The annual summer convention of one of the oldest press associations was held this past weekend when Mississippi Press Association members celebrated their 150th year.
Some of the panelists during the weekend meetings included several lawmakers and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.
The Legislative session review meeting was pretty interesting with a panel of two members of the legislature and two lobbyists. Rep. David Baria and Sen. Brice Wiggins stated something that we as voters have been asking for a long time. “Why does bill language have so much extra language written that it gives the impression to voters that there are ulterior motives of lawmakers?
Sen. Wiggins (R - Pascagoula) admitted that the legislature is shooting itself in the foot and that they need to do a better job of understanding bills. When lawmakers admit that the bills they vote on are too wordy and confusing, well – that’s not real comforting is it?
HB1523 which passed during the recent session caused uproar across the state. Lawmakers passed a “Freedom of Conscience” bill for a problem that never even existed in Mississippi.
A lot of bad feelings were felt from this past legislative session with the passing of several bills that basically will tell Mississippians how they should live. The budget cuts across all state agencies will result in a possible crisis if something isn’t done. Cutting out the waste in state government is a necessary evil, but cutting the state agencies to the point that we are not going to be properly staffed in the event of a disaster is scary.
Just this week, Governor Phil Bryant called for a special session for authorization to once again dip into rainy day funds. The bad feelings of the past session are lingering still because it seems like we could be heading for a crisis if something isn’t done soon.
I found it to be refreshing that two lawmakers were willing to admit to a room full of reporters that the job of the Mississippi Legislature needs to get back to fiscal responsibility to make Mississippi more competitive instead of offering tax incentives to big corporations and driving out the competitiveness that our state needs. Hopefully they were speaking from the heart and a real desire to move Mississippi forward and not just offering what so many politicians do - offering lip service.
Hayes Dent, a lobbyist in Jackson stated that our economy is flat lined and we need to do something and he hit the nail on the head when he said this past legislative session was dominated by guns and churches and not enough focus on what is needed such as education, crumbling infrasture and funds for road and bridge repairs.
