Ellington

House Democrats and Gov. Haley Barbour are squaring off against one another regarding how the state spends advertising dollars. The House and Senate were unable to come to terms with a Mississippi Department of Employment Security reauthorization bill on the last day of the regular session, and the department now verges on the point of evaporation.

As reported during the session by the Jackson Free Press, the dispute centers around language setting guidelines for how the state determines advertising carriers for the Mississippi Department of Human Services and other agencies. Some carriers currently do not have to compete with other advertising venues for the state money, and do not have to prove that they target the appropriate audience for the advertising.

Barbour released a statement Monday chiding the House for stalling the reauthorization.

"Recently, I received official notice from the U.S. Department of Labor that the failure of the Legislature to reauthorize the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) will severely hurt our state and many citizens. If this indefensible lack of action—caused by some in the House of Representatives pushing an issue which has nothing to do with operations of this vital department of state government—were to stand, unemployed Mississippians cannot receive their benefits; businesses will see their unemployment insurance tax rates dramatically multiply; and the state will lose millions of dollars in federal grants," Barbour wrote.

Barbour characterizes the disruption as House behavior, although House members point out that it was members of the Senate who walked out on a joint conference to reauthorize the agency, because Republican senators opposed the House's proposed oversight.

In inserting the language, House members say they are following the recommendations of a 2007 Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review.

The state spent $14.3 million on newspaper, radio and television advertising in 2006. $1.2 million of that went to TeleSouth Communications Inc, which owns seven radio stations across the state that carry the SuperTalk Mississippi radio format—a partisan conservative format that is openly hostile to Democrats.

PEER revealed that TeleSouth dodged the state Personal Service Contract Review Board's competitive bid requirements in getting state money to carry ads for the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The review showed that TeleSouth won status as a sole-source provider (an exclusive contract to carry advertising) only because MDHS Executive Director Don Taylor—appointed by Republican Gov. Haley Barbour—designated the company as "the only company that can provide these needed services to the Department." The same review could find no proof that the board even required MDHS to show proof of TeleSouth's sole-source classification. It appears it merely took Taylor on his word.

"The board simply relied on the assertions of the Department of Human Services and its own staff to recognize TeleSouth Communications as a sole-source provider," the report stated.

Taylor's preference helped make TeleSouth the fifth highest paid advertising vendor to the state—a boon to a radio carrier that some legislators consider a working adjunct of the Mississippi Republican Party.

"JT & Dave won't even say my name on the show, much less let me come on the show," said Clinton resident Erik Fleming, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate. "They don't bother to hide their bias."

TeleSouth Communications owner Steve Davenport has openly backed Republicans in state elections, and presented Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant at his election-night victory party last November.

The House has attempted to pass oversight language before, but it always died in the Senate, so they put their foot down this year and attached it to a state program that the governor cannot run by executive order. Barbour is putting the pressure on the House to think about the "unemployed Mississippians whose benefits would not be paid," but Barbour is getting his own pressure from state businesses, who will have to cough up more money if the Mississippi Department of Unemployment Security doesn't pull down the 5.4 percent Federal Unemployment Tax Act credit, hitting Mississippi employers with a $409 million tax increase, according to Barbour's office.

Democrats say the issue is more about oversight than state government willfully financing partisan radio.

"There's a way to solve this problem," said Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, who pushed for the language. "We just want to know where we're spending money on the front end. Right now we're putting money into their budgets for advertisement and they're spending it the way they want to. That's not a responsible way to spend the taxpayer's money."

Previous Comments

ID

119631

Comment

Eric has his own issues, really. JT and Dave aside. As for the rest of it, I'd bet that if some of that money were shifted to a democratic friendly advertising channel, it'd pass in microseconds.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-05-01T09:45:16-06:00

ID

119637

Comment

So, Republican hypocrisy is once again justified by the assumption that Democrats would do it too, if they could. I guess if you watch enough Hannity, hypocrisy actually becomes a virtue. Gordon Gecko would be proud. ;-)

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-05-01T10:25:06-06:00

ID

119639

Comment

It's not hypocrisy if they'd do it too. With apologies to Dizzy Dean for the paraphrase. ;)

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-05-01T10:31:12-06:00

ID

119647

Comment

Er, it is to excused it based on the assumption that they would do it. It's called "two wrongs don't make a right."

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-05-01T10:59:31-06:00

ID

119649

Comment

I undersand that, iTodd. I'm just saying, either side would do it if they could. Barbor just got away with it first.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-05-01T11:00:57-06:00

ID

119659

Comment

Perhaps he shouldn't get away with it?

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-05-01T13:29:49-06:00

ID

119661

Comment

Air America anyone?

Author

QB

Date

2008-05-01T14:30:51-06:00

ID

119679

Comment

Air America anyone? I missed something. How many tax dollars are Mississippi taxpayers giving to Air America?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-05-01T17:55:43-06:00

ID

119682

Comment

Yeah, especially when you consider that no Air America affiliate exists here in Mississippi. In fact, does any nationally-syndicated, left-leaning talk radio show air in this state?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-05-02T07:58:02-06:00

ID

119716

Comment

Air America isn't the solution to anything,and doesn't have anything to do with the issue here, but that never stops the same people with the same agenda to start things again. And just blaming things on Gov. Barbour is just lazy.Back on point,these good ol boy deals were supposed to be going away in Mississippi. Far from it. It's a wasteful way to spend the state's ad dollars,imo. It's past time for the legislature to stop for a second and see exactly how many people are reached by this little network, and if there's a wiser way to advertise to the people that need government services. Now, granted,I just referred to "the legislature" and "wiser" in the same sentence, so I might be reaching a bit.

Author

brightlite

Date

2008-05-03T07:36:19-06:00

ID

119719

Comment

It doesn't have anything to do with the issue. That's the point. Air America would only be relevant here if Democrats -- not just one person, which the above story makes clear if you read it -- were trying to funnel a million dollars to it. It was a clear fallacy when it was mentioned, and an attempt to change the subject. Were Air America getting loads of money from the state, that would deserve the same kind of outrage and oversight. This oversight shouldn't be a partisan issue. The problem with the governor, in specific, is that it is his partisan lapdogs who are pushing this money to anti-Medicaid media outlets. He has the power to stop it -- more so than anyone else. There is nothing "lazy" about calling on him to do that, or reporting it when he tries to play political games to change the subject. What is "lazy" by the media is reporting what Barbour was saying last week without giving the real context. The JFP (specifically Adam Lynch) has been reporting this controversy for many weeks now.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-05-03T10:05:40-06:00