jackson weather: 82f (28c)

by Adam Lynch
January 6, 2009
Perhaps as an omen to the contentiousness ahead, the Mississippi Legislature convened the new session Tuesday in the restored Old Capitolthe building where Mississippi once voted to secede from the union. Gov. Haley Barbour and former Gov. William Winter, governors from different sides of the political aisle, attended the opening ceremony, followed by guests such as noted columnist Bill Minor.
Barbour warned that the state is in for a tight budget year, with a 2 percent cut in the state budget, but pledged to to work with (legislators) as we try to tackle the peoples business.
But Winter, who served as governor between 1980 and 1984, reminded members of the House that the tight budget year was nothing compared to budgets faced by past Legislatures.
We have problems, but our problems are dwarfed by the problems that have confronted other legislatures. The first time I came to Jackson, I was nine years old. My father was a member of the Legislature. That 1932 session
was confronted with a total amount of $1,326 in the state treasury, and we owed almost $6 million. Thats how bad it was, Winter said, adding that members of the Legislature had to write IOUs to stay in motels, and that the first resolution it passed that year was a resolution authorizing the chairman of the state tax commission to borrow $750 from the local bank to buy postage stamps to mail employees income tax information.
Winter said the state government beat the Great Depression by refusing to give into it, and pointed to successful government work programslike TVA, CCC and FHAsponsored by then-president Franklin Roosevelt, which helped build the nations infrastructure and pull the state out of the depression,
I saw firsthand how widely public office, created by politicians, could improve the lives of so many people. I saw politics as a problem-solver.
The point I want to make that it is in times like these that we have the best opportunity to make the hard, tough decisions that can ultimately lead to a better way of living. It takes bipartisan leadership to do that, Winter said, adding that only a political system that is compassionate and humane can hope to last.
Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the Old Capitol in 2005 when it peeled away copper roofing and allowed a rush of water to inundate the plaster interior, but the building officially stands open this week.
posted by ladd on 01/06/09 at 02:00 PM. [printer-friendly version]
COMMENTS» get advertising information
» login to your account
» register a new account
» RT @irenetjones Broad St. Bakery in Jackson, MS open till 3 today. Coffee, eggs, bacon, fresh muffins and free wifi. (@jfp_local) Sat Jul 04 08:29:28 am 2009
» Phrase o' the day so far: "beer can chicken" (joshcoopertn)-- happy 4th, all! Sat Jul 04 08:28:42 am 2009
» Old news, new investigation? Is this why Palin abruptly quit today? http://tinyurl.com/m8gyql Fri Jul 03 08:57:54 pm 2009
Aug 27, 2009 - One Thursday a month, enjoy cocktails, listen to the best jazz Jackson has to offer, and mingle with friends while surrounded by world class art. more
» Sarah Palin to Step Down as First-term Governor (9)
» Mississippi No. 1 in Obesity, Again (9)
» Bold New City (13)
» Sarah Palin to Step Down as First-term Governor
9
» Mississippi No. 1 in Obesity, Again
9
» Bold New City
13
» ‘I Just Have to Type My Thoughts Out’
1
» [Editor’s Note] Death of Affirmative Action?
12