Education, the Mississippi flag, economic development and medical marijuana are expected to be some of the key topics in the 2016 session of the Mississippi Legislature, lawmakers say.
State Sen. David Jordan, a Democrat, said education would be “the main focus.”
On Nov. 3, 52 percent of the Mississippi’s voters rejected Initiative 42, which would have required the state to provide an “adequate and efficient system of free public schools” and given the judiciary branch power to enforce that mandate. However, some lawmakers predict that the momentum generated by the initiative will carry over into the legislative session.
“There’s going to be a focus on education funding,” said District 14 Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, a Republican. “I think the people have pretty clearly spoken that they want more accountability.”
Jordan, a retired teacher who sits on the Senate Education Committee, said he is optimistic that Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, will be willing to work across party lines on multiple education issues.
House District 32 Rep. Willie Perkins, a Democrat, said, “I think the Legislature as a whole must honor and respect the number of citizens who signed a petition asking for an adequate and equitable funding of public education.”
The education debate will extend beyond funding. Jordan said he has filed a bill that would require anyone serving on a public school board to have at least 32 credit hours beyond a high school diploma. The senator said more educated board members would make for more efficient school boards.
Perkins said he plans to introduce a bill that would change how the school districts under conservatorship are run.
The Leflore County Public School District was placed under the conservatorship of Robert Strebeck in October 2013 after Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency there.
Strebeck announced his resignation on Dec. 2. Perkins described Strebeck’s tenure as “absolutely terrible,” particularly with regards to his relationship with the black community, and said that his resignation, effective Dec. 31, was “extremely welcome.”
Perkins said conservators wield too much power with little accountability to the communities they serve. He said some sort of board should be formed to oversee the conservator.
Higher education will also feature heavily in the session.
Jordan and Perkins both said that they plan to support appropriations for Mississippi Valley State University for the construction of new dormitories. The measure was on a bond bill during the last legislative session but was voted down.
Jordan said that the current condition of student residences is deplorable and that the state has a history of treating MVSU as the “stepchild” of the university system.
Perkins will once again submit an appropriations bill that would allow MVSU to reduce tuition, which was voted down in the last session.
“You have to keep pushing the issue until you get results,” said Perkins.
Another hot-button issue throughout the state has been the state flag. Some say that the banner, which contains the Confederate battle emblem in its top left corner, is offensive to blacks.
The debate around the display of Confederate symbols was renewed after the murder of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, which police say was racially motivated. The man charged in the killings posted photos of himself posing with a Confederate flag online shortly before the massacre.
Multiple municipal and county bodies have voted to remove the flag from public buildings. Gov. Phil Bryant has signaled that 2016 would be a good year for a vote on the issue.
Groups both for and against the flag have proposed ballot initiatives, but the earliest date that any such initiative would appear before voters would be in 2018. The Legislature can set an election on the issue at any time.
Jordan and Perkins both said they expect to see the Legislature consider the issue.
“We’ve got too many other things to do rather than flying a flag that tried to keep slavery in the laws,” said Jordan.
Chassaniol said she suspected much of the debate around the flag was “just pre-election jawing” but was interested in seeing if the issue is “still on the hearts and minds of the voters.”
“In District 14, the sentiment is running like 1,000 to one against changing it,” said Chassaniol. “If the constituents bring it forwards, it will be addressed. Our first obligation as legislators is to deal with substantial matters first.”
Rep. Karl Oliver, who is entering his first term representing District 46, said that as a newcomer he is hesitant to guess what might appear on the legislative agenda, but he thinks “there could be some potential legislation addressing the removal of the state flag from municipal buildings.”
The Greenwood City Council and Leflore County Board of Supervisors both voted in August to remove the flag from the public buildings under their control.
“There’s a big concern with municipalities that refuse to honor and respect the flag that the people of the state chose,” said Oliver, referring to the results of a 2001 referendum on the issue.
Jordan sees the issue in different terms. “It doesn’t make sense to keep waving it before the great great-grandchildren of slavery,” he said. “I think it’s purposely done to embarrass African-Americans, and that’s not right.”
Chassaniol and Jordan each named tourism and economic development in the Delta as major priorities.
Chassaniol, chair of the Senate Tourism Committee, said she intends to pursue opportunities to bring movie production to her district, which encompasses parts of Leflore and Carroll counties.
“That’s something the public has been very receptive to,” she said, adding that in a year when revenue projections are lower than anticipated, film production offered a low-cost, high-yield option to create jobs and enhance Mississippi’s allure as a tourist destination.
Jordan said he wants to explore the creation of a multi-county economic development zone in the Delta, hoping to emulate the successes of northeastern Mississippi. A Toyota manufacturing plant opened near Blue Springs in 2011.
Although it has received less public attention than the state flag or public education, Perkins suspects that legalization of medical marijuana will be a hot topic.
“When you start examining the economic benefits of legalization, I think you begin to see a new economic opportunity in these states (that have legalized it),” said Perkins, citing the multibillion- dollar industry that has already grown up around the cultivation and sale of marijuana in the United States.
As the number of states that have legalized medical — and in some cases recreational — use of marijuana grows, Perkins sees eventual federal approval as inevitable. “The question really will become whether or not Mississippi will be on the bottom end again,” he said.
Perkins likened the eventual legalization of marijuana to the legal trajectories of alcohol consumption or gambling, which has been legal in parts of Mississippi since the early 1990s.
Some legislators also said they expect election laws to be up for debate.
Oliver said that many of his constituents would prefer an open primary in his district.
Perkins will introduce a bill that would demand a recall of any election in which the victor then switched parties.
Rep. Jody Steverson of Ripley switched parties two days after he won a second four-year term, unopposed, as a Democrat in Benton, Tippah and Union counties.
•Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
