Legislative Update 48

March 08, 2009

Dear Friends,

If you don’t already know, the legislature can be a crazy place. It is not unusual to see a chamber do something enormously positive and then something devastatingly negative all in the course of one week. That’s the kind of week we just completed in Jackson.

Voter I.D. Interrupted

On Tuesday, House Bill 1533, a measure requiring voters to provide photographic voter identification and allowing for early voting was killed in the Senate Elections Committee. The fact that Senate Republicans killed a bi-partisan voter identification bill that had the blessings of the Governor sent shock waves through the Capitol.

What Tuesday demonstrated is that there are some politicians who would rather talk about voter i.d. than see it become law. These individuals understand that voter i.d. is an effective wedge issue that makes it easier to raise campaign money and improves their chances for re-election. It is painfully obvious that these folks don’t want to see the voter i.d. issue go away because then they would have nothing to talk about.

The death of House Bill 1533 is particularly disappointing because it stood a very good chance of becoming law having survived an arduous House committee process and nearly 6 hours of debate on the House floor.

Of all the legislators who worked to find a real voter i.d. solution this year, Senator Terry Burton (R-Newton) and Representative Herb Frierson (R-Poplarville) stand out. Senator Burton, the chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, worked hard to bring out a bill that would be acceptable in the Senate. On Wednesday, Senator Burton and I appeared on the Paul Gallo Radio Show where he expressed shock and disappointment in the actions of his fellow committee members. Representative Herb Frierson, who helped move the bill through the House, expressed similar disappointment during our lunch on Thursday. I appreciate Senator Burton and Representative Frierson for their willingness to seek meaningful compromise on this issue.

All told, the job facing those of us hoping to bring meaningful election reform to Mississippi became a lot tougher this week.

Pardon Bills Still Alive

The language I placed in House Bill 2 requiring the Parole Board to make recommendations on parole requests was taken out in the Senate Corrections Committee. Thankfully, Senators Baria and Hewes were waiting with amendments of their own.

On Thursday, Senator Baria offered an amendment that contained the language from my bill requiring the Governor to contact the sheriff and district attorney of the county where a crime was committed and to conduct a public hearing in that county before granting a pardon. Senator Hewes offered an amendment to the same bill requiring a unanimous vote before the Parole Board grants parole to an individual convicted of capital murder or a sex crime. Both amendments passed. Senator Watson signed on to both of these amendments.

It’s Time to Turn Some Dirt

In his remarks to the Gulf Coast Business Council on Wednesday, Governor Haley Barbour discussed unspent money that was earmarked for Katrina rebuilding programs. He said, “We need dirt turned by September 1.” I couldn’t agree more.

Of the funds allocated to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, about $2.8 billion remains unspent. This figure represents the $1.2 billion remaining in FEMA public assistance funds and $1.6 billion remaining in Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) funds. Out of 86 total CDBG projects, construction has begun on 23.

While I and other members of the Gulf Coast legislative delegation will oppose any effort to have these funds reallocated, we owe it to ourselves to move forward quickly on these projects.

House Web casting

Don’t forget that you can follow floor debates by going to www.mpbonline.org and clicking on “House video”.

How to Contact Me

If you have any questions or concerns, I invite you to call me on my cell phone at 228-326-7649 or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. Please feel free to forward this report to folks in our district and let me know if I need to add someone to my list.

I will also be posting my updates and House related news on my campaign website at www.electbrandonjones.com.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Brandon