After Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed a bill that attempted to provide low-interest loans to local governments impacted by Winter Storm Fern, lawmakers on Wednesday night revived the program in another piece of legislation.
House and Senate leaders introduced the loan program in a compromise plan, called a “conference report,” in a separate bill. The House unanimously approved the plan on Thursday morning, and the Senate is expected to do the same. Once the chambers approve the proposal, it will head back to Reeves for consideration.
“Our neighbors in North Mississippi have suffered too much devastation, and we must provide financial relief as quickly as possible,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement. “This conference report is a second attempt to support our cities and counties. We will pass it out of the Senate.”
Under the plan Reeves vetoed, local governments would have been able to borrow money from the state at a 1% a year interest rate that would kick in after the federal government sends relief money. Under the new plan introduced Wednesday, lawmakers changed it to a 3% annual interest rate after reimbursement from the federal government arrives.
It’s unclear why legislative leaders raised the annual interest rate from their initial 1% proposal to 3%. But it may be an attempt to avoid Reeves vetoing the program a second time.
In his veto message on the first proposal, the governor claimed he had negotiated a 1% monthly loan rate with legislators, which would have totaled 12% annually. But legislative leaders last week said including the word “monthly” in the plan was a mistake and agreed to remove it.
READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves vetoes winter storm aid bill and levels false claim of criminal act at Senate staff
Reeves also falsely accused Senate staffers of removing language in an unconstitutional and potentially criminal fashion. Senate leaders on Wednesday rejected those allegations and said it was reckless for the governor to have done so.
Sen. Tyler McCaughn, a Republican from Newton, told Mississippi Today on Wednesday evening that lawmakers were exploring different ways to revive the loan program after the governor vetoed it.
McCaughn said he favored reviving the program in another bill because it would be the quickest and most efficient way to get relief money to cities and counties that desperately need it.
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