MSGOP Unanimously Opposes Education Power Grab
State Central Committee endorses a “Vote Against Both” approach to Initiative 42
The Mississippi Republican Party’s State Central Committee unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday urging Republicans across the state to VOTE AGAINST BOTH for the education initiatives on this November’s ballot.
“Republican leadership has education funding at its highest levels ever in our state history, has more students reading at grade level than even a year ago, and is nurturing teaching excellence with a pay raise and a merit pay program,” said Joe Nosef, Chairman of the MSGOP. “But Initiative 42 isn’t about education. Initiative 42 is a power grab, pure and simple.”
“It gives a single judge in Jackson the power to rewrite policy, and it puts locally elected members of the House and Senate at the mercy of that judge,” continued Nosef. “And, we’re not just talking about a single education funding formula. Initiative 42 gives that one judge policy-making powers that could impact policies from infrastructure spending to taxes, and much, much more.”
This push to amend the Mississippi Constitution is bankrolled and run by several groups from Washington, D.C. with deep connections to a variety of liberal causes, including Planned Parenthood, President Obama’s campaigns, the Human Rights Campaign, the SEIU, and the AFL-CIO. In recent years, left-wing causes when unable to get their agenda through Congress have taken to the courts with some success, such as the recent same-sex marriage case. Many consider Initiative 42 a test case for a similar strategy in states with Republican legislatures.
“This is just an end-run around the legislature elected by the people of Mississippi,” said Nosef. “These groups can come down to Mississippi from Washington, D.C. to try to tell us how to run things, but I think they’ll find that Mississippians are not just going to hand them control. We urge voters to vote AGAINST BOTH and then FOR ALTERNATIVE INITIATIVE 42A.”
Click here to view the resolution.
MSGOP Press Release
9/15/15
Magnolia Tribune
