AP Analysis: Busby among effective freshmen lawmakers
Gov. Phil Bryant was lavishing praise on just about everyone in the room as he prepared to sign bills expanding the authority for charter schools and making other changes to K-12 education in Mississippi.
Among the many people the Republican governor praised during Wednesday’s bill signing ceremony at Northwest Rankin High School was Rep. Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula.
Bryant acknowledged what’s become clear — Busby may be the first-term legislator who’s made the biggest mark so far.
There were 47 new senators and representatives when the Legislature started this four-year term in 2012. Six more new lawmakers have joined them since, as incumbents have died or resigned. A seventh new lawmaker, Lataisha Jackson, will take the place of the late Rep. Joe Gardner, D-Batesville, when lawmakers return for at least one special session in coming months, and an eighth new member will take the place of the late Rep. Jessica Upshaw, R-Diamondhead. When that seat is filled, more than 30 percent of Mississippi’s 174 lawmakers will have fewer than two years of experience.
AP
4/21/13
Magnolia Tribune
