Flaggs wins Vicksburg going away, with 77% of the vote

Congratulations to Rep. George Flaggs (D - Vicksburg), who won the Vicksburg mayoral race with 77% of the vote!

Rep. George Flaggs (D - Vicksburg) to step down next July

I just had the opportunity to speak with Rep. George Flaggs (D - Vicksburg) at the Mississippi Bar Association's swearing in ceremony, where he informed me that he would be stepping down on July 1, 2013.     Rep. Flaggs has served in the House since 1988, and is currently the chairman of the Corrections Committee.

Rep. Jessica Upshaw (R - Diamondhead) and Speaker Philip Gunn (R - Clinton) team up to kill pardon hearings

Two days ago, I mentioned that Rep. Jessica Upshaw (R - Diamondhead) raised a point of order in an attempt to kill the Baria-Moak Amendment on SB 2195.  The Baria-Moak Amendment would require a public hearing before a pardon could be granted.  Had such a law been in place prior to former Governor Haley Barbour's Pardonpalooza in January, the public would have at least been aware that a large number of people were seeking relief from Barbour.

Rep. George Flagg's statement on PERS

The following is from Rep. George Flagg's statement to the PERS Study Commission yesterday at the last meeting of the Commission until after the November 8 elections:

The Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi was created in 1952 to provide retirement security to those who spend their careers in public service patrolling our highways, teaching our children, healing our sick, building our infrastructure and keeping our state, counties and municipalities operating smoothly. The services these individuals provide are critical to ensuring that government operates efficiently and, as I’m sure each of you can appreciate, having a strong government infrastructure in place helps attract and retain industry to our state. 

In evaluating and studying PERS, this Commission should keep in mind that the retirement benefit is a part of the overall compensation package provided to public employees and is, in fact, a form of deferred compensation. Public employees are required to participate and contribute 9.0% of their salary for this benefit. They also, as employees, give up salary today for benefits in the future. This benefit, while vital to many, should not be viewed isolation from the rest of the overall compensation package, which works in total to provide the recruitment tool needed for a quality public workforce. 

For more than 60 years, PERS has been providing retirement security to thousands of Mississippians, keeping many off public assistance and providing a certain amount of dignity. Retirees use these payments to purchase goods and services in the communities in which they live impacting the economy in a positive way. 

To that end, this Commission should not recommend:

• Privatizing or changing the current defined plan to a defined contribution plan

• Abolishing the PERS Board of Trustees or changing the make-up of the Board

• Taxpayers representation is currently provided on the Board by the State Treasurer and the Governor’s Appointee

• Reducing or eliminating the Cost of Living Adjustment (13th Check)

• A cost of living adjustment is critical to ensure an individual’s purchasing power keeps up with inflation

Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinions as it relates to this Study Commission and its review of PERS.

Well said.

Rep. George Flaggs to subpoena head of PERS Study Commission

An article by Emily Wagster Pettus details the battle lines being drawn over a new front in the war over PERS, with Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) and Gov. Haley Barbour (R) digging in to prevent an inquiry into the motives of the PERS Study Commission. Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) is wanting Gulfport Mayor George Schloegel (R) to appear before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to answer questions about the funding, objectives, and intentions of the PERS Study Commission. Schloegel is the chairman of the PERS Study Commission, and like all members of the Commission, was appointed by Gov. Barbour.

Last week, Bryant, who chairs the Joint Legislative Budget Committee as Lt. Gov., rejected Rep. Flaggs' request to have Schloegel appear before the Committee. Bryant, who is running for Governor, said that he spoke to Gov. Barbour, who told him that Schloegel should not appear before the Committee because he "is not a state employee, the Commission is not a state agency, state funds are not being used to pay for the activities of the Commission and the Commission’s report will only be recommendations."

That's interesting to me, since People who aren't state employees, don't run state agencies, don't get state funds to operate, and only give recommendations are called before legislative committees all the time. For his part, Rep. Flaggs has said that he will subpoena Schloegel to the Committee. Prepare now for great wailing and gnashing of teeth from Republicans over Flaggs' ability to do so. This is nothing but a smoke screen and a delay tactic by Barbour and Bryant, who are trying to simultaneously shift control of PERS to private hands, all while keeping the public from knowing what they're doing until, oh, say November 9, 2011.

Clarion-Ledger covers possible redistricting deal

Molly Parker has an interesting article in today's Clarion-Ledger. In it, she quotes Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) as saying that a redistricting compromise had been reached over the weekend, but that Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant got in the way:

He said House Republicans and Democrats had reached an agreement over the weekend that most could live with, a claim others closely involved in the process weren't willing to back up.

Flaggs accused Bryant of standing in the way.

"It's my understanding it's fallen through because Phil Bryant won't sign off," Flaggs said. "Phil Bryant is the holdup for redistricting ... If we can get Phil Bryant out of the way I believe we can have a compromise."

I wonder if Lt. Gov. Bryant's involvement is what led to the false start on Sunday....

Rep. George Flaggs says it's time for a special session on redistricting

Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) has issued a press release calling for Gov. Haley Barbour to call the Legislature into a one-day special session for the purpose of reaching a redistricting compromise:

“I am calling on Governor Barbour to call a one day Special Session on Friday, April 22, 2011 for the purpose of reaching an agreement on the redistricting plans for the House of Representatives and the Senate. I believe that calling a Special Session would save the taxpayers millions of dollars in attorney fees and court cost. The people would be better served with one election process and using the saved money to fund Education, Health care and Mental health shortfall.”

This is no-doubt related to what was reported here yesterday. Does this mean that the wrinkles in the House compromise plan have been worked out? From what I'm hearing, no. However, legislators are continuing to work hard to reach agreement.

Rep. Flaggs, you're 1/3rd of the way to a dinner on me, sir

Rep. George Flaggs (D - Vicksburg) and I made a friendly bet last night about how the remainder of the session will play out. He made 3 predictions about how some of the most important unresolved issues will play out. In order to win, he has to be right on all three. Well, he nailed one of the predictions already, as a budget compromise was reached late yesterday evening. The new budget will cut $15M in education funding, but Gov. Barbour has promised to fill that hole with money he gets from the stimulus package. We got level funding on education, and I don't care how we got there. I do wish that we could find the money to fund education as we did a few years ago, though. I know that would be a blessing to systems like Clinton Public Schools that laid off teachers last year.

Anyway, I'm going to keep the details of the other predictions secret until they're met. I'll post here each time Rep. Flaggs gets closer to winning.