Brandon Jones - House District 111

Dear Friends,

I hope that you all had a good week. Please continue to remember the Compretta family as well as those affected by the storms that swept through northern Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 8, 2008

House Committees in Full Swing

Committees and sub-committees of the House of Representatives worked overtime this week to deal with hundreds of bills. Not only did our committees consider numerous bills, we also held hearings with state agencies and advocacy organizations that have asked for certain pieces of legislation to be approved (or rejected, in some instances).  In many cases, sub-committees held hearings and voted on bills before they were presented to the full committees.

There was an important meeting of the Medicaid Committee at which the issue of face-to-face recertification for program benefits was discussed. Officials from the Governor’s Division of Medicaid claim that “face to face” has saved the state millions of dollars through enforcement of the verification rules and requiring supervisory review of cases. Critics claim many Medicaid clients, including thousands of children, have been needlessly dropped from the rolls, and that little or no fraud has been discovered through “face to face.” A pediatrician said the problems arising from the “face to face” process is what ultimately sends many Medicaid clients to the emergency room, a very expensive healthcare option. Medicaid is an almost $4 billion program, with federal funds (more than $3 billion) paying the lion’s share of the cost.

The Ports, Harbors and Airports Committee heard from representatives of the Port of Gulfport and the nearby Island View Casino. The port is still struggling to recover from the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina and has not reached its insurance settlement as yet. There was much discussion regarding the direction the port will expand in the post-Katrina era and how that will affect Island View Casino, which pays the state $7 million annually in lease fees. It was stated that the Panama Canal’s expansion will benefit the state port. There is also indication that the port could become the home to at least one cruise line in the future. This morning I drove to Gulfport to see the port and can attest to the fact that the port, like much of the Gulf Coast, has a long way to go in its recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Another Coast-related matter came before the Ways and Means Committee, which heard a report on the homeowner grant program in the wake of Katrina. The panel was told $123 million has been disbursed in phases one and two, which were basically compensation for home losses. The more difficult phase will be for renters and low-income persons, and those funds are more restrictive due to EPA concerns and other related issues. Hopefully, this will be settled soon. A major worry is the 7,000-plus residents still in FEMA trailers (down from 38,000 originally). Ways and Means was told that the Governor’s Office is handling the diversion of funds from the Coast to the Toyota plant. MDA is “not managing those funds,” the committee was told. On another matter, the committee was told that MDA staff had met recently with economic developers in Southwest Mississippi to work on progress there.

The Ways and Means Committee also heard a discussion on having a tax-free holiday before schools begin. The State Tax Commission leader told the panel that it would be hard to oversee due to having to re-program cash registers and computers to handle the changes from a taxed item to a non-taxed item. The proposal has been before the Legislature several times in past sessions.

Our new Select Committee on Poverty heard a presentation by a state education research official showing that as of 2005 there were 591,549 people in Mississippi who met federal poverty guidelines, or 21 percent of the state’s population. We have the largest number of people living in poverty in the U.S. Humphreys, Holmes, Coahoma and Issaquena counties have the most people living in poverty. In “quality of life” we are next to the bottom behind Louisiana. Poverty brings on all sorts of familial problems, including lack of academic success, behavioral problems, substance abuse and long-term economic problems. The committee will be studying ways to eliminate some of the poverty problems in our state.

Bills

The House deadline for bill submission was Monday. I am listed as the principal author on 22 bills. As I mentioned last week, a large majority of the bills I have submitted deal with insurance issues and child predators. In addition to these measures, I have submitted bills that deal with a moratorium on permits for PFOA, a repeal of last year’s measure that would distribute tax dollars generated from Chevron expansion to school districts throughout the county and bills that are aimed at tightening our state’s laws dealing with identity theft. To view these bills, visit http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/house_p_authors/jones.xml.

Deadlines Approaching

The deadline for committees to act on general bills and constitutional amendments is February 19. Following that will be the February 28 deadline for original floor action on those same measures.

Floor Action

This week the House approved HB 144 to extend the law giving small loan companies the right to offer borrowers a chance to purchase auto club memberships after approval of a loan. The membership cannot be sold to the borrower unless it is requested and the finance charges for the auto club membership cannot exceed 18% APR. I voted against this measure because I am not comfortable with the exorbitant rates associated with these small loans. It is my feeling that an individual who comes up $200 short one week will not be able to handle the long term effects of a small loan with a 36% interest rate. As with all issues, I welcome your comments and questions in regard to small loan companies.

We also passed HB 591 restricting eminent domain to direct public use, and we extended the law allowing the lease of farm lands owned by our prison system

House Getting Closer to Webcasting

This week the House moved closer to webcasting our floor proceedings. We approved the live Internet showing of House debates earlier in the session. I will let you know when floor debates will be available online.

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