Legislative Update 60

September 30, 2009

Dear Friends,

Budget Hearings in the Books

Last week, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee completed its pre-session hearings. The Committee, comprised of six members of the House and Senate, the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor, met with Mississippi’s state agencies to discuss the 2011 budget. Prior to the hearings, the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor agreed to shorten the meetings from two weeks to one week, a move that saved the state approximately $23,000.

As expected, discussions during the hearings centered on Mississippi’s lagging economy. State Economist Dr. Phil Pepper stated bluntly, “We’ve got hard times ahead.” Sadly, that may be an understatement. Year to date collections are $31 million below our spring projections, retail sales have slowed considerably, and Mississippi has lost 50,000 jobs in the last year and a half.

Despite these indicators, state agencies appearing before the Committee collectively requested increased appropriations equaling $1.2 Billion. Given our bleak economic outlook, it is highly unlikely that these increases will be possible.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee will meet with Governor Barbour on November 3 to adopt the FY 2011 budget estimate. On December 2, the Committee will release its recommendations. Please let me know if you would like more information about specific state agencies or any of last week’s hearings.

Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills

This weekend, I will join legislators from other southeastern states at the Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills (“CALS”) at West Virginia University. CALS was established by the Southern Legislative Conference to provide legislators with a non-partisan forum to gain region-specific information on issue trends and forecasts, as well as, leadership development from highly qualified professionals.

Every other year, the Southern Legislative Conference selects one House member from Mississippi to participate in CALS. I am honored to represent our district and the Mississippi House of Representatives at this unique forum. To learn more about CALS, visit the center’s website.

Tune in to Channel 19 for my interview with Hal Comello

This morning, I sat down with Hal Comello to discuss the state budget and the upcoming session. You can catch the Hal Comello Show on Coast Production and Media Channel 19 on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. Our interview will air next Monday, October 5, at 5:30. Mr. Comello also has a weekly news show that airs on Channel 19 on Thursdays at 5:30.

How to Contact Me

As always, I invite you to call me on my cell phone at 228-326-7649 or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. For real time updates, you can also follow me on Twitter under the user name “brandoncjones”. If you haven’t heard of Twitter, you can check out my page at http://twitter.com/brandoncjones or by following the link on my website. 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