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Last week, Mississippi lawmakers finally stumbled into the 21st century and decided that adults—yes, grown-ups—should be allowed to buy wine online.
A round of applause for Senators Michel, Blackmon, England, and DeLano, who convinced their colleagues that Mississippians should be allowed to do something they do in almost every other state. Until now, if you wanted a bottle of wine, you had to head to the store and buy only what the Alcoholic Beverage Control board had approved.
But don’t uncork the champagne just yet. This bill only just squeaked through the Senate, with 21 so-called “conservative” senators clutching their pearls and trying to smother it in its crib. Why, you ask? What possible reason would any politician have to stop you buying wine online? I do wonder if anyone at the legislature was wined and dined – probably both – by lobbyists for wine distributors who’d rather not compete with online retailers. That it took years to pass something this basic should alarm every conservative in our state. That so many “conservatives” were ready to leap to the defense of various vested interests is depressing. How many lobbyist-funded dinners does it take to kill good conservative policy?
Right this minute there are still lots of great conservative bills alive in the 2025 legislature. But if it is this hard to let people buy Merlot online, what hope is there for the big stuff? School choice? Cutting red tape? Eliminating DEI? The good news is that right now there are still lots of great conservative bills alive in the 2025 legislature. Good conservative lawmakers could still achieve great conservative wins this session.
The House has a plan to eliminate the income tax — imagine keeping more of your own money; radical, I know. Having passed their bill HB 1, the House has decided to hold off passing any legislation from the Senate until the Senate actually does something to eliminate the income tax. Another excellent conservative proposal is HB1435, which would allow public to public school choice. Approved by the House, it is currently being considered by a committee in the Senate. It’s a similar story with HB 922, authored by the awesome Representatives Zuber and Creekmore. This bill would repeal a lot of the red tape that prevents new health care providers operating in our state.
Both the House and the Senate have approved different bills to combat DEI. Again, this is something every conservative should not hesitate to support. If our lawmakers were to complete the passage of these bills, it would be a vintage year for liberty in our state. But the danger is that these bills, like efforts to restore the ballot initiative, are quietly garroted in a back room at the Capitol.
For years, we have seen solid conservative policies get “killed in committee.” Don’t be fooled about what that means. When a bill “dies in committee,” it’s not a natural death. The committee chairman didn’t misplace it under a stack of memos — it was knifed, Julius Caesar-style. Only instead of togas, it’s cheap suits and lobbyist cash.
The next couple of weeks will be critical. As with the online wine bill, we could see good conservative lawmakers pass good conservative laws. If they do, they deserve a medal—or at least a decent glass of Cabernet. Or it could be that those Governor Tate Reeves calls “the Coalition of the Status Quo”, once again kill off the chance of change. I will be sure to keep you updated about the progress of each of these critical conservative policies, and let you know who supports them, and who, if anyone, fails to support them.
Douglas Carswell is the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
MageeNews.com is the online news source for Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi
