In the 1990s and early 2000s, then-state Rep. John Reeves, a Jackson Republican, made the point of order on more than one occasion that economic development projects offering incentives to private corporations should require a two-thirds majority to win the approval of the Mississippi Legislature.
Reeves danced to his own tune and would often forgo the edicts of both political parties. He argued that it should require a two-thirds vote to provide the benefits to the private companies because of Article 66 of the Mississippi Constitution.
Article 66 states, “No law granting a donation or gratuity in favor of any person or object shall be enacted except by the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elect of each branch of the Legislature, nor by any vote for a sectarian purpose or use.”
Then-House Speaker Tim Ford, a Baldwyn Democrat, ruled against Reeves’ point of order, stating that the economic development package was for the greater good, not just to benefit a private company.
In later years, Rep.Bryant Clark, a Holmes County Democrat, raised a point of order saying that some of the funding in the annual end-of-the-session mammoth bill that doles out money for projects across the state was going to private entities, which thus would require a two-thirds vote. Clark later withdrew his point of order when it was pointed out that some of the money was going to private entities that he would support, such as Tougaloo College.
Money going to private Tougaloo College brings up the issue-du-jour – public funds being awarded to private schools under the moniker of school choice.
Republican House Speaker Jason White has proclaimed that school choice will be a priority during the session that begins in early January.
As the issue of vouchers for students to attend private schools is debated in the upcoming session, the question is whether there is in the current Mississippi Legislature a John Reeves-type who would argue that the voucher – whether to a school or to a student to attend a private school – is a gift, thus requiring a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
There is, as has been reported often, another section of the Mississippi Constitution – Section 208 – that states plainly that any public funds cannot go to any school that is “not a free school.”
On occasion, when points of order are raised, the presiding officer will respond that it is not up to the Legislature to decide constitutional issues. That is the job of the courts, they have said in the past.
But in reality, that argument is disingenuous, even hogwash.
After all, in their oath of office, legislators swear to “carefully read (or have read to me) the constitution of this state, and will endeavor to note, and as a legislator to execute, all the requirements thereof imposed on the Legislature.”
Each time, legislators call up a bill for a vote they do such in accordance with the mandates of the Mississippi Constitution. They allow legislators to enter a motion to reconsider after a final vote on a bill because that is what the Mississippi Constitution mandates just as they require a three-fifths vote to pass a revenue or tax bill because it is a constitutional requirement.
The list of areas where legislators adhere to constitutional mandates is long, and at times nonsensical and antiquated, but they do so because that is what the Mississippi Constitution says to do. Any legislator can request a bill to be read aloud to the chamber because it is constitutionally required.
In a sense, they seem to be cherry picking which constitutional mandates to follow.
Perhaps, they should at least consider and provide a reason for not adhering to the mandates preventing public funds from going to schools that are not free and requiring a two-thirds vote to provide a gift to a private entity.
After all, it is in the Mississippi Constitution.
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