Did Y'all Politics uncover vote-buying by Rep. Jeff Smith? ***Updated***

It's fairly common knowledge that, when running for Speaker, one does not promise committee chairmanships to folks in exchange for votes.  Well, apparently Jeff Smith didn't know that.  Here's what Frank Corder of Y'all Politics recently wrote in a story attacking Rep. Brandon Jones:

I heard that had Rep. Jeff Smith won the Speaker vote in 2007, Smith would have appointed Jackson County representatives Rep. Hank Zuber and Rep. John Reed as House committee chairs. Zuber would have been given the reigns of Transportation and Reed would have chaired Public Health. This would have given Jackson County and the Coast tremendous influence on two vital committees.

I verified this with Rep. Jeff Smith. When asked about this scenario, Smith said, "It is true. John is my best friend in the Legislature and Zuber had paid his dues and deserved a Chair and would have gotten one, just as they both will if I become Speaker this time."

Well, here's the thing.  When you're promising people chairmanships of committees, you put them in a situation where they have a direct pecuniary interest in voting a certain way as a legislator.  That's because committee chairmen get extra salary for the time they have to spend working on issues before their committees.

Of course, there's another problem with what Corder wrote about Jeff Smith.  It's probably not true.  One of the reasons Jeff Smith had trouble getting the votes he needed to become Speaker is because he'd promised everything to everyone.  And what we've got in this Y'all Politics article is another instance of Jeff Smith telling someone who doesn't know any better whatever they want to hear. (The guy is on his third political party this year, after all.)

So allow me to take Frank Corder to school on Jeff Smith for a second.  To begin with, Rep. Zuber was appointed Vice Chair of Transportation by Speaker Billy McCoy in 2004. However, there were four other members of the Transportation committee who were in contention to be Chairman of Transportation under a Jeff Smith speakership: Rep. Bobby Shows (R-Ellisville), Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon), Rep. Jerry Turner (R-Baldwyn) and Rep. Mark Formby (R-Picayune). Formby and Shows both had more seniority than Zuber. And the word was all over the state that Shows would get the chair as a result of being one of the (at the time) Democrats who had agreed to vote for Smith. Turner was in the running because northeast Mississippi wanted the chairmanship, since Rep. Bill Miles was retiring and since highways are so important in that part of the state. At the time the Speaker's vote was taken, Shows was the unquestioned frontrunner.

Now let's look at this stuff about the Public Health Committee. First, Corder misspelled Rep. John Read's name (he had it "Reed"). While Read (R-Gautier) was a member of Public Health, the clear frontrunner at the time was Dr. Sid Bondurant (R-Grenada). Once again, Smith was giving it to Bondurant as a Democrat voting for him, and Smith could justify it because Bondurant is a medical doctor. Also in the running was the more senior Bobby Howell (R-Kilmichael), a pharmacist. John Read wasn't getting the Chairmanship of Public Health, period.

Now, this tells us a few things. First, it tells us that Corder didn't know enough about what went down in late 2007 and early 2008 to be writing this piece. Second, Jeff Smith knew that, and thought he could hoodwink Corder into believing this nonsense. Finally, it tells us that Corder doesn't do his homework. Why, you ask? Well, Corder makes the following claim in his piece:

When the legislature convened in January 2007, Jones was a decisive vote that handed McCoy the Speaker's gavel. For his vote, he picked up a vice-chairmanship on the Insurance Committee.

No other Jackson County representatives received any consideration for chairs or vice chairs. Why? Because these true conservatives all supported the conservative choice for Speaker that year - then-Democrat, now Republican Rep. Jeff Smith. (Emphasis mine.)

Well, the aforementioned Rep. Hank Zuber (R-Ocean Springs) was appointed vice chair of Marine Resources in 2008 by Speaker McCoy, which is kind of a big deal on the Gulf Coast. Even better? Jackson County's own Rep. Billy Broomfield was appointed the chairman of Ports, Harbors, and Airports.

***UPDATE 10/24/11 at 9 a.m.*** - It somehow slipped my mind that Rep. Frank Hamilton (R-Hurley) was appointed vice chair of Military Affairs.  So, in actuality, even though Corder claims "No other Jackson County representatives (aside from Rep. Brandon Jones) received any consideration for chairs or vice chairs," we see that, in truth and in fact, of the 6 Jackson County members of the House, only two aren't a chairman or vice chairman. (Reps. John Read and Jeff Guice).  And Read would have a hard time knocking his committee assignments, as he was appointed to the powerful Appropriations committee. Guice is finishing his first term, and is assigned to several committees, including the Select Committee on the Gulf Coast Disaster and Marine Resources.

For the sake of thoroughness, Rep. Deryk Parker (D-Lucedale) has a district (107) that encompasses a portion of northern Jackson County.  I don't count him as a "Jackson County" member, though since he lives in George County.  Rep. Parker is vice chair of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

Legislative Republicans say they'll protect PERS and the 13th check; don't be fooled

The PERS support group Honor Your Promise released an email today in response to the Republican statement yesterday that they'll protect the 13th check. In short, the Republicans pledge that they won't make any changes to the yearly PERS cost of living adjustment, commonly referred to as "the 13th check." Well, here's the problem. A bunch of those same Republicans have already voted against protecting PERS.

I'm sure that these Republicans will go against the recommendations of Governor Barbour's Study Commission. I'm absolutely positive. After all, they never do what Gov. Barbour tells them to do, ever. Enough sarcasm. Here's the Honor Your Promise email with the names of the Republicans who voted against protecting PERS once already:

Yesterday several state legislators issued a joint press release pledging not to eliminate the 13th check. However, nineteen of the lawmakers taking the “pledge” actually voted against the PERS system in 2009. A Constitutional Amendment to protect PERS from political influence (HR 31) passed the House of Representatives despite opposition from these lawmakers. The following legislators should explain their flip flop to retirees and PERS members and their families. 

House Republican Leader Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon)
Republican Conference Chair Rep. Philip Gunn (R-Clinton)
Republican Floor Leader Rep. Bill Denny (R-Jackson)
Rep. Sid Bondurant (R-Grenada)
Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus)
Rep. Ted Mayhall (R-Southaven)
Rep. Scott Bounds (R-Philadelphia)
Rep. Bobby Howell (R-Kilmichael)
Rep. Alex Monsour (R-Vicksburg)
Rep. Rita Martinson (R-Madison)
Rep. Jim Ellington (R-Raymond)
Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian)
Rep. Bobby Shows (R-Ellisville)
Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven)
Rep. Sam Mims (R-McComb)
Rep. Harvey Fillingane (R-Sumrall)
Rep. Larry Byrd (R-Petal)
Rep. Herb Frierson (R-Poplarville)
Rep. Frank Hamilton (R-Hurley)

 You want to know what's worse?  Rep. Mark Baker, Rep. Philip Gunn, and Rep. Sid Bondurant all have aspirations (Gunn may even have a PAC, more on that to come) to become Speaker of the House should Republicans gain the majority of seats in the House next month.  A House Speaker that's already voted against protecting PERS?  That's not a scare tactic...that's just plain scary.

***BREAKING*** - Ethics Commission going after Republican Rep. Kevin McGee (R-Brandon)

I can now confirm that the Mississippi Ethics Commission has investigated Republican Rep. Kevin McGee (R-Brandon) for potential violations of state ethics laws. Clay Chandler over at the Mississippi Business Journal broke the story just now, although the link to the full story isn't working properly at the moment for some reason.

At issue are reportedly 351 contracts Rep. McGee had with the State for printing work. McGee is President of Service Printers, Inc. Rep. McGee is reportedly represented by two Republican House Speaker hopefuls, Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon) and Rep. Jeff Smith (R-Columbus).

There had been a hearing set for tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., but that hearing has been postponed.

Republicans are hiding the truth on immigration reform efforts

In Sunday's Clarion-Ledger, the leader of a group called "MFIRE" (Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement) had a letter to the editor that tried to blame immigration issues on House Democrats, specifically Rep. Bobby Moak of Bogue Chitto. Specifically, the letter says:

An effort was made this past legislative session to strengthen SB 2988 in Mississippi's "Arizona Style" enforcement bill by "requiring" the attorney general to enforce our E-Verify law. Unfortunately, House Democrats who have routinely worked against enforcement changed the sanctions against employers to monetary fines - specifically prohibited by federal statute. This amendment was handled by Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, one of Speaker Billy McCoy's lieutenants. Either they didn't know the law or this unlawful fine was the Democrat leadership's way to kill the bill.

The letter, of course, doesn't reveal what legislation Rep. Moak amended, presumably because that would lead to someone doing a little research on the issue.

What the letter is referring to is SB 2179, which was the god-awful legislation that would have put monetary fines on law enforcement officials, mayors, supervisors, and aldermen who didn't "effectively" enforce anti-immigrant laws. This was a hot topic during the legislative session, and is covered in depth here, here, here, and here. In short, Rep. Moak's amendment took the fines against local officials and put them on the businesses who employ illegal immigrants in the first place. And guess what? House Republicans agreed. Republicans voted almost uniformly for Moak's amendment. Which, I guess, makes it a bipartisan amendment.

The letter goes on to say:

Don't let your incumbent Democrat come home and tell you how conservative they are when their first vote will be to elect a speaker like Rep. Moak who has been a part of the coalition that has stopped significant legislation.

To be accurate, I guess the letter should be rewritten to say:

Don't let your incumbent Democrat legislator come home and tell you how conservative they are when their first vote will be to elect a speaker like Rep. Moak, Rep. Jeff Smith (R-Columbus), Rep. Phillip Gunn (R-Clinton), Rep. Sid Bondurant (R-Grenada), or Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon), who has have been a part of the coalition that has stopped significant wrongheaded legislation.

MSGOP releases proposed redistricting plans for both chambers (finally)

So the MSGOP released a plan yesterday when they attached it to their response to the Order setting the May 10th hearing.  That's roughly 60 days after plans were first released, and somewhere around 120 days after census data was released.  So, yeah, that's timely.

MSGOP House Plan Map

MSGOP House Plan Components Report

MSGOP Senate Plan Map

MSGOP Senate Plan Components Report

The MSGOP is pushing these map as preferable because it has only 1% population deviation.  The problem is, these maps are a drastic departure from current lines, and will cause widespread voter confusion.  Furthermore, there has been no public input in the formulation of these maps, nor has there been legislative consideration.

There are a couple of pairings of House incumbents that stand out quickly in the MSGOP plan:

• Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto) and Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven)
• Mark Baker (R-Brandon) and Kevin McGee (R-Brandon)
• Tommy Reynolds (D-Charleston) and Bobby Howell (R-Kilmichael)

Moak vs. Currie? That's the GOP trying to take out a Democratic front runner in the Speaker's race should Speaker McCoy not run again.

Baker vs. McGee?  This is a very interesting pairing, as the MSGOP is pitting two incumbent Republicans against one another.  There are two possible reasons for this.  First, Baker has been more willing to work towards a redistricting compromise than some Republicans may like, and this is could be payback.  Second, the MSGOP belongs to Haley Barbour, a member of the old line Delta Republican faction (Clarke Reed's line).  Across the divide from that faction is Billy Powell's Rankin County power base.  Throwing Rankin County Republicans to the wolves wouldn't be of great discomfort to Barbour's Republicans, who tend to be less stridently socially conservative than Rankin County Republicans.

Reynolds vs. Howell? This is clearly a shot at Rep. Tommy Reynolds, who chaired the redistricting process in the House.

More as I find 'em...

P.S. - John Diez (or Diaz, as it's spelled both ways in the MSGOP Response to the Order Setting Hearing), was hired by the MSGOP some time ago.  He's a consultant with Magellan Strategies BR, Inc., and he's the guy who drew these lines.