Jackson Free Press

In sports, it is all about follow-through. Whether it is a pitching motion in baseball or a swing motion in golf, if you don't follow through, you lose power. The same can apply to government.

Historically, government in America has always been a catalyst for great ideas from men and women who rise to the occasion. However, when monumental ideas occur from the most extreme of circumstances, government has delivered in the moment, but as the passions wane, so does the follow-through. The results of the lack of foresight then become as catastrophic as the events that created the innovative public policy.

There are many public policy decisions that fall into that line. One of immediate significance is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. In response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress approved omnibus legislation that would create a huge federal agency to centralize all forms of investigation, enforcement and emergency management. It was a needed idea to avoid any future threat to the citizens of this nation, but it is apparent now that the follow-through was severely lacking.

Now we are finding out that Mississippi had developed something similar in the wake of Hurricane Camille. In April 1971, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Gulf Regional District Law to allow the counties affected by the storm to create a state government agency to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The law gave that district powers to design, coordinate and even finance the reconstruction effort. Based on the language in the Mississippi Code, sections 17-11-1 to 17-11-61, if we decided to reauthorize that law, according to a census count of 607,635 residents, it would cost the state $1.3 million a year to operate that agency. We have more than enough monies in the Mississippi Recovery Fund to do this for the next eight years.

The lack of follow-through occurred when petty local politics interfered with the genesis of such an agency. That should not be the case this time around. With a more diverse political landscape, this type of agency could implement a Mississippi Marshall Plan that would fulfill the governor's promise of a bigger and better Gulf Coast region with a truly inclusive philosophy. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, let us roll this one out and see if it holds.

Some will say that due to the widespread devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the state, focusing on the Gulf Coast is narrow. It would be if you were not talking about one-fourth of the state's population residing there before the storm. Also, if you grant authority to the region, it allows the Legislature, and the state's bond rating, to provide aid to the rest of the state affected by the hurricane.

God knows we could have done better from a public policy position to follow-through in the past. Let us learn from our mistakes and get to work.