State Representative Jeff Smith addressed state budget issues, House Bill 1523 and gun control at the regular Columbus Rotary Club meeting Tuesday afternoon at Lion Hills Center.
During the meeting, the Republican legislator said he hopes Mississippi’s economy is turning around. He said the state’s education budget has increased and suggested citizens’ budget concerns come when the budget does not increase exponentially.
“We’ve put more money in education than we ever have,” Smith said. “We have an education system that’s not lacking for money. It’s lacking for excess of money.”
Smith said more than once state budget problems are not arising from lack of revenue.
“It’s not a revenue problem,” Smith said. “It’s a spending problem.”
He also hailed Republicans in the legislature for cutting state taxes.
Smith spoke briefly of House Bill 1523 in light of a U.S. District Court judge’s recent decision to block the bill that would have allowed professionals, such as clergy and circuit clerks, to deny services based on personal religious beliefs. He said Mississippi is one of a few states without workplace anti-discrimination laws and suggested H.B. 1523 was not necessary despite news that Gov. Phil Bryant plans to appeal the judge’s decision.
“It’s probably not something that we needed all that strongly,” Smith said.
He claimed the bill was not intended to offend anyone.
Following a Rotary Club member’s question about gun control action, Smith said state governments, rather than the federal government, should take the lead on decisions determining who can carry guns. He also suggested gun restrictions should not necessarily apply to people on the United States government’s No-Fly List, something the U.S. Congress is debating.
“If a person’s on the No-Fly List, I don’t think that’s a good enough reason for them not to carry a gun,” Smith said. “Maybe if they’re on the terrorist list.”
According to statistics from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Terrorism Security Administration, the No-Fly List and Selectee lists has almost 10 times fewer names (about 109,000 total between the two) than the Terror Watch List (about 1 million).
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