Mississippi lawmakers rather quickly and decisively agreed on a medical marijuana program that didn’t earn universal agreement, but it did take the Legislature out of the unenviable position of not being responsive to the wishes of some 74 percent of state voters participating in the 2020 statewide elections.
After
having passed both the House and Senate by wide margins, the bill now
heads to the desk of Gov. Tate Reeves, who can sign it into law, let it
become
law without his signature or veto it – but the legislative margins on
the measure suggest that a veto would likely fail.
My
bet is against a veto. Reeves impacted the final bill and got most of
the concessions he wanted. So, if the medical marijuana question is
settled for the
time being, the legal developments that led to this flurry of
legislative activity in the 2022 regular session are decidedly not
settled.
In
the 2020 election, Mississippi voters approved a voter initiative
authorizing a medical marijuana program outlined in Initiative 65 over
expressed objections
from majority legislative leaders. Mississippi voters approved
Initiative 65 with 73.7 percent of the vote, with only 26.3 percent for
Legislative Optional Initiative 65A.
But
the results of that referendum were annulled by the Mississippi Supreme
Court. The state’s High Court ruled that the state’s 1992 ballot
initiative process
was flawed because the Legislature had spent several years without
addressing the impact of the loss of Mississippi’s congressional
reparations of a congressional district in 2001 on the constitutional
provision governing that process.
In
the bottom line, the court ruled that the state’s initiative process
was broken and that because Initiative 65 was put in motion through that
flawed process
and procedures, the medical marijuana initiative could not stand
despite voter support.
That
judicial decision left state lawmakers facing two challenges – first
addressing the thorny issue of medical marijuana in a way that respects
voters and
then finding a way to reinstate and improve the ballot initiative
process. The compromise medical marijuana bill adopted by the
Legislature got them halfway home.
Now
looms the more significant and more difficult task of giving
Mississippi voters back their ballot initiative process. That will be
easier said than done,
for the entire ballot initiative process is counterintuitive to
lawmakers who believe strongly in the primacy of the Mississippi
Legislature as an institution.
Few,
if any legislators will publicly say so, but most lawmakers do not want
to share the power to make state laws with the voters.
Mississippians
have fought for the better part of a century over the power of direct
democracy for state voters. As noted in previous columns on the subject,
the modern initiative process in Mississippi was made difficult by the
Legislature for citizens who wanted to bypass lawmakers and get directly
into the business of writing or changing laws for themselves.
Since
1993, there have been 66 instances where various Mississippi citizens
or groups have attempted to use the state initiative process. Some 52 of
those
attempts ended for lack of certified signatures or other procedural
deficiencies.
But
legislators went to school on Initiative 42, which called for “adequate
and efficient” public school funding to be inserted into the state’s
constitution
and empowered state chancery courts to enforce such funding. It failed
but by a tight margin.
Initiative
42 made it to the polls and became the defining issue in the 2015
statewide elections. From start to finish, the pro-42 effort was a
well-oiled,
well-financed political effort and lawmakers saw the future of
organized initiatives with sufficient resources to campaign.
On
Initiative 65, the political lessons of Initiative 42 were evident in
the relatively easy passage of the medical marijuana plan. The likely
outcome of that
reality is that any “fix” to the initiative process will not center on
constitutional changes but on statutory measures.
Will
Mississippi voters quietly accept losing their ability to propose
ballot initiatives? Not likely. Lawmakers facing those same voters would
be well-served
to fix the process sooner than later. It’s a tailor-made issue for
challengers.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
15 comments:
As long as nothing upsets the chicken plucker labor pipeline Sid's a happy camper.
Gunn is a supreme, arrogant, self-absorbed baby-dictator. He is totally opposed to the citizenry having any voice in legislation. Period.
Hoseman is lost in the weeds, as it were. He's simply blinded by the desire to be governor.
But they all seem to get voted right back in every cycle.
Say what you will, far better than Donkeycrats.
I also agree Gunn is (slightly) better than a Democrat.
I am old enough to remember when I did not have to hold my nose to vote for the conservative on the ballot just because it was the lesser of two horrible jackasses.
The good old days.
Yeah I’m not sure where Sid boy gets (The Legislature passed it quickly and decisively) Mississippians have tried to push medical cannabis through for twenty years only to be told by these decisive lawmakers to go screw themselves! Republicans or not voters are pissed and more than a few will be kicked to the curb come 2023. Hopefully Gunn is one of them!
Looking for the little r next to the names on the ballot is the full extent of research done most Mississippians. Those in power know it. They can do practically anything as long as they say something about being Christian occasionally and pay lip service to the orange man. The people get what the deserve, we should demand far, far better, but we don’t.
Why did this need to go to the voters or the legislature
This is America and it’s a fuckin plant
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2022/01/31/study-weed-makes-you-stupid-n1554538
Well 12:35, the federal gov declared war on brain chemistry some 100 years ago. And the people did nothing. And being a government, it ramped its failed war continuously for 100 years and the consequences were terrible for human self-determination, blood and treasure.
Freedom was harvested and in the false belief they were "safe" the people went right along with it. The Pharmacological Inquisition was terribly effective.
Never fear, now your fresh mid level out of an online program and hours of shadowing other poorly trained online mid levels can certify your doper card in a quickie corner clinic for cash. Access problem solved. And some lazy old shitty radiologist at Tico’s who’s doper kid blew his girlfriends head off will sign off on their chart. Everyone wins.
Smile when your photo is taken walking into and out of that dispensary!
8:24, you would fit well in a Brown Shirt.
"Gunn is a supreme, arrogant, self-absorbed baby-dictator. He is totally opposed to the citizenry having any voice in legislation. Period.
Hoseman is lost in the weeds, as it were. He's simply blinded by the desire to be governor."
Best - and most accurate - comments of the Month.
I don’t get the comments about Gunn being opposed to the initiative. The initiative bill Gunn personally authored, HC 39, has passed out of committee and will be voted on by the full House. There is no Senate counterpart. The House, with Gunn leading the way, is doing its part to restore the initiative process. We’ll see what the Senate eventually does.
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