Legislature ’08: House leaders reflect warfare

The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 1/22/8

If average Mississippians thought they had detected an increased level of partisanship in the Legislature over the past four years, they probably ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

The “other shoe,” so to speak, has been waiting to drop since House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, was re-elected to the leadership position by the slimmest of margins Jan. 8, defeating Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Columbus, on a 62-60 vote. It dropped Friday when McCoy named his committee chairmen.

He gave none of the 47 Republicans who had opposed his re-election chairmanships of the chamber’s 42 committees. He yanked Smith from chairing the Judiciary B committee, and he replaced Republican chairmen of the last four years with Democrats.