Republicans poised to take their legislative failures out on Mississippi workers

In an article titled "Experience cited in GOP setbacks," Clarion Ledger writers Jessica Bakeman and Cassandra Mickens charitably allow Republicans to credit inexperience as the cause of their legislative failures this session.  While I'd agree that our new Republican leaders have done a poor job of using the rules to their advantage and have looked discombobulated when handling major bills, I think their primary problem isn't something on-the-job training is going to solve. 

The lesson of this legislature is that all the election year talk of job creation and improving the bottom line for Mississippi families was artifice.  Rather than focusing on bread and butter economic issues, Republicans have made clear that their focus is on pushing a radical social agenda.

Thankfully, Republican overreaching has at least temporarily cost them a half-cocked charter school bill, Alabama-style immigration reform and compulsory transvaginal ultrasounds.  However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Republican leadership, rather than step back and reevaluate, has chosen to step into Mississippi workers with the "Workers Compensation Destruction Bill" .    

So let's recap: Republicans have shown no interest in job creation or economic recovery and have instead pushed a radical social agenda, the failure of which they are now taking out on Mississippi workers, the very people who will ultimately be the key to any economic recovery.  Any questions?  

***WORKERS COMPENSATION DESTRUCTION BILL PASSES HOUSE 59-58***

A vote breakdown to come..

***WORKERS COMP DESTRUCTION BILL TO BE CALLED UP AT 11:00?***

Getting word out of the House chamber that they will take up the Workers Compensation Destruction Bill at 11:00 am. No one knows how the votes will fall at the moment.

Redistricting committee hearing uneventful

This morning, the Joint Committee on Reapportionment Redistricting met, and nothing of importance happened.

The full committee must pass plans 15 days before sine die, but there was no indication of when plans would be revealed. Is it really possible that the Republican leadership will manage to goof this as well and force a special session?

A hint that new legislative reapportionment maps will be released tomorrow morning?

Prior to recess in both the House and the Senate today, announcements were made in both chambers that the Joint Committee on Reapportionment Redistricting (the committee of House and Senate members who handle drawing the new legislative maps) would meet at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Everyone has been expecting new maps to be released very soon.  If they aren't released tomorrow, perhaps we will get an idea of when.  (To catch up on redistricting, read Redistricting past and future; a look at where we've been and where we may be headed.)

And then the circus really begins.

How do we explain the different eyewitness accounts of the alleged incident yesterday at the Capitol?

There's been quite a bit of talk today surrounding what happened or did not happen with the alleged shoving of Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) by a reported Tea Party member yesterday.  How can so many people who claim to have seen the same event have such different accounts of it?  Here's my crack at an explanation:

EMCL - Eyewitness identification and testimony - Is it reliable?

Audio of Rep. Chuck Espy (D - Clarksdale) on floor speaking about alleged shoving of Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon)

Rep. Chuck Espy (D - Clarksdale) addressing House concerning alleged shoving of Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon)

The HOME website has the audio of Rep. Espy's fiery speech on the House floor yesterday concerning the alleged shoving of Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) by a reported Tea Party member.  I referenced the speech here before, and recommend that you go listen to it.  Will be interesting to see what happens with Rep. Espy's investigation.

Looks as though the House is going to take up a large amount of bills

The House calendar is jammed full today.  Rep. Gary Chism (R - Columbus), is likely still twisting arms on the Workers Compensation Destruction Bill, as he hasn't called it up yet.  The longer he waits, the more likely it is that he doesn't have the votes to pass it.

***HOUSE*** - Workers Comp Destruction Bill on calendar

Here it comes....

What are the legal implications of simple assault on a legislator?

I've got your answer here.

Rep. Chuck Espy (D - Clarksdale), a charter schools proponent, vows to investigate Dickson shoving incident

In a fiery speech made on a point of personal privilege just before the House adjourned this afternoon, Rep. Chuck Espy (D - Clarksdale) vowed to get to the bottom of what happened that led to Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) being "disrespected" after the charter schools vote in the House Education Committee.

Espy is referring to the reported incident in which a purported TEA party member allegedly shoved Rep. Dickson in the hallway after the charter schools bill died in the House Education Committee by a single vote.  Rep. Dickson voted against the bill.

Rep. Chuck Espy has been a strong supporter of charter schools legislation.  Previous posts on this are here and here.

Photo of State Capitol Police investigating possible assault of Rep. Reecy Dickson

The above photo purportedly shows State Capitol Police investigating reports that Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) was assaulted after the charter schools vote in the House Education Committee.  The charter schools bill died by one vote, with Rep. Dickson voting against the measure.

HB 1152 to be amended by Senate with charter school language

Republicans in the Mississippi Senate, not satisfied with the defeat of charter schools legislation in the House Education Committee moments ago, will amend HB 1152, a conversion charter schools bill.  The amendment will purportedly be a strike-all amendment that will add the language of the now-dead charter schools bill to HB 1152.  Should the amendment be successful and the Senate pass HB 1152 as amended, HB 1152 will go on the House calendar for concurrence or nonconcurrence.  The House will then have a straight up or down vote on the charter schools language.

***BREAKING*** - Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) shoved by TEA party member after charter schools vote ***UPDATE at 2:03 p.m.***

Just in from the Capitol: Rep. Reecy Dickson (D - Macon) was shoved by a TEA party member after the charter schools vote.  The TEA party member is being questioned by State Capitol Police at the moment.

***UPDATE at 2:03 p.m. - I have been informed that no arrest will be made.

CHARTER SCHOOLS BILL DIES IN HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Here are the votes:


No

Bain
Burnett
Calhoun
Clark
Dickson
J Evans
Gardner
Hamilton
Holloway
Jennings
Massengill
Nelson
Straughter
Thomas
Weathersby
Whittington

Aye

Arnold
Barker
Boyd
Chism
Crawford
Currie
DeBar
Espy
Frierson
Guice
Martinson
Mayo
McGee
Moore
Warren

New blog launched

Acting as if I had plenty of free time on my hands, I decided to start another blog, one geared towards what I actually do for a living.  So, here it is: Eichelberger on Mississippi Criminal Law.  Hope y'all enjoy it.

TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUND BILL DEAD

Sen. Hob Bryan (D - Amory) today killed HB 1196, the forced transvaginal ultrasound bill, by not calling it up for consideration in Senate Judiciary B, the committee he chairs.  The bill passed the House earlier in the month, leading to fears that the State of Mississippi would effectively violate rape victims a second time by forcing doctors to insert the transvaginal ultrasound wand into their vaginas prior to the termination of their rape-induced pregnancy.  Kudos to Sen. Bryan for having more courage than quite a number of his colleagues.

***BREAKING*** - HB 488, the House anti-immigrant bill, skipped in Senate committee; appears dead

Sen. Hob Bryan (D - Amory), chairman of the Senate Judiciary B committee, has skipped HB 488 on the calendar.  The Republican anti-immigrant legislation will die at midnight.

In never-ending insurance battle, Rep. Chism channels his inner Valvano

Regular readers know that Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus), your House Insurance Chairman, has spent the better part of the last 15 years pushing insurance products from the State Capitol.  His efforts to force Mississippians to buy auto insurance, a product he sells as an independent insurance agent, have been well documented here.  So it should come as no surprise that Chism again finds himself in the center of a bloody legislative fight involving . . . wait for it . . . an insurance product-- this time workers' compensation.

During Monday's floor fight in the Mississippi House, Rep. Chism made a motion to foreclose debate on Senate Bill 2576, a measure known around these parts as the "Workers Compensation Destruction Bill".  This maneuver marked the fourth of five floor votes Chism has lost on this subject this session.  Two of his other losses came on a bill he co-authored, House Bill 555.

Having watched an insurance salesman doggedly pursue bill after bill pertaining to the sale of insurance products at the State Capitol, it's hard to know whether to cry over self-dealing run amok or simply tip your hat to one of the best examples of shameless persistence you'll ever see.  It is nice, however, to have a contrast in Rep. Tom Miles (D-Forest), an independent insurance agent from Scott County.  While his colleague fights tooth and toenail for every bill bearing even a whiff of insurance profits, Rep. Miles has heeded House Rule 26 and prudently voted present on Senate Bill 2576 and its House companion.

Regardless of how this protracted battle plays out, it'll be interesting to see if Rep. Chism demonstrates the same determination for something that won't profit insurance companies and the people who sell their products like, I don't know, school kids or Mississippi's elderly.  I know, I say crazy things sometimes.

 

***BREAKING*** - Charter schools bill not brought up in committee

The forces behind the charter schools bill have been unsuccessful in gaining a majority of votes in the House Education Committee, it appears. Chairman John Moore (R - Brandon) did not call the bill up in committee today, with the deadline looming.

This may be the end of the charter schools debate for this year.

***BREAKING*** - Workers Compensation Destruction Bill laid on table subject to call

After the Motion to Reconsider the Workers Compensation Destruction Bill, Rep. Gary Chism (R - Columbus) moved to lay the bill on the table subject to call.  That motion passed 61-58.  That means that those in favor of the bill have time to work the switchers.

***BREAKING*** - Motion to Reconsider passes in House on Workers Compensation Destruction Bill

Motion to reconsider passes 60-58!!! Bill is back before the House!

***BREAKING*** - Motion to table the Motion to Reconsider Workers Compensation Destruction Bill may be voted on again

This is wild.  The Motion to Table the Motion to Reconsider failed because it tied (with reports that one member voted Rep. Trey Lamar incorrectly).  The vote moves to the Motion to Reconsider.  If it passes, then the bill will be back before the House for another vote on final passage.

***BREAKING*** - Workers Compensation Destruction Bill lives on?

59-59 vote ties the motion to table the Motion to Reconsider.  Parliamentary inquiry from Rep. Bobby Moak (D - Bogue Chitto) leaves the question open.

All eyes on the House this afternoon

The House is set to take up the Motion to Reconsider SB 2576, the Workers Compensation Destruction Bill, when it returns to session this afternoon at 4 p.m.  In addition, the House also has the following items to deal with in short order:

Congratulations to former Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin for being named new Chairman of Parole Board

At a press conference today, Gov. Phil Bryant (R) chose former Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin (D) to chair the State Parole Board.  This is an excellent choice.  Congratulations to Sheriff Mac on his new job, and to Gov. Bryant for reaching across the aisle and naming a Democrat to this position.

Despite national outcry, no changes likely to Mississippi's pardon process

When he ruled Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 2195 not germane to the legislation, Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) became the latest in a long line of Republicans who have have denied modification to Mississippi's pardon process, a process that drew nationwide scrutiny following then Governor Haley Barbour's pardon of hundreds of Mississippi felons in January.

Among the bills that were killed during the 2012 session were House Bill 27, a measure that would require the parole board to provide a non-binding recommendation on pending pardon requests; House Bill 29, a measure that would prevent murderers from serving as trustys; House Bill 36, a measure that would require pardon applicants to give notice to local law enforcement officials so that a public hearing could be arranged; and House Bill 182, a measure that would make certain offenders ineligible for additional earned time.

It will be interesting to see if Governor Barbour's pardons coupled with his party's unwillingness to work with Democrats to develop any meaningful reform will create problems for legislators in districts where some of the more notable crimes occurred. 

Randy Walker, a victim of one of the recipients of a Barbour pardon had this to say last week, "The elected officials sit in their air-conditioned offices and collect a check we provide.  They're not listening to the voice of Mississippi."  Expect to hear more statements like this one when legislators are back on the ballot.