The practical consequences of the Rules change are that important conservative initiatives such as tort reform and voter I.D., which enjoy broad support among a majority of Mississippians, now safely may be allowed to languish and die in the committees to which the Speaker assigns those bills. For example, HB 1579 is a comprehensive tort reform bill authored by Rep. Jeff Smith (D–Columbus) and co-sponsored by fully 60 conservative Democrat and Republican members of the House. Although HB 1579 is a measure wholly supported by the Governor as well as by a majority of the Senate, this bill evidently will be allowed to die in committee and not be brought forward to the full House for a vote, where it almost certainly would pass by a strong majority.

Members on the losing side of the highly-contentious Rules vote expressed widespread consternation with the rather heavy-handed effort to diminish the influence of conservatives. "This is a power grab by the speaker to stifle the legislative process," Rep. Michael Janus (R–Biloxi) told The Sun Herald. Janus, who characterized the Rules change as "a premeditated lynching" of the system, said that "I think it’s time we circle the wagons. I think this was the straw that broke the camel’s back." During the floor debate Rep. Greg Snowden (R–Meridian) warned that "the Rules are here to protect the minority as well as allow the voice of the majority to be heard. If we tighten this place down too tightly . . . it’s dangerous to the system."

Proponents of the Rules change remain unrepentant, and in fact give every indication that this week’s action is but an opening skirmish in their impending political war against Governor Haley Barbour. "He's going to meet the bull," Rep. Steve Holland (D–Plantersville) told The Clarion-Ledger. "The head bull and all the steers." Yet even as House insiders actively maneuver to thwart the statewide mandate given by voters last November to Governor Barbour on tort reform and other vital aspects of his legislative program, Republican members are branded as "partisan" unless they and like-minded conservative Democrats embrace a "House" position on tort reform and other issues that increasingly seem contrary to the interests and wishes of their constituents. "This is not Washington, and we don't want it to be Washington," Rep. Holland was quoted in The Clarion-Ledger. "If he (Barbour) wants a dose of Washington, by God, we’ll just go on and the Democrats will take over and reconcile the Republicans to the back row," said Holland. "We are front-line fighters in the House," Holland told The Clarion-Ledger. "We are a populist body, and we do not apologize for that. It is our source of pride and our strength in the House." Evidently, bipartisanship is a one-way street in the "populist" Mississippi House of Representatives.

The Legislature faces a major deadline this coming week. By March 9, House and Senate committees must have completed action on proposed general bills and constitutional amendments. If committee action is not taken by that date, the particular bills will be dead for the session. Once all bills that are going to be taken up have been reported out of committee, debate and voting will begin on the bills that survived committee action. March 18 is the deadline to complete floor action on all bills and constitutional amendments in the chamber of their origin. After that, House committees will begin to consider Senate bills, and vice versa, as the whole process begins anew. Strict deadlines such as these guide the work in every regular session of the Legislature, with it all leading to the scheduled May 9 sine die adjournment. Most new laws, changes in existing laws, and the new budget for Fiscal Year 2005 will take effect July 1, 2004.  Click on the following link to view the complete legislative deadline schedule for the 2004 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature.

> HCR 56 to amend the Mississippi Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages passed the full House. This issue has flared up in several states across the country. Mississippi already has a statute banning unions between people of the same sex, but supporters of the amendment said a constitutional change is a much stronger policy statement. The proposal also provides that Mississippi will not recognize same-sex marriages that occur in another state. The amendment would go before voters on the ballot this November.

> HB 827 was passed to redistrict the state’s circuit and chancery court districts, and to add eight (8) new judges (six circuit judges and two chancellors) in various districts around the state. Rep. Greg Snowden (R–Meridian) offered an amendment on the House floor which, had it been adopted, would have allowed judges in the 10^th Circuit Court District (Lauderdale, Clarke, Wayne and Kemper counties) and in the 12^th Chancery Court District (Lauderdale and Clarke counties) to be elected by posts (i.e., Place One and Place Two) instead of "in the herd" where all judges appear together on the ballot in any contested race. Although admitting that election "by posts" is much more preferable than "in the herd," and although the East Mississippi counties affected by Snowden’s amendment are some of the very few remaining areas in the state where "herd" elections are still utilized, the proponents of HB 827 nevertheless opposed the Snowden amendment on the ostensible grounds that "post" elections in these counties conceivably could dilute minority voting strength. Rep. Snowden's amendment received 54 votes – 8 short of the number required for adoption. The measure now moves on to the Senate, where Sen. Videt Carmichael (R–Meridian) has stated that he will make every effort to amend the bill so as to allow "post" elections in the 10^th Circuit and 12^th Chancery districts.

> The Public Property Committee okayed HB 1309 to authorize the display of the Ten Commandments in any public building. This committee also gave approval to HB 867, designed to protect military monuments and memorials, and to HB 1442, which designates the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, located on the site of the historic Soule Steam Feed Works in downtown Meridian, as the state’s historical industrial museum. All of these measures now are on the House calendar and are subject to a vote by the full House in coming days.

> Judiciary 'B' and the full House passed HB 727 to prohibit the cloning of human beings.

> The Universities and Colleges Committee gave approval to HB 1387, which would create the "Mississippi Collegiate Athletic Association Procedures Act," designed to compel the NCAA to adhere to basic due process protections during all phases of investigation and enforcement of purported infractions by Mississippi member institutions.

> The Elections and Apportionment Committee approved HB 1245 to include push polling calls in the state law concerning telephone solicitations. "Push polling" is described as calls made under the guise of taking a poll to determine how the information may affect a voter's preference for a particular candidate, while purporting to conduct a legitimate public opinion poll. There are serious Constitutional issues regarding the proposal, as it seems directed to prohibit political speech – the very sort of speech the First Amendment is designed to protect.

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.