State Rep. Billy McCoy, D – Rienzi says he has the support to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives. As of Monday, he said he had 117 of the 122 state representatives. The vote will take place when the House meets Jan. 6.
Aside from being a 24-year veteran of the House, former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and a successful farmer, Rep. Billy McCoy has one qualification that very few of his predececessors can boast; he is a State man.
McCoy, who represents District 3 in Alcorn and Prentiss counties, said he has had a large group of supporters since current speaker Tim Ford, D – Baldwyn, announced his retirement.
“We had a diverse group of supporters-crossing party, regional, racial and philosophical bounds. These members retained the majority. And we began to pick up new members as they were elected,” McCoy said.
“I thank the Lord for strong campaign members who were able to keep a majority throughout the elections,” he added.
Rep. Steve Holland, D – Plantersville, initially sought the position but later dropped out in support of McCoy.
“McCoy’s been here 24 years, and he’s served well. It was just proper that he came to the top. He’s been working on it for a long time,” Holland said.
Holland said McCoy is a talented consensus builder.
“You’re not going to see him out wining and dining special interests. You’ll see a House more fundamental-more geared toward the house,” Holland said.
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government, said McCoy clearly has earned the support of his fellow legislators.
“He has the absolute respect of those who he serves with in the legislature because they’ve watched him for a number of years,” Wiseman said.
Wiseman said one reason for the strong bipartisan support for McCoy was his stance on accepting gifts.
“He is a very unique legislator in that he is absolutely vigilant in not accepting any sort of large campaign contribution-any sort of favor,” Wiseman said. “He won’t accept anything from anybody. The only thing he accepts is votes from the people of his district. He doesn’t want to be beholden to anybody.”
McCoy said he had always tried to make it a personal policy to not accept large gifts.
“I don’t accept PAC contributions, and we limit our contributions to the $200 amount. That’s generally how we handle people or businesses that are in my area. Some exceptions would be for close friends or family members,” McCoy said. “For the most part, it’s just a personal choice. I’m not trying to tell anybody else what to do. It’s just a personal choice that I feel comfortable with,” he added.
“We have scores and scores of stockholders in the campaign this year. And they feel good about it. From $3 to $200- it’s amazing how many people wanted to be stockholders in this effort. It’s a different approach, and we’re thankful for all of friends, businesses and professionals,” McCoy said.
McCoy said he wants to create a more open environment in the legislature.
“We want it to function at every level so that each member will be able to present ideas in a very fair and open way,” McCoy said. “We want to have a plan to work with the governor, lieutenant governor and the senate-to work with leaders across the state to do what we need to do in education, healthcare, economic development and law enforcement.”
“The Lord has provided us a great opportunity and a great group of house members who have common goals. And though we do have differences on how to get there, we will work together to accomplish these goals in a very progressive way,” McCoy added.
Holland said McCoy and the legislature as a whole will continue to face budget difficulties this year.
“Everything’s going to be driven by the budget the next year or two. We know we’re short. We know there’s going to be no revenue increases. We’ve got to get this back in check until the economy turns around,” Holland said.
McCoy, a former teacher and a member of the Board of Trustees of Northeast Mississippi Community College, said he intends to continue to fight for education.
“We’re going to continue to place education as a top priority in all of our efforts here-not just the dollars but in other efforts as well. That’s been our history for the last several years, and I’m pleased to have been a leader in that effort. Hopefully, as we get further into the fiscal year, get organized and get acclimated with the new administration, we’ll be able to continue that trend,” McCoy said.
Wiseman said the speaker is often a more important figure in Mississippi government than the governor.
“The 1890 constitution structured a relationship between the legislature and the governor such that the governor would be statutorilly or constitutionally very weak and gave all the power to the legislature,” Wiseman said.
Holland said he expects McCoy and the legislature to be a powerful force in shaping policy.
“We’ll have the typical gubernatorial honeymoon for about a year, and then the legislature will do what it has always done – run the state,” Holland said.
McCoy said attending Mississippi State University had a large impact on his life.
“I wish to state as humbly and thankfully as I know how what Mississippi State University has meant to me and to my family on a personal note and what I believe they have meant to the state of Mississippi and to the United States of America,” McCoy said.
McCoy said that he and his entire family have close ties to the university. He remembers traveling through Starkville with his father as a boy and getting ice cream at the university. He and his wife both attended Mississippi State College (as it was not a university at the time). Now, both of his children and both of their spouses are all MSU graduates.
“We’re a Bulldog family,” McCoy said.