A few years ago, a then prominent member of the House Appropriations Committee (a Democrat who no longer serves in the Legislature) stated during floor debate that “Medicaid is a cancer which will eat up the General Fund.” This legislator was not trashing the Medicaid program itself, which he in fact supported; however, he was [...]
The Meridian Area Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the premier international association of professional educators, presented the “Phi Delta Kappa Bell Ringer Award” to Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian) at a banquet held May 6 at Mississippi State University’s Meridian Campus. Snowden, who serves as Speaker Pro Tempore, the second-highest office in the Mississippi House of [...]
Geoff Pender nails it in The Clarion-Ledger. Mississippi Republicans’ prudent, “go slow” approach to the optional expansion of the Medicaid program has been validated by President Obama’s own cautious actions. With Obama’s delay until 2015 of any DSH cuts to hospitals, there is now no rush to expand Medicaid, and, indeed, every reason to wait [...]
Americans will cast Congressional ballots two weeks from Tuesday. Republicans must net a 40 seat gain in order to take control of the House of Representatives and thereby “fire” Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Most prognosticators, Democrat as well as Republican, now concede this is a likelihood. Democrats are in big trouble because Americans reject what Congress [...]
COWBELLS – The cowbell ban is silly. If anyone were really serious about enforcement, cowbell toting fans (easy enough to identify personally in the stands from any telecast) would be fined, or simply banned from future games. That won’t be done, nor should it be, because the rule itself is ridiculous, as the SEC’s inaction [...]
The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die three days early on Thursday, April 4, 2013, marking the successful conclusion of what Gov. Phil Bryant has hailed as a “transformational” legislative session marked by historic education reform. The 2013 Regular Session began at high noon on January 8, and by the time the gavel came down for [...]
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, marked the 26th annual “Higher Education Appreciation Day Working For Academic Excellence” (HEADWAE) in the Capital City. Faculty and student honorees were recognized from Mississippi’s various institutions of higher learning. From our area of the state the following were honored: East Central C.C. (Andrew Talbert Hanna, student; Kim Daniels Hardy, faculty); [...]
Monday begins what quite likely will be the busiest single week of the 2013 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature. In the House, 127 bills remain on the House “General” Calendar, and if these bills are not voted on by Thursday, they will be dead for the session. Bills voted on but held on a [...]
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed HB 369, the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013, at 12:52 a.m. Thursday morning, following some 10 hours of floor action. House members patiently but methodically defeated 17 amendments intended to weaken the bill. The only successful amendment, proposed and supported by the House leadership, simply clarifies that “for-profit” [...]
I was privileged to speak to the Mississippi Economic Council’s “A Capital Day” gathering at the Capitol on Thursday, January 10. Click on this link to view my remarks, courtesy of MEC: To view videos from other “A Capital Day” speakers, plus additional MEC videos, click here.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee is proposing a $5.52 Billion state support budget for FY 2014, with no tax increases planned. The full Legislature will be asked to adopt the budget in the upcoming Regular Session, which begins January 8. As Mississippi’s (and America’s) economy continues to recover at a very slow pace, the JLBC’s [...]
Balloons dropped and confetti flew as the 2012 Republican National Convention came to an end Thursday evening. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stride forth together from Tampa with the Grand Old Party solidly united behind them, and amidst widespread optimism that waves of independents and “persuadables” will come over to the Romney/Ryan ticket in the [...]