Planning for legislative success

Published 11:59 pm Saturday, May 5, 2018

NATCHEZ — After a mostly unsuccessful 2018 legislative session, area leaders are already gearing up for round two next year.

Officials are looking to turn a mostly uneventful session into some big wins for Natchez-Adams County in 2019.

Last session consisted of 10-bullet point items — both state and federal — that ranged from shifting to an elected school board to incentivizing the movie industry in Mississippi.

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Though ultimately unsuccessful in 2018, Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Hudson said this year could be different by taking a new approach — start early.

“You need to start, October, November deciding what those issues (you want passed) are,” Hudson said.

Primarily, Hudson was referring to the failure to realize the oft-discussed goal of giving the Natchez-Adams School District elected — rather than appointed — leaders.

The measure seemed to be swiftly making its way to the governor’s desk after it passed the state Senate overwhelmingly, 46-6. But the legislation was derailed when it reached the House. Though no one has come out with a clear-cut answer as to why the legislation failed, the way it went down was disturbing, Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, said.

Dearing said despite its success in the Senate, some opposition from officials in the Natchez area with connections to the school district kept the measure from even coming up in the House Education Committee.

“When you’ve got the entire (Adams County) Board of Supervisors’ endorsement, when you’ve got the mayor and (Natchez) Board of Aldermen endorsing it and one or two phone calls keep it from coming out, it’s just not good. Not good at all,” Dearing said.

Though no names have been named, Hudson echoed that sentiment and said that the support from both of the area’s elected boards should have been enough to get the measure passed, especially considering that most school board’s in the state are elected.

“That’s so wrong, because the city and county put it up,” Hudson said. She came away with the impression that despite all the support from the area, they allowed a few members to put a bug in the ear of House Education Committee Chairman Richard Bennett, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Chalking last year up to a disappointing learning experience, Hudson said this year leaders must be even more proactive than before.

Officials discussed just that at a meeting last month between a few local legislators and key stakeholders, held at the Natchez Coffee Company as part of the Chamber’s weekly Friday Forum. There, Hudson heard a message from Sen. Dearing.

“His thing is, get to that chairman … and you get to that chairman before next session starts,” Hudson said. “You can’t do that if you only talk about this in December.”

In line with that thinking, preliminary talks about what must be achieved in this next session should begin relatively soon.

First, area lobbyists and economic development forces will be meeting with city and county leaders to figure out exactly what their list of goals are, Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said.

Though many of the goals will likely carry over, such as the school board issue, the hope to get a tax rebate incentive to encourage filmmaking in Mississippi and the aim of implementing an additional 1.5-percent lodging tax in Natchez, Russ said leaders would convene six months or so before the next session to see if any other pressing issues should be prioritized.

As for the goals that will carry over into this session, Russ remains optimistic about getting a few passed. “I would definitely think so,” Russ said.

Like Hudson, Russ said leaders must make sure to clearly convey that city and county officials want their area to have voters decide who will lead their school board.

“What we’ve got to make clear is that these are the wishes of the boards to the committee chair,” Russ said. “We will schedule meetings … to make is as crystal clear as possible to the committee chair and the leadership (at the state capitol).”

Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, called passing this type of legislation “very difficult and very challenging,” but said he fully supports having an elected school board.

“I will work hard to see that it gets through the process and gets passed,” Mims said. “I believe it’s a challenge, but I believe it’s the right process.” Mims also noted that he would be holding meetings concerning the Natchez Visitor Center in the next few months.

The Visitor Center is another item area leaders had on their radar for the legislative session, mainly with the goal of obtaining essential funding that the building has relied upon in the past.

Last year, the center received no funds, and Dearing said he fears the same result this year.

“I don’t think it’s going to get funded again,” Dearing said.

On the other hand, the senator does have some optimism about reinstating a rebate for non-Mississippi residents that work on movies being filmed in the state. Until July 2017, the state offered a 25-percent rebate on salaries paid to all non-residents of a film crew, so long as that figure does not exceed $10 million and the film’s budget is at least $50,000.

An effort to get the clause reinstated failed when it passed the House with great support, but died in the Senate.

“We’ll introduce that again,” Dearing said. “There’s no reason why that shouldn’t pass. We’re going to have to really stay close to that this year.”