2006 Legilative Analysis
Jimmy PorterThe 2006 Legislative Session is now history. The Christian Action Commission (CAC) spends a lot of time at the Capitol during the session especially if there are bills that relate to our areas of concern. Decisions were made that have and will continue to affect our lives.
As I write this brief analysis of this year’s session, allow me to remind you that the Baptist Record is not the “Democratic Daily” nor is it the “Republican Rag.” Also, the CAC is not an advocacy group for Republicans or Democrats.
This year the bills ranged from forbidding “hog dog rodeos” to adding $113 million to K-12 public education. The rodeos were commercial events that pitted a dog against a hog (with tusks removed) in an enclosed pen, a barbaric activity that needed to be stopped.
At the end of the session there was a $221 million dollar surplus which enabled our legislators to give state employees a minimum $1,500 increase along with providing additional relief to Katrina stricken areas. In addition to the added funding for K-12, Senate Bill 2604 authorized a four year plan for fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program.
Our senators and representatives are to be commended for giving us a balanced budget and for the outstanding work they did on numerous other bills. But we did lose a few opportunities to pass some significant legislation.
The bill to ban cloning in Mississippi died in a senate committee. This cloning bill included the banning of embryonic stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Both the House and the Senate conducted public hearings where pro and con arguments were made. These hearings were emotionally charged, and it was there the bill lost its support. The proponents of embryonic stem cell research along with a few in the media falsely accuse the CAC, Pro-Life Mississippi and other such groups as being against stem cell research. We have and will continue our support of stem cell research but must draw the line when embryos are created and destroyed for research purposes.
The ban abortion bill also died in conference. This bill originated in the House of Representatives and looked good on the surface. After further review the bill contained some unacceptable issues. The informed consent law and the 24 hour waiting period which are strong pro-life bills would have been jeopardized. Therefore, Senator Alan Nunnelee and his conferees were right in allowing it to die in conference.
Most of you watched with interest as two bills aimed at lowering grocery taxes and increasing cigarette taxes were passed by the House and Senate only to be vetoed by the governor. The second of these bills seemed workable and reasonable but attempts to overturn the veto failed. Mississippi has one of the highest grocery taxes in the nation and one of the lowest cigarette taxes. I read our governor’s explanation of why he chose to veto them, but I did not find them convincing. These two vetoes along with another veto of a bill to put the Partnership for A Healthy Mississippi under the direction of the legislature makes me believe our governor has not strayed far from his days as a tobacco lobbyist.
The grocery tax bill will probably be addressed again next year in some form. It will be interesting to see how our senators and representatives will vote in an election year especially if they intend to run for state-wide office. It might prove rather difficult to explain to Mississippians why one voted to keep our grocery tax one of the highest in the land.
All in all, our senators and representatives do an admirable yet difficult job in taking tax dollars and stretching them as far as they do. So when you see them, thank them and most of all, pray for them.