Saturday, March 29 was the deadline for "conference reports" (i.e., final versions) of appropriations and revenue bills for the state's fiscal year 2004 General Fund budget to be completed and filed. The full membership of the Legislature (House and Senate) began casting final votes on those measures Sunday afternoon. The deadline for conference reports on general bills (non-revenue measures) to be completed and filed is Monday, March 31, with the full membership expected to vote on those bills early in the week. Click the following link to see a listing of all important legislative deadlines applicable to the 2003 session.

Actual conferencing -- where three House members meet with three Senate members to negotiate final versions of bills -- began last week on all types of measures. One conference committee that bears watching closely is that for SB 2821, intended to implement the "Help America Vote Act." The question on everyone’s mind is whether the final conference version of this legislation will or will not contain reasonable Voter I.D. provisions applicable to all voters in all elections. Republicans generally support sensible Voter I.D. as being necessary to ensure fair and honest elections, while some Democrats, and especially members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, contend that Voter I.D. has the tendency to intimidate or harass minority electors. The three House conferees are:  Rep. Tommy Reynolds (D–Charleston), Rep. Ferr Smith (D–Carthage), and Rep. Joey Hudson (D–Monticello). The three Senate conferees are Sen. Hob Bryan (D–Amory), Sen. Dean Kirby (R–Pearl), and Sen. Ron Farris (R–Hattiesburg). Although complete unanimity is not required, at least two Representatives and two Senators must agree and sign the same conference report to be presented for a vote in each chamber, or otherwise SB 2821 will die for the session.

In matters of special interest to Lauderdale County, the House passed two pieces of local and private legislation.  SB 3009, as amended by the House, would allow the City of Meridian to sell treated effluent water from the City's wastewater treatment plants.  HB 1657 would allow the City of Meridian to provide certain retirement credits to employees absent from work due to active duty in the United States military or maritime service.  Having now passed the full House, both bills will now return to the Senate for further action.  As with all local and private legislation, these measures were expressly requested of the Legislature by local governing authorities.

Representative Greg Snowden (R-Meridian) maintains a legislative web site to aid constituents and other interested persons in obtaining information about state government. The web site address is  www.gregsnowden.com.  Rep. Snowden may be reached by e-mail at any time greg@gregsnowden.com, or by telephone at 601-693-5700 (Meridian office) or 601-527-5350 (cell phone - a local call from anywhere within Mississippi).

EDITORIAL NOTE: Most of the facts and much of the organization of the above summary is due to the fine work of Mac Gordon, of the House Information Office. However, although Mr. Gordon provides this information weekly to all House members, each member has the privilege of using it however he or she sees fit. Rep. Snowden has taken the liberty to re-write much of the standard summary, and to include his own comments and expressions of opinion. Accordingly, while Rep. Snowden gratefully acknowledges the work of the House Information Office in organizing and supplying reliable and timely information as to the workings of the House, all comment and all opinion contained in this summary is that of Rep. Snowden alone, and not that of Mr. Gordon or any other staff employee of the House of Representatives.