Campaign Finance, BP Money Bills Await Legislators
JACKSON — Thanks to BP, Mississippi has additional income to spend in the 2017 legislative session. The state received its first payment from BP from the 2010 oil-spill settlement last summer. Where legislators want to spend that money could be a point of contention in the upcoming session. Coast lawmakers are likely to insist on spending the money in their districts where the damage occurred, and others will want the whole state to benefit from the funds.
Back in June, the state received $150 million in the first settlement out of a total of $2.2 billion, half of which will fund environmental restoration on the coast. The Legislature has to figure out what to do with the remaining $750 million.
Rep. Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula, wants the money to stay on the coast for projects that would increase the tax base there and bring more money back into the general fund.
First, he said that repairing the runway at Trent Lott International Airport could help bring back three airbus suppliers that left because the runway did not have the weight capacity necessary for them to do business. The project would cost around $8 million, Busby told the Jackson Free Press, but it would be worth it to bring back the suppliers and jobs.
Read more: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/dec/21/campaign-finance-bp-money-bills-await-legislators/