A bill allowing the city of Greenwood to donate small homes to a nonprofit organization for low-income housing might be considered as part of an upcoming special session of the Legislature, according to a backer of the legislation.
“We’re working with the governor’s office to determine what’s the best route. He could add it to the call for a special session,” Bill Crump, chairman of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, said Tuesday.
Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday that he will call lawmakers back to Jackson for a special session to deal with a development project in what he called the state’s auto corridor.
The city of Greenwood owns 26 “Katrina cottages,” the kind of small homes used to provide housing on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency donated the cottages to the city in 2011.
A portion of the homes were intended to be used in the city’s Baptist Town revitalization effort. Under state law, the city can’t give the cottages directly to private citizens.
A local and private bill, which cleared the state Senate earlier this month, would have allowed the city to donate the cottages to an unspecified nonprofit. Crump and Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams had said publicly they hoped to direct the donation of cottages to the Leflore County chapter of the Fuller Center for Housing.
However, when the legislation reached the House of Representatives, state Rep. Willie Perkins, D-Greenwood, amended it to have the cottages donated to Three Rivers Community and Economic Development Corp. The amended bill was sent back to the Senate, where it died.
Backers of the Katrina cottages bill, including Crump and Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development, questioned Three Rivers’ ability to handle a project of this size.
Crump initially said there was a remote possibility that Bryant could issue an executive order on the cottages. He later said that was not a viable alternative to a local and private bill being approved by the Legislature.
Bryant is also expected to call another special session to address Medicaid funding. When the Legislature adjourned its regular session on April 4, it had not adopted a Medicaid budget.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
