State Senators speak out against return of spoils system to Mississippi

From a Mississippi Democratic Trust press release this afternoon:

On March 15, the State Senate passed a bill to return Mississippi to the “spoils system,” where political officeholders can give government jobs to friends as political favors and to entrench themselves in power.  These taxpayer jobs are handed out based on WHO a person knows, not WHAT he or she knows.  As Democratic members of the Senate, we oppose this proposal and want to tell you why.

Per request, the email addresses of the members of the Mississippi State Senate

I had a request for this last week that I never got around to (parade and all).  So that you may more easily contact your elected officials, here's a list of Mississippi Sate Senate email addresses:

dblount@senate.ms.gov; tbrown@senate.ms.gov; nbrowning@senate.ms.gov; hbryan@senate.ms.gov; tburton@senate.ms.gov;; abutler@senate.ms.gov;  kbutler@senate.ms.gov;   vcarmichael@senate.ms.gov;   lchassaniol@senate.ms.gov;   bclarke@senate.ms.gov;   ncollins@senate.ms.gov;  ddawkins@senate.ms.gov;  sdoty@senate.ms.gov;  jfillingane@senate.ms.gov; mflowers@senate.ms.gov; hfrazier@senate.ms.gov; pgandy@senate.ms.gov; tgollott@senate.ms.gov; shale@senate.ms.gov; aharden@senate.ms.gov; jharkins@senate.ms.gov; ahill@senate.ms.gov; bhopson@senate.ms.gov; jhorhn@senate.ms.gov; bhudson@senate.ms.gov; gjackson@senate.ms.gov; rjackson@senate.ms.gov; sjackson@senate.ms.gov; rjolly@senate.ms.gov; kjones@senate.ms.gov; djordan@senate.ms.gov; dkirby@senate.ms.gov; plee@senate.ms.gov; wlongwitz@senate.ms.gov; cmassey@senate.ms.gov; cmcdaniel@senate.ms.gov; hmontgomery@senate.ms.gov; pmoran@senate.ms.gov; rparks@senate.ms.gov; jpolk@senate.ms.gov; dsimmons@senate.ms.gov; wsimmons@senate.ms.gov; tsmith@senate.ms.gov; msojourner@senate.ms.gov;  bstone@senate.ms.gov; stindell@senate.ms.gov; gtollison@senate.ms.gov; bturner@senate.ms.gov; gkward@senate.ms.gov; mwatson@senate.ms.gov; bwiggins@senate.ms.gov; jwilemon@senate.ms.gov; 

SB 2576, the Workers Comp Destruction Bill (same language as HB 555), has passed the House Insurance Committee

Well, just when hard-working Mississippians thought they'd been given a reprieve by the defeat of HB 555, the Republican-led House Insurance Committee passed its twin, SB 2576, today.  With the passage of SB 2576 through the Republican-controlled Senate and now the Republican-controlled House Insurance Committee, it's just more evident that Republicans really are on the side of the working man.  It's just that they're on the backside.

Last week, I revealed the identity of the group behind HB 555 and SB 2576.  Expect some floor action on this in the next day or so.

Jackson Free Press interviews Brandon Jones about the MDT

R.L. Nave at the Jackson Free Press has an article in this week's paper in which he interviews Brandon Jones about the Mississippi Democratic Trust.  Here are some excerpts:

Q: From what I know of it, the Mississippi Democratic Trust's aim is to support Democratic candidates. What does that mean?
A: I don't think I'm saying anything that's all that profound when I say we as Democrats have done a poor job at laying out our vision, and we've done a poor job keeping pace with Republicans when it comes to messaging and fundraising.  

Q: Why aren't Democrats doing these things already?
A: When you are able to win elections without running modern campaigns, the muscles you use to communicate and fund raise atrophy. Over the course of time, Democrats, despite not running modern campaigns, have been able to have some electoral success.

 The entire article is a good read, and I recommend it.

Redistricting past and future; a look at where we've been and where we may be headed (maps included)

Most followers of this blog will recall last year's epic redistricting battle.  There were two plans unveiled in the Senate, one by the Senate Reapportionment Committee and one by surrogates of then-Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R).  In the House, the House Reapportionment Committee passed a map which was passed by the full House, and now-Speaker Philip Gunn (R - Clinton) failed to pass a "One Percent Plan", developed by the Mississippi Republican Party.  The Senate Reapportionment Committee plan passed the Senate and House, but the Senate refused to pass the House Reapportionment Committee plan, and the whole thing wound up in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi before a three-judge panel.  The panel punted on the issue, following the reasoning pushed by Robert Gibbs and Matt Allen, attorneys for Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann (R).

Well, word is beginning to spread at the Capitol that the 2012 redistricting battle may be about to begin....

Rep. John Moore (R - Brandon) says his school choice bill will cost "so little you won't notice"

As I pointed out the other day, Rep. John Moore (R - Brandon) has introduced legislation that would allow parents of private school children to deduct tuition from their income for state tax purposes.  In effect, this would allow school choice for those wealthy enough to foot the private school tuition bill up front.

HB 1536 would establish school choice through tax breaks

At a time when the Republican budget relies heavily on cutting education funding, House Education Chairman Rep. John Moore (R - Brandon) has a plan to sneak school choice into Mississippi law via an income tax deduction.  The author of HB 1536 seeks to allow a $5,000 a year deduction (per child) for private school tuition.  Now that won't cover even half of the tuition at the more expensive private schools around Jackson.  But it will cover tuition at rural schools like Manchester Academy in Yazoo City or Washington School in Greenville.  And it will cover nearly all of the tuition at St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis or Sacred Heart in Hattiesburg.

So what is the net result?  Middle income and wealthy parents will get tax credits for sending their children to private schools, while poor parents won't be in a position to spend the $5,000 in tuition up front and get a rebate.  Average daily attendance at public schools would wane, leaving them with less money to educate poor children.

Democrats release budget plan, give map for level funding for education, healthcare, and libraries

From a Mississippi Democratic Legislative Caucus press release:

Jackson, MS – House and Senate Democrats held a press conference at 11:30 a.m. today to announce their budget plan for the 2013 fiscal year.  Democrats proposed level funding for the following key budget areas: 1) education, 2) healthcare, and 3) local libraries.  The Republican budget plan, introduced by Governor Phil Bryant on January 31, 2012, proposes significant cuts to each of these areas.  “Our budget plan would provide level funding for education, community mental health and local libraries without raising taxes and without exhausting our savings,” said House Democratic Caucus Leader Rep. Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto).  

Education

The Republican budget would cut education by more than $100 million including:

o   nearly $73 million in cuts to elementary education,

o   over $12 million in cuts to community colleges, and

o   over $18 million in cuts to four year colleges.

“With our improving economy, we have enough money to maintain level funding,” said Sen. Hob Bryan (D-Amory).  “There is not a single Republican who won election by campaigning on spending less on education but that is exactly what their budget proposes.”

Healthcare

The Republican budget would cut healthcare by nearly $30 million including:

o   nearly $12 million in cuts to the University Medical Center,

o   nearly $14 million in cuts to the Department of Mental Health,

o   nearly $3 million in cuts to Public Health, and

o   over $1 million in cuts to Rehabilitation Services.

“The Republican healthcare plan is nothing short of reckless.  These deep cuts place the public at risk by jeopardizing our community mental health centers and cutting healthcare centers that have already been hobbled by previous budget shortfalls,” said Rep. Cecil Brown (D-Jackson).

Local Libraries

 The Republican budget would cut our local libraries by 15% or nearly $2 million. These cuts would place numerous important programs at risk, including:

o   children’s reading programs which serve more than 400,000 Mississippi children,

o   computer programs that serve more individuals performing job searches or completing employment applications, and

o   some WIN Job Centers.

“Local libraries perform several crucial functions for our communities including introducing children to reading and helping connect people to jobs.  These cuts would place many of our libraries at risk of closing their doors,” said Rep. Earle Banks (D-Jackson). 

Of all of the onerous legislation the House has passed, HB 836 is one of the worst

HB 836, authored by former grocery store owner Rep. Jerry R. Turner (R - Baldwyn), the bill would essentially absolve retail establishments (like grocery stores) from any responsibility to keep customers safe.  The bill, given the forthright name of "The Landowner Protection Act", is covered in good detail over at Philip Thomas' excellent blog, Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary.  Essentially, even if a store owner knows violent gangs hang out in his parking lot, he would be under no duty to warn or protect his customers from said gangs under HB 836.  This bill passed the Republican-controlled House.


Here's how they voted.

Interestingly enough, Turner now runs a trucking business under the same name as his old grocery store, using his House email account to take applications from drivers.

Performance Budgeting: "Kill 'em all and let Herb sort 'em out"

Last Wednesday, the House passed HB 1170, a measure characterized as a routine transfer bill that would shore up the general fund with dollars from the state savings account and shore up the savings account with money from special funds.  In the last minute frenzy to stay ahead of Thursday's deadline, the details of this little transaction were lost.  Here's some of the damage: