Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, still believes governance of the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport should be determined by more than just the city of Jackson.
Harkins, a senator who represents District 20 was among authors of Senate Bill 2162, which amended the Mississippi Code to do away with the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority and replace it with a regional board known as the Jackson Metropolitan Area Airport Authority.
Phil Bryant, who was governor at the time, signed the bill into law in 2016. The law would give control to a new board of nine people with two appointments by the governor.
The city of Jackson, along with the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority have been fighting the matter in court since April 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily blocked the takeover.
Harkins said he is waiting for the outcome to the case that is still pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
“We’re tied up in court,” Harkins said. “We’re waiting on a ruling.”
The airport sits in the middle of Rankin County and is important to the entire metro area and should have more representatives than just those determined by the city of Jackson, he said.
“I still think the concept is solid,” he said of the bill he wrote along with Dean Kirby (R-30), Philip Moran (R-46), Chris Caughman (R-35) and former Sen. Nickey Browning (R-3).
“Nothing has changed my mind.”
Members of the Jackson delegation tried to stop the state’s attempted takeover of the airport through legislation.
Bills to repeal SB 2162 were filed in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Senate also filed a repeal bill in 2019. Each of the measures failed to make it out of their respective committees.
Currently, the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport i(JMAA)s governed by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, a five-member panel with all members appointed by the Jackson mayor.
That panel would change to include nine members, with two individuals appointed by the governor and one member each appointed by the Jackson mayor, the Jackson city council, the Madison County board of supervisors, the lieutenant governor, the adjutant of the Mississippi Army National Guard and the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority.
Both governor’s appointees must have a “valid pilot’s license or certification issued by the (FAA),” the law states. Other commissioners must have experience in other fields, including accounting, financial analysis, executive management in business, experience in aviation, economic development, commercial, construction or aviation law, engineering or in dealing with public financing transactions.
By contrast, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority board members must simply live in the capital city, be named by the mayor and approved by the city council.
In 2016, the FAA issued a policy statement saying it would not allow a transfer unless both parties agreed to terms of a takeover. When no agreement can be reached, the FAA stated that the case must be settled through litigation. The case is currently pending before Judge Carlton Reeves.
JMAA and the city filed an amended motion in the case in late October 2020. In it, they argue the state is attempting to do away with the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority based on the board’s racial makeup.
Harkins, a white Republican, has stated that the bill was not racially motivated.
Attorneys go on to claim that the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority board members are public employees under state law, and that abolishing the board violates those employees’ rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
