Latest news with #JeremyEngland
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mississippi lawmakers pass $7 billion budget in special session
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Mississippi lawmakers passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2026 during a special session called by Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.). House and Senate lawmakers had to pass more than 100 bills that will make up the $7.135 billion budget. The new fiscal year will start on July 1, 2025. Senate lawmakers completed their work on Thursday. The House worked overnight and finished a few hours after midnight. State Senator Jeremy England (R-District 51) said the process would have been smoother if the House members were at the State Capitol while the Senate was working. Mississippi absentee voters cast ballots ahead of Tuesday's election 'I definitely agree with what the Speaker says. He talks about more transparency, wants a more transparent process with the budgeting, certainly gaveling in at midnight and going until 2:00. That's not very transparent,' England said. House Speaker Jason White (R-Miss.) said the House is disappointed in Senate leadership for not supporting local and county projects. 'We believe Mississippians find their tax dollars well spent when bridges are built, roads are repaired and sewage issues are addressed in their hometown,' he said. Lawmakers who were not part of the budget talks ahead of the special session still have questions. 'I'm not asking them to let the minority make the budget, but I'm asking them at least be transparent, so we can know what's in it., the citizens can know what's in it. We're not going to get anywhere. I don't think this was contemplated to be a closed door process. I think the public and at least the members of the legislature should know what's in this budget,' said State Sen. Rod Hickman (D-District 32). Reeves said the budget will fund the core functions of the state's government. 'It keeps us in the best financial shape in state history. It prepares us for more tax relief for our people by eliminating the income tax,' the governor said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mississippi House, Senate split on tax reforms
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Tax cuts and finding funding for the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) are key issues during the 2025 Legislative Session. The House and the Senate have passed their own tax reform bills with major differences. The Senate recently passed a $358 million tax cut bill, which includes lowering the state income tax. 'I think everyone in this building would love to get to a 0% income tax, no income tax, essentially. But we're going to be more gradual about it. We want to we want to look at numbers as we go. We want to be more. I think that's a more fiscally responsible approach because we don't know what the state is going to look like in in four years from now,' said State Senator Jeremy England (R-District 51). What are the important 2025 Municipal Primary Election dates in Mississippi? House lawmakers passed House Bill 1 at the start of the session with a plan to completely eliminate income taxes. Officials said the plan would bring about $1.1 billion in tax cuts over the next 10 years. House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III (D-District 94) believes lawmakers should sit down and have conversations with economists and experts about tax reform. 'And included in that would be an income tax cut and a grocery tax cut if necessary. But you'd find a way to make it revenue neutral and still take care of the things you need to take care for the people of the state of Mississippi,' Johnson said. The tax cuts will likely require joint negotiations and possibly a special session before a final plan is hammered out. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans unloading on each other in Mississippi. ‘Where is the adult in the room?'
A Mississippian watching state leaders' social media posts these days might wonder whether they've mistakenly logged into a chat between some petulant third graders as they call each other names and bicker. Their high-brow discourse over policy has recently included state politicians calling people: 'a fraud, a loser, swamp creatures, dorks, a chubby Teletubby, a charlatan and pathetic' as well as more personal plays on their names, such as 'Lying Lynn.' In today's hyper-divided partisan political landscape, one might figure this name calling is mostly between Republicans and Democrats. But in Mississippi right now, most of the vitriol is Republican-on-Republican. This is perhaps because Mississippi Republicans have such control of state government, they don't have any powerful Democrats to harangue. They've run out of targets. They've long forgotten Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment. They're starting to eat their young. The latest red-on-red dustup was last week, and led by Gov. Tate Reeves, ostensibly the head of the state GOP. The supermajority Republican Senate, as it did last year, has passed an early voting bill — which would allow 'no-excuse' in person early voting for 15 days before election day. Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, authored SB 2654 and told his colleagues 47 other states provide voters the convenience of early voting. A similar measure passed the Senate last year but died in the House. Never mind that the Republican National Committee — and at times President Donald Trump — publicly embraced early voting last year: Gov. Reeves promptly took shots at England on social media after the state Senate voted 40-11 to pass the bill on to the House. 'Unfortunately Senator Jeremy England joined every Senate Democrat today … with his no-excuse Early Voting bill — one of the top priorities of the Mississippi Democrat Party,' Reeves wrote. 'Keep in mind — every Mississippi Republican Party Senate Elections Chair before him has killed that terrible idea! Congrats to Senator England — he has earned his MVP award for the Mississippi Democratic Party!' England responded to Reeves on social media: 'I don't care if you're Governor. You won't bully me. And you're just plain wrong on this one.' Former Republican state senator and perennial failed U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel tried to pile on to England after Reeves' mean tweet. 'RINO ALERT,' McDaniel posted. 'Jeremy England is a fraud. A loser. He has lied to the people of Jackson County for years. He's little more than a chubby Teletubby who pretends to be a Republican.' England responded with a long, rather polite — given the slings and arrows he suffered — explanation of his bill. Many of his constituents following him on social media took up for him in the dustup. One wrote: 'I applaud your leadership. 47 other states have early voting and President Trump encouraged his supporters to vote early. My daughter is a nurse and lives in TN and voted early. There are lots of occupations who appreciate and support early voting. Learn the facts and don't fall for false rhetoric. Thank you Jeremy !!!' But Reeves couldn't let it go. In between wishing people a 'Happy Gulf of America Day,' and posting 'Plastic straws are back, baby … And the sharks munching through the ocean are gonna be just fine!' the governor took another shot at England. He posted a newspaper photo of England on the Senate floor laughing with Democratic Sen. Derrick Simmons and wrote: ' A picture is worth a thousand words!! Senator Jeremy England, you may think it is funny that you are working with the Senate Democrat Minority Leader to pass the Democrats' priorities…. BUT I DO NOT!' A constituent responded on Reeves' post: 'I'm confused. Is the Capitol supposed to function like kids in the lunchroom who are picking on the new kid? Or should our elected officials act as adults and be professional while working together to form a better functioning government? I see Jeremy England got the memo to be an adult. Maybe Tate missed it??' Sen. Joel Carter, R-Gulfport, took the unusual step of addressing the Senate on Thursday to condemn Reeves for trying to 'divide' lawmakers by lobbing insults instead of being a unifying leader. Carter posted on social media: 'I don't know who is in control of (the governor's) account, but they need to find something else to do. This is so petty and unbecoming of the Office of Governor. This divides us all. Republicans have all Statewide offices and supermajorities in both chambers. The fighting needs to stop. Where is the adult in the room?'
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Early voting bill passes Mississippi Senate. See how it would impact elections
The Senate has sent a bill to the House to allow Mississippians to vote early at their county circuit clerk's office 15 days before an election. However, in the hours since its passing, the bill has seen push back from top GOP leadership. On Tuesday, Senate Bill 2654 passed 39-12. Mostly Republicans voted against the measure. If it passes through the House as is, the bill would allow people to vote early in-person at county circuit clerk's offices 15 days prior to an election. That would replace in-person absentee voting but keep mail-in absentee ballots. Voting early in person would not require a reason as it is currently required for absentee voting. While the bill passed through the chamber, it was critiqued on and off the Senate floor and also in committee before that. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who often opines on progressing legislation during session, called Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England's bill a bad idea for the state. Elections Committee advances bills: MS Senate, House advance election, campaign finance reforms by deadline. See what happened "I believe Mississippians want our elected leaders to make our elections more secure and make it harder to cheat — in fact, after the 2020 elections Republicans are demanding it," Reeves said in a post on formerly Twitter. "Unfortunately, Sen. Jeremy England joined every Senate Democrat today to do the exact opposite with his no-excuse Early Voting bill — one of the top priorities of the Mississippi Democrat Party. Keep in mind — every Republican Senate Elections Chair before him has killed that terrible idea! Congrats to Senator England — he has earned his MVP award for the Mississippi Democrat Party." England, a Republican from Ocean Springs, later bucked back at Reeves with a post of his own, calling the governor's characterizations of the bill ridiculous. "Forty seven other states have some form of Early Voting. Red States and Blue States," England wrote in a Wednesday morning Facebook post. "'Early Voting' is not something that is owned by one party or the other — though I will say I truly believe Republicans will get left behind if we do not get on board. A prime example from recent history: We saw our Republican Party lose the Presidential Election in 2020 while we shunned and ignored In-Person Early Voting. However, our Republican Party embraced and promoted In-Person Early Voting in 2024, and we won big." Facts on early voting: Mississippi is one of three states without early in-person voting. See efforts to alter that Mississippi is indeed one of only three states without an early in-person voting period. During the summer, the Senate Elections Committee heard testimony from experts saying that early voting was utilized by both Republicans and Democrats in droves, but rural populations would be able to take advantage more so than others. England filed a similar bill in the 2024 session, but it died in committee before the full Senate chamber could consider the measure. Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Senate passes early voting bill, House to consider measure
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MS Senate, House advance election, campaign finance reforms by deadline. See what happened
A push for campaign finance and election reforms in the Mississippi Senate and House have passed through the first of many hurdles. But there are more hurdles to come. If the opposition seen in the Senate committee that many of the bills passed out of on Tuesday was any sign, it will surely be slog before the state will see election and campaign finance reforms. By Tuesday evening, the Senate committee, albeit against some opposition, advanced legislation to establish a 15-day early voting period, several bills to amend and add enforcement to campaign finance laws and even a bill to require online filing of campaign finances. The House Apportions and Elections Committee also advanced its own campaign finance law legislation earlier in the session. Municipal elections: When is the 2025 municipal election? See key dates In Mississippi, campaign finance laws are antiquated and, in some cases, even contradictory of each other. Efforts to reform some of the "mess" of legal codes regarding elections was attempted in the 2024 session, but the legislation died by a legislative deadline. Here is a look at some of the bills: On Tuesday, the Senate committee advanced a bill that would, if passed, establish an online filing system through the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office. The bill, Senate Bill 2650, would designate the creation of the platform and also require candidates both at the state and local levels to submit online campaign finance reports. In Mississippi, candidates currently submit campaign finances to the Mississippi Secretary of State via an online platform, but they are submitted as pdfs or even mailed in. Often, reports are handwritten and sometimes are illegible. The new system would allow viewers to search for individual donors and find other information quickly, much like the Federal Election Commission's campaign finance website. Before the bill passed out of committee, it faced some opposition from members and Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, who questioned whether it would be a good idea to ask non-state level candidates to file those types of reports. Elections Chairman Sen. Jeremy England, R-Ocean Springs, offered an amendment of a reverse repealer, which means if the bill passes it would be repealed upon becoming active, as a way to continue discussions before a vote on the Senate floor is had. The committee also advanced SB 2608, which would give the Secretary of State more power to investigate and claw back corporate campaign donations from candidates who receive more than $1,000 in donations from corporations. Those funds would then go into the state's Election Support Fund. Early voting: Mississippi is one of three states without early in-person voting. See efforts to alter that Currently, it would be up to the Attorney General to claw back those dollars and prosecute those who receive and send illegal campaign donations. Attorney General Lynn Fitch has not prosecuted a campaign finance violation case. The bill would also give the AG more time to determine if her office can bring forth a case against violators. Another piece of legislation, SB 2649, would restrict foreign nationals from donating to campaigns related to ballot initiatives and ballot referendums. Last week, the Senate committee also advanced a bill to establish a 15-day early voting period. The bill would eliminate the 45-day in person absentee voting period and replace with the 15-day early in-person voting at the local circuit clerk's office. The bill also faced some opposition from committee members, but passed out of the committee with only one opposition vote. The bills would now head to the Senate floor, and England will have until Feb. 13 to get them passed onto the House for even further consideration. Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Senate advances campaign finance reform and early voting
