JACKSON — Second-term Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is keeping most of his same leadership team in the Mississippi Senate, including chairmen of two powerful money committees.
Reeves on Monday announced committee chairmen and members for the new four-year term that started in early January.
Sen. Eugene “Buck” Clarke of Hollandale remains chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Joey Fillingane of Sumrall remains chairman of Finance, which handles tax and bond bills.
Sen. Gray Tollison of Oxford remains chairman of Education, and Sen. Josh Harkins of Flowood is the new chairman of Universities and Colleges.
Sen. Sally Doty of Brookhaven is the new chairwoman of the Elections Committee.
Sen. Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula will lead the newly created Medicaid Committee.
The new chairman of the Judiciary A Committee is Sen. Sean Tindell, R-Gulfport.
Clarke, Fillingane, Tollison, Harkins, Doty, Wiggins and Tindell are Republicans.
Reeves named a few Democrats as chairmen, including keeping Sen. Hob Bryan of Amory as chairman of the Judiciary B Committee. The two judiciary committees share responsibility for writing criminal and civil law, and the chairmanships are considered among the top jobs in the Senate.
The Judiciary A Committee chairman last term was Republican Sen. Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg, who said Monday he was pleased with his new assignment as chairman of the Energy Committee.
The previous chairman of the Elections Committee was Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville, who fell out of favor with Reeves during the 2011 election, when McDaniel supported Reeves’ opponent in the GOP primary. McDaniel’s working relationship with Reeves worsened in 2014, when McDaniel challenged longtime U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in a bitter Republican primary fight and Reeves backed Cochran. Reeves moved McDaniel this term to chairman of the Constitution Committee, a lower-profile job that rarely carries much responsibility.
Doty said that as Elections Committee chairwoman, she intends to read a nearly 400-page bill requested by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican who wants to overhaul several election laws. Among other things, Hosemann wants to allow people to fill out voter registration forms online just as people can already do in more than half the states. He also proposes moving Mississippi’s presidential primary to the first Tuesday in March, the same date as many other Southeastern states, starting in 2020. Under current law, the primary is the second Tuesday in March
“I will be talking to the secretary of state’s office in great detail,” Doty said.
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