VIDEO: Area Lawmakers Talk Legislative Session Concerns

MAYHEW, Miss. (WCBI)- Area Lawmaker’s gather on the campus of East Mississippi Community College to have a word with city leaders and community members.

Saturday’s Forum covered topics discussed during legislative session.

Mississippi Legislative session kicked off at the beginning of the year and the running theme has been,

“Where is the money going to come from,”said Senator for District 16 Angela Turner Ford.

District 38 Representative Tyrone Ellis represents and he says it’s no secret that Mississippi has budgeting issues.

“We’re suppose to be out of here the first second third of April and we’re having trouble trying to balance the budget and the reason is because we’ve given all the money away. When you give all of your money away you don’t have anything to work with,”said Ellis.

District 12 Representative Jay Huges and he says money isn’t the only issue. He says mental health, health care, public education along with road and bridge conditions are a hot topic that they never seem to get to .

“We spent several hours debating a bill for whether kids could have water on a school bus… The distraction is unfortunate because the reality is we are in the mist of a budget crisis. There’s been no legislation to slow down massive tax cuts no legislation to generate revenue we’re simply cutting basic government services,” said Huges.

Ford says though both parties have their differences there is still the effort to work together coming from both sides of the aisle.

“I would say that the leadership in both chambers as well as the none majority parties are trying to work together to come up with some sort of resolution,” said Ford.

Ford adds now the legislative session will start to enter into conference where 3 senators and 3 representatives are going to collaborate on some of those bills that are still up in the air.

Huges says he hopes Saturday’s forum helped them understand more of the residents needs.

“So often we are in an echo chamber down in the capital. What ever you want to hear you want to hear. By getting out and talking to people that get up and go to work everyday, who fight the fight. That’s where we have the opportunity to truly learn what is important to them,” said Huges.

The EMCC Campus Forum was the second stop for the lawmakers. They also hosted a forum in West Point Earlier Saturday.