McCoy statement on Senate leadership refusal to allow vote on redistricting
House Speaker Billy McCoy released the following statement today after state Senate leaders refused to let the full Senate consider a proposal that would have redrawn state House and Senate districts based on the 2010 U.S. Census and ended a federal lawsuit filed last month over the issue.
“Never in my life did I think I would ever live to see the day that a body of this Legislature would willingly cede its authority to a federal court. But that is what the Mississippi Senate is on the verge of doing,” McCoy said.
“By refusing to consider the joint resolution approved by the House, the Senate is knowingly forcing the taxpayers of this state to pay for two legislative elections and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses, all in the name of hoping to achieve a partisan advantage in the upcoming campaigns.
“The legacy left by the Senate is that paying for lawyers to litigate a redistricting plan in federal court is more important than adequately funding our schools and colleges, our community mental health system and our homestead reimbursement program.”
Speaker Billy McCoy press release
4/7/11
Magnolia Tribune
