When the 2020 Mississippi Legislature convenes Tuesday in Jackson, the seven-member Golden Triangle contingent will feature some familiar faces — and one new one.
Political newcomer Dana McLean will be sworn in as House District 39 representative after unseating seven-term representative Jeff Smith in last summer’s Republican primary. With no opposition in the general election, McClean has had plenty of time to reflect and prepare for the 2020 session.
“I’m definitely excited to get to Jackson,” McLean said. “I’m exciting about bringing a new perspective from our area.”
With Smith’s departure, Gary Chism becomes the most tenured of the Golden Triangle delegation. This will be Chism’s sixth term in office, but he said he hasn’t given much thought to his senior status in the delegation.
“I guess that must means I’ve been around a while,” he said. “It’s been six terms now, but the opening of a new session is always exciting.”
The Golden Triangle delegation also includes Sens. Angela Turner-Ford (D-West Point) and Chuck Younger (R-Columbus) and Reps. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus), Rob Roberson (R-Starkville) and Cheikh Taylor (D-Starkville).
This week, The Dispatch asked each legislator to share his/her thoughts on the upcoming session.
Rep. Gary Chism
Chism said he doesn’t anticipate this year’s session to be particularly controversial, noting many of the big issues were resolved during last summer’s special session when legislators passed a lottery bill to provide funding for the state’s road/bridge infrastructure.
Although the state appropriated funds for a $1,500 teacher pay raise in the 2019 regular session, Chism said teacher pay will still be a hot topic.
“I think education is going to be at the forefront,” Chism said. “Both the new lieutenant governor (Delbert Hosemann) and governor (Tate Reeves) ran on that issue, so I think we’ll see a move to try to get teacher pay up to the Southeast average.
“After that, I think there’s still a lot of discussions going on about raising the fuel tax,” he added. “I don’t think we’ll do it, though, because the governor has made it pretty clear he’s not interested in a gas tax.”
Although the expansion/reform of Medicaid gained a lot of traction during the campaign season, Chism said he remains opposed to the idea.
“You’re talking about putting another 300,000 people on Medicaid,” he said. “We already have 600,000 on Medicaid as it is. Philosophically, I just don’t see how we can do that. What is that eventually going to cost and what happens if Obamacare goes away? It’s hard to take back something after you’ve given it.”
Rep. Kabir Karriem
Now in his second term, Karriem said his eager to see if campaign promises turn into action.
“There were a lot of promises made on the campaign trail as far teacher pay raises, education, roads and bridges, so I expect to see bills filed on those issues,” Karriem said. “Personally, I want to continue efforts not only in education, but in criminal justice reform and youth employment.
“The Republicans still have a super-majority, so we’ll see how that goes,” he added. “In the past, it’s been hard for Democrats to really move those types of legislation forward, but I’m hopeful.”
One area where Karriem said he sees a softening in the majority position is on the plight of rural hospitals, which he feels could be a door that leads to Medicaid expansion.
“That conversation appears to be gaining some traction,” he said. “Last year, when we heard about the girl with an asthma attack, while she was trying to get to a hospital after her local hospital had closed, really brought the problem to people’s attention. You can’t in good conscience ignore something like that. Something has to be done.”
Dana McLean
McLean said she’s most eager to learn her committee assignments, which are typically made during the first week to 10 days of the session.
“Education was my top pick,” she said. “I’d like be on the community college and IHL committees, too.”
McLean ran on a strong education platform and she’s eager to make good on those pledges as the session begins.
“It’s not just teacher pay raises,” McLean said. “I think we’ll probably be looking at (Mississippi Adequate Education Program) funding. There’s been some talk about re-evaluating how we fund the schools. I think we spend too much on administration, so I’ll be interested in being a part of that discussion.
“To me, education is the most important issue,” she added. “We can’t progress as a state unless we focus on education first. That has to be our priority. I think there’s a lot we can do there, and I’m excited about getting to work on that.”
Rep. Rob Roberson
Not to be cynical, but Rob Roberson, who will be serving his third term, said he has heard it all before.
“Same old, same old in a lot of respects,” Roberson said. “Education is always something that comes up and I think we’ll continue to discuss roads and bridges, too.”
A new topic has recently emerged that may also grab the attention of legislators.
“I think the dark-house issue that’s going to emerge is what do to about the Department of Corrections,” he said.
The spotlight on that issue burst into prominence last week, when five Parchman inmates died in what has been described as all-out gang warfare in the state’s prison system.
“As a defense attorney, I’ve been involved in corrections from court side of it,” he said. “Our intention is not sending people to places where the danger can’t be controlled. From what I’ve heard there are some underlying issues there. Are we paying the kind of salaries that attract good people to those jobs? Can we retain the good people we have with the salary we are offering? Do we have adequate staff? Do they have the ongoing training they need?
“Most of the time there are financial components associated with any problem,” he added. “That’s where the Legislature sometimes struggles. It’s all about priorities, but I don’t see how we can avoid having these discussions. I’ll be eager to see how it plays out.”
Rep. Cheikh Taylor
Although the state lottery was created in the special session, Taylor said he believes there remain opportunities for the state to better distribute those funds.
“It’s really been a mixed bag,” Taylor said. “I think everybody was excited about the lottery to see what kind of funds it would generate. Most of the money is set aside for roads and bridges, but I think we all know that it’s partial fix, not a magic bullet. So we’re still going to find ways to increase that funding.
“In addition to that, I’d like to see more of the lottery money go to education,” he added. “As it is now, anything over $80 million from the lottery goes to education, but I’d like to see if we can adjust that to provide more education funding.”
Like his other Democratic Party peers, Taylor is a strong advocate for expanding Medicaid.
“I don’t know if that will happen this year, but I do know it’s getting traction,” he said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re in danger of losing our rural hospitals. That’s a serious situation.
“I think it’s an economic issue, too,” he continued. “We all know if we had expanded years ago, we would have about $10 billion in federal funds that we just left on the table. Democratic leadership has met with the Hospital Association to see what can be done. It really needs to be a non-partisan effort. That’s the only way it will work.”
Taylor said he supports continued teacher pay raises, but also wants raises for other public school employees as well.
“They are important part of our education, too, and they need raises as much as anyone,” he said.
Sen. Angela Turner-Ford
Turner-Ford said she is cautiously optimistic that the change in Senate leadership will translate into a more open, bi-partisan working environment.
“From what I’ve heard Delbert Hosemann (the new lieutenant governor) is putting in place some things that will help, like live-streaming committee meetings,” she said. “I’ve heard he also is putting together a group of attorneys that we can use as a resource for consultation. I think that’s a good idea.”
One of Turner-Ford’s efforts will be to secure funding for a new facility for Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop G, located in Starkville.
“They’ve needed better facilities for years now,” she said. “It seems like every year it comes up but never gets moved forward. The facility is older and there’s not enough space. It’s becoming a safety issue. We’re long past due to fix that.”
Turner-Ford said she remains committed to legislation improving criminal justice reform and restoration of voting rights.
“That’s nothing new,” she said. “(Democrats) have been pushing for that for years. Hopefully, with the new leadership, we’ll be able to give some of those issues a fair hearing and make some real progress. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m hopeful.”
Sen. Chuck Younger
Like Turner-Ford, Younger is eager to see Hosemann’s plans for the Senate.
“I think he wants Mississippi to do a lot better than we’ve been doing,” Younger said. “I believe he’ll be good to work with.”
Younger said he believes one of the big debates will be over an increase in the state’s 18-cent per-gallon fuel tax.
“I’ve always been for raising the fuel tax,” Younger said. “I think he’s in favor of that, too, but how we go about it may be a little different. He wants to give counties the option of raising the fuel tax rather than it being statewide. I’m not sure. All I know is that our state highways are a mess and need help. I’d favor it being statewide and the money going to state highways with some set aside for counties and cities.”
Younger said he hopes any new road legislation will include addressing one of his pet-peeves.
“Whatever we do, I hope we make sure we do something about the litter situation,” Younger said. “It’s just terrible. You drive down the highways and you see all the litter. It just sends a terrible message. We’ve got to clean it up. It’s something that really bothers me.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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