Sunday, June 4, 2023

Bill Crawford: Voters Could Change Triumvurate

 Books, briefs, broadcasts, and blogs provide discourses galore on the growing concentration of wealth and power in America. Mississippi is not estranged from this trend. The transmogrification of the triumvirate of power that controls public policy and spending provides a good illustration.

The state constitution created this triumvirate by providing for a Governor, a House of Representatives, and a Senate. By design the Governor is a singular power. In contrast, the House and Senate were designed to have power distributed among all their elected members. 

Specifically, Section 38 provides that both the House and Senate “shall elect its own officers” and Section 55 provides that both “may determine rules of its own proceedings.” 

The constitution does not convey any significant legislative powers to the Lieutenant Governor, providing only that he or she serves as “president of the Senate.” The constitution also does not create the position of or convey significant legislative powers to the Speaker of the House. MS Code Section 5-1-11 does require the House to elect “a speaker.”

The concentration of power that we now see in the offices of the Speaker of the House and Lieutenant Governor has accrued over time through rules adopted by the members of the House and Senate. Those rules give the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor their mechanisms of power – authority to refer bills and appoint all committee chairs (except the President Pro Tempore chairs the Senate Rules Committee). 

We have had powerful Speakers and Lieutenant Governors who strongly influenced legislation in the past. But strong influence morphed into autocratic control during the reigns of Philip Gunn and Tate Reeves as party politics became dominant. That trend has continued for the most part through Delbert Hosemann’s term as Lieutenant Governor.

Thus, the triumvirate of power has essentially come to consist of three individuals, not one individual plus two bodies with distributed power. 

Getting to the point of all this, the triumvirate will change next year. 

We know the House Speaker will change. Philip Gunn did not seek re-election. His replacement will be elected by the House in January. State Rep. Jason White, currently the House Speaker Pro Tempore, is favored in that election.

This August, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann faces a notable challenger in the Republican Primary in state Sen. Chris McDaniel. In the November general election, Gov. Tate Reeves will likely face a notable Democratic challenger in Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley.

The winners will wield immense power over state policy and spending if rank and file legislators continue to yield up that power.

 Voters should let legislative candidates know whether they are comfortable with such concentration of power or not. 

“Don’t be tyrants, but lead them by your good example” – 1 Peter 5:3.

Crawford, a former House member, is a syndicated columnist from Jackson. 


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I refuse to read anything that opens with a sentence containing the words estranged, transmogrification and triumvirate.

If he's trying to compete with Salter, leave me out.

I have no time this morning for a garrulous sesquipedalian. They use big words trying to appear smart.

WISEOWL said...

Had to look up sesquipedalian. Thanks for the long word.

Anonymous said...

@Bill Crawford writes: "Voters should let legislative candidates know whether they are comfortable with such concentration of power or not."

Hello, then, legislative candidates. I'm Anonymous, and I want to let you know that I am not at all comfortable with the current concentration of power in the state House and Senate unless the loony lunatics of the left are about to assume those powerful positions. In that case, I'm steadfastly in favor of such concentration of power staying just the way it is now.

Anonymous said...

@ 9:45... true

Anonymous said...

Shocking new discovery!!! State power concentrated within state government. What a revelation.

Anonymous said...

Who was Speaker when Mr. Crawford served as a Rep? How powerful was that Speaker and what did Mr. Crawford do to affect said Speaker's power? I don't remember a time when the Speaker didn't have tons of power; both Republican or Democrat. I would put Billy McCoy's power up with anyone before or after.

Anonymous said...

1223
Agreed! Billy McCoy would punish Republicans, the current House at least acts like the other side exist.

Anonymous said...

10:59
Great abridged rendition of Soggy Sweat.

Anonymous said...

Damn Crawford, does your aged memory not go back before the century turned with a beginning number of 2?


"But strong influence morphed into autocratic control during the reigns of Philip Gunn and Tate Reeves as party politics became dominant."

Do you not know of the eight years that Billy McCoy served as Speaker? Or, before that when Tim Ford was holding that gavel. Even more so, the almost two decades of Buddy Newman? Ever hear of Walter Sillers and his control of the House.

Granted, less so in the Senate, unless you include the decade of Brad DYe. But the difference there was except for Brad, the LG was always looking to run for Governor back in the days when the Governor was limited to one term. Since that change we did have the weak LG of Musgrove, but he too was looking to step up since he came in the second term of Fordice.

Neither Amy nor Phil were strong LGs but that was due to their innate weaknesses anyway, along with the fact that the Gov held the power in the Senate with the coalition of Senators that would support Barbour on any veto (which he never had to exercise.) So both those LGs had to genuflect to the top floor of the Sillers bldg.

But to think that this "power" of the legislative bodies only came about when the Republicans controlled all three sections speaks to your green shaded eyeglasses that now sees everything as a failure by Gov Reeves (who will not accept your beliefs on everything hospital/Medicaid). For those many decades that the Democrats controlled all three parts, the legislative leadership was every bit as autocratic as it has been the past ten years.

Anonymous said...

Were Republicans appointed as Committee Chairmen in the Senate when Democrats had the majority and there was a Republican minority?

Anonymous said...

738 - yes.

Except I guess if you go back to the 80s when there were only a handful of Republicans, the answer would be no.

But considering the number of committees in tge Senate, it's not possible to name all chairmen from the same party.

The issue (unstated in the political talk) is what committees have chairmen of the minority party - are those committees of any importance?

Anonymous said...

Nothing new here. If you want to see what concentrated political power looks like, read about the reign of Walter Sillers as Speaker of the House.


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