Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann prepares to gavel Mississippi's state senate into the first day of 2024's legislative session. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari)
- Lt. Governor Hosemann touted the legislation on social media after the vote, saying, “State government should be efficient, accountable, and focused on results, not burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy.”
With only one question about funding, the Mississippi Senate passed legislation by unanimous vote Monday afternoon that could eliminate nearly two dozen boards deemed “obsolete.”
After being on the Senate Calendar for nearly one week, Senators voted to repeal the boards in an effort to streamline state government, a top priority for the chamber under Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R).
Senators passed a committee substitute bill for SB 2017, which the Senate Government Structure Committee passed on January 12. Unlike the original bill, which repealed 24 boards, commissions, and councils, the committee substitute only repeals 22.
Before the Senate floor, State Senator Tyler McCaughn (R), the chairman of the Government Structure Committee, said, “In front of you, you got a list. On that list is 22 boards and commissions that we [the committee] determined, or appears to determine, that have not met or have met and not filed their minutes, or not done the things they were originally designed to do.”
The sole question came from State Senator Sollie Norwood (D), who asked about the $47,000 appropriated for a study group called the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women.
McCaughn said he would direct the question to the appropriate staff, but as he understands it, the money was appropriated and since the commission never met, the funds have not been spent.
During the committee meeting last week, McCaughn said the aim is to eliminate boards that are dormant.
“Its intent is not to get rid of those that are actually out there doing the work that they were charged with doing,” McCaughn explained, adding that many of the boards were created in the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s.
Duties for a small number of the 22 boards would transfer to other government bodies. For example, the Mississippi Commission on the Holocaust’s responsibilities would be assumed by the State Department of Education. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Advisory Commission’s duties would be placed under the Department of Archives and History.
Those boards being eliminated are:
- Bienville Recreational District
- Mississippi Council of Advisors in Acupuncture
- Mississippi Interagency Council on Homelessness
- Harrison County Parkway Commission
- Mississippi Commission on the Holocaust
- Control and management of Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Shrine
- Mississippi Advisory Council on Faith-Based Initiatives
- Civil War Battlefield Commission
- Mississippi Electronic Recording Commission
- Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission
- Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Commission
- Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel
- Council on Obesity Prevention and Management
- Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women
- Mississippi Coordinating Council for Remote Sensing and Graphic Information Systems
- Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Advisory Commission
- Mississippi Windstorm Mitigation Coordinating Council
- Commission of Road Protection
- Deep Draft Harbor and Terminal
- Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Authority
- Mississippi Superconducting Super Collider Authority
Lt. Governor Hosemann touted the legislation on social media after the vote, saying, “State government should be efficient, accountable, and focused on results, not burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy. Today, the Mississippi Senate passed Senate Bill 2017 to eliminate 22 nonessential, inactive boards and commissions.”
Hosemann added that by running state government like a business, “we’ve cut taxes by more than $1 billion a year, made historic investments in infrastructure and education, and paid off over one-third of Mississippi’s debt.”
If the House agrees and the governor signs off on the measure, the repeal would go into effect July 1.
Monday’s abbreviated session was not all debate. The chamber honored one of its own, State Senator Daniel Sparks (R), on the occasion of him being a new father. On January 15, Sparks and his wife, Anna, became parents of a boy weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz.. The flag of the Capitol was flown to honor the birth the same day..
“That was for Anna, didn’t have anything to do with you,” quipped Lt. Governor Hosemann jokingly, which drew laughs from the Senators.
