State legislators have five days to approve a number of bills ranging from abortion bans to property rights while other issues like the cigarette/grocery tax swap are being continually revised and resubmitted despite Gov. Haley Barbour’s continued stance against the bill.
“I appreciate the support of the large number of senators who voted to sustain my veto. In this time of fiscal uncertainty caused by Hurricane Katrina, it would not be responsible to allow such a reduction in state revenues,” Barbour said in a statement released earlier this week. “With this large margin to sustain the veto, I hope we can put this risky tax scheme behind us.”
Two bills currently await the governor’s signature: a breastfeeding bill that would make the act legal in public places and a House bill that would allow employees to keep a firearm in their vehicle as long as the parking lot is not gated or maintained by a security guard.
Stennis Center director Marty Wiseman says he believes the Legislature has done a wonderful job in the wake of Katrina.
“If you look at what was predicted as far as the Legislature was concerned last fall, it was almost predicted to be a disaster,” Wiseman said. “For the first time in a while, state employees will have raises, university and college professors will have raises…they turned it into a victory any way you look at it.”
Lawmakers learned last week that state tax collections could be as high as $250 million more than originally estimated, prompting several suggestions on how to spend the newfound budget surplus. More education funding and Gulf Coast attention remain the most popular suggestions.
State economist Phil Pepper said he believes much of the increase in funds will be in the form of recurring revenues, meaning they will continue year after year.
“Revenues have gone up substantially since Katrina from the result of the rebuilding efforts that started, the federal and insurance money being spent in the area … we expect the revenue to hold for the next four or five years,” Pepper said
A small amount of funding has already been proposed: legislators decided Friday to give state employees a pay raise, as well as to increase university professors’ and college instructors’ pay rates by 5 percent. With the completion of the state’s $4.5 billion budget late Sunday night, many say the Legislature is now on the “home stretch” of the session.
The bills pending approval in the legislature are numerous, however, House Bill 100 limits the government’s ability to take private property. The bill would allow private property to return to the original owners if the land was not used for public purposes and would limit the use of eminent domain across the state.
The term eminent domain, which has been a subject of national news media in recent months, refers to the power of the state to seize private property for the public good even when the owner does not want to give up the property.
Upon its trip to the House, Senate Bill 2922 became a statewide abortion ban except in cases of rape, incest or endangerment of the mother’s health. The bill was originally intended to require women watch a sonogram or listen to their unborn baby’s heartbeat before consenting to an abortion.
Senate Bill 3084 represents the most recent incarnation of the statewide grocery tax cut/cigarette tax increase. Both houses of the Mississippi Legislature agreed to cut the 7 percent sales tax on groceries in half and raise the cigarette tax from 18 cents to $1 over two years. Barbour vetoed the bill, echoing his veto of a similar bill one month earlier.
Three pending bills aimed at helping Katrina victims could also be passed. House Bill 1548 would appropriate $250 million for interest-free loans which could help Gulf Coast citizens start rebuilding their lives. The maximum amount for each loan is $25,000. The second would require newer, stricter building codes in south Mississippi and other regions.
Senate Bill 2384 allows residents to keep their homestead exemptions on houses destroyed by Katrina for two years. The governor approved the bill last week.
Many remain critical that the bills will not fix the ongoing problem of insurance and financial losses that plague so many Gulf Coast residents.
Pepper said he knew of one possible reason for the apparent shift of Katrina-related relief in the legislature. “The Legislature is waiting to see what the federal government is going to do in the form of match money … how large a role the federal government is going to play in funding relief efforts,” Pepper said.
Bay St. Louis attorney Brehm Bell said important issues are being looked at by the Legislature, but he wants to see progress.
“I want to see some definite statements on how they plan to rebuild the tax base [on the Coast],” Bell told The Clarion-Ledger this week.
“Usually after the budget is done with, you coast for five days and go home, but there are some big bills still left over,” Wiseman said.
Wiseman said although a tension exists between the governor and the Legislature, it’s a healthy tension. “When people feel good in the pocketbook, they usually feel good overall,” he said.
All of the bills mentioned are still pending in committee with the exception of the grocery/cigarette tax swap bill, which the Senate failed to override Thursday. The legislative body fell six votes shy of the 34 needed. Another plan could be produced before the session ends April 2.