Updates

Update 7

Mar 1, 2008

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. It was good to see so many friends from home this week. The House was privileged to have visitors from the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association, the Port of Pascagoula, College Park Elementary School and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.  For those of you who have not been to the capitol during a legislative session, I would encourage you to visit and hope you will let me know when you are coming.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 29, 2008

Hearing on House Bill 979

On Tuesday morning, the House Ways and Means Committee heard presentations on House Bill 979, a bill that would keep ad valorem taxes from future Chevron developments and improvements in the Pascagoula (Gautier) School District.  Making presentations in favor of the bill were Pascagoula School Board Attorney Kelly Sessoms, Pascagoula School Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich, School Board member Mike Concannon and attorney John Fletcher.  I would like to thank these men for their clear and compelling remarks.  I also want to thank those local officials who drove to Jackson in support of the  bill: School Board member Dan Marks, Supervisor Mike Mangum, Pascagoula School District Communications Director Debbie Anglin, Pascagoula City Councilmen George Wolverton, Bill Jones, Frank Corder and former Representative Carmel Wells-Smith.

As I said during my opening remarks, one of the main reasons this legislation was necessary was to allow our local officials an opportunity to make a thorough presentation regarding the impact of last year’s Senate bill.  While the outcome of our efforts in the House remain to be seen, I appreciate the Committee’s serious consideration of this bill and am pleased that the Pascagoula School Board has been given a full hearing. 

Trauma Care

This week the House approved a funding plan that is intended to help Mississippi’s financially strapped trauma care system.  The system was born in the early 1990s and reformed in the late 1990s but has faced an uncertain financial future all along.  The system is in crisis because many hospitals have opted out of participation despite the fact that trauma injuries are the leading cause of death for Mississippians under 45 years old.

Thankfully, Singing River Hospital and Ocean Springs Hospital have continued participation in the system treating over 1,400 trauma cases in 2006 and over 1,200 cases in 2007.  Emergency departments such as ours provide the one point of universal access to health care services.  Such departments are the final “safety net” providers when all other options are either not available or not affordable.  Because of these factors, the Singing River Hospital System and I strongly support Mississippi’s trauma care system and believe that adequate funding, an efficient and effective system of administration and participation by all providers is crucial to ensure that the state’s healthcare providers are able to meet the public’s need for this type of care.

Under the plan we adopted this week (HB 1405), a variety of fees will be increased to help raise about $20 million annually for the system.  Also, hospitals in the state must either participate in the system or pay into a pool that participating hospitals may draw from in helping fund their programs.  This plan was the result of the work of a year-long Trauma Task Force which worked in conjunction with the State Department of Health.

Cyber Crime and Identity Theft

Many of you will recall that during my campaign, I talked a lot about the importance of toughening our state’s laws dealing with cyber crime and identity theft.  I’m pleased to report that during this session, I authored five bills on these subjects which passed through the House and will now go to the Senate for further consideration.  These bills are as follows:

  • HB 600 creates a criminal offense where an individual makes a lewd exhibition in the presence of a minor under the age of 16;
  • HB 598 prohibits the reproduction of child pornography during the discovery process;
  • HB 778 revises our state’s Grand Jury Act to include identity theft, home repair fraud and cyber crime;
  • HB 864 requires businesses who keep on-line consumer records to inform consumers when there has been a security breach; and
  • HB 1408 requires businesses to take reasonable measures to destroy personal information records in a timely manner and provide protection from security breaches.

Catfish Country of Origin

I was pleased to vote for HB 728 which requires that foreign and imported catfish be properly labeled.  This labeling requirement extends to restaurant menus.  As many of you know, there has been a lot of concern over the safety of foreign catfish.  This bill will help protect consumers and benefit our Mississippi catfish farmers.

Northrop Grumman gets $30 million Air Force Contract

Yesterday, the Air Force announced that it has picked Northrop Grumman and its Paris partner , EADS, to build 179 refueling tankers at a site in Mobile.  It is estimated that this project will create 2,000 jobs and attract suppliers to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  For more on this great story, see the Clarion Ledger’s coverage here.

House Webcasting

Don’t forget that you can follow floor debates by going to www.mpbonline.org and clicking on “House video.”
              
How to Contact Me

If you have any questions or concerns, I invite you to call me on my cell phone at 228-326-7649 or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. Please feel free to forward this report to folks in our district and let me know if I need to add someone to my list.

I will also be posting my updates and House related news on my campaign website at www.electbrandonjones.com.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Brandon

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