Press Room
Hosemann Making Progress - Secretary of State pleased with passage of recent legislation
May 28, 2009
The first year in office has been “a wild ride,” according to Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who was in Laurel Wednesday as the guest speaker for the Laurel Kiwanis Club. Prior to his noon engagement, Hosemann discussed several different subjects with the Laurel Leader-Call editorial board. Topics ranged from 16th Section land leases to the establishment of entertainment districts within municipalities.
Hosemann said there have been several victories in his first year, including the passage of some of the strongest legislation in the country to protect against securities fraud; new trademark laws designed primarily to protect small businesses; charity laws have been cleaned up, and the Business Corporation Act is described as being very business-friendly.
“We now have some of the best business laws in the country,” said Hosemann.
One key piece of legislation that will become law July 1 is the HB 1309, the Pre-Need bill which developed after Hosemann read reports from the Leader-Call in regards to Sunset Gardens Memorial Park. Problems surfaced in the summer of 2007 about the lack of maintenance of the cemetery from people whose loved ones were buried there and the office being closed. Eventually a lawsuit was filed in January 2008 against Don Middleton and James Rogers. It eventually came to light through Hosemann’s office that nearly $400,000 worth of contracts were sold by the funeral planners and at least half of the money is unaccounted for. An arrest warrant for Middleton has been issued, but it is unclear if it has been executed.
Since then, other cases have surfaced across the state prompting Hosemann to draft HB 1309.
“After having some conversations with you all, it was obvious we had some significant pre-need problems in the state,” said Hosemann.
The Pre-Need bill protects consumers against irreputable funeral homes or perpetual care cemeteries that are poorly managed. County, city and church run cemeteries do not fall under the bill.
“This pre-needs bill has all of the penalties, has the provisions, has the enforcement provisions. It has everything,” said Hosemann. “This is the best pre-need bill in the country.”
Hosemann said his office will now start the audit process to see which of these cemeteries are meeting the standards of the new law.
There have been some setbacks, as well, and plenty of work to be completed.
The Voter-ID bill Hosemann proposed passed the House, but failed in the Senate during the regular session of the legislature. Reasons vary, but Hosemann believes the early voting stipulation that was in the bill was a sticking point among state senators, who did not allow the bill to get out of committee.
“I think early voting bothered members of the Senate and they had some concerns about early voting,” said Hosemann, who added there is an initiative to gather 90,000 signatures in order to put a Voter-ID amendment on a statewide ballot.
“There is a good bit of evidence that we are able to hold valid elections without the intimidation factor or going back to restricting someone’s right to vote,” said Hosemann. “I’ve repeatedly said that when we trust each other enough, we’ll pass Voter-ID. Apparently the House trusted each other enough this year to pass it. This is a political issue, a divisive issue. It brings back discussions from 50 years ago and we need to put it behind us.”
Hosemann’s office also has been able to post all 16th Section land leases online, which gives school districts an idea of fair market value.
“It gives the school boards some ammunition instead of just putting out a bid,” said Hosemann. “It gives the school boards a lot of information to work off of and we’re seeing dramatic increases in revenues. School boards, I believe, deserve the support of the Secretary of State’s office to give them this information. They’ve got a million problems and one of them doesn’t need to be that they don’t have any idea what a commercial lease for a shopping center is or a salt dome or timber management. They might not be timber people. I thought it was important to upgrade that information and that’s what we’ve done.”
Mississippi averages $25 an acre off timber land. Hosemann would like to double that.
“To get to $50 is not going to happen in two or three years,” said Hosemann. “Five or ten years, probably. Long-term, 16th section land management will be significantly better off. The dollar amount is many, many millions. We get about $50 million a year now. Our timber amount will increase about $15 million a year. That’s a lot of money, not counting all the other stuff.”
On the horizon, Hosemann would like to get a business court up and running to resolve litigation involving businesses in a more timely manner.
