Jackson Free Press

Legislators continued to negotiate a compromise on a proposed cigarette-tax increase Monday, as a Mar. 25 deadline loomed. Senate and House negotiators have until Wednesday to deliver a compromise bill to their respective chambers unless they can get an extension. On Monday, House negotiators lowered their proposed $1 increase to 90 cents. However, that was still too high for Senate negotiators, who suggested a 60-cent increase instead. Neither side was willing to move beyond those offers.

House lawmakers originally touted the $1 increase as a way to generate substantial revenue for the state and discourage smoking, which costs Mississippi $719 million every year, according to the anti-smoking Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The Republican-dominated Senate passed a 49-cent increase, which supporters presented as a pragmatic figure that would not drive cigarette buyers to neighboring states and would earn the support of Gov. Haley Barbour.

Barbour Invites Override
The House overrode the governor's veto of a bill limiting the state's eminent domain power by a 99-to-20 vote Tuesday. The override required 80 votes to pass.

Barbour vetoed the bill Monday, setting the stage for a likely override. House Bill 803 would prohibit the state from taking property for private development projects or increasing tax revenue. The bill would not have restricted eminent domain for public purposes, such as the construction of universities or roads. Barbour called the bill "fatally flawed" and argued that it would prevent the state from attracting large development projects like the Nissan auto plant in Canton.

"I must veto and unequivocally oppose this legislation because it puts Mississippi at a catastrophic disadvantage in creating jobs and expanding our economy," Barbour said in a message accompanying his veto.

The governor argued that, in practice, Mississippi already allows public input when exercising eminent domain for development projects, by requiring the approval of local government and the Legislature. He promised to "actively support" a bill that would make those practices a requirement and offered to call a special legislative session to pass such as bill.

Public Property Committee Chairman Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, said earlier this month that he expected the Senate to also override the governor's veto. The override was a rare concerted effort by both Republicans and Democrats, with minority leader Mark Baker, R-Brandon, joining members of the Legislative Black Caucus in supporting the override.

Some House members expected the governor to call a special session if legislators successfully overrode his veto.

House to Extend Session
House members agreed on a resolution to return to the session on May 4, after they have nailed down how much money the state will get from the federal government's stimulus package.

Mississippi is expected to receive $2.8 billion in stimulus money, but legislators want to know for sure how much and what strings will be attached to it before making changes in the state budget to accommodate the extra money. House Concurrent Resolution 96 allows legislators to avoid a return if the House Speaker or Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant feel a return is unnecessary.

Truth, Please
A bill giving a massive $1.4 billion tax cut for a proposed Kemper County coal plant could pass the House Ways and Means Committee, despite lobbyists initially misleading legislators about the amount of the tax cut.

"There's always a lot of lying going on here," Ways and Means Chairman Percy Watson told the Jackson Free Press Tuesday after admitting the bill was still probably going to make it out of his committee.

Mississippi Power advocates were playing down the numbers last week, telling legislators that the exemption only amounted to $4 million over 40 years, when language in HB 1639 stipulated a tax cut of at least $1.32 billion over the four-decade life of the plant.

The bill's language stipulates a tax cut for "the (whole) project," rather than a portion of it, but Mississippi Power spokeswoman Cindy Duvall assured the Jackson Free Press last week that the bill would only allow tax exemptions for the portion of the plant that turns lignite coal into a gas. Even Kemper County Sen. Sampson Jackson, D-DeKalb, who authored the Senate version of the tax deduction, SB 3201, said representatives of the Mississippi Development Authority had told him that the exemption only applied to a portion of the plant, not the whole thing.

Watson killed the Senate bill last week and sent the House bill to conference after learning the truth. Mississippi Power lobbyists came clean this week and admitted the whole plant got the exemption—but then asked Watson to pass the bill regardless.

Mississippi Sierra Club Legislative Director Louie Miller, who opposes the plant, went into a fury at the possibility.

"Dammit, these guys have a million frickin' accountants able to ring up these numbers, and you're telling me they miscalculated the real numbers all this time? No, that's not the way it happened. It's clear that these guys will say whatever and do whatever they want to get this thing passed," Miller said.