This past week was the toughest, most emotional draining week I have had in eight years of legislative service. It was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, ultimately ending in defeat of a bill I have worked on for seven years to give working Mississippians a real tax break.
The bill was HB 1545. It would have exempted overtime compensation, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, from state income tax. According to my calculations, the net loss to the state would have been a little over $14 million, or less than one percent of the state's general fund budget. (PEER said it would be a $12.5 million loss, not factoring in the estimated $5.25 million in sales tax revenue that would be generated, which I factored in my calculation, so according to those numbers, the state would only lose $7.25 million!)
This year, I started lobbying for the bill before Christmas, talking with the Speaker (Billy McCoy), the chair of Ways and Means (Percy Watson) and several members of the Ways and Means Committee. Prior to that, I got the endorsement of the concept by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators at their annual meeting early last December.
I spoke before the Conservative Coalition (MLCC) to get their support, as well as members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus (MLBC). When the bill was ready for my review and introduction, I secured 55 co-sponsors for the bill, including Chairman Watson, and the chairs of the MLCC (Joey Fillingane) and the MLBC (Walter Robinson).
So far, so good. Mississippi looked like they were going to be the first state to exempt overtime pay from taxes. But as the deadline to get revenue bills out of committee and acted on the floor drew near, I noticed that Chairman Watson was not enthusiastic about bringing it out.
Then deadline day arrived. My bill was still sitting in committee. So I noticed that another bill, HB 816, which gave a tax exemption for Iraqi Freedom veterans, was the same exact code section as my bill. So I offered an amendment to that bill with 1545's language. The amendment was challenged on a point of order by Fillingane. (Yes he was co-sponsor, but he was concerned that my amendment may kill HB 816 in the Senate) The amendment was ruled germane, so I entertained questions.
After answering questions on the floor, I yielded to the chair. Watson responded to the amendment by reminding the House that the deadline had not passed and the Ways and Means Committee would meet that afternoon, and said that HB 1545 would be considered. Upon hearing that, and being respectful to my colleagues concerns about 816, I withdrew my amendment, but I did hold HB 816 on a motion to reconsider, just in case. Hindsight would tell me never to do that again.
Throughout lunch, people were praising me for my honorable gesture and commending me for my strategy to get my bill out of committee. But it was obvious that Chairman Watson was not pleased. This is where the story becomes tragic.
As soon as I got back to the Capitol from two lunch meetings concerning Hinds County legislation, I get summoned twice on my cell phone to get to Ways and Means for consideration on my bill. When I got there, I waited awhile before I was recognized by the chair to answer questions concerning my bill. During that time, we were suppose to go back in session at 2 p.m., but the Speaker recessed the House because Ways and Means was still meeting. (Watson made that announcement in the committee.) Then, as usual, after debate, the chair called for a motion. Instead of the motion "Title Sufficient Do Pass", I heard from Rep. Tommy Reynolds (of Beef Plant fame), Credell Calhoun, and Walter Robinson the motion "Rise and Report", which means the end of the meeting. Then all of the black members, except for Frances Fredericks and Willie Perkins, walked out, leaving me and the white members of the committee shocked and confused.
I didn't know what to think. Why would you call me down to the meeting if you had no intention of passing the bill? My only assumption was to let me know what my place was. So, licking my wounds, I went back upstairs to the chamber. It was then insult to injury was applied. Calhoun and Robinson saw me and broke out into laughter, thinking that killing a bill that would have helped 455,000 Mississippians was a good thing, especially with me pushing it. Since they thought that was funny, I proceeded to use the Rules of the House as my weapon to fight back.
I had two Ways and Means bills read, a total of 40 pages of legislation. Then after that, I was recognized to move that the House become a Committee of the Whole to deal with HB 1545. That motion failed. Then I took a point of personal privilege and told the House the same story I am writing here. Once the membership heard my story, they understood why I was in protest mode. Many of the white members, regardless of their position on the bill, felt that I was treated unfairly. Most of the black members were upset because I called out black members for their actions.
The next day, I tried again to amend HB 816, by reconsidering the bill, but fell about 20 votes short. Needless to say I was disappointed. Never before has a piece of legislation affected me in such a negative way. I have been stabbed in the back before, but this one went pretty deep. It had me questioning whether I should even bother to stay in politics. But I had to remind myself, that this whole battle was not about me, but the people I was chosen to represent. I did everything within my power to fight for them, but I was not victorious. Yet, I gave it my all and at the end of the day, that is all you can do.
I have no idea what the fallout is going to be. My tenuous relationship with the MLBC has been damaged once again. I have lost a lot of faith in the leadership and the direction of the group. I have never been a favorite son, but they never wanted me be to free from them either. Maybe a change of scenery, like D.C. perhaps, is the best prescription.
Previous Comments
- ID
- 170106
- Comment
Whoa, what a narrative, Rep. Fleming. It is so seldom that citizens get such first-hand reports of what happen in the chambers. We need to get the MLBC's take on this, too.
- Author
- ladd
- Date
- 2006-02-25T14:01:30-06:00
- ID
- 170107
- Comment
I would be interested to know what their take is as well. I would like to know how they will defend not supporting a measure that would have helped a majority of their constituents and feel good about it.
- Author
- Rep. Erik Fleming
- Date
- 2006-02-25T14:17:27-06:00
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