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Gov. Tate Reeves is giving Senate Public Health Chairman Hob Bryan too much credit.
On social media, Reeves said one of the reasons he vetoed a bill that would have placed limited legislative oversight on the spending of federal health care funds is that Bryan, an Amory Democrat, was the proposal’s author.
Senate Bill 2477 would have put into law requirements on the spending of nearly $1 billion in federal funds the state is slated to receive. Reeves said Bryan’s authorship of the bill sent up red flags, even though the governor said he likes and respects the longtime lawmaker.
“When SB2477, authored by Democrat Sen. Bryan, reached my desk, my team worked with the (Trump) administration to vet it,” Reeves wrote, and that eventually led to the governor vetoing the legislation.
While Bryan is listed as the author, he did not write the bill.
A quick gander of the legislative website shows that when the Senate bill reached the House Public Health Committee, Chairman Sam Creekmore, a New Albany Republican, wiped out the language from Bryan and the Senate and replaced it with language of his own.
Creekmore’s language became the total substance of Senate Bill 2477, and it presumably had the approval of Republican House Speaker Jason White, who during the past two sessions has appeared to be in lockstep with the governor, especially on the major issues, such as school vouchers and phasing out the income tax.
When the bill returned to the Senate, Bryan recommended that senators accept the House language. They did, and sent the bill to the governor.
Power of the purse
In reality, the issue the governor has with the legislation is not that Bryan is the author, but that the bill would give the Legislature limited control of the federal funds instead of him – the state’s chief executive – having total control.
That is an age-old argument in Mississippi.
In 2020, Reeves disagreed with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and then-Speaker Philip Gunn on who would control $1.25 billion in federal funds provided to the state to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, left, confers with House Speaker Philip Gunn during a hearing on June 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
That year Gunn and Hosemann, both Republicans like Reeves, spearheaded the passage of a bill that ensured the Legislature had control of the funds.
As Reeves complained about the legislative maneuver, Gunn wrote a blistering letter to the governor.
“Since the passage of Senate Bill 2772, you have made statements that are completely incorrect and/or misleading, and you have attacked my House members and the legislative process,” Gunn wrote to Reeves. “In your comments Friday, you portrayed legislators as thieves and killers. You said we ‘stole the money’ and people would die. Such cheap theatrics and false personal insults were beneath the dignity of your office. They were out of character for you personally.”
Hosemann, who presided over the Senate in 2020 and continues to do so, also authored an op-ed defending the Legislature.
Reeves had indicated that the legislative action could lead to people dying and money not being available to pay the expanded unemployment benefits that the federal government made possible during the pandemic-driven economic slowdown.
But the unemployment benefits came from a different pot of money that was not impacted by the Legislature. And there is no documentation of anyone dying as a result of the legislative action.
Gunn and Hosemann made it clear that the Legislature where they presided would override any gubernatorial veto of the bill removing Reeves’ control of the federal funds. They pointed out the Mississippi Constitution gives the Legislature the power to appropriate money.
Reeves, apparently seeing the handwriting on the wall, made a Trump-like proclamation that he had reached an agreement with Gunn and Hosemann. In reality, the agreement was fairly one-sided. He could offer recommendations to legislators on how the money was to be spent, like he could offer input on any bill, but the Legislature would have final say.
Will they override the veto?
In the coming days, the Legislature will have the opportunity to return to Jackson to take up and attempt to override gubernatorial vetoes of bills passed during the final days of the 2026 session.
Hosemann and White have been less certain than Gunn and Hosemann were in 2020 that they will try to override Reeves’ veto of the bill giving legislators some control of the federal funds.
Granted, the two federal bills awarding the funds to the state are written differently. Perhaps, the case for the Legislature controlling the health care funds is not as strong as the argument in 2020 for control of the pandemic funds. But the bill passed this year falls far short of giving the Legislature complete control. It essentially just ensures some transparency.
Bryan said currently – without the bill – there is no transparency, “and I think that is a very big deal.”
Whether a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate – the margin needed to override a gubernatorial veto – agrees with Bryan will be determined soon.
