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On August 23, Governor Phil Bryant officially extended the call for the Legislature to convene for a special session, with the express purpose of appropriating additional funding for roads and bridges throughout Mississippi. Under the law, only the governor may call a special session, and only he or she may lay out what issues can be considered. For this special session, that issue was infrastructure, and the Governor made several proposals to be considered.
First, the Governor proposed sending a portion of use tax revenues to counties and cities across the state to be spent only on infrastructure projects. In District 90, this will lead to the following appropriations—each year—to the following counties and municipalities:
• Covington County – $520,000;
• Simpson County – $603,000;
• Jefferson Davis County – $477,000;
• City of Collins – $134,000;
• City of Magee – $195,000;
• City of Prentiss – $50,000;
• Town of Mount Olive – $32,000;
• Town of Seminary – $24,000;
• Town of Bassfield – $22,000
These appropriations are based on the population of the city or county; for counties, on the number of county road miles; and, for municipalities, on the amount of sales tax revenues in each municipality. It is no secret that counties and cities are having an especially difficult time finding funding for infrastructure issues. Over the last few decades, the cost of constructing and maintaining roads and bridges has increased much faster than most other commodities or services.
As for state highways and bridges, the Governor proposed enacting a state lottery and borrowing from what is called the “Gaming Sinking Fund,” a fund paid into by casinos. The lottery is expected to generate between $50 million and $100 million yearly to help rehabilitate the state’s highways. The House inserted an amendment which would require whatever portion is collected over $80 million to go toward early childhood education and the teacher supply fund. The lottery passed by a handful of votes and will take approximately a year to implement. For better or worse, Mississippi will join 46 of the 50 other states in having a state lottery.
Finally, the Governor inserted a proposal to disburse the settlement funds from the BP oil spill in 2010. The state received a $750 million settlement from BP, to be paid out in increments over many years, until 2033. These funds were meant to replace damages to the State of Mississippi as a whole—from the loss of casino taxes, loss of tourism, loss of state sales taxes, etc. Counties, cities, individuals, and businesses on the coast have already received their settlements separately. I was disappointed to see the Governor’s proposal that the six coastal counties receive 75% of the settlement funds and the remainder of the state receive only 25%. In my estimation, this was unfair to the non-coastal counties—Covington, Simpson, and Jefferson Davis included among them. This proposal, however, passed both the Senate and the House by wide margins.
We should not be called back to Jackson for session again until January, when the 2019 session begins. Though I did not support every proposal of the special session, it was a successful special session, in my opinion. Having good roads and bridges is not conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican; it is just plain common sense. The proposals that have were passed into law will go a long way in making sure that all of Mississippi—including the rural areas that are so often overlooked—will have decent roads and bridges. For that, I am thankful.
Rep. Noah Sanford represents parts of Covington, Simpson, and Jefferson Davis Counties in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He can be reached at 601-765-4122 or NSanford@house.ms.gov.
