Legislative Update 69 - Time to Turn the Page

February 19, 2010

Dear Friend,

Time to Turn the Page

Three weeks ago I reported that the House of Representatives had passed a bill to restore cuts to all three levels of education and stop the bleeding for our judges, district attorneys, mental health programs, and Highway Patrol officers. The bill would have moved $50 million from the tobacco settlement account and $50 million from the “Rainy Day” fund.

In response to the House’s $100 million plan, the Senate passed its own $58 million plan. In an effort to split the difference, the House passed a $79 million plan that uses no money from the “Rainy Day” fund. On Thursday, the Senate agreed and the $79 million compromise plan is now on its way to the Governor.

As many of you know, the primary function of our legislature is to set the budget for the coming year. The budgeting process has been made more difficult this year by record shortfalls and bickering at the Capitol. With the recent bi-partisan compromise bill passed by both the House and Senate, at least the “bickering” obstacle has been removed.

Even though he has threatened a veto, it is my sincere hope that the Governor will sign the compromise plan and put to bed the political fighting surrounding the 2010 fiscal year. The 2011 fiscal year requires our full attention and will present enormous challenges of its own. We can’t begin that work in earnest until we turn the page on the shortfalls threatening us now. Please join me in urging the Governor to sign Senate Bill 2688 so we can get on with the state’s business.

How To Contact Me

As always, I invite you to call me on my cell phone at 228-326-7649 or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. For real time updates, you can also follow me on Twitter under the user name "brandoncjones". If you haven't heard of Twitter, you can check out my page at http://twitter.com/brandoncjones or by following the link on my website. 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. You can follow legislative proceedings by going to www.ls.state.ms.us.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve,

Brandon