Republicans House Speaker Jason White and Gov. Tate Reeves face a difficult political situation after the ignominious death last week of House Bill 2, White’s big, beautiful school choice bill.
They both went on social media rants about the Senate GOP leadership, accusing their fellow Republicans of being in cahoots with leftists, liberals, Democrats, the ACLU … perhaps even Che Guevara and the Symbionese Liberation Army? White and Reeves also have pointed out these closeted liberal Republican senators even, gasp, defied President Donald Trump.
So, if this measure to have tax dollars pay private school tuition for some students is the most important issue facing Mississippi and the key to being a loyal, rock-ribbed Republican, then it should follow that White would try to revive the measure legislatively.
Or, Reeves could call lawmakers into a special session to try to force it. Otherwise, White and other House leaders could try to shut other legislation down to force the Senate back to the table.
But all of those moves are fraught with political and practical problems.
The first is, it’s pretty clear that many Mississippi Republican lawmakers oppose it, including a sizeable chunk of White’s own House caucus.
Seventeen of 78 House Republicans voted against it. White managed to get it passed by only a two-vote margin. This was only after some heavy vote whipping and a couple of Republicans appearing to “take a walk” to avoid voting.
Opposing Trump in the Mississippi statehouse might get a lawmaker in trouble. But opposing educators and parents back home, no matter your party, will get your picture taken off the wall as they say in the Legislature. There have been numerous past examples, including some very notable, very conservative Republican legislators.
Numerous senators avow that House Republicans, including some who voted for the measure, have over recent weeks anxiously questioned them, hoping the Senate would kill it.
Reviving the measure might require forcing the House to vote on it several more times. Some of White’s Republicans who reluctantly went along for the first ride might not be up for that. And having the House kill the measure after raising such a stink about those sorry Senate Republicans would be something of a boondoggle.
Forcing lawmakers into special session — perhaps even a session-within-a-session — on the issue would present Reeves with a similar scenario. He can force lawmakers into session and set the agenda, but he can’t make them vote the way he wants. He’s been very conservative in the use of his special session power, and vowed in the past not to force one when there’s no compromise afoot.
He’s a lame duck, but still has a long way to go in his second term.
It’s likely White and Reeves will do some political calculus and determine this is not the hill to die on. Of course Trump could change that calculus if he were to get intensely involved. But he appears to have bigger issues to deal with at the moment.
For now, White and Reeves might have to settle with firing social media missives at the Senate.
Some GOP senators last week were not happy with some of the incoming slings and arrows. As for White questioning their conservative or Trump bona fides, they noted he pushed for “Obamacare expansion” a couple of years ago. And as for Reeves accusing them of trying to “do it in the dark and hide it from MS conservatives on a a deadline day,” they noted he’s the same feller who last year intentionally signed into law a major tax change they opposed but voted for mistakenly because of a typo.
Some other news of note last week:
- The House and Senate appear at odds over state help for winter storm-ravaged areas. The Senate voted to give the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency $20 million for initial response. House leaders appear unhappy with MEMA’s initial response, and say they’re looking for ways to more directly help communities.
- Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law changes to the state’s long-debated certificate of need system. This is aimed at allowing hospitals to more easily expand services. The law will also limit the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s exemptions from certificate of need laws.
- The House, for the third straight year, voted to legalize online sports betting. It also, in the same bill, voted to make a $600 million infusion to the state government pension plan.
Quote of the Week
“They’ll write an article about him if he goes to the Super Bowl.” – House Speaker Jason White. White was joking with the House about Mississippi Today reporting last year of a trip he and some of his staff took to the Super Bowl, compliments of lobbyists pushing for legalization of online sports betting. The House adopted a resolution commending Jamal Roberts, a Meridian native who won on “American Idol,” but Roberts could not attend the House adoption because he had obligations to appear at the Super Bowl, prompting White’s joke.
In Brief
AI regulation bill: ‘These are real kids’
Anxiety about artificial intelligence’s potential harm is rising, and Mississippi lawmakers are considering addressing it with regulations.
A bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday would make it illegal to distribute AI-generated content without the subject’s consent. Senate bill 2046 gives Mississippians property rights to the use of their image and likeness and a legal way to protect themselves.
AI technology is able to generate increasingly realistic videos but is still new and relatively unregulated. The bill’s author, Sen. Bradford Blackmon, a Democrat from Canton, told Mississippi Today, “This is not theoretical. These are real kids, real classrooms facing real consequences from fake content.” – Katherine Lin
More public records exemptions proposed
House Bill 1468, one of the last bills to pass out of committee before the Feb. 3 deadline, could allow more information to be withheld from public records requests.
The bill from Republican Rep. Brent Anderson of Bay St. Louis adds broad definitions of “personally identifiable” and “protected” information to the Mississippi Public Records Act. The bill covers any information that could identify an individual alone or when combined with other information and explicitly requires government agencies to conduct a case-by-case assessment on records requests.
The bill also has law enforcement implications. Agencies could potentially select cases to redact names from police incident reports, which have been used in the past to identify officers accused of misconduct. The broad nature of the definitions created by the measure raises questions over whether government agencies would have much wider discretion to leave specifics out of records requests. – Michael Goldberg
House considers sales tax diversion study
The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill that would create a study committee to evaluate Mississippi’s sales tax diversion to cities.
The governor would appoint a representative from a city with more than 50,000 residents and a representative from a town with fewer than 50,000 to serve on the committee. Legislators and representatives of business groups will also be on the committee.
Current law requires the Mississippi Department of Revenue to collect the state’s 7% sales tax, but remit 18.5% of the total to cities and towns.
Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, told Mississippi Today that several cities, including Oxford, had requested the legislation. – Taylor Vance
Mandatory computer science courses proposed
A pair of companion bills before the House and Senate would require computer science courses for high school graduation.
Rep. Kevin Felsher, a Republican from Biloxi who authored the bill in the House, said the bill would prepare students to deal with artificial intelligence.
A Senate bill would require that students graduate with some level of financial literacy. Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Republican from Belmont, said his proposal is essential for students’ futures — and Mississippi’s.
“It’s not that a lot of Mississippians aren’t trying and working hard,” he said. “They just were not guided at the time when they were making those important decisions. I think more financial acumen … will help our people make better decisions across the board.” – Devna Bose
Bill would provide more $ for gifted education
The Senate passed a bill that would increase school funding for gifted students and gifted education, after notable back-and-forth.
Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula who authored SB 2293, defended his bill, saying it was “about time” the Legislature stood behind the state’s gifted students.
But Sen. Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory, argued that other state education funds aren’t directed toward specific populations. For example, even though special education students draw an increased amount in the formula, state law doesn’t require that money is spent on special education, he said.
The bill now heads to the House. – Devna Bose
By the Numbers
$132 million
The amount state revenue through January is up over the prior fiscal year, a 3% increase.
More Legislative Coverage
House votes to legalize online sports betting and divert $600M to pension system
Proponents say this could generate tens of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue, but critics warn it would fuel gambling addiction and hurt brick-and-mortar casinos. Read the story.
House passes pharmacy benefit manager reform bill in Mississippi
The House on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at increasing regulation and transparency of pharmacy benefit managers, an issue advocates argue is critical to protecting patients and independent pharmacists in Mississippi against the risk of rising drug costs. Read the story.
Podcast: With U.S. Supreme Court likely to dismantle Voting Rights Act, MS lawmakers push for state version
State Rep. Zakiya Summers has filed the House version of the “Robert G. Clark Jr. Voting Rights Act.” It’s an effort to get out in front of what many expect will be the further dismantling of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Listen to the podcast.
