**************************************************** Magnolia Political Report #62
Monday February 28, 2005
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Barbour v. Moore: Round One
Governor Haley Barbour and former Attorney General Mike Moore are probably the two most dominant figures in state-level politics in Mississippi since Kirk Fordice moved out of the Governor’s Mansion. They’re also about as politically opposite as it gets in state politics. The two squaring-off over the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi promises to be the political equivalent of a heavy-weight prize fight complete with a $20 million purse to the winner.
In case you missed it, Governor Haley Barbour moved recently to claim the $20 million a year the Partnership receives in funding courtesy of a chancery judge’s order. Former Attorney General Mike Moore, who birthed and fathers the Partnership, has taken a hard-line against Barbour and others who believe the Partnership's $20 million belongs to the taxpayers. Moore rallied teens at the capitol, leading them in anti-Barbour chants. He's been quoted statewide threatening "I'll tear the heads off" about his opponents and saying "I'll fight to my last breath" for the funding and they can have it "over my dead body."
Background
As part of the original tobacco settlement agreement, then Attorney General Mike Moore secured $62 million for a two-year smoking cessation program aimed at young people. When the program was over, Moore was able to persuade a Jackson County Chancery Judge to divert $20 million a year from tobacco payments to a private organization Moore had set up -- the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. Moore and the group say they are making strides toward reducing smoking, especially among teenagers. Their detractors say there is no accountability for the money and their claims about reducing smoking are statistically flawed. The Legislature's watchdog PEER Committee says it's unconstitutional.
When the PEER Committee released their report saying the Partnership was unconstitutional, they recommended the attorney general recover the money. That was never going to happen because Mike Moore was the AG at the time. Short of that, PEER recommended that the legislature seek to recover the funds. They never tried. Apparently, according to Moore, the legislative leadership is on his side. No doubt House Speaker Billy McCoy is.
Eventually, we should find out who is right, Barbour or Moore. Last week, Medicaid filed papers in Jackson County Chancery Court to recover the $20 million. Moore has said he'll bring in the best lawyers in America and tie up the suit for years. Barbour probably wouldn't have undertaken the cause had he not been determined to stay the course. The case will eventually end up before the State Supreme Court, but it may be a while.
Judging by what's happened so far, it looks like Barbour may prevail in the end. For one, Barbour is a smart enough politician to know not to take on a fight he won't win. Moore's over-reaction in the media is a sign he knows he has a weak hand in the courtroom so he better prevail in the court of public opinion.
Other parties
The Health Care Trust Fund board voted 4-3 in January to join the action to recover the $20 million that is currently spent on the Partnership. The board should have standing to sue because they oversee the Health Care Trust Fund, the repository for the state's tobacco payments. As a matter of state law, the board had to officially ask the Attorney General to represent them. Not surprisingly, Hood turned them down. Apparently the board is proceeding anyway with outside counsel.
Former Attorney General Mike Moore apparently told several editorial writers that the board's chairman, State Treasurer Tate Reeves, had rigged the vote by holding it when one of its members, Dr. Wallace Connerly, wasn't present. The Clarion Ledger and at least one other newspaper wrote editorials criticizing Reeves for the move. One small problem that blows their whole premise -- the vote was 4 to 3 and there are exactly 7 voting members of the Health Care Trust Fund board. As it turns out, their editorial was fundamentally wrong because Connerly is non-voting member of the board. His attendance wouldn't have mattered.
In an interesting side light, State Representative Jon Reeves, R-Jackson, offered an amendment to stop the Health Care Trust Fund board from filing suit for the Partnership funds. Many Republicans were already leery of Reeves because he took a walk on several important tort reform votes last year and has been out of step with his party on several other issues they deem important. Offering an amendment opposing the Republican governor and state treasurer caused even more consternation with Reeves.
Media reaction
In the days after Barbour and Medicaid put the issue on the front burner press coverage was relatively balanced. Mike Moore received negative press on the Coast for using school children as a prop to rally against Barbour at the state capitol. Columnist Sid Salter raised questions about how the Partnership spends its money, pointing specifically to a $19,000 print ad buy the Partnership made to congratulate Moore on an award. Talk show host Paul Gallo and his cohorts at Supertalk have continually raised questions about the Partnership and how it spends it money.
In recent days, however, most of the print media has either editorialized in favor of the Partnership or remained silent. We’re still waiting for someone to challenge Mike Moore and the Partnership on how they spend their money. Moore cites an annual report and an audit as proof the Partnership is accountable. However, the Magnolia Report has seen everything the Partnership publicly releases. There’s not much there. Nothing is specifically itemized that would give taxpayers any sense of confidence about how $20 million a year is being spent.
It’s not fair to judge the Partnership based on rumors, but they should be followed up until their either successfully dispelled or proven true. We’ve heard plenty that are cause for concern. Moore and the Partnership’s stonewalling on the issue don’t engender confidence and the media’s lack of questioning and concern are downright disconcerting.
Legislative Update
Hunting Vote
A resolution to make hunting and fishing a constitutional right in Mississippi came up a few votes short last week in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Reps. Cecil Brown (D-Jackson), J.P. Compretta (D-Bay St. Louis), Ricky Cummings (D-Iuka), Steve Holland (D-Plantersville), J.B. Markham (D-Greenwood Springs), John Mayo (D-Clarksdale), Diane Peranich (D-Pass Christian), Joe Taylor (D-Waynesboro), Robert Vince (D-Sandy Hook) and Mae Whittington (D-Schlater) joined all 36 Legislative Black Caucus members to defeat the initiative by a vote of 72-46. Jamie Franks (D-Mooreville), Joey Hudson (D-Monticello), Harvey Moss (D-Corinth) and Greg Ward (D-Ripley) voted present. Seventy-nine votes were required for the resolution to pass.
No Momentum in the House. Whose fault is it anyway?
It wasn’t as high-profile as civil justice reform, Medicaid or education, but the fate of Momentum Mississippi is instructive to anyone interested in understanding the latest fault lines in state government.
Momentum Mississippi was effectively killed after the House leadership refused to bring it up before the February 23rd deadline for the House and Senate to act on their own revenue and spending bills. The Senate, which was supportive of the legislation, hadn’t acted on their version, instead relying on the House to get the ball rolling. The plan to update the state’s economic development tools was spearheaded by Governor Barbour and the Mississippi Economic Council. When House members supportive of Momentum Mississippi realized the House leadership was about to let the package die without a vote, they tried to keep the House in session by voting against the motion to adjourn.
Internally, the House is about as divided as state government in general. The vote to adjourn is a good indication of where the fault line lies in the House of Representatives. It failed by ten votes, 63-53. One Republican, Rep. Tom Weathersby (Florence) voted with the House leadership. Sid Bondurant (Grenada), Scott Bounds (Philadelphia), Bennett Malone (Carthage), Billy Nicholson (Little Rock), Deryk Parker (Lucedale), Randall Patterson (Biloxi), Margaret Rogers (New Albany), Bobby Shows (Ellisville), Jeff Smith (Columbus) and Mary Ann Stevens (West) voted with the Republicans (minus Weathersby) to try to force the leadership to bring up the bill by keeping the House in session.
Deep fault lines have always existed in state government, even when Mississippi was a one-party state. There was plenty of hostility between the Democratic legislature and Democratic Governor Ray Mabus. During the late ‘90’s when Republican Kirk Fordice was governor and Democrat Ronnie Musgrove was lieutenant governor, there was plenty of bitterness in state government. Then, however, the acrimony was largely a side show because the legislature did whatever it wanted in spite of the protests of Governor Fordice.
Nowadays, the split in state politics is largely organized along partisan lines. A Republican governor has a strong ally on one side of the legislature and a determined opponent on the other. It’s new territory for Mississippi.
Governor Barbour is a Republican’s Republican, having been chairman of the Republican National Committee. Though Democrats hold a 29-23 majority in the State Senate, the chamber is considered “Republican” because of the leadership of Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and the presence of enough conservative Democrats to form a majority coalition with Republicans.
While Barbour and the State Senate are headed one way, the Democrat led House of Representatives pulls as hard as it can in the opposite direction. Since Barbour and the Senate successfully pushed through tort reform last year, the House has been almost reflexively opposed to everything the Governor has tried to do. The special session Governor Barbour called late last year to consider his economic development bond package is a good example.
If Barbour and the Senate are from Mars (it’s the red planet), the House is from Venus. Barbour and the Senate talk spending cuts; the House wants more revenue. From education and Medicaid to voter ID and campaign finance reform, the House is on a different planet than Governor Barbour and the State Senate.
Ultimately, the partisan split will be a good thing for Mississippi. A strong two-party system will lead to more accountability because each side will keep a close eye on the other and won’t hesitate to let the public know if one side steps over the line. Strong parties will also help foster better ideas and better policy in order to stay competitive in the court of public opinion.
In the meantime, however, the move toward a partisan alignment in state government isn’t pretty. The fate of Momentum Mississippi is a good case in point. Most agreed it was a good idea to help job creation that was killed to make a partisan political point. The worst is probably yet to come as two sides that right now can’t agree on anything get down to solving perhaps the worst budget crisis in state history. Voters should remind themselves that there have frequently been deep divisions in state government, and if they don’t like them, they get a chance to make a change every four years.
5 Questions with The Magnolia Report Features this year:
Senator Charlie Ross was elected to the House of Representatives in 1997 and has served in the Senate since 1998. As Chairman of the Judiciary A Committee in the Senate, Ross was instrumental in the passage of civil justice reform last year.
Before she became Marsha Barbour, Marsha Dickson grew up in Monroeville, Alabama and Canton and went to college at MSCW (now MUW) and the University of Mississippi.
Senator Alan Nunnelee has represented portions of Lee County in the State Senate since 1995, when he was elected to succeed Roger Wicker after Wicker was elected to the U.S. Congress.
Senator Billy Hewes has represented parts of Gulfport and Harrison County in the State Senate since 1992. He currently chairs the Highways and Transportation committee in the Senate and was the 2004 chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national group of conservative legislators.
Washington Delegation Rankings
National Journal recently release their rankings of the philosophical leanings of U.S. Representatives and Senators. Among Mississippi’s House delegation, Rep. Roger Wicker was the most conservative while Rep. Bennie was the most liberal. Wicker was listed as more conservative than 80.5% of House members. Rep. Chip Pickering was close on his heels, coming in as more conservative than 74% of House members. Rep. Bennie Thompson was rated as more liberal than 67% of House members. Rep. Gene Taylor was a little left of the House, rating as more liberal than 56% of house members and more conservative than 44% of house members. The ranking qualified him as the most conservative Democrat in the House of Representatives.
On the other side of the capitol, it came as no surprise to learn that Mississippi’s two senators are both well to the right of the center of the Senate. Sen. Thad Cochran was rated as more conservative than 79.8% of Senate members. Sen. Trent Lott was ranked as more conservative than 74.3% of Senate members.
Scream for Dean
Mississippi is one of Howard Dean’s first stops as the newly elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dean will be in Jackson Tuesday, March 1st for the first annual Democratic Elected Officials Appreciation Dinner. Tickets for the 7:00 p.m. dinner at the Clarion Hotel cost $75. For more information, contact the Democratic Party of Mississippi at 601.969.2913 or visit their web site at http://www.msdemocrats.net.
Campaign Finance Reports
Many legislators and certain statewide elected officials have made a major issue of adopting more campaign finance reform in Mississippi. We’re not so sure it would help because we can’t seem to master the campaign finance laws currently on the books. According to the Secretary of State, 72 candidates missed the filing deadline. A few still haven’t filed reports. Late-filers included high-profile legislators like Sen. Jack Gordon, Rep. Steve Holland, Rep. John Reeves and Rep. Bobby Moak. Elected officials had until January 31st to file campaign finance reports for calendar year 2004.
Noting the amount of money raised and cash-on-hand is a good measuring stick for the seriousness and potential of those rumored to be considering running statewide.
The marquee election for ’07 is the lieutenant governor’s race. Some of the candidates mentioned for the race hardly scratched. Others made an impressive showing.
State Senator Charlie Ross, led the pack among Republicans reportedly interested in moving into Amy Tuck’s current office next to the Senate chamber. Ross raised $96,075 and showed an impressive $115,804 on hand. State Senator Alan Nunnelee raised $43,759 and had $52,013 on hand. State Auditor Phil Bryant raised $51,433, but he spent $33,835, leaving $27,002 on hand.
On the Democrat side, State Rep. Jamie Franks raised $27,207 and reported having $34,490 on hand. State Rep. Randy Pierce $18,889 and reported $10,927 cash-on-hand.
Others of note, who are not mentioned as statewide candidates in ’07 but may be in a strong position by virtue of their campaign balances, are State Senator Merle Flowers with $100,073 on hand and State Senator Walter Michel with $83,919 on hand.
Among statewide elected officials, Governor Barbour, not surprisingly, led the pack in fundraising. Barbour raised $231,304 for his campaign account, $399,699 for his state PAC and $40,000 for his federal PAC.
Attorney General Jim Hood came in second in the money race, raising $230,737 for his campaign accounts. However, Hood had a $500,000 loan to pay off from his race last year. After loan repayments and a few other expenses, Hood only had $13,228 in the bank at the year’s end.
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck raised $148,304, but she spent $135,509. Even so, she has a relatively healthy balance of $130,239 left in her campaign account. If she chooses to run for another statewide office, it’s a good nest egg to build on over the next few years. If she runs for a federal office, it’s all for naught because the money can’t be transferred to a federal account.
State Treasurer Tate Reeves had a good year for a down ticket statewide elected officials. Reeves collected $142,661 last year, banking $67,063 for the year after paying off some campaign debt. In a down ticket race like Treasurer, a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank can make it very difficult for a challenger to catch up.
"I told Billy McCoy if I had a kid, I wanted him to be just like him. It's not even in his district. He's a hard-working farmer. He don't have an air conditioner on any of his tractors." - Former Rep. Donnie Ryals commenting on Speaker Billy McCoy in relation to the Mississippi Beef Processors debacle.
"I'll tear their heads off." "Over my dead body." "I'll fight it until my last breath." - Former Attorney General Mike Moore threatening Gov. Haley Barbour and others seeking to recover the $20 a year the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi receives for Moore's litigation against tobacco companies.
"His plan doesn't work, but neither does ours," said Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, a key member of the House Appropriations Committee.
"As soon as the (College Board) bill comes up, I'm going to move to shut down that no-account hospital of yours in Durant. You're wanting to sell off one of the crown jewels of this state. Who do you want to sell it to, lady, Fox News? I don't appreciate your amendment worth a crap." – Rep. Steve Holland (D-Plantersville) chastising Rep. Mary Ann Stevens (D-West) for offering an amendment to sell the state’s public broadcasting system to raise money for the education budget.
Movers and Shakers
Ryan Annison has been named political director of the Mississippi Republican Party, moving up from the data director job he has held for the past year. Prior to joining the staff at the MRP in early 2004, Annison spent most of the previous year working for the Barbour for Governor campaign.
MDA Project Manager Whit and Shelley Hughes had a baby boy on February 2nd. Paxton Wright Hughes arrived at 9:56 a.m. and weighed in at 8lbs. 12oz. All is well with their happy and healthy family.
Justin Brasell is a native of Batesville, and is the new Chief of Staff of Kentucky Congressman Geoff Davis. Brasell worked on Delbert Hosemann’s 1998 campaign for Congress.
Momentum Mississippi was effectively killed after the House leadership refused to bring it up before the February 23rd deadline for the House and Senate to act on their own revenue and spending bills. The Senate, which was supportive of the legislation, hadn’t acted on their version, instead relying on the House to get the ball rolling. The plan to update the state’s economic development tools was spearheaded by Governor Barbour and the Mississippi Economic Council. When House members supportive of Momentum Mississippi realized the House leadership was about to let the package die without a vote, they tried to keep the House in session by voting against the motion to adjourn. 
