Rep. Jim Ellington (R–Raymond) originally offered a Voter I.D. amendment to HB 1435 on Tuesday, when the bill was first brought to the floor, but the bill was set aside when Rep. Tommy Reynolds (D–Charleston), an opponent of Voter I.D., raised a point of order intended to kill the amendment. Late Thursday afternoon, the deadline day for floor action, Speaker Billy McCoy (D–Rienzi) announced his ruling that the Reynolds point of order was not well taken, and that the Ellington amendment was proper, thereby bringing the matter back before the House for consideration. Rep. Bill Denny (R–Jackson) then offered a substitute amendment, to which Rep. Ellington agreed, which expanded the list of acceptable forms of identification. The Ellington/Denny Voter I.D. amendment passed on a strong vote of 77-45, with Republicans and significant numbers of white Democrats supporting Voter I.D on the merits.

Sentiment on the floor inexorably turned, however, when issues of race and partisan politics were injected into the debate on final passage of the amended bill. Most members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus made urgent and heartfelt pleas against the measure, recounting decades-old stories of racial discrimination, and maintaining that any Voter I.D. requirement necessarily will intimidate African-American voters. Black Democrats further in effect threatened to abandon white Democrats on future issues if the white Democrats did not support them against Voter I.D., with one African-American legislator pointedly warning that "from now on, whoever comes to this podium, I can assure you, I will vote on it from a merit standpoint and not a party standpoint." Republicans consistently denied that race, or politics, was the real issue: "No one doubts that wrongs have been committed in the past," said Rep. Mark Formby (R–Picayune), "but it’s not about black or white at all. It's about right and wrong at the ballot box." As emotions rose to almost unbearably high levels, and with some members literally in tears, the white Democrats who held the "swing" votes on the issue began to change their minds en masse. When the final vote was taken, the bill died on a 47-72 tally that was as close to a straight party-line vote as one ever sees in the Mississippi Legislature. Literally less than a handful of Republicans and Democrats voted against their respective party colleagues.

The landmark consolidation of Mississippi’s workforce training efforts under the community college system -- an idea pushed for years as a way to create a better labor pool for state business and industry, and also a major component of Governor Haley Barbour's job creation plans -- passed the full House of Representatives this week. The major thrust of HB 973 is to create a one-stop employment and training delivery system to better prepare state residents for the jobs of the future. The bill also would move the Mississippi Employment Security Commission –– the state-run "employment service" -- to the executive branch and would create the Department of Employment Security under the direct control of the governor. The plan would also create measurable savings in the administrative costs of workforce training. An accountability report would be made each December 31 to the Legislature covering a wide range of workforce training activities. Governor Barbour hailed the passage of HB 973, which occurred on a 116-4 vote, saying that the bill will "help us lure more and better jobs to Mississippi and to keep existing jobs." The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration and action.

The House also passed HB 1434 to make adjustments in the state’s massive Medicaid program which provides free healthcare to fully one-fourth of all Mississippians. Several East Mississippi lawmakers voted against the bill because the Medicaid nursing home bed assessment is increased from $4 per day to $6, even for "private pay" facilities such as King’s Daughters and Sons Rest Home in Meridian, which receive no Medicaid benefits at all. Negotiations are ongoing between the "private pay" facilities and the Barbour administration to find an acceptable way to grant some relief from the increased bed assessment. The tweaking embodied in the bill includes moving some of the program’s eligibility determination to the Division of Medicaid from the Department of Human Services. Various cost-savings measures in the bill supposedly will save the state an estimated $51 million annually. The bill was amended to allow the state to buy drugs from Canadian suppliers in the event the Federal government gives its approval, which is considered unlikely.

The past week was a very good one for pro-life advocates, as the House approved five bills relating to abortion procedures, several of which were sponsored by the Mississippi Legislative Conservative Coalition.  HB 1289 would revise murder laws to include the deliberate killing of an unborn child.  HB 1525 requires a doctor to report to the state when treating injuries that resulted from an abortion procedure.  HB 1625 gives physicians and other healthcare workers the right not to participate in any healthcare service (including abortion and euthanasia) that violates his or her conscience. The bill gives immunity from liability for declining to participate in such a service, and it also makes it unlawful to discriminate against any healthcare provider who declines to participate.  HB 1612 makes it unlawful for any physician performing an abortion that results in the delivery of a living child to intentionally allow or cause the child to die. And, finally, HB 1038 reduces from 16 to 13 weeks the minimum age of a fetus for which an abortion can be lawfully performed.

> HB 1634 would help the state develop offshore drilling for natural gas that is believed to be present in a large volume in the waters of the Mississippi Sound. Alabama and Louisiana have reaped billions in revenues from such activity, but Mississippi has not made similar strides in the offshore drilling industry. Proponents believe the state could reap a minimum of $400 million (and perhaps as much as $1 billion) in royalties and severance taxes over a 20-year period, with much of the revenues going into a public education trust fund. Neighboring states would continue to capture the minerals if Mississippi fails to act. Some restrictions were placed in the plan as to where in the Sound the drilling could take place, and leases would be handled by a panel of state officials in cooperation with other state agencies.

> HB 287 was amended to award the Mississippi Medal of Valor to members of the Mississippi National Guard who die on active duty. Seven Mississippi National Guardsmen have already given their lives in America’s ongoing war against terrorism.

> HB 1520 adds five years to a sentence for using a firearm while committing any felony.

> HB 1298 creates the criminal offense of knowingly exposing another person to a sexually transmitted disease such as HIV, with a sentence up to 10 years and a fine up to $10,000.

> HB 867 which protects historical military monuments and veterans memorials from alteration or removal.

> HB 1340 requires convicted sex offenders to inform volunteer organizations they work for that they had such a conviction on their record.

A bill that failed was HB 309 to allow law enforcement officers to use computerized voice stress analyzers in criminal investigations, as an alternative to polygraph (lie detectors) examinations. Although the bill was widely supported by local law enforcement representatives, many House members expressed fears that the technology has not yet proven its reliability and should not be trusted.

Another significant bill that died this week was HB 405, by which the state would have been authorized to continue to pay counties to house state inmates in county jails. Rep. Bennett Malone (D–Carthage), the chairman of the Corrections committee, refused to allow the House to even consider the bill because of the certainty that an amendment would have been offered to restore to $20 the per diem paid to counties (the bill as authored would have reduced the per diem to $15). Malone, who opposes retaining the $20 per day paid to the counties and who characterized county officials as "greedy" for demanding the same, was willing to let the bill die altogether rather than risk the rebuke of his position by a successful amendment on the floor of the House. It costs the state approximately $37 per day to house inmates at state facilities, so the housing of prisoners in county jails is a definite bargain for the state even at a cost of $20 per day. Speaker McCoy indicated late in the week that the House will eventually address the matter (perhaps by suspending the Rules in order to do so) notwithstanding Chairman Malone’s allowing the bill to die by not taking action prior to Thursday’s deadline.

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 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.