Legislative Update 52

May 11, 2009

Dear Friends,

Since my last update, we have added a little boy to our family, Edward Gray.  Gray was born on April 13th at Singing River Hospital.  Gray, his mother, and sister are doing well.  Sadly for the little guy, he looks a lot like his dad.  Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

On April 29, the House lost a giant.  Representative Charles Young of Meridian, a 29 year veteran of the Mississippi House, died of a heart attack.  Representative Young was a successful businessman, champion of public education, and the father of four children.  Although Chairman Young was in declining health from the time I began my term in the House, he continued to demonstrate a strong desire to improve our state.  He will be sorely missed.

Budget Talks Resume

On Wednesday, the House and Senate reconvened to address the state budget.  Both chambers quickly approved a fifty cent per pack tax increase on cigarettes.  The State Tax Commission reported that the increase will generate $32 million dollars for this fiscal year.  Of that, $25 million dollars will be committed to a fund created to help lower the cost of car license tags.  This marks the first time Mississippi's excise tax on cigarettes has been changed since 1985.

Unfortunately, no further conclusions were reached regarding the 2010 budget.  Because the new fiscal year begins on July 1, the chambers agreed to resume the session on May 26.

Special Session

Governor Barbour called a special session within the regular session to address three issues: eminent domain, an acute care hospital in Olive Branch, and a measure allowing counties and cities to spend levy proceeds on roads and bridges.

The House didn't take up the eminent domain bill and an agreement doesn't appear to be in the offing.  As many of you know, eminent domain is the process by which a government obtains private property for projects.  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial ruling in Kelo v. City of New London (where the Court upheld a lower court's ruling allowing a municipality to take land from a private property owner for economic development),  many states have passed laws to better ensure the protection of private property.  During the Regular Session, the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of such a bill.  The Governor vetoed the bill for fear that it would stifle economic development.  Many members of the House are unwilling to approve a law that doesn't contain what they believe is a lock solid protection of private property.

A bill calling for a new hospital in Olive Branch seems similarly doomed as detractors fear that a new hospital would come at too great an expense in the current economic climate and threaten smaller hospitals in the area.

Both chambers did, however, approve the bill to allow counties and cities to spend levy proceeds on roads and bridges.

Butch Brown Reconfirmed

On Thursday, the Senate reconfirmed Butch Brown as Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. This followed a spirited Senate committee hearing that lasted four hours and covered such topics as Mr. Brown’s support of a killer’s parole, leadership style, spending habits, and international travel.

While Brown’s reconfirmation seemed to be a foregone conclusion in the days leading to Thursday’s vote, I expected a hot floor debate. It didn’t happen. Shortly after Mr. Brown was nominated on the Senate floor, he garnered 40 supporting votes.

How to Contact Me

If you have any questions or concerns, I invite you to call me on my cell phone at 228-326-7649 or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. Please feel free to forward this report to folks in our district and let me know if I need to add someone to my list.

I will also be posting my updates and House related news on my campaign website at www.electbrandonjones.com.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Brandon