Meet Your Chairmen, Part 2 - Rep. Gary Chism

Rule No. 26 of the House Rules states in part:

“No member shall vote on any question in the result of which he is pecuniarily interested…”

For many members of the Mississippi House, this rule stands as a prohibition against self dealing, a reminder that those items of legislation that could mean personal profit for an individual member are to be avoided.  As a practical matter, this rule requires members who stand to reap economic benefit from a pending bill to vote present.   And then there’s newly-minted House Insurance Committee Chairman Gary Chism (R-Columbus).

Since entering the House in 2000, Rep. Chism, an independent insurance agent, has not allowed a single session to pass without introducing multiple bills requiring Mississippians to buy car insurance and punishing those who do not.

Here is a sampling of Rep. Chism’s employment security bills since 2000.  Because many of you have work today, I’ll only include those bills where Chism is the primary author:

·        Later dubbed the “No Pay-No Play Act”, HB 527, originally filed in 2000, limits recovery for the first $10,000 of bodily injury and the first $10,000 of property damage where an automobile owner or operator involved in an accident doesn’t have motor vehicle liability insurance.  Identical measures were filed in 2001 (HB 506), 2002 (HB 374), 2003 (HB 280), 2004 (HB 1327), 2005 (HB 563), 2006 (HB 306), 2007 (HB 231)and 2008 (HB 254);

·        HB 1506 (2002) is a measure that would allow a driver to be cited for failing to have motor vehicle liability insurance at a roadblock.  A similar bill was filed in 2003 (HB 368).  Also in 2003 Chism added a wrinkle to this proposal when he filed HB 1112, a bill that would have allowed a driver to be cited for failing to have an insurance card, not insurance mind you, an insurance card.  This bill was filed again in 2004 (HB 513);

·        HB 413 (2003) would have raised the statutory minimum for motor vehicle liability insurance.  Similar bills were filed in 2004 (HB 530) and 2005 (HB 722);

·        HB 1135 (2003) would have required the Department of Public Safety to conduct random checks to see if drivers were carrying motor vehicle liability insurance;

·        HB 1207 (2003) would have created an incentive for law enforcement to issue tickets for failure to carry motor vehicle liability insurance by allowing the ticketing agency to keep 50% of the fine;

·        A big idea guy, Rep. Chism filed a monster called the “Mississippi Consumer Choice in Vehicle Insurance Act” in 2004 (HB 529), 2005 (HB 217) and 2007 (HB 232).  Free insurance consultation for the first person to explain all that this Act does;

·        We couldn’t get Rep. Chism to pick up the torch for disallowing murderers to have their sentences suspended but he has been a tireless advocate for legislation preventing fines from failure to have motor vehicle liability insurance from ever being suspended.  These bills were filed in 2004 (HB 1266), 2005 (HB 541), 2006 (HB 174), 2007 (HB 100), 2008 (HB 160), 2009 (HB 87) and 2010 (HB 5);

·        HB 1368 (2005) would require the Department of Public Safety to maintain a database of uninsured motorists.  This bill was filed again in 2007 (HB 254), 2008 (HB 3) and twice in 2009 (HB 41 and HB 99);

·        HB 94 (2006) would require an applicant for a driver’s license to present proof of liability insurance before taking the exam; and

·        The “Public Safety Verification and Enforcement Act”, HB 620 (2011), which would, among other things, require law enforcement to suspend an operator’s license when that person dropped motor vehicle liability insurance.

If you’re like me and assumed that a person so dedicated to the proposition that you carry motor vehicle liability insurance, would also want such insurance to pay claims when you become injured in a car wreck, you’re wrong.  In 2003 (HB 647) and 2005 (548), Rep. Chism filed bills that would allow insurance companies to drop punitive coverage from their policies.

In summary, Rep. Chism has spent the balance of his time in the legislature working to require Mississippians to buy a product that he sells.  He spent the rest of his time weakening that product so that the companies he represents could hold on to as much of those premium dollars as possible.

To discuss your motor vehicle liability insurance needs with a trained professional, you may contact Rep. Chism at his insurance office in Columbus by clicking here.

Republican idea for fixing PERS? Let's put our money in mortgage-backed securities!!!

Republicans spent the last election cycle saying that Democrats were engaging in scare tactics regarding PERS and taking pledges not to mess with the 13th check.

Well, guess what?  The Republican assault on PERS has begun. Sen. Joey Fillingane (R-Sumrall) has fired the first shot in the form of SB 2218 filed earlier this week. Here's the "short" title of the bill (full text of the bill is available by clicking the title):

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS RELATING TO THE LAWS GOVERNING THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM; TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "BENEFICIARY" TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT, IN THE EVENT THAT A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM DIES BEFORE RETIREMENT AND THE SPOUSE AND/OR CHILDREN ARE NOT ENTITLED TO A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE ON THE BASIS THAT THE DECEASED MEMBER DID NOT HAVE THE REQUISITE NUMBER OF YEARS OF SERVICE, THE TYPE OF SERVICE TO WHICH IS REFERRED IS MEMBERSHIP SERVICE; TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "CHILD" TO CLARIFY THAT A NATURAL CHILD OF A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM IS ONE THAT IS CONCEIVED BEFORE THE DEATH OF THE MEMBER; TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "EARNED COMPENSATION" TO EXCLUDE FROM EARNED COMPENSATION THE VALUE OF MAINTENANCE FURNISHED AND TO EXCLUDE THE VALUE OF ANY IN-KIND BENEFITS FROM THE COMPUTATION OF EARNED COMPENSATION; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-109, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR PERIODS OF TIME AFTER JULY 1, 2013, SHALL BE AWARDED IN MONTHLY INCREMENTS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMPUTATION OF UNUSED LEAVE FOR CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR MEMBERS WHO RETIRE ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2013, SHALL BE CALCULATED IN MONTHLY INCREMENTS; TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT LEAVE CREDIT FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM IS IN LIEU OF, AND NOT IN ADDITION TO, LEAVE EARNED WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY EMPLOYED IN A NONELECTED POSITION IN THE SYSTEM; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-113, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM WHO APPLIES FOR A DISABILITY RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE MUST PROVIDE SUFFICIENT OBJECTIVE MEDICAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE CLAIM AND TO DEFINE "OBJECTIVE MEDICAL EVIDENCE"; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-114, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT IF A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM DIES BEFORE BEING QUALIFIED FOR A FULL, UNREDUCED RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE, THE REDUCTION FACTOR FOR THE ANNUITY OF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE SHALL BE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF YEARS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN REQUIRED FOR THE DECEASED MEMBER TO QUALIFY FOR A FULL, UNREDUCED RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE; TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT IN ORDER FOR BENEFITS FOR A DEATH OR DISABILITY THAT OCCURS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF DUTY TO BE PAYABLE, THE DEATH OR
DISABILITY MUST HAVE BEEN AS A DIRECT RESULT OF A PHYSICAL INJURY SUSTAINED FROM AN ACCIDENT OR A TRAUMATIC EVENT CAUSED BY EXTERNAL VIOLENCE OR PHYSICAL FORCE OCCURRING IN THE PERFORMANCE OF DUTY; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-119, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL MEMBER INFORMATION TO THE MEMBER'S CURRENT OR FORMER EMPLOYER; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-121, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS FOR EXCESS FUNDS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO REFLECT THE CURRENT INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 25-13-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE EARLY RETIREMENT FORMULA FOR THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO PROVIDE THAT THE RETIREMENT ANNUITY SHALL BE REDUCED BY AN ACTUARIALLY DETERMINED PERCENTAGE OR FACTOR, RATHER THAN 3% AS IN CURRENT LAW, FOR EACH YEAR OF AGE BELOW 55 OR FOR EACH YEAR OF SERVICE BELOW 25, WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER; TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-11-111.1, 25-13-11.1 AND 21-29-325, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO MAKE PAYMENTS OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM AND THE MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEMS IT ADMINISTERS, BY WHATEVER MEANS IT DEEMS MOST APPROPRIATE AND TO AUTHORIZE ALTERNATE MEANS OF PAYMENT IF THE MEMBER OR BENEFICIARY CAN DEMONSTRATE THAT PAYMENT BY THE PRESCRIBED MEANS WILL CAUSE UNDUE HARDSHIP; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT ACTUARIAL OR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM FROM THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD THAT GOVERN SOLICITATION AND SELECTION OF CONTRACTUAL SERVICES PERSONNEL; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

There are provisions in the bill that would change the way leave time is calculated at retirement, make it more difficult to get a disability retirement allowance, and allow the PERS Board to determine how to credit someone's service.  There's other stuff in there as well, and folks will be pouring over this for the next few days to figure out all of the implications of the bill.

My favorite part, though, is the language that would let PERS retirement funds be invested in mortgage-backed securities (see lines 1241-1243).  You may recall mortgage-backed securities as the investment vehicle that nearly ended America in 2008.

Sen. Fillingane's bill was assigned to the Senate Finance Committee, of which he is the chairman.

The full text of Rep. Bobby Moak's Response to the State of the State

Below is the full text of Bobby Moak's Response to the State of the State address:

***

I’m Bobby Moak and I’m honored to represent southwest Mississippi in the House of Representatives and humbled to serve my colleagues as Leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Days into this new session, the previous administration unveiled a nightmare for victims of violent crime across Mississippi. Without listening to families of murder victims and other Mississippians, Governor Barbour released convicted murderers onto our streets and cleared the way for sex offenders to move into our neighborhoods without notice.

While this act has brought us face to face with some of our worst fears, it has also given us an opportunity to think critically about the way we work with victims and their families to ensure justice and create a safer Mississippi.

This issue has been a priority for Democrats in the legislature. For the past three years, we have offered legislation that would require governors to listen to victims’ families, law enforcement and prosecutors before issuing a pardon. We are happy to welcome our Republican colleagues into this conversation, and welcome their help to pass legislation that will respect the work of our judicial system and protect Mississippians.

Likewise, we have asked our Republican colleagues to join us in supporting local law enforcement on the issue of illegal immigration. The Republican version of such reform places burdens on cities, counties and local taxpayers. We cannot allow local entities to bear the brunt of new immigration measures when the problem is caused by companies that hire undocumented workers. If there is to be immigration reform, we should make sure those who create the problem are accountable.

Additionally, Republicans need to join the Attorney General in protecting Mississippi from corporations that steal from us. Currently, Republican legislation would make it practically impossible for the Attorney General to go after corporations that steal our taxpayers’ money. This legislation is the exact opposite of what Mississippians want, which is for wrongdoers to be held accountable.

We must also join together to find ways to eliminate the good old boy system in Mississippi government. Elections do matter and elected leaders should be given the tools they need to lead but the hiring of campaign workers to perform governmental functions has become too common in Mississippi. When campaign staffers infiltrate every corner of the capitol, it creates an environment of perpetual campaigning and institutionalizes gridlock. Mississippi taxpayers should not be made to subsidize political activity through high salaried created positions.

This past fall, Mississippians joined the rest of the country in calling for a fuller measure of accountability in their government. I can assure you that Democrats in the legislature heard that call. That is why this year we are identifying areas of tax reductions and good government reforms throughout state government.

One of the simplest ways to control spending is to shorten the session. At the beginning of the year, Democrats called for a thirty day reduction to the session as did Governor Bryant four years ago. We are yet to receive a response from Republican leadership on this request and so we renew our call for a simple measure that would save taxpayers over eight-hundred thousand dollars this year.

But good government is not simply a matter of controlling special interests and limiting political hires, it must also extend to the budgeting process. A sluggish economy and a loss of stimulus funds will make this an especially challenging process. But no matter the circumstances, budgeting must ultimately be about our values and prioritizing spending.

That is why we will work with our colleagues to lift our children out of even the lowest performing school districts to prepare them not only for attending class but getting degrees from colleges and universities. We can build academic acumen and self esteem to provide our children with resumes that make them competitive on any level and enrich not only themselves and their families but our state. We believe in our K-12 programs, community colleges and universities and this is why Democrats in the legislature will not turn our backs on our public schools.

But budgeting must also mean remaining faithful in the small things—those line items don’t grab news headlines. Republicans have recommended a 24% cut to our wildlife budget. This will be an area of disagreement.

Even in a tough economy, wildlife-related recreation is producing jobs for thousands of Mississippians. According to Mississippi State University, outdoor activities create more than 66,000 full and part-time jobs that pay more than $1.15 billion in wages and salaries per year. This study also showed that wildlife recreation contributes $2.8 billion to our state economy each year.

Every dime taken from wildlife budgets will have to be made up in fees on sportsmen. A gun and rod-n-reel tax along with reducing the number of wildlife-related jobs is bad policy.

The same goes for the sizeable cut being proposed to our Department of Marine Resources, the state agency that works hand in hand with our fishermen, shrimpers and sports anglers. These activities are responsible for a total economic impact of more than $750 million each year.

When a state makes budget reductions of this kind, those reductions are passed along to end users, in this case, our sportsmen. Instead of slashing our wildlife or marine resources budget, we need to look for ways to provide more tax incentives for our hunters and anglers so they keep choosing Mississippi.

We also must stop grandstanding about budget cuts and tax reductions in the legislature when we know that these taxes are simply being kicked down to the local level. In his speech to open this legislative session, Governor Barbour acknowledged that some of our taxation methods need to be reevaluated. We agree.

Mississippi taxpayers have been saddled with a lot of taxes passed on to our local communities. There are taxes instituted for programs that should have been completed years ago. And that’s just one example among many of taxes that we need to re-think.

If we are going to get serious about budgeting and taxes, we have to look critically at all our practices. We can’t allow a tax at the local level that would never pass at the state level. We must also look at whether large multi-national corporations are paying their fair share of Mississippi taxes.

Our shared economic difficulties have been well documented. Unemployment has afflicted every county in our state and the challenges of underemployment have left their mark on most every Mississippi family. We cannot afford to answer these challenges with cynicism and political infighting.

Democrats take the lessons of November seriously and we stand ready to work alongside our Republican colleagues for real solutions

May God continue to bless us.

***

House Education Chairman John Moore on why he doesn't want to teach kids about civil rights

As posted before, House Education Chairman John Moore (R-Brandon) has proposed legislation to discourage teaching Mississippi's children about civil rights.  Well, when asked why he would be opposed to, ya know, TEACHING ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS IN MISSISSIPPI, he responded thusly:

“I just want to make sure it’s teaching the truth and facts and not being accusatory of one group of people or the other. I don’t want it to be somebody’s philosophical idea of what civil rights are."

That's the new House Education Chairman, folks.  Thanks, Speaker Gunn.

United States District Court Judge W. Allen Pepper, Jr. has passed away

There is sad news from Greenville today, as U.S. District Court Judge Allen Pepper passed away after a heart attack this morning.  Judge Pepper took the bench in 1999 after a 30 year career as a solo practitioner in Cleveland, MS. His biography may be found here.

My sympathies to his family and friends.

Leader Moak to deliver Democratic Response, calls for end to spoils system

Rep. Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto), House Democratic Caucus Leader, will deliver tonight's Democratic Response to the State of the State address.  Moak's response will air immediately following Governor Bryant's State of the State address at 5:30 p.m.  You can follow broadcasts of the speeches at MPB TV, MPB Radio or at mpbonline.org.

Rep. Moak shared the following portion of tonight’s address with Cottonmouth:

"We must also join together to find ways to eliminate the good ole boy system in Mississippi government.  Elections do matter and elected leaders should be given the tools they need to lead, but the hiring of campaign workers to perform governmental functions has become too common in Mississippi.  When campaign staffers infiltrate every corner of the capitol, it creates an environment of perpetual campaigning and institutionalizes gridlock.  Mississippi taxpayers should not be made to subsidize political activity through high salaried, created positions."  

Wonder what he could be talking about? 

"We're With Nobody" hits shelves today; HarperCollins announces second edition to be printed

We're With Nobody, a book about opposition research in political campaigns covered here last month, hit store shelves today.  Authored by Mississippians Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian, the book details their experiences as two veteran opposition researchers hunting for the truth about politicians.

There has been widespread publicity for the book, with coverage by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Politico.com, the Huffington Post, and Vanity Fair.  You can check all of that out over at www.werewithnobody.com.  If you have even a passing interest in politics, I strongly encourage you to buy this book.

***UPDATE*** - Mississippi House Education Chairman not a college graduate

***The Meet Your Chairmen series has been interrupted for this important note on yesterday's subject, Rep. John Moore.***

Former House Education Chairman Cecil Brown (D-Jackson), served on the Education Committee for two terms before becoming its chairman. Rep. Brown is a certified public accountant who is generally considered an expert on budgetary issues such as education, with a resume that includes being the Executive Director of the Department of Finance & Administration and a Governor’s Chief of Staff. Brown received a bachelor’s degree from Ole Miss in mathematics and English, and a master’s degree with special distinction at the University of Texas.  After last Friday, Rep. Brown is no longer a member the Education Committee, let alone its chairman.  Republicans rejoiced at this.

Rep. John Moore (R-Brandon), by contrast, never served on the Education Committee before becoming its chair. As outlined yesterday, that doesn't mean he didn't have his own inventive solutions for how to move Mississippi off of the bottom educationally. From reducing the number of days spent in the classroom to preventing teachers from teaching about the Civil Rights Movement, Rep. Moore has been a font of ideas.

One thing Rep. Moore has not been, however, is overly dedicated to his own education. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, Mississippi House Education Chairman John Moore doesn't have a college degree:

Surely, the Paul Gallo interview is just days away now, in which Moore will explain his lack of a college diploma by citing some personal hardship or tragedy that befell him in the mid 1970s.  And that's all fine and good.  One does not need a college diploma to make it in life. A personal commitment to one's own education should be a requirement to head the House Education Committee, however.

So the takeaway is this: new Speaker Philip Gunn just appointed a man with no college degree to head our Education Committee.  This is in stark contrast with the previous chairman, who earned a college degree with a double major and a masters degree with honors.  I'm sure the national media will have a field day with this one.

Arkansans, on behalf of Speaker Gunn, you're welcome.

***BONUS*** - In an unrelated matter, I couldn't help but note that Rep. Moore also offered a bill that would prohibit municipalities from collecting taxes from tobacco sales if they restricted tobacco use inside the city limits.  Yes, you read that right.  If Rep. Moore had his way, towns that prohibit smoking in restaurants would be denied the ability to collect sales tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

***IMPORTANT*** - ***SPECIAL POST TOMORROW AM*** - Meet Your Chairmen series to be interrupted

Today saw the launch of an already popular series titled "Meet Your Chairmen", which focuses on the people tapped by Republican Speaker Philip Gunn to head important committees in the Mississippi House of Representatives.  The next post was slated to run tomorrow. However, due to a stunning revelation that's about to occur over at the Capitol, tomorrow's post has been postponed.

I'll have the news to you first thing in the morning.

Meet Your Chairmen, Part 1 - Rep. John Moore

As promised, the weekend brought a bit more time to study Speaker Philip Gunn's committee chairmen appointments.  According to Geoff Pender of the Sun Herald, Speaker Philip Gunn based his committee assignments on the laudable criteria of “capability, seniority, regionalism and political party”. At a minimum, there should have been a warning that those factors were listed in no particular order.  In truth, Gunn's stated criteria appear to have been listed in reverse order of importance.


So this week, check in daily for an introduction to some of the more notable committee appointments and remember, this House is your House, this House is my House from John Moore to Alex Monsour.

Meet your Chairman: Rep. John L. Moore (R-Brandon)

No chairmanship has drawn more scrutiny, angst, and surprise than Speaker Gunn’s appointment of Rep. John L. Moore as Education chairman. Echoing the sentiments of teachers across Mississippi, Moore said he was “blind sided” by the appointment.

Elected in November of 1995, Moore has served four full terms in the House, all without being a member of the Education, Universities & Colleges, or Appropriations Committees. Thankfully for our purposes here, Rep. Moore didn’t allow the fact that he has gone 0-4 in education-related committee assignments keep him from offering legislation on the subject. Consider these offerings:

1. A measure reducing the number of school days from 180 to 170;
2. A measure to keep civil rights from being a required course of study in MISSISSIPPI;
3. A measure to require that all elections for Boards of Education be partisan;
4. A measure to eliminate remedial reading and writing courses;and
5. A measure establishing a school voucher program.

After reading these adventures in bill writing, you’ll understand why one Rankin County businessman had the following reply upon being told that Mr. Moore had ascended to the rank of Education Committee Chairman: “Yeah, and I’m an astronaut.” Hope that fella has his Tang ready.

Apart from Rep. Moore’s efforts to completely deconstruct the public education system through general bills, his efforts to “fund” the system should be interesting.

• His first public statement after appointment was to tout the new political viability of charter schools, a maneuver that has been widely criticized as a method of defunding public schools. 
• He has also annually filed bills to completely eliminate the corporate income tax. While Mississippi Economic Policy Center figures say over 80% of Mississippi corporations pay no such tax, corporate taxes do provide the state $431,000,000 in revenue for the annual budget.  In 2012, these corporate taxes amounted to 9.38% of the entire budget. 
• Moore has also proposed legislation, with no co-sponsors, eliminating all individual state income tax (an estimated $1.38 billion, or 30.19% of the 2012 budget). 

Given these bills, it is not clear how Mississippi would fund any education whatsoever under Rep. Moore’s tax agenda.  But don't worry.  As long as reading and writing continue to be elective skills for Mississippi students, everything should be fine.

For Tuesday: Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus), Insurance Committee Chairman