WJTV – UPDATE: Special Session Day 5, Governor signs infrastructure bill
DAILY JOURNAL – Inside Gov. Phil Bryant’s efforts to save his lottery proposal
The objective of the Jackson restaurant meeting was for governor’s staff to flip some of Monday’s no votes to the yes column.
Several lawmakers described the scene to Mississippi Today, but declined to speak on the record because they did not want to draw the ire of their colleagues or the governor’s office. One at a time, representatives at the restaurant left their big table and moved to a smaller table in the restaurant to sit with Whitney Lipscomb, an attorney on Bryant’s staff and a main author of the lottery bill, who answered questions and addressed concerns they had about the bill.
A main topic of those one-on-one conversations, according to lawmakers who were approached by the governor’s staff on Monday and Tuesday, was the pot of about $100 million in BP settlement money that is expected to be set aside for specific, earmarked projects.
Representatives of the governor’s office said the subject of the meeting was the lottery bill not BP funding.
“The role of Gov. Bryant’s policy staff is to answer any questions lawmakers have about a particular issue or piece of legislation, especially one as complex and groundbreaking as Senate Bill 2001,” said Bryant spokesman Clay Chandler. “Whitney Lipscomb was fulfilling that responsibility well yesterday, as she has numerous times before.”…
…The scene at Caet provides rare insight into the mechanics of legislating in Jackson: If a bill fails, legislative procedures typically keep the bill alive for some time. As the bill hangs in the balance, lobbyists representing major international corporations and political staffers who have direct influence over the state’s purse strings can plead their cases.
Bryant’s efforts to revive the lottery bill are extraordinary given that he and fellow Republican leaders previously staunchly opposed the games.
Nonetheless, Lipscomb’s efforts succeeded, and by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, staffers inside the governor’s office were celebrating and deciding how to add the BP settlement item to the special session.
CLARION LEDGER – Gov. Phil Bryant speaks at state Capitol after special session ends
WLOX – BP oil settlement bill heads to Governor’s desk, passes in House
Mississippi lawmakers are sending the governor a plan to divide nearly $700 million from an oil spill settlement, with most of the money going to coastal counties.
Representatives on Wednesday passed the same bill that senators passed Tuesday night. The House vote was 99 in favor and 10 opposed.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant asked lawmakers to consider the plan, and he is expected to sign it into law.
BP PLC is paying Mississippi $750 million through 2033 to make up for lost tax revenue from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
State senator and #MSSen candidate McDaniel tries to comfortably couch his vote against the BP funding for the Coast
Mississippi’s lower six coastal counties deserved 100% of the the state’s BP settlement funds. The Deepwater Horizon was a coastal disaster, and should’ve been handled as such.
— Sen. Chris McDaniel (@senatormcdaniel) August 29, 2018
WLOX – State lottery bill would funnel money into Pre-K programs
WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi
House Dem Leader and #MSSen candidate Baria has some explaining to do
It isn’t fake news if you originally attempted to change your vote, lied about it on camera, and then changed your story after you found out it was being investigated. Language is in there that includes you denied to change again. https://t.co/Dq8B8xaojv
— Sarah Ulmer (@SarahUlmerYP) August 29, 2018
— Mississippi GOP (@MSGOP) August 29, 2018
WTOK – Locals react to Mississippi’s lottery legislation
State representative and Democrat Lt. Gov. candidate Jay Hughes gives his take on the special session
#MSSen: Hyde-Smith launches ad after Trump endorsement
Before @realDonaldTrump tweeted his endorsement, he called me and said this: ‘I want you here as our U.S. Senator from MS. You’re helping me more than anybody else is helping me—and I’m gonna help you stay here.’ I’m humbled to have our President’s support! #cindy2018 pic.twitter.com/1zbrN9igUt
— Cindy Hyde-Smith (@cindyhydesmith) August 29, 2018
CLARION LEDGER – Sid Salter: John McCain’s Mississippi connections were strong, complex
McCain’s connection to Mississippi was far deeper than a presidential debate and the catfish battle with Cochran.
William Alexander McCain, Sen. McCain’s great-great grandfather, bought the Teoc Plantation in Carroll County, Mississippi in 1851 and owned slaves there. McCain’s great-grandfather and namesake John Sidney McCain was elected sheriff of Carroll County, Mississippi. Major Gen. Henry P. McCain, a distant uncle, was the namesake for the Mississippi National Guard’s Camp McCain Training Center in Grenada County.
Sheriff McCain’s son, named John Sidney McCain, Sr., attended Ole Miss and transferred to the U.S. Naval Academy. He would rise to the rank of four-star Admiral in the U.S. Navy after commanding a carrier group in the Pacific in World War II. Admiral McCain’s son, John Sidney McCain, Jr., would also graduate the Naval Academy and also rise to the rank of Admiral in command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, where his son John Sidney McCain, III, the future U.S. senator from Arizona was interred in Hanoi as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down.
Admiral McCain ordered bombings of Hanoi despite knowing his son was there. The Vietnamese tried to release young McCain early as a propaganda tool, but McCain refused.
WLBT – Dr. Mary Currier announces her retirement as State Health Officer
HATTIESBURG AMERICAN – Cindy Hyde-Smith: Kavanaugh’s qualifications to take center stage at confirmation hearing
Mississippians will have an opportunity soon to learn firsthand what I already know — Judge Brett Kavanaugh is an excellent choice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
When Judge Kavanaugh raises his right hand at the start of his confirmation hearing on Sept. 4, the people of Mississippi will be able to hear directly from a nominee who is eminently qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court. I believe we’ll find that he is a genuine gentleman with a keen legal mind and an unyielding devotion to the Constitution and the rule-of-law.
It was an honor to be among the senators invited to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in early July just before Judge Kavanaugh was introduced to the nation. It was also a privilege to be among the first senators to be able to sit down and visit with him as a part of the confirmation process.
During our visit, I found him to have a genuine concern for our country, a deep devotion to his family and, most importantly, an unbending belief that a judge’s job is to study the facts and apply the law fairly without legislating from the bench. Everything I’ve learned about him since then reaffirms the fact that President Trump has again nominated an excellent jurist to serve the American people.
WDAM – Mississippi Construction Education Foundation launches statewide awareness campaign
WDAM-TV 7-News, Weather, Sports-Hattiesburg, MS
#MS01: Dem candidate Wadkins releases “Coffee with Randy”
I’m Randy Wadkins, and I’m running for Congress to represent the 1st district of Mississippi. Watch this video to find out why. 1/5 https://t.co/GG235TUWfl
— Wadkins for Congress (@Wadkins2018) August 28, 2018
WLOX – EMA directors reflect on how Katrina taught better storm preparation
Magnolia Tribune
Republicans on House Ethics reject for now releasing report on Matt Gaetz
