Books, briefs, broadcasts, and blogs provide discourses galore on the growing concentration of wealth and power in America. Mississippi is not estranged from this trend. The transmogrification of the triumvirate of power that controls public policy and spending provides a good illustration.
The state constitution created this triumvirate by providing for a Governor, a House of Representatives, and a Senate. By design the Governor is a singular power. In contrast, the House and Senate were designed to have power distributed among all their elected members.
Specifically, Section 38 provides that both the House and Senate “shall elect its own officers” and Section 55 provides that both “may determine rules of its own proceedings.”
The constitution does not convey any significant legislative powers to the Lieutenant Governor, providing only that he or she serves as “president of the Senate.” The constitution also does not create the position of or convey significant legislative powers to the Speaker of the House. MS Code Section 5-1-11 does require the House to elect “a speaker.”
The concentration of power that we now see in the offices of the Speaker of the House and Lieutenant Governor has accrued over time through rules adopted by the members of the House and Senate. Those rules give the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor their mechanisms of power – authority to refer bills and appoint all committee chairs (except the President Pro Tempore chairs the Senate Rules Committee).
We have had powerful Speakers and Lieutenant Governors who strongly influenced legislation in the past. But strong influence morphed into autocratic control during the reigns of Philip Gunn and Tate Reeves as party politics became dominant. That trend has continued for the most part through Delbert Hosemann’s term as Lieutenant Governor.
Thus, the triumvirate of power has essentially come to consist of three individuals, not one individual plus two bodies with distributed power.
Getting to the point of all this, the triumvirate will change next year.
We know the House Speaker will change. Philip Gunn did not seek re-election. His replacement will be elected by the House in January. State Rep. Jason White, currently the House Speaker Pro Tempore, is favored in that election.
This August, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann faces a notable challenger in the Republican Primary in state Sen. Chris McDaniel. In the November general election, Gov. Tate Reeves will likely face a notable Democratic challenger in Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley.
The winners will wield immense power over state policy and spending if rank and file legislators continue to yield up that power.
Voters should let legislative candidates know whether they are comfortable with such concentration of power or not.
“Don’t be tyrants, but lead them by your good example” – 1 Peter 5:3.
Bill Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.
