Mississippi 2018 Special Session
*Note: This page will be continuously updated as votes are taken and posted.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Today the Legislature met for a Special Session. In the House, we discussed and voted on HB 1. It passed 108-5.
This bill diverts significant funds raised from a variety of sources to roads and bridges, which I support. Unfortunately, the bill also levies two new taxes on hybrid and electronic vehicles, and authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars in new state borrowing. Further, this bill removes a tax abatement which will also result in higher taxes. While this bill does attempt to fix our roads and bridges throughout the state, it raises taxes and expands the state debt by hundreds of millions of dollars, which I oppose. With our annual state budget already at more than six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000+) we need to look for smart solutions that use existing tax dollars and not raise the tax burden or incur more debt. For those reasons, I voted no.
Friday, August 24, 2018
Today the Legislature met for a Special Session. In the House, we discussed and voted on SB 2001. It passed 71-43.
This creates a single lottery. While the corporation that manages the lottery is not a direct state entity, all its board members are appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. It increases the intrusiveness of government in the market and creates a sanctioned monopoly. This does not adhere to free market principles, and for this reason, I voted no.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Today the Legislature met for a Special Session. In the House, we discussed and voted on HB 1 as well as SB 2001 with changes from the Senate. HB 1 passed 111-4. SB 2001 failed 51-63.
HB 1 diverts significant funds raised from a variety of sources to roads and bridges, which I support. Unfortunately, the bill also levies two new taxes on hybrid and electronic vehicles, and authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars in new state borrowing. Further, this bill removes a tax abatement which will also result in higher taxes. While this bill does attempt to fix our roads and bridges throughout the state, it raises taxes and expands the state debt by hundreds of millions of dollars, which I oppose. With our annual state budget already at more than six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000+) we need to look for smart solutions that use existing tax dollars and not raise the tax burden or incur more debt. For those reasons, I voted no.
SB 2001 creates a single lottery. While the corporation that manages the lottery is not a direct state entity, all its board members are appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. It increases the intrusiveness of government in the market and creates a sanctioned monopoly. This does not adhere to free market principles, and for this reason, I voted no.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Today the Legislature met for a Special Session. In the House, we reconsidered and voted on SB 2001. SB 2001 passed 64-49.
SB 2001 creates a single lottery. While the corporation that manages the lottery is not a direct state entity, all its board members are appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. It increases the intrusiveness of government in the market and creates a sanctioned monopoly. This does not adhere to free market principles, and for this reason, I voted no.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Today the Legislature met for a Special Session. In the House, we voted on SB 2002. SB 2002 passed 99-11.
This bill takes hundreds of millions of dollars from the settlement made with BP over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to pay for dozens of special project across the state. Our state government has an enormous budget of over $6B/year. We should use special funds to pay off our state’s debt burden and use more money from the general fund to solve our state’s problems. For this reason, I voted no.
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