Reeves: No time for corona power grab

Lawmakers shredded the Constitution and ignored their own rules when they took control of $1.2 billion in federal coronavirus relief fund, Gov. Tate Reeves said on Monday.

Mississippians don't have time to wait for 174 legislators to "take weeks and weeks, and months and months to keep arguing" over the money and where they want it to go, the governor said.

He characterized the hastily arranged vote as "rushed" and the move itself as "power politics at its worst."

Reeves cited Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as an example of executive power being able to get things done quickly and criticized Lt. Gov Delbert Hosemann for downplaying the COVID-19 impact when Hosemann said that "It's not like we have a Katrina event here."

Reeves argues the impact statewide is worse than Katrina and that with control of the funds he can get money to the Mississippians who need it most like barbers and other small businesses faster.

"They're going to do what legislators do and cut deals," he said. "And they're going to divvy it up."

"This is power politics at its worst," he said.

When legislators rush back with less than one day's notice and don't read the bills, they make mistakes, Reeves said.

"In fact, I believe they made a real big mistake," he said.

As of Monday, he said they'd not even sent a bill. "They've sent us a piece of paper," Reeves said.

Reeves disputed the notion the vote is about the Mississippi Constitution, a narrative Hosemann has pushed on social media.

One important rule set forth in the Constitution is that it requires the Legislature to spend one full day in session such that every legislator has the right to reconsider their actions.

"They can not send a bill to me unless they do so," the governor said.

"Every, single legislator has a constitutional right to hold a bill on a motion to reconsider the day after it passes," Reeves said.

Just because they're in a hurry to "steal the money" doesn't mean that that constitutional right is ignored, he said.

Citing the state Constitution, he said, "All votes on the final passage of any measure shall be subject to reconsideration for at least one full legislative day…"

"That's the Constitution that should apply," he said.

He cited Rule 126 of the Mississippi Senate that says, "When a question has once carried in the affirmative or negative it shall be in order for any

Senator to enter a motion for the reconsideration thereof."

He went on to cite Rule 127 that says, "No motion to reconsider a vote shall be entertained unless it be properly entered on the same day on which such vote was taken or on the next succeeding legislative day on which a quorum is present."

He said the Mississippi Senate must come back to give senators the right or the bill is not properly before the governor, Reeves said.

"They didn't do that. They rushed in, they rush out, they left town and they want to wait weeks before they come back to start the process of budging the CARES Act," he said.

They may come back May 18, a good two weeks, Reeves said and that means they've not done anything to get money in the hands of Mississippians who are in the most need.

He went on to say the Legislature can ignore its own rules but noted the legislative process is "supposed to be slow." They are supposed to take time and consider their actions, he said.

They've thrown out tradition to make a political point about their power, Reeves said, citing other disasters such as the two EF-4 tornadoes on Easter Sunday.

"If this was about following the Constitution, they would have followed the Constitution," he said.

Instead they're following the part of the Constitution that helped them gain "unprecedented power."

If they can't follow the Constitution, how can "we expect them to follow the Treasury guidelines," he asked.

"If they fail, we will lose money," Reeves said, pointing out that unappropriated funds have to be returned to Treasury and that the Legislature may not be able to allocate monies fast enough.

Reeves took a question at his press conference on Monday about a third party the governor had planned to hire to oversee the disbursement of the billions in federal dollars.

He confirmed the third party's role as only "legal and accounting" with no influence over where they funds go. With the amount of funding, Reeves said the government doesn't have that kind of expertise in justifying the need.

All but one members of the Madison County delegation voted to strip the governor of his powers other governors have had for had for decades.

Republican state Sen. Walter Michel and Democratic State Sen. Barbara Blackmon voted with the overwhelming majority in the Senate in favor of Senate Bill 2772, which changed how the state will process and distribute $1.25 billion in federal funds from the CARES Act passed by Congress recently.

The motion passed the state Senate by a 49-2 margin. Among those voting against the measure was Sen. Chris McDaniel.

Republican state Rep. Jill Ford and Democratic State Rep. Ed Blackmon voted in support of the amendment.

Republican State Rep. Joel Bomgar was among those listed as absent or not voting.

"I want the people to understand that that was probably the most important vote we will take as a legislative body for the next four years," Ford said. "It would be a miscarriage of our duty if we cede authority to one individual who will single-handedly appropriate $1.25 billion without oversight or accountability."

Ford said the particular district she represents, District 72, relies on tourism and retail, both sectors hit hard by the pandemic. She hopes that funds can help affected businesses.

"You look at the Renaissance, which encompasses all these businesses whose bottom line has been affected by this virus," she said. "Retail shops, salons and barbershops are a huge part of our community and they have been impacted."

Ford believes that Reeves shouldn't be able to handle this disaster like prior governors because the first thing she says he wants to do is hire an outside administrator to handle the funds at a cost of $40 million.

"That $40 million could be split among the 45,000 hairdressers who work in this state," she said. "I just can't stop thinking about how much they are losing on a daily basis. My biggest concern right now is getting the unemployment security where it needs to be in terms of being able to handle all these claims."

Attempts to contact other Madison County legislators were unsuccessful as of press time.

In a letter to the Gov. Monday, House Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) called the governor's statements on the move "completely incorrect and/or misleading" and accused him of using "cheap theatrics and false personal insults" in his efforts to retain oversight of the federal relief funds.

Reeves said Monday he had not had a chance to read Gunn's letter, but said lawmakers should have stayed in session at least one additional day to allow any members to hold the measure on a motion to reconsider, a move he argued is required by existing legislative rules.

The Legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until May 18.