When Tyler McCaughn was preparing for the 2020 session of the Mississippi Legislature, he thought he had a good idea of what was going on.
The freshman senator representing Newton County thought that mental health and education would be dominating the session. Instead, plans changed immediately.
“We had the crisis in the department of public safety,” McCaughn said. “Then since the start of this month, we have been dealing with the coronavirus. We actually still have to go back and pass the budgets. We haven’t even discussed appropriations yet. By law, a budget has to be passed, and we haven’t even started the appropriations process.”
The Legislature recessed as the coronavirus began to spread across the state. Schools have shut down through April 17. Based on current information, there’s growing concern that the students may not return to the classroom.
However, McCaughn said they have to go back and pass the budgets prior to June 30.
“Right now, it looks like we’re going to be going through at least the first part of June if we’re able to back by the end of April,” McCaughn said. “That’s about as late as it’s ever been.”
However, McCaughn said those preliminary budget projections for the 2021 budget are likely unrealistic since the sudden downturn in the economy, as many businesses and industries have shut down partially or completely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s pretty much back to the drawing board,” McCaughn said. “We were having a great year before this situation arose. Tax numbers looked to be strong, and we were hoping for a great year. Now, we are going to have to revise those numbers.
“We’re probably going to have to make some tough decisions going forward. The number of those applying for unemployment benefits rose by 583 percent last week. So all of our plans and ideas are gone. We’re probably going to have to be very conservative moving forward.”
While there haven’t been a number of huge bills going through the session so far, McCaughn said he was a co-sponsor of a bill backed by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to allow for e-notary. This would allow notaries to be able to electronically sign and seal documents.
“It’s his bill, and I’m glad that I could sign on to the bill,” McCaughn said. “It will allow notaries to notarize a document without the other signer being in the same room.”
A bill of note was SB 2420 that allows the attorney general’s office to prosecute another public official instead using a district attorney’s office. The bill goes to the House for consideration.
“Basically, the attorney general can choose to handle the prosecution of a public official, but once that decision is made, you can’t go back on it,” McCaughn said.
McCaughn said several measures were passed to allow municipalities to sue for cleanup of dilapidated structures or unkempt property instead of just putting a lien on the property. By suing and getting a judgment, cities could be able to garnish wages to get repayment of the cleanup costs.
