Last Wednesday, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill that will provide $300 million to the state’s small businesses.
A week later, one would think some of that money would have been disbursed by now, but it hasn’t. The problem? Governor Tate Reeves has not yet signed off on the bill.
“I guess the most socially acceptable word to use today is disappointing,” Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann said. “We should not be fooling with this right now.”
Reeves has until 11:59 tonight to either sign or veto the bill, and Hosemann has “no idea” what the governor is going to do. Earlier this week, Reeves said that the overall theme of the bill is equitable, but his team is still analyzing the bill as “the devil is in the details.”
Say Reeves does decide to veto the bill, the legislature will reconvene tomorrow, rather than Tuesday.
“If he either signs the bill or he doesn’t sign the bill, we won’t come back, but if he vetoes the bill, you should anticipate we will all be back in the capitol tomorrow,” Hosemann said.
Hosemann finds it baffling that Reeves is waiting so long.
“I don’t know what the reasons are,” Hosemann said. “The National Association of Legislators has asked for our legislation to be used for other states… It’s very good legislation. I don’t know why we are sitting here today without mailing checks.”
The bill passed through both the House of Representatives, 116-1, and the Senate, 42-2, with flying colors.
“The will of the people was clear about this bill.” Hosemann said. “A week later, we don’t have any money for small businesses. I am very frustrated with that. I’ll be honest about it.”
Listen to Hosemann’s full interview using the video below.
