LEGISLATURE: Bills Make Progress in House, Senate

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi House has passed a bill designed to bring more public scrutiny to state government contracts.

House Bill 825 passed 109-7 on Wednesday and will move to the Senate for more work. The bill would create a new contract review board, with members appointed by the governor and lieutenant governor.

The proposed changes come in response to no-bid contracts revealed in federal corruption indictments of the former state corrections commissioner and a businessman.

The Senate on Tuesday passed two bills dealing with government contracts and purchasing. Those measures move to the House for more work. They are Senate Bill 2400 and Senate Bill 2553.

NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – State senators want to sign Mississippi onto a plan for a nationwide constitutional convention that would force the federal government to balance its budget and require states’ permission to increase the national debt.

The Senate voted 30-18 Wednesday to pass Senate Bill 2389, seeking a convention. The measure moves to the House for more debate.

The plan, promoted by conservative groups, seeks three-fourths of states to call such a convention. It seeks to limit the conclave to only a vote on the balanced budget proposal written in the law.

Proponents say stopping deficits and the federal debt is the nation’s most urgent problem. Opponents say the plan is poorly conceived.

They note Mississippi depends on federal subsidies and question special provisions allowing a sales tax to replace federal income taxes.

ENDING VEHICLE INSPECTION STICKERS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Some Mississippi senators don’t have up-to-date vehicle inspection stickers. Now they want other Mississippians to be able to forget about it too

Senators Wednesday passed Senate Bill 2519, which would repeal the requirement that vehicle owners get a $5 safety inspection each year. The bill goes to the House for more debate.

Proponents, including Republican Sen. John Polk of Hattiesburg, say too often no inspection is conducted. They also say cars are better-built now, and safety inspections are less needed. Senate President Pro Tem Giles Ward says of 88 vehicles driven by senators and staffers, 23 have expired stickers and two lack stickers.

Opponents say the state should improve current imperfect inspections, not stop them, to promote safety. The measure retains requirements that tinted windows be inspected.

BIG RAISE FOR ASSISTANT TEACHERS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi House has voted to give assistant teachers a substantial pay raise. The base pay for the job is currently $12,500 a year.

A bill that was debated Wednesday originally would have set the base pay at $13,500. The House accepted a proposal by Democratic Rep. Cecil Brown of Jackson to set the base pay at $15,000. Some local school districts provide salary supplements for teachers and assistant teachers

It is unclear whether the pay plan will survive as legislators work on the state budget the next couple of months. The raise for assistant teachers could get scaled back to the original proposal.

The plan is in House Bill 582. Legislators are working on a separate proposal to give teachers the second year of a pay raise.