JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi House of Representatives voted 100-20 this week to endorse a proposed settlement of the long-running Ayers case. Lauderdale County members voting in favor of the resolution included Rep. Tommy Horne (I–Meridian), Rep. Charles Young (D–Meridian), and Rep. Greg Snowden (R–Meridian). The Senate also approved the resolution by a wide margin at week's end.

As a pre-condition for approving the settlement, the Federal District Judge managing the case had requested the Legislature to indicate how it felt about the proposed $503 million payout over a 17-year period. The lawsuit was filed in 1975 by Jake Ayers Sr., who maintained the state's dual system of segregated universities was unconstitutional and that the state should spend more to improve the state's three historically African-American universities' academic programs. The U. S. Supreme Court in 1992 agreed, in part, and sent the case back to District Court, where it has continued since. Some African-Americans led by Ayers’ widow are not satisfied with the proposed settlement, and have asked the Court for a release to allow them to continue the litigation separately. The Legislature intends to effect a final, overall resolution of all of the issues involved in the lawsuit, however, and the settlement approved by the Legislature therefore will not take effect unless all plaintiffs remain bound to its terms.

Also this week, Governor Ronnie Musgrove delivered his third "State of the State" address in the House chamber. Musgrove’s theme for the speech was "Our good work must not be less than our best," and he pledged to work closer with members of the Legislature on the various issues facing the state.

The Governor called attention to two Mississippians from Durant who lost their lives at the Pentagon in the Sept. 11 attacks -- Joe Ferguson and Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson, Jr. The parents of these patriots were present in the House chamber during the speech. Musgrove also praised all military troops from Mississippi who have been called to serve the nation during the current war against terrorism.

Governor Musgrove said he would present a package of proposed health-care legislation next week. He praised the Legislature for the teachers' pay raise passed during the 2000 session, and for instituting tough teachers' accountability measures to ensure children receive a quality education. Musgrove also voiced support of the resolution endorsing settlement of the Ayers case.In a poignant moment, the governor also praised the life's work deceased colleagues, former legislators Dick Livingston, Jimmy Thornton, Clyde Woodfield, Glen Deweese and Sam Wright, all of whom have died within the last two years. Each of them were "men who served in this Legislature with dignity and pride," the Governor said.

Among the major action taken in House committees this week was the approval of a bill that, if passed, would create a 9-member governing board for the State Department of Human Services. Under the proposed statutory scheme, the new board would submit three (3) names to the governor, who would then appoint the agency's executive director from that list. All changes in the DHS structure would take effect with the start of the next four-year term in 2004. The executive director would serve a six-year term. Backers of the proposal said it would bring stability to DHS, which has had six leaders over the past decade, but detractors maintained that it would unnecessarily weaken the authority of the Governor to manage this key agency. Another feature of the proposed HB 400 would be a "single port of entry" which would be formed for persons who utilize services handled by the agency. This would be intended to reduce the number and complexity of forms that are used by clients to access the services, and would assist in maximizing the Federal dollars received by the state.

The House Transportation Committee heard a report on "Vision 21," a plan of action proposed by the State Department of Transportation that projects the state's future highway needs for the 21st Century. The plan, if passed, would commence after Phases 1, 2 and 3 of the 1987 four-laning program have been completed. It would include work already planned for Phase 4 of that program, further development of highways in gaming areas, and roads expected to reach unacceptable levels of congestion at intervals after the year 2005. Department of Transportation leaders said the proposed $3.6 billion program would not require any new funding for implementation, but would use existing revenue streams on a "pay-as-you-go" basis.

The Governor's Medicaid office budget shortfall commanded more discussion in House committees this week. The agency of the Governor's Office has said it needs up to $150 million more funding for the current fiscal year and about $75 million on top of that for FY 2003.