Legislative Update 8

March 09, 2008

Dear Friends,

I hope everyone had a good week. Thank you for your continued interest in our work and please continue to call and e-mail. 

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 7, 2008

Immigration Legislation

On Wednesday, the House passed Senate Bill 2988, a bill authored by Senator Michael Watson that requires Mississippi employers to utilize an on-line database to verify the immigration status of workers.

Under the bill, employers who make an honest effort to determine a worker’s status through the Department of Homeland Security’s “E-Verify” system will be exempt from liability, investigation or lawsuit arising from having hired an undocumented employee. However, any employer violating the act will see their public and state contracts cancelled and will be ineligible for a public contract for up to three years and/or lose their license or permit to work in Mississippi for one year. Individual homeowners who hire workers for help on private property are not liable under the act. The bill sets deadlines for employers to comply with the act ranging from this July for the state’s largest companies to 2011 for employers with less than thirty employees. The bill now goes to the Governor for his approval.

A policy statement contained in the bill says: “The Legislature declares that it is a compelling public interest of this state to discourage illegal immigration by requiring all agencies within this state to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.  The Legislature also finds that other measures are necessary to ensure the integrity of various governmental programs and services.”

I was asked to present the bill before the Judiciary B Committee and later the full House. The floor debate lasted for an hour and a half and largely consisted of questions from the membership. While this was not my first bill to present on the floor, it was far and away the longest debate I have taken part in. While the bill is not perfect, it does represent Mississippi’s first major effort to address our state’s problem with undocumented workers. I supported the bill because, as I said many times during my campaign, we must take away the incentive to break federal immigration laws. Because I know that this is a sensitive issue and merits further consideration, I invite your questions.

College Capital Improvements

During a heavy week of committee meetings and hearings, Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning (“IHL”) told the House Ways and Means Committee that our state’s colleges and universities have monumental capital improvement needs. The head of the university system, College Board members and university presidents converged on the committee to request almost $230 million in general obligation bonds to fund the projects. “We could ask with a straight face for $1 billion in bonds,” one leader told the panel, alluding to the massive “needs list.” The projects at the top of the group’s list are a fire suppression system at MUW, a wastewater system at Ole Miss and improvements necessary to meet federal ADA rules at JSU. I voted for House Bill 1641 and was pleased that it passed. It includes $43.4 million in bonds for IHL and $25 million for our community colleges.

IHL officials said that if the Legislature does not pass a capital improvements bond bill then the system’s ability to raise funds for the projects elsewhere will be very limited. The leaders said the system does not favor raising tuition to fund such projects.

HB 1641 as passed also included almost $25 million for projects through the Mississippi Development Authority as well as $6.5 million for phase one of a new project for psychiatric services at the East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian.

Money Bills

The hearing in Ways and Means was one of many in the House this week as we turned our attention to revenue generating and spending bills, along with general bills that came from the Senate. We are working against a March 12 floor deadline for “money bills” originating in the House and a March 18 deadline for House committees to report on general bills that originated in the Senate.

The state’s two-year college system also has great needs, their leaders told the committee. One of their funding goals is $128 million in bonds for capital improvements, along with “mid-level funding” between the per-student allowance for K-12 and regional public university students.

The House Ways and Means and Transportation Committees also heard reports on potential highway projects across the state through a reinvigorated “Vision 21.” “Vision 21” is a program that was initiated several years ago without a solid funding source. Through HB 1624, the program would put $100 million into the replacement of numerous obsolete bridges statewide, $75 million for five priority highway projects and $25 million for design work connected with the Toyota project in Northeast Mississippi. An annual increase in the excise tax rate tied to the consumer price index would raise the funds for the projects.

We also approved the first round of appropriation bills for state agency budgets for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Traditionally, the House and Senate divide the more than 100 spending bills for committee and floor action. Later, we will consider the spending bills the Senate took up. Among the budgets passed in the House this week was the State Department of Transportation’s budget at $1.1 billion, largely financed with federal funds and fuel taxes.

Also approved was HB 1601 to fund the Medicaid program next year. Medicaid’s budget will be over $4 billion with the state paying up to 25 percent of the bill. As I mentioned last week, our Medicaid financial plan includes a $1 per pack increase in the excise tax on cigarettes. It also deletes the controversial “face to face” requirement for Medicaid recertification.

A bill of particular interest to those of us on the Gulf Coast was HB 1640 which put $25 million into the Department of Insurance’s wind-storm “re-insurance.”

Year to date, a report showed the state’s General Fund tax collections are about $20 million above the latest projections with four months left in the 2008 fiscal year. Individual income taxes are $32 million above estimates, while sales taxes year to date are $58 million below. Our gaming collections are almost $10 million above projections, signaling a strong comeback in that industry.

Resolutions

Early in the week, we passed House Concurrent Resolution 26 to create a study committee to make recommendations for the development of a program for providing medically necessary transportation services to financially needy cancer patients.  The committee must make a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature not later than December 1.

Another resolution, HCR 51, was passed to encourage Congress to extend the federal Go Zone bill. This legislation was designed to help areas affected by Hurricane Katrina through tax incentives for low-income housing; rehabilitation for restoring commercial buildings; employer-provided housing benefits; 50% bonus depreciation on new property investments for small businesses; extending the NOL carry back; expensing cleanup costs; relief for small timber owners; employee retention tax credits; new markets tax credit; increasing Hope Scholarships and Lifetime Learning credits; allowing state and municipalities to restructure outstanding debt; authorizing Gulf tax credit debt service bonds; and state issuance of tax-exempt Gulf Coast Recovery Bonds.

In related news, I submitted both concurrent and House resolutions supporting Congressman Taylor’s “multi-peril” insurance bill.

House Webcasting

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