Ellington

Weeks ago, an amendment to HB 284 spun heads in the House when Rep. John Reeves, R-Jackson, sought to add an amendment allotting Jackson seven of 13 seats on the Hinds County 911 Emergency Commission. Even without the amendment, HB 284 re-tooled the board, increasing Jackson's representation to five members, instead of its current two.

While the idea of Jackson having five reps on the board was tolerable, the concept of Jackson pushing for seven members—reflecting the 70 percent funding the city provides to the commission—proved too much for some legislators to swallow on Feb. 8.

"The other six members of the board needn't even bother showing up. The city of Jackson has enough for a quorum. They have all the votes, and the rest of them just need to stay home. This is not fair," said Rep. Jim Ellington, R-Raymond.

Many Hinds County representatives thought the amendment went too far, and voted down the amendment with a 61-to-44 vote against. The original bill giving Jackson five representatives passed without incident.

Amazingly, the amendment would not die. Two days after the last vote on HB 284, Reeves brought the bill up for reconsideration and proceeded to give legislators the treatment, eventually kicking and shouting them into compliance on the amendment.

"I don't want to lose, by damn, and I didn't," Reeves announced. "I don't give up. I fight for what I believe. I'm the senior member of the House from Jackson, and I know how to work and try to get things done, and I'm pleased we got it accomplished because it was the right thing to do."

Reeves said many members of the Hinds County delegation agreed with him the second time around and the amendment passed with a voice vote.

Previous Comments

ID

65371

Comment

This is a good day for Jacksonians. Too bad it wasn't passed years ago. Then perhaps RADIO WARS could have been avoided.

Author

thabian

Date

2006-02-23T15:57:47-06:00