Although HB 410, which would have imposed a $0.50 per pack cigarette tax increase, and HB 1409, which would have dramatically increased the fees charged to consumers by a wide range of state agencies, had passed the House several weeks ago by the slimmest of margins, both bills died Tuesday when the deadline for Senate committee consideration expired. In order to revive either bill (or, for that matter, to consider any other tax increase or fee hike measure prior to the end of the Regular Session), a 2/3 majority in both the House and the Senate must first agree to suspend the Rules. Accordingly, even though it normally is quite difficult to pass any revenue bill (a 3/5 majority being necessary), it now effectively will require a 2/3 super-majority, because all normal deadlines have passed, and the only way for either chamber now to consider a tax hike is first to suspend the Rules. Therefore, it now only would take 18 Senators (out of 52) or 41 Representatives (out of 122) to thwart the passage of any tax increase during the Regular Session. Fiscal conservatives in both chambers have easily mustered more than those numbers throughout the Session, so it would readily appear that the odds in favor of any tax increase during the 2005 Regular Session are now very long indeed.

Mississippi's state and local tax burden (taxes as a percentage of income) ranks 19^th among the 50 states, up 10 notches over the last decade (the state ranked 29^th as recently as 1994). During that same ten-year period, the General Fund budget has nearly doubled, from around $2 billion then to almost $4 billion today. Clearly, Mississippi’s budget problems have not arisen because of any lack of available revenue, but rather because of excessive spending. Even with the tax increase argument now essentially decided for this Session, the difficult decisions still remain as to how and where the necessary spending cuts will be made. And since one of the oldest adages recited at the Capitol is the truism that no legislative proposal is ever really "dead, dead, dead" until the Legislature adjourns sine die and goes home – scheduled for April 3 this year – many disparate budgetary outcomes remain conceivable, even though some, such as those involving tax increases or fee hikes, appear very unlikely at this date.

A heavily-amended version of the Mississippi Education Reform Act of 2005 passed the House this week. The bill, SB 2504, is Governor Haley Barbour's major reform proposal for K-12 public education. The bill is designed to give local school districts more freedom from state agency controls and would create a system of merit pay for teachers to reward them when their students show improvement on certain standardized tests. The bill also would pay teachers more money to teach in certain critical subject areas, and would allow top students to take courses at community colleges for college credit while still enrolled in high school. SB 2504 was the first major piece of education legislation to come to the House floor since the appointment of Rep. Cecil Brown (D–Jackson) as Chairman of the House Education Committee. Brown, a Meridian native, was appointed by Speaker of the House Billy McCoy (D–Rienzi) to take over from Rep. Randy "Bubba" Pierce (D–Leakesville), who resigned from the House this week to accept a gubernatorial appointment as Chancery Judge in Greene, George and Jackson counties in southeastern Mississippi.

Amendments to the education bill on the House floor included a provision requiring athletes to post a C-average in order to participate in sports, and one requiring a 2.5 average for dual high school/community college enrollment. Also included in the House-passed amendments were provisions whereby low-performing schools would require students to wear uniforms, to separate seating by gender within the classroom, requiring daily homework for all grades, encouraging families to emphasize reading and writing, and discouraging the use of telephones, TVs, videos and "trashy" music by school children for at least four hours, four days per week. The amended bill also would promote healthy eating and drinking habits and would create an online "virtual school." However, a further amendment to make kindergarten enrollment mandatory for 5-year-olds, as proposed by Rep. Jamie Franks (D–Mooreville), was handily defeated on the floor.

SB 2559 to create a disability trust fund for law enforcement officers, to be funded from an extra assessment on certain fines;

SB 2682, in a first-time agreement among eye treatment professionals, allowing optometrists to prescribe some oral medications like antibiotics and anti-inflammation agents;

SB 2239 to prohibit county supervisors from substantially reducing the county budget during the last year of their term, if a majority were defeated in the general election;

SB 2076 to name a portion of U.S. 84 in Jones County as "Veterans Memorial Highway," an I-59 bridge in Pearl River County in honor of Deputy Sheriff Len J. Rowell, part of State Highway 19 in Neshoba County in memory of three slain civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, and U.S. 49 E and U.S. 82 in Leflore County in memory of teenager Emmett Till, killed there in 1963 in another noted civil rights case;

SB 2898 was amended to make the deer bag limit for bucks and does five per season, except in an area of South Mississippi south of U.S. 84 and east of Mississippi 35; and

SB 2053 to prohibit sex offenders from owning or working in child-care facilities.

Governor Barbour also signed into law this week HB 607, designed to tighten access to certain over-the-counter cold medicines that are also used to produce the illicit drug methamphetamine. Law enforcement officials from around the state, including Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie, gathered at the Capitol to support the enactment of this new anti-drug legislation.

In ceremonial actions taken this week, the House passed resolutions commending the lives of Master Sgt. Sean Michael Cooley, Spec. Robert McNail, and Spec. Drew Rahaim, all members of the Mississippi-based 155th Infantry Brigade, and all of whom recently died while serving in Iraq. Also honored posthumously this week was the late Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, and a prominent civic leader for many years on the Gulf Coast. Lawrence is the father of ABC personality Robin Roberts, the news anchor for Good Morning America.

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.  You may click on the following link to access copies of all bills introduced by Rep. Snowden during the current Regular Session.  Rep. Snowden is committed to being highly accessible to his constituents and to the media, and he may be reached by e-mail at gsnowden@mail.house.state.ms.us or at greg@gregsnowden.com, or by telephone at 601-693-5700 (Meridian office) or 601-527-5350 (Greg's personal 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.