Jackson Jambalaya

Republicans in the Mississippi Senate should be ashamed of themselves as they cowered before Governor Barbour and told the public to take go jump in the lake. Senator David Blount sponsored SB# 2921, which would have shortened the time required for a government body to respond to an open records request from 14 business days (3 weeks in calendar days) to 7 business days. What stirred up the Governor against this bill was that it would have limited his ability to deny the public access to public records by demanding outrageous fees for information that belongs to taxpayers. You Republicans remember the taxpayers don't you? They are the ones who are your boss and who you claim to protect when you criticize McCoy and Obama.

The clause in question read:
"SECTION 2. Section 25-61-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-61-7. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each public body may establish and collect fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for, and in no case to exceed, the actual cost of searching, reviewing and/or duplicating and, if applicable, mailing copies of public records. The actual cost shall not include any amount paid to a person or any other entity who is not an employee of the public body unless there is no employee of the public body capable of fulfilling the records request; any staff time included in the computation of the actual cost shall be at the pay scale of the lowest level employee competent to assemble the response to the request or the actual cost of complying with the request if there is no employee of the public body capable of complying with the request. Such fees shall be collected by the public body in advance of complying with the request." SB#2921 text

This prevents any public official from helping his attorney friends by claiming such a request needs to be "reviewed by outside counsel" and then charging a taxpayer thousands of dollars. Shades of Buddy Newman and Governor Bilbo. Or Edwin Edwards. The vote to recommit the bill to committee, thus killing it, was supported mainly by Republicans:
"Yeas--Albritton, Brown, Browning, Burton, Carmichael, Chassaniol, Clarke, Davis D. (1st), Fillingane, Flowers, Gollott, Hewes, Hopson, Hudson, Hyde-Smith, Jackson G. (15th), King, Kirby, Lee P. (35th), McDaniel, Mettetal, Michel, Nunnelee, Ward, Watson, Yancey. Total--26."

The next time they ask you for your vote, remember what they think of you and that when push comes to shove, they are no different than the Democrats in keeping government hidden from the taxpayers. There is currently a bill still alive that has passed the House and has been referred to committee in the Senate, HB# 1048 by Norquist. It keeps the provision in place where someone requesting public records doesn't have to pay for private employees to "review" the request but unfortunately, doesn't have the requirement that such requests be answered in seven business days.

The next time the Mississippi Republicans preach to you about limited government and opening government up to the people, throw this vote back in their faces as when push comes to shove, they are just as pro-government as any Democrat in the legislature.