Speaker of the House Philip Gunn has announced his appointments of Greg Cronin and Jim Simpson to the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund. The trust fund was established to help determine the allocation of monies collected from the Deep Water Horizon settlement.
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Greg Cronin of Pascagoula is president and CEO of Charter Bank.
“I have known Greg since he served as the chairman of the Business and Industry Political Education Committee (BIPEC),” said Gunn. “In that capacity, he demonstrated excellent leadership. He is a man of great vision, competence, and intellect. His love for the Coast and passion to see it prosper give me every confidence he will be a tremendous asset to the advisory committee.”
Jim Simpson is a Long Beach attorney and a former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives.
“Jim is a dear friend and has been very instrumental in shaping my life in public service,” Gunn said. “He was instrumental in leading the Republicans in the Mississippi House to form a caucus in 2006 and served as the first Chairman of that caucus. This was the first step toward giving the Republicans their first majority in the House in 136 years. He has been a long-time public servant to the Gulf Coast and to the State of Mississippi. I know he will serve well on this advisory board.”
The law was passed during the 2018 special legislative session and will allocate 75% of the $700 million from the BP oil spill settlement to the coast while the remaining 25% will be distributed across the state.
