The 2006 legislative session drew to a close Friday, killing several prominent bills in the process. When the dust settled after a tumultuous three months, legislation for an abortion ban, private property rights and road expansion was dead.
The last-minute road expansion bill would have provided $22 million in bonds for access roads to a Chevron Mississippi facility in Pascagoula. The company plans to build a $4.8 billion refinery off Miss. Highway 611, which would increase traffic on the mostly two-lane road.
The possible expansion will help Chevron become the United States’ second largest refinery. However, because the bill was presented days before the end of the session, House leaders could not compromise with the Senate’s request. It may be considered before next January, however.
“I’m sure Haley Wayne will call us back for some sort of special session and we’ll analyze [the road expansion bill] and do what we need to do then,” Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, said.
Barbour spokesperson Pete Smith disagreed.
“The governor hasn’t given any thought or even made an announcement if and when a special session would be called,” Smith said. “It’s possible that the Pascagoula situation can be taken care of during the next regular session.”
House Bill 100, which was aimed at protecting private property rights, enjoyed support from both sides of the Legislature. The bill would have only allowed the government to seize private property if it was for direct public use. However, a compromise on the bill was never reached.
Holland said he voted for that bill and was disappointed at the outcome.
“I don’t think any public entity has the right purely in the name of economic development to take someone else’s property,” Holland said.
One bill that had not received much publicity was Senate Bill 2511, which would have given less prison time to first-time drug offenders. The offender could be eligible for the bill if he had been convicted of selling small quantities of a controlled substance before his 28th birthday. That bill died as well.
Peter Wood, sociology professor and director of MSU’s criminal justice program, said he thinks two things could have motivated the bill’s demise.
“First, politicians don’t want to be perceived as weak on crime or offenders, especially in an election year,” Wood said.
The second reason simply is that inmates make money, Wood said.
“These county jails and regional facilities … first-timers get to do minimal time there. The county and regional institutions lease their beds to the State, who in turn has to pay for each inmate,” Wood said.
These institutions would lose more money through the passage of this bill, Wood said.
“There’s a financial incentive in blocking the bill,” Wood added.
Though Holland supported the first-time offender bill, he said he agreed that a lot of money is spent in the state for incarceration.
“We appropriated more money to the department of corrections than we did for the entire fifteen-institution community college system in this state. You’ve got to leave sentencing to the judges,” Holland said.
Senate Bill 2922, a bill that would ban most abortions, also failed to pass Friday. Many believe the abortion ban and other failed legislation will resurface again next session because 2007 is an election year.
“I worked pretty hard on that because I wanted it off the agenda forever,” Holland said.
“I was tired of it being a political issue, and the ultimate compromise was a ban on abortions in those circumstances only if Roe v. Wade was overturned,” he said.
Holland said being a father of two daughters makes his personal choice different than his political stance.
“I think I can be personally classed as pro-life. If one of my daughters had a situation like [pregnancy] happen, I would encourage her to keep the baby if at all possible,” Holland said.
“However, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t help or hurt the state. It’s not an issue I want to touch; I’m a ‘meat and potatoes’ man,” he added.
The session did pass significant legislation, however; one highlight was House Bill 1406, which will allow the state to implement new Mississippi building codes. The codes will be mandatory in counties directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, including Harrison, Jackson, Hancock, Stone, and Pearl River.
State colleges and universities also received an increase of almost $18 million in funding.
And one can bet since the next session is an election year, the bills which died in the 2006 session may live again next year.