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Rouse to Lead Mississippi's College Board Starting May 8
Dr. Doug Rouse will become president of Mississippi's College Board on May 8, leading trustees who oversee the state's eight public universities.
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Cornelius "C" Turner
Cornelius "C" Turner adds another honor to his accomplishments. Last week, Gov. Haley Barbour honored Turner and 10 other people with the Mississippi Medal of Service for significant contributions to …
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Enact Campaign Finance Reform Now
The recent scandals surrounding political donors like Dickie Scruggs and Joey Langston, former elected officials like Ed Peters and judges like Bobby DeLaughter has brought a chronic problem in Mississippi …
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Politics of Tobacco
The House sent a veto-proof cigarette tax bill to the Senate Thursday, along with the message that one side of the Mississippi Legislature is standing behind the tax, even if …
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Domestic Violence Bills Signed
Gov. Haley Barbour signed two bills addressing issues of domestic violence into law this session, both of which drafted by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.
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Ad Oversight Jeopardizing MDES
Mississippi Department of Employment Security Executive Director Tommye Favre said she wished legislators had not endangered her agency over a battle to force more oversight on state advertising.
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Senate Confirms Reeves to Federal Court
Newly confirmed Federal District Judge Carlton Reeves will keep his politics to himself, legal observers predict. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed the former Magnolia Bar president to serve as a …
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Rep. John Reeves Pledges to Help Unseat Billy McCoy
Rep. John Reeves, who is fighting in a re-vote today to take back his seat from challenger Adrienne Wooten, sent a letter to Republicans (PDF, 185 KB), asking for their …
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Score One for the City
The city of Jackson moved a step closer to a convention center last Saturday, when the Legislature passed a bill that allows for a voter referendum on the issue. The …
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The Agony of Appropriations
As the 2008 session of Mississippi Legislature session draws to an end, some bills will likely wither and die.
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Kerry, Dems to Campaign in Mississippi
I'm happy to see the national Democratic Party taking Mississippi seriously. It's so insulting when national media, politicos or anyone else assume that all of our minds are already made …
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University Place Thriving; Job Money
Mississippi is restarting a job program that gives businesses subsidies to hire new employees. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds the STEPS 2 program, which stands for Subsidized Transitional …
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[Breaking] ‘Tort Reform' Hits Brick Wall
UPDATE, 4 p.m.: After an apparent lunch meeting between Gov. Barbour, Speaker Billy McCoy and Senate President Pro Tem Travis Little, Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, announced on the floor that …
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No. 23, February 21 - 28
<b><em>The Phantom Flip-Flopper</b></em>
On the episode following Mr. Tim Russert's testimony in the Libby trial, where Cathy Martin revealed the Bush administration's tactics to manipulate the media, Mr. David Broder of The Washington …
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Politics
Sen. Chris McDaniel Takes Aim at Thad Cochran
Sen. Chris McDaniel's announcement yesterday that he will run for U.S. Congress in 2014 was more or a less a formality.
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Style
Needles and Qi
Acupuncture is an ancient wellness technique involving the insertion of multiple thin needles (or fine wire, since they lack the hollow centers of traditional medical needles) into specific spots on …
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Person of the Day
Billy McCoy
Former Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy died on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at age 77, but his legislative work remains visible in the form of four-lane highways in rural areas and …
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Haley Barbour Comes Out Against Initiative 42, 42A
By R.L. NaveThe following is a verbatim statement from former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour:
Advocates of the proposed constitutional amendment known as Initiative 42 have twisted a passage in my 2007 State of the State address to mislead voters into believing I support their very harmful ballot measure. Not only am I against Initiative 42, I strongly urge all Mississippians to vote “against both” measures on the November ballot.
When I spoke to the Legislature in January 2007, our state had turned the corner in the Katrina recovery: The federal government had been extremely generous with disaster assistance legislation; state tax revenue had exploded as tens of thousands of homes had been rebuilt or repaired; casinos that year would have an all-time record gaming haul; all of which produced the highest state tax revenue in our 188-year history. Further, our country was in the sixth year of consistent economic growth and low unemployment.
Based on those facts I proposed record funding for our K-12 schools, a funding level that met the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), as well as increased state funding for higher education. The money was there to spend at those levels, and everyone expected state revenue to increase in the coming years.
Yet the country began a deep recession in late 2007, which lasted nationally until mid-2009.
During the Great Recession, Mississippi’s general fund revenue came in $197.1 million or 1.67% below estimates in FY 2009 and a whopping $452 million or nearly 9.5% below estimates in FY 2010.
As Governor I had to reduce spending across the board in FY 2010 by 9.4% in order to meet our requirement of having a balanced budget. Consider the consequences if Initiative 42 had been the law at that time: Instead of all departments and agencies sharing in the 9.4% cut, K-12 (which absorbs about 40% of our state’s general fund budget) would have been exempt from cuts, and every other function of government – universities and community colleges, mental health facilities, and public safety – would have had to be cut nearly double, or approximately 18%.
As this recent history shows, Initiative 42 is terrible as a practical matter because it ties the Legislature’s hands and jeopardizes funding for other critical areas of state government.
It is also awful public policy because it totally eviscerates the constitutional system of separation of powers that has been fundamental to American government since 1789.
Initiative 42 would usurp the setting of K-12 education policy and budget, taking it away from the Legislature and Governor – elected by all Mississippi voters – and give it to the judicial branch; indeed, to one chancery judge, elected by one-fourth of the voters in Hinds County.
While advocates of judicial policymaking and budget setting say that one judge’s decisions would be appealable to the State Supreme Court, how is it a good idea to allow judges – elected for their judicial temperament, legal knowledge and ability to apply law to facts – …
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Crossing the Street
One night when I was a teenager, a terrified woman showed up at our front door. "Help me," she begged, crying and looking over her shoulder toward the house across …
