Geoff Pender: Transparency, ‘ree-form’ pending
No sooner had the ink dried on federal indictments in the state prison contracts bribery scandal than calls went out from state leaders and lawmakers for transparency. Transparency and “ree-form.”
There’s a passel of legislation, pending and forthcoming, aimed at making government spending and records more open to the public and reforming state contracts and spending oversight. Many of these measures are not new, but in the past were smacked down so hard they bounced by the state government-industrial complex and special interests.
Reps. Jerry Turner and Tommy Taylor were pushing for prison and other contract reform before it was cool. Sen. Nancy Collins pushed for public hospitals to have open board meetings even before the Singing River Health Systems pension scandal. It took a historic beat-down from the hospital lobby. Sen. Will Longwitz, Rep. David Baria, State Auditor Stacey Pickering and others have pushed reforms in the past, usually with very limited success.
Now, with a passel of government officials either locked up or awaiting trial, there’s a spirit of glasnost and calls for reform from the state’s high command. Surely at least some will come to pass.
But in politics, as in physics, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Take the two humdingers filed by Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, SB2352 and SB2489. They appear to be in response to recent state Ethics Commission rulings that say public boards can’t sidestep open meetings laws by sneaking around in small groups, or “rolling quorums” – a preferred tactic of several county boards of supervisors or city councils I’ve covered in the past.
Chassaniol’s bills would legalize such dark work, and set on its head meager gains made in open meetings laws in recent years. Surely, in this new era of transparency and reform, such government hooliganism shall not pass. Many county boards of supervisors still operate in a feudal manner. The public should at least be given a fighting chance at knowing what they’re up to.
Another pending bill, by Reps. Greg Snowden and Randy Rushing, would exempt county supervisors from open meetings laws when they’re out inspecting bridges. At first glance this doesn’t seem too onerous, but then I envision a board secretly straw polling on taxes or eminent domain underneath an old box culvert. And besides, shouldn’t an engineer be inspecting those bridges?
Nevertheless, perhaps this renewed call for transparency and reform will mean citizens will peer through a glass less darkly at Mississippi government. And while they’re in this mood, let me provide a wish-listical of mine and others:
•Campaign finance records. In this modern age, using software available on every desktop, couldn’t Mississippi make campaign finance records searchable, instead of just a PDF “picture” of records?
•The “Transparency” website. The state, bless its heart, has a transparency website. It’s a data dump of inaccurate, incomplete and mostly un-searchable records. Perhaps lawmakers could require transparency on the transparency site?
•A “gift” law. Mississippi needs one. There are laws against flat-out bribery, and requirements for some officials to file a “statement of economic interest” on any source of income over $2,500. But there is no clear prohibition against elected officials receiving gifts, or clear requirement that they report them. Attempted reform in 2008 failed.
•Nepotism. In Mississippi government, it’s not who you know, it’s who you’re kin to. There is a weak law on the books. But nepotism in Mississippi government is clear and present. At least one school district comes to mind.
•Budget requests. Longwitz has again authored a bill to require agencies to make their legislative budget requests public. Not their spending, mind you, just what they’re asking to spend. Astonishingly, this has faced fierce opposition and lobbying in the past.
This list could, and should go on. And it shouldn’t require federal indictments and massive scandals for lawmakers to make government more open.
Contact Geoff Pender at (601) 961-7266 or gpender@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @GeoffPender on Twitter.