on the bill.)

Rep. Adrienne Wooten (D - Jackson): Rep. Wooten voted against the bill today, and she may have had some community members asking her to not do so.  I think her district overall would have supported her, though, so this is odd.

Rep. Chuck Espy (D - Clarksdale): Rep. Espy took a walk on the bill.  After watching him vote like a Republican this session, I'm not sure what to think of him any more.  I'm sure he's trying to position himself for his upcoming race for mayor (he plans to leave the House and run for mayor of Clarksdale once his dad's current term is over), but I'm not sure how this helps in any real way.

Rep. Tim Ladner (R - Poplarville): Rep. Ladner also missed the vote, which is odd considering that the bill directly helps Lazy Magnolia, a brewery down in his neck of the woods.

Rep. Alex Monsour (R - Vicksburg): Rep. Monsour not voting on the bill is interesting, as his hometown of Vicksburg suffers from residents crossing the river to buy alcohol at the Delta, LA Chevron/liquor store.  Those tax dollars would stay home if HB 1422 becomes law.

Generally, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the votes, meaning that no geographical or ideological patterns appeared to reveal themselves.  It was probably the most random vote we'll see this year in the House.

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