Greetings and Merry Christmas! For all of us, December means the weather is getting colder, the shopping is being completed, the decorations are finally up and plans are being finalized. For Mississippi legislators, though, it also means preparations for the annual January-April legislative session.
In my kickoff post, I noted the intent for this blog was, to paraphrase, "to bring the Senate to the people," with more of a behind-the-scenes perspective. Citizens should know what is going on in all facets of state government and not just the headlines or rely on the twitter-verse (spoken as someone who dutifully engages in said twitter-verse).
The importance of December (and November) exists because the legislative session runs on deadlines. In short, deadlines dictate legislation. While the old saying around the Capitol is nothing is dead until it's dead, dead, dead, the schedule (found here: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/htms/timetable.xml) governs the process. The process is designed to kill legislation. As a country and state founded on limited government, this is a good thing. As an example, each year approximately 3500 bills are introduced. In an understatement, we don't need 3500 laws every year. With that in mind, legislators have 14 days to introduce new laws. So, legislators spend December talking to constituents, meeting with government officials, gathering information, researching information, all for bills they plan on introducing or otherwise address. That 14 days is surrounded by committee meetings, constituent meetings, reviewing of other legislation, phone calls, etc.
Even before December, key legislators, consisting of the leadership, has been meeting to estimate and plan the budget for next year, culminating in the report of the Joint Legislative Budget Office. The report, found here, http://www.lbo.ms.gov/index_files/pdf/fy15_jlbc_rec.pdf, is the frameowrk for the legislature in the budget area. If you want to know where we are spending money, go to this report.
Like these key legislators, much of the work for the session is done by and revolves around the chairmen of each committee. Chairmen, particularly of your major committees like Appropriations, Education, Judiciary, and Finance, are meeting with agency heads, other statewide officials and each other, to properly plan for the session. In addition, they also have to consider the future of all 3 million Mississippians, not just that elected them. Without making excuses, sometimes these roles can be polar opposite, requiring tough decisions. The chairmen I know, in both the House and Senate, are hard-working, diligent public servants. The majority of their work is behind the scenes . . . in months like December.
There are some in the country and the state who would prefer no government at all. That's just unrealistic, nor is it what our founding fathers believed. Remember, the Articles of Confederation preceded the Constitution. The Preamble is one of the greatest writings on the role of government. For all the talk about the constitution in different circles, some seem to forget what the documents actually say. One only needs to read The Federalist Papers (as I have) to understand.
As humans we need civilized society and thereby civilized institutions to thrive. One only needs to research the writings of John Locke and Thomas Paine to understand this. Plato and Socrates of Greece, the cradle of democracy, recognized this. The only real question, then as it is now, is to what extent and what form. Otherwise, we would still be living in the dark ages.
The work I described above does not make for sexy headlines. Unfortunately but understandably, traditional media does not always make it front page material. What you see is usually the final stop on the road. In the new world of Twitter, Facebook, and all things social-media, which all thrive on breaking controversy, this work does not merit being shared, particularly by those who choose not to understand the role of government envisioned by our founding fathers.
So, remember when the blogosphere is lighting up with self-made controversy this season, there are those public servants and statesmen working this month to make sure that Mississippi is properly running and is gets it fair share in a nation of 49 other states in the most powerful and greatest country in the world. During your holiday prayers this year, say one for your (and our) legislators and government officials as they work this month to prepare for the upcoming session.
Tune in for our next update.
-Brice
