BIPEC grades released - here's how Jones County lawmakers fared

*Appeared in the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper 

The Mississippi Business and Industry Political Education Committee (BIPEC) “Business & Jobs” scorecard was recently released.  The scorecard assigns “grades” to legislators based on their pro-business and job creation votes.

As is the case with any grading system, the scorecard can sometimes cause a bit of a kerfuffle among legislators who disagree with the scoring process.  This year was no different, as no member of the Mississippi House of Representatives earned an “A” rating.

 

In its scorecard release, BIPEC explained that “many in the House of Representatives were negatively affected in their BIPEC grade” due to two key votes taken on tax issues during the legislative session.

 

House Bill 1439 and Senate Bill 2971 both contained tax cuts – but they also contained tax increases that would negatively impact business, BIPEC leadership concluded.  These two votes managed to keep any representative – no matter how pro-business – from earning a top score on this year’s report card.

 

With that context, let’s examine how Jones County legislators fared in the pro-jobs scorecard.  In the Senate, both Sens. Chris McDaniel (a Republican from Ellisville) and Juan Barnett (a Democrat from Heidelberg) earned a rating of “B.”  That’s pretty good… or is it?

 

For Sen. McDaniel, a Republican, it’s a mixed bag.  Sen. McDaniel was one of just 8 Republicans to earn a “B,” while the rest of the Republican members scored the top ranking of “A.”  Sen. McDaniel was marked among those “absent and those not voting” for two pro-business pieces of legislation: Senate Bill 2024, which provides certain procurement relief for many entities, and the so-called “mFLEX” proposal, an economic development bill that would have combined some of the most commonly used tax credits into one easy-to-use incentive.  

 

Sen. McDaniel’s score also suffered from his no vote on changing the state flag design.  According to BIPEC, “the old flag put us at a disadvantage” because of its negative impact on the state’s perception.  Voters in the Free State of Jones must agree with that mindset, as they voted some 58.8 percent to adopt the new Mississippi flag design in 2020.  (Statewide, nearly 73 percent of Mississippians voted in favor of the new flag.)

 

As a Democrat, however, Sen. Juan Barnett’s score of “B” is pretty high.  He was among the top-rated Democrats in the Senate, and his Democrat counterpart in the House of Representatives, Omeria Scott, earned a score of “D.”  Sen. Barnett voted mostly in favor of the pro-jobs bills, with the exception of legislation that would have raised the weight limit for harvest permits (an important bill for the poultry industry in Jones County that Sen. Barnett voted against) and legislation that would have prevented employers from requiring job applicants to disclose if they have been convicted of a felony crime (that Sen. Barnett voted for). 

 

Jones County House members Donnie Scoggin and Robin Robinson both scored a rating of “B,” in large part due to their votes on the aforementioned tax bills that would have resulted in some tax increases on businesses.

 

The BIPEC scorecard isn’t flawless, but it’s a good way to monitor whether your legislators are prioritizing economic growth or voting with the status quo.  In my opinion, legislators should embrace policies that promote economic development and job creation in order to move our state forward – and their votes ought to reflect this as a priority.  

From MDES to Medicaid, legislators no strangers to reauthorization fights

*First appeared in the Laurel Chronicle on July 4, 2013


The recent debate in Jackson on whether the state should expand its taxpayer-funded Medicaid program in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA; also known as “Obamacare”) brought back certain legislative memories.

Call me crazy, but there seems to be a trend – both in the way D.C. promotes adoption of its policies under the current president and the way in which Mississippi legislators use repealers to their political advantage.

Consider the way in which Medicaid expansion is pitched to the states by President Obama. States can expand Medicaid eligibility and add thousands of beneficiaries to the rolls, but it won’t cost one cent…at least not yet. It’s the “expand now, pay later” scenario so popular with this administration. More on that later.

In the special session which ended this weekend, the Legislature reauthorized Medicaid so that it legally exists to provide health insurance to the state’s poor. (Sidebar: Generally speaking, state agencies and other programs have repeal dates, much like expiration dates, which must be acted on by the Legislature lest the programs shutdown.)

The reauthorization process didn’t come without controversy, however, as Democrats and Republicans fought over whether Mississippi should expand its Medicaid program. Ultimately, Republicans got their way, and the Legislature reauthorized the program without expanding it. Expansion may happen in the future, of course, but Republicans took the prudent approach in delaying major changes until more information about the ACA is known.

A look at yesteryear may shed light on why the most recent Medicaid reauthorization debate – and the threats about the program being shutdown - shouldn’t surprise anyone who follows the Obama Administration and Mississippi politics in general.

I’m reminded of another initiative the Administration and its allies tried to implement in Mississippi. A lesser known part of Obama’s famous stimulus package, the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act gave states “free” money to expand unemployment programs. If states adopted certain policies, such as paying unemployment compensation to individuals who worked part-time, the federal government would pay for any additional costs– at least, temporarily. Sound familiar?

Since unemployment insurance was part of my policy portfolio, I spent a great deal of time working on this issue for former Gov. Barbour. His opposition to expanding the state’s unemployment program was shared by Republicans in the Legislature who recognized this regulation change would have created additional taxes on businesses once the stimulus money ran out.

Democrats disagreed and refused to reauthorize the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. While Democrats toted the water for the President’s liberal unemployment programs, the future of MDES, its employees, and others – such as unemployment insurance recipients and workforce trainees – was in jeopardy.

Ultimately, Gov. Barbour was able to negotiate a compromise to reauthorize the agency without expanding eligibility to part-time workers.

But, that wasn’t the first time Democrats used MDES as a pawn in legislative games. In fact, when MDES’s repealer came up in the 2008 session, Democrats refused to approve its reauthorization until Republicans agreed to increase the state’s unemployment benefits. The agency was eventually reauthorized in a special session Gov. Barbour called to deal with the issue.

In recent history, we’ve seen Democrats threaten the very existence of state agencies as a negotiation tactic to push the agenda they share with President Obama – even if it results in tax increases or additional costs to the state.
But to solely blame Democrats is a bit misleading, as both parties are guilty of using Machiavellian legislative tactics to achieve their goals, whether that’s actually making a policy change or simply raising the public’s awareness of an issue.

So, I guess my real point is this: The recent fight over Medicaid expansion is just one more example of current political trends in D.C. and Jackson.

The trend coming out of D.C. is Obama’s fondness for the “no money up front” pitch in which states can opt into expanded programs without additional costs…until a few years down the road, when the expanded programs (Medicaid, unemployment insurance, etc.) are simply too established to repeal. It’s actually a clever strategy, when it works.

The trend coming out of Jackson is one that’s been going on since before I joined the motley crue of Magnolia State politicos, and it is simple: The Mississippi Legislature loves a repealer. Seriously, check nearly any law that establishes an agency or a new program, and there will be a section that calls for the abolishment of the program on a date certain…unless the Legislature acts.

In theory, this provides a strategic advantage for legislators who threaten to shut down the agency unless certain conditions are met. But in practice, as I’ve witnessed, shutting down a government program is the exception, not the rule…even if the headlines scream differently.

Top political movers and playmakers have Jones County roots

*First appeared in Laurel Chronicle on June 13, 2013.

Growing up in Jones County, I often found myself cruising down Old Bay, watching plays at the Laurel Little Theatre, or enjoying a milkshake at the still-delicious P.D.I.’s. Early on in the Free State, I learned about how our neck of the woods contributed to a state, regional, and global impact – from companies like Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry producer in the United States, to Howard Industries, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of distribution transformers.

What I didn’t realize, however, is that our county’s footprint went beyond these corporate giants. In fact, Jones Countians can also take pride in the Pine Belt’s impact on the state’s political class.

Rickey Cole, the head of the Mississippi Democratic Party, hails from Ovett. A candidate for state agriculture commissioner in 2007, Cole has been involved in more than 20 Democratic political campaigns since 1982. Splitting his time between Ovett, where he still helps manage the family farm, and Jackson, where he serves as a consultant with the Eaves law firm, Cole has a long history of Democratic activism across the state. His contributions to the Democratic Party haven’t gone unnoticed, as he is currently in his second term as chairman of the Democratic Party.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mississippi Republican Party chairman Joe Nosef has Laurel roots as his wife, former Amy Wallace, grew up here. (Heard of Wallace Drugs? Of course you have. That’s the same family.) Years ago, Joe and I worked together as part of Governor Haley Barbour’s Office. We’d often discuss Laurel – its charming downtown and oak-lined historic district – since he had spent considerable time here with Amy. Although Nosef is a Clarksdale native, he embraced the uniqueness of our city beautiful and our Free State.

Speaking of Jones County Republicans, one of the state’s most well-known political families is from within our borders: The Pickerings. Located in the West Jones area, this family has produced household names in Mississippi politics. Let’s start with retired federal judge Charles Pickering, whose record of involvement in public service is lengthy. He has served in virtually all levels of government – from municipal to federal. A former municipal judge, Pickering also served in the Mississippi State Senate. In the 1970s, Pickering was chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party and was later appointed by the first President Bush to a federal judgeship.

His appointment in 2001 by President George W. Bush to serve on the Fifth Circuit would not come without controversy. Senate Democrats made national headlines when they chose to filibuster this Bush appointee on the grounds of his stance on abortion, as well as unsubstantiated claims that Pickering sympathized with racists. I should note that Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers (whose slaying occurred 50 years ago this week), openly supported Pickering’s nomination, along with other notable civil rights leaders. Ultimately, Pickering chose to withdraw his nomination, thus ending the filibuster debacle.

(Speaking of Judge Pickering, let’s not forget one of his former law partners, Carrol Gartin. You’ll probably recognize that name from the widely-used road in the city known as Carrol Gartin Boulevard. A Democrat, Gartin is a Laurel native who served three terms as Mississippi’s Lieutenant Governor during the 1950s and early 1960s.)

Judge Pickering’s son has also played on the national stage as a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Congressman Chip Pickering graduated from R.H. Watkins High School and attended college at both Ole Miss and Baylor University. He served as a member of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott’s staff before staging his own successful congressional campaign in 1997. In 2008, the Laurel native opted to return to Mississippi to pursue a career in the private sector.

Nephew to Judge Pickering is Stacey Pickering, whom most of Laurel knows as “neighbor” and the rest of the state knows as State Auditor. Prior to his election as State Auditor, Pickering served in the state senate, like his uncle before him. Pickering graduated from West Jones High School and attended both Jones County Junior College as well as Samford University. He earned a Master’s Degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Whitney, still live in Laurel with their four children.

From political party leaders to state senators; from federal judges to congressmen, Jones County natives have made a big impact on the state of Mississippi politics. So the next time you’re thinking about all the great things our county has to offer - from its charm to its corporate giants – I encourage you to consider the political side of our Free State.