2010 Session Begins
- By David Baria
- Published 01/18/2010
The third week of the 2010 legislative session begins today with not much but gloom and doom in the forecast. Governor Barbour will provide his State-of-the-State address tonight and no one should expect to find it uplifting. Revenues continue to fall below the projections and another round of cuts to the existing 2009 budget will be necessary. In fact, the Senate voted last week to give the governor the authority to make cuts up to 10% with further legislative approval. We expect to hear tonight how the additional 5% cuts will affect the 2009 budget. Prospects for the 2010 budget do not present a pretty picture either. The revenue shortfall is nearly $275 Million. There is over $300 Million in the Rainy Day fund, but spending it all this year may not be wise as we don't know what the future will hold. Thus, there will likely be significant cuts to agency funding in the 2010 budget as well.
Despite the darkness of the hour, the bright side of this dark cloud may be that we can now make drastic changes to the manner in which we create a budget in Mississippi and enforce performance metrics to ensure that taxpayers get their money's worth out of government. For too long the legislature has ignored recommendations of expert economists as to the need for budget reform. Perhaps now, in this climate in which everything must be on the table, we can make some progress on budget reforms.
While the budget will dominate the session, there are other measures that can be taken to make Mississippi a better place to live and work. I will try once again to make changes to insurance law to eliminate the anti-concurrent causation exclusion in home owners policies and to enforce appropriate adjustment and payment of claims by insurance companies. I have filed again a bill to create a tax incentive for the use of solar, wind, geothermal or other energy efficient physical plants for home and business owners. This year, I have been joined by the committee chairman as a co-author of the bill and feel that we can get it passed. I have also filed for the first time a bill to allow for net metering so that those who produce excess electricity can sell it back to the power company. These common sense measures will promote the wise use of resources and will help stimulate a new "green" economy.
On the crime front, I have filed a bill to take on the scourge of crystal meth. My bill will make pseudoephedrine available only via presecription. This may create a bit of a harship on cold and allergy sufferers, but will greatly reduce the prevelance of meth labs in our state. I believe that the toll that this drug is taking on our families justifies such extreme measures. Also, at the request of the Mississippi Deputy Sheriff's Association I have filed a bill that would make it a crime to intimidate a law enforcement officer or his/her family. This law currently exists in Louisiana and will serve to deter this abhorrent behavior.
I will try to provide regular updates during the session as in years past. However, should you need to check on the status of a particular measure before the legislature try the legislative website at billstatus.ls.state.ms.us. To see the other bills that I have filed just click on "Bill Status" "Measure by Senate Author", then click on my name. Thank you for allowing me to represent you at the Capitol in Jackson. I continue to be proud to serve as your Senator.
Despite the darkness of the hour, the bright side of this dark cloud may be that we can now make drastic changes to the manner in which we create a budget in Mississippi and enforce performance metrics to ensure that taxpayers get their money's worth out of government. For too long the legislature has ignored recommendations of expert economists as to the need for budget reform. Perhaps now, in this climate in which everything must be on the table, we can make some progress on budget reforms.
While the budget will dominate the session, there are other measures that can be taken to make Mississippi a better place to live and work. I will try once again to make changes to insurance law to eliminate the anti-concurrent causation exclusion in home owners policies and to enforce appropriate adjustment and payment of claims by insurance companies. I have filed again a bill to create a tax incentive for the use of solar, wind, geothermal or other energy efficient physical plants for home and business owners. This year, I have been joined by the committee chairman as a co-author of the bill and feel that we can get it passed. I have also filed for the first time a bill to allow for net metering so that those who produce excess electricity can sell it back to the power company. These common sense measures will promote the wise use of resources and will help stimulate a new "green" economy.
On the crime front, I have filed a bill to take on the scourge of crystal meth. My bill will make pseudoephedrine available only via presecription. This may create a bit of a harship on cold and allergy sufferers, but will greatly reduce the prevelance of meth labs in our state. I believe that the toll that this drug is taking on our families justifies such extreme measures. Also, at the request of the Mississippi Deputy Sheriff's Association I have filed a bill that would make it a crime to intimidate a law enforcement officer or his/her family. This law currently exists in Louisiana and will serve to deter this abhorrent behavior.
I will try to provide regular updates during the session as in years past. However, should you need to check on the status of a particular measure before the legislature try the legislative website at billstatus.ls.state.ms.us. To see the other bills that I have filed just click on "Bill Status" "Measure by Senate Author", then click on my name. Thank you for allowing me to represent you at the Capitol in Jackson. I continue to be proud to serve as your Senator.
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2 Responses to "2010 Session Begins" 
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said this on 22 Jan 2010 10:10:11 PM CST
David, Is there any ARRA stimulus money available to help the state??
Lou |
Author/Admin)|
said this on 26 Jan 2010 9:24:05 AM CST
Yes, there is ARRA money for education and for medicaid that have already been taken into account. Also, there is aproximately $53 Million in discretionary money that the governor has available. The House (and several of us in the Senate) would like to see the governor put that $53 Million into the budget hole. The governor and a majority of the Senate want further cuts instead of using the discretionary money.
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