JACKSON, MISS– Your lawmakers have until March 30th to clear the House and Senate agenda, or the current bills die.
UPDATE: The House is moving quickly now.. sort of. The House Dems are filibustering from a different perspective after the leadership pushed the airport bill to the top of the agenda. The Dems are now blocking all discussing by asking the bills to read another time. This requires moving on to the next item on the agenda.
UPDATE: Executive Director of Mississippi Democratic Trust, David McDowell has released a statement about the conduct of the legislative business in the House today:
“House Democrats entered into this deliberative body in good faith, yet day-in and day-out, House Republicans have chosen to silence legislators and have refused the opportunity for respectful procedure. This is not the legislature that Mississippians elected, nor is it the legislature Mississippians deserve. Today I watched children ushered into the North Gallery to learn the wrong lessons about how our democracy works. For all intents and purposes, Republican leadership has abandoned the concept of “democracy” at the Capitol.”
UPDATE: The Senate now has an automated reader. The voice is slower, more understandable, than the House reader.
Lt. Governor Tate Reeves notes that in his career in his position, bills have not been read aloud until today.
Part of the agenda is discussing House Bill 2162, which could create a Task Force on the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, taking full control of the airport away from the city of Jackson.
The controversial bill is highly opposed by members of the Black Caucus, and members in the House and Senate are asking that bills be read aloud. In the Senate, the bills are read at a normal rate by a person. But in the House, an automated voice reads them.
The current setting of the automated voice speed is at 10, with 1 being the lowest. At 10, the speed is so high that the words cannot be understood.
Questions regarding parliamentary procedure are being raised, which further slows the process.
So now, bills are not being understood, cannot be questioned or clarified unless the chairmen yield, and the machine doesn’t have to be slowed down.
News Mississippi will continue to follow the events on the House and Senate floor today.
