WESSON – Area legislators gave an update on the proceedings ofstate government Monday morning at a legislative breakfast on thecampus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

District 39 Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, D-Brookhaven; District 92Rep. Becky Currie; R-Brookhaven; and District 62 Rep. TomWeathersby, R-Florence, fielded questions from the audience ontopics such as the state prison system, voter identification andthe overall business of the Legislature.

The most detailed answers from the three lawmakers came on agroup of questions about the prison system. Each legislatorproposed ideas and mentioned an upcoming debate in both chambersthat may be used to lower the cost of housing inmates.

Weathersby said the development of private prisons was beingdiscussed in some circles in the House, a move designed to lowerthe housing cost per inmate. He also said an earlier bill thatincreased the service time to a mandatory 85 percent for someinmates may be revised.

“Years ago we passed the bill that increased the service time,and it has filled up the jails,” Weathersby said. “When you driveby any of these facilities, it’s amazing how big they’vebecome.”

Weathersby said the House will soon debate lifting the 85percent law, but he expressed reservations about the measure.

“I’m not sure how I’ll vote on it,” he said. “One big problem isthat once anyone who has been incarcerated for a short period isout, if you don’t watch that person closely they’ll be back introuble again.”

Currie said she was in favor of drug courts that would givenon-violent drug offenders a second chance – under closesupervision – to avoid the prison system.

“These courts work – they keep a close eye on them,” Curriesaid. “Instead of going straight to prison, a person is given theopportunity to have the bracelet on, be at home, go to work andfollow all the rules.

“I’ve talked to several judges about this, and they think it’s agood idea to decrease the cost in our prisons,” she continued. “Theoffenders only come before the judge once, because if they mess upafter drug court, they go straight on to prison.”

Hyde-Smith took the podium after Currie and also endorsed theidea of drug courts. She reminded the audience that it was she whointroduced a bill that funded the first such courts in the stateoutside of her home county of Lincoln.

“We added $10 to every moving violation, and the money fromthose tickets goes straight to drug courts,” she said. “It hasgreatly reduced the amount of inmates we would have in our prisons.The Senate has passed a bill that would create many drug courtsacross the state.”

Hyde-Smith said the drug court system is not only a positive forreducing prison populations, but, as Currie pointed out, a chancefor young offenders to straighten out their lives before it’s toolate.

“It gives teens a second chance,” Hyde-Smith said. “We were allyoung, we were all dumb and we had to grow up.

“There are a lot of inmates sitting in prison for non-violentcrimes – they would have been perfect candidates for drug court,but they didn’t have one in their county,” the senator continued.”When you look at the budget and try to feed 20,000 inmates perday, and prepare yourself for that budget, you can easily see whywe’re looking for an alternative.”

On the topic of voter identification, all three lawmakers wereunited in support for the proposal, but they confessed the bill toestablish it may be in peril. Currie stepped up and informed theaudience of the bill’s chances in the House.

“We have heard that the House leadership is not going to bringthe bill to the floor for a vote,” she warned. “So all of you needto get in contact with the House leader and let him know, ‘We’refor voter I.D.'”

While Currie sounded the alarm on voter identification,Weathersby approached the audience in a soothing address aboutstate retirees.

“Anything that comes up in the House about the retirement systemwill be looked at closely,” he said. “I don’t see anythinghappening that would reduce a retiree’s medical benefits.”

On local matters, Hyde-Smith and Weathersby discussed thepossibility of securing a bond for a proposed Wesson governmentcomplex. Even though Gov. Haley Barbour has opposed any bonds thatdo not create jobs, the Wesson complex is designed to include”business incubators,” a design that, hopefully, will allow theproject to be bonded.

“This should fall under the governor’s criteria,” Hyde-Smithsaid. “This is a new idea and it has been positively received.We’re not sure what bonds we are going to get – we’re going to keeptrying.”

Weathersby was less enthusiastic.

“I don’t see any problem getting it passed in the House,” hesaid. “The problem could be the governor – making sure thisqualifies as economic development.”

On one of the final questions of the breakfast session,Hyde-Smith and Weathersby offered insight into the mechanisms ofthe House and Senate.

“There has been a drastic change in the Senate,” Hyde-Smithsaid. “Eight years ago, appropriations bills hit the podium andpassed one right after another. We were glad to have a chairman soknowledgeable, but that knowledge was not being passed around.

“Now, instead of one chairman handling everything, we havesubcommittees and subcommittee chairmen – running the governmentthe way it’s supposed to be run,” she said. “We’re learning a lotmore about the system than we have ever learned before.”

Part of the knowledge gained about Senate appropriations hasturned Hyde-Smith into the bearer of legislative vengeance. Shetold the audience of Wessonites about unnecessary spending andappropriations, insignificant items that were hurting the statebudget and threatened to crack down.

“I’ve seen how the government works – I know where to poke theholes and I’m about to start poking,” Hyde-Smith said. “I’ve beenvery unpopular this week. The chairman told me that if I don’t getassassinated this session, we’ll be doing good.”

While the changes in the Senate have left Hyde-Smith with moreinfluence, changes in the House have weakened the influence ofRepublican representatives, Weathersby said.

He said the slide began with the defeat of Republican-backedJeff Smith in the Speaker of the House race. Speaker Billy McCoywas re-elected by one vote.

“There are not any Republicans holding any committeechairmanships,” Weathersby said. “I’m fortunate to be avice-chairman.”