Lt. Gov. Hosemann responds that governor’s claim is ‘malicious, unnecessary and false.’
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday vetoed a bill that sought to provide low-interest loans to local governments impacted by this year’s deadly winter storm and accused Senate staffers of committing unconstitutional and potentially criminal acts with the legislation.
But the basis for Reeves’s allegations of criminal action is inaccurate.
“The plainly unconstitutional (and possibly criminal) act of the person or persons that attempted to surreptitiously change a material (and negotiated) term of Senate Bill 2632 is unconscionable and calls into question the validity of every bill that I have signed into law this session,” Reeves wrote in his veto message.
The legislation Reeves vetoed attempted to give cities and counties devastated by Winter Storm Fern a loan using state tax dollars. The legislation stated that the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency was to give local governments loans at 1% at an annual interest rate after federal emergency relief is provided to the state.
But Reeves said he negotiated with legislators that it should have been a 1% monthly charge to local governments, instead of a 1% annual charge. Under what Reeves said he agreed to, governments would have been charged a 12% annual loan, instead of a 1% annual loan.
The governor’s office did not respond to follow-up questions seeking to clarify whether the governor is advocating for charging local...
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