Hopes for restoring a ballot initiative system in Mississippi are alive again as the Mississippi Senate reopened the possibility one week after a Senate leader killed the legislation last week amid differences with the Mississippi House.
Still, House Speaker Philip Gunn told the Mississippi Free Press on Monday that he is unconvinced that the move will lead to any agreement between the two chambers.
After Senate Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency Committee Chairmen John Polk did not bring Senate Concurrent Resolution 533 up for consideration by the March 23 deadline, the effort was all but dead. On Monday morning, though, the Senate passed a resolution suspending the deadlines rules for the bill on Monday.
The House would need to similarly suspend the rules before lawmakers could move forward with the effort, which would likely require negotiations between the two chambers.
“If they’ll pass the suspension resolution and then we can get a bill, then there is a chance still, and we’re just fighting it till the last minute trying to get something,” Senate President Pro Tempore Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, told the Mississippi Free Press Monday. “I think the majority of the people do want some type of ballot initiative, and I think that we’re going to make every effort in the Senate to try to get it for them.”
Lt Gov. Delbert Hosemann released a statement on the suspension of the rule on Monday.
“At my request, the Senate passed a suspension resolution to revive the initiative process this morning,” he said in the statement. “House leadership has also expressed a desire to continue working on this issue. If the House agrees to this suspension resolution, the Senate will again address legislation providing Mississippians with direct input on policy. We are hopeful to come to a final agreement before” the close of this Legislative session. The 2023 session is in its final week.
Hosemann has faced criticism on the issue from Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, who is challenging him for lieutenant governor in this year’s state elections. Ever since the Mississippi Supreme Court nullified the ballot initiative process in a 2021 ruling
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