Rotogram

Rockey Felker gives us a preview of the 2009 edition of the Mississippi State football team. The season kicks off against Jackson State on Sept. 5.

Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi Secretary of State, will speak next week. A native of Warren County with degrees from Notre Dame, the University of Mississippi, and New York University, he was elected in November 2007.

Invocation and Pledge: Joe Bumgardner
Attendance: There were 114 members (38 exempt) present and 81 (13 exempt, 10 honorary) absent.
Guests and visitors: Visiting Rotarians were Eddie Overstreet and Martin Harpole of West Point. Members’ guests were Alan Nunnelee, George Russell and Larry Otis of Jack Forbus, Andrew George of Ernie George, Ben Carver of Frank Chiles, Beth Proffitt of Sandra Harpole, Charlotte Coker of Chip Templeton, Diane Daniels of Bob Daniels, Oliver Tann and Gerald Nelson of Jon Maynard, John Fraiser of Rodney Foil, John Tomlinson of Charlie Guest, Johnny Meador of Prentiss Gordon, and Kristi Brown of Bricklee Miller. Guests of the Club were Francesca Scaravelli and Kasper Eriksen, Youth Exchange Students, Lee Morrison, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mick Bullock of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, Paul Sims, Starkville Daily News, and Tim Pratt, Starkville Dispatch.
Condolences: President Martha expressed the Club’s concerns for Rotarian Gerry Orgler in the loss of her husband Ray.
Kudos: Amy Tuck is among 50 professionals in the 2009 "Leading Business Women in Mississippi" program sponsored by the Mississippi Business Journal.
Eddie Keith was recognized as an “avid reader” by Starkville Reads, the all volunteer organization that encourages more reading for pleasure in the community.
Reminders: President Martha encouraged members to sign up to help with “Get Swept Up,” the city-wide trash patrol on Sept. 2.
She also noted that we will vote on a bylaws change on Aug. 31.

NEW ROTARIAN

Ken Ramsey with the member classification of dentistry introduced himself as an avid MSU sports fan saying he has attended 365 consecutive Bulldog football games. After 25 years of practice in Pascagoula, he relocated to Starkville and opened a clinic in 1997. The MSU and Loyola graduate and his wife Kathy moved to the community in 1995. Having consolidated his practice with Wesley Ferguson’s clinic, he now sees patients two days a week. Bobby Crosland is his sponsor.

OF VOTER I.D. AND BUDGET BATTLES

Avoiding a legacy of deficits and stopping voting irregularities are driving forces in Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant’s statehouse agenda.
            “We have the strange idea that you should be who you say you are when you go to cast your vote,” said the Mississippi Senate’s presiding officer. “For about a decade, the Senate has passed a voter I.D. bill that dies in the House.”
   Addressing the understanding that the Senate had killed the last bill, Bryant said three senators on the Elections Committee had voted against the House version because of its early voting provision. The former State Auditor maintained that voting machines placed in every courthouse for 15 days before election day, “some mischief will occur.” He also opposes the bill’s expansion of felons’ voting rights.
   Bryant and others currently are campaigning for a statewide referendum on the identification issue.
   He defended the legislature against charges that it accomplished little during the past session marked by a budget stalemate. The explanation was that ambiguity about the federal economic stimulus packages required state leaders to move slowly.
   “We tried to do something prudent,” he said. “We said, ‘let’s take a break and see how those dollars are going to affect state agencies.’”
   Bryant voiced his disagreement with the idea that the legislature should promise more resources than are evidently available, then blame the Governor when cuts have to be made.
   “We have another radical concept that you shouldn’t spend more money than you bring in,” said the former three-term state auditor.
   Bryant’s position, in concert with Governor Haley Barbour, was that the state should “move some money forward into next year.”
   The proposal was to move $60 million forward into FY 2011.
   The projections are that with the end of federal stimulus money in a couple of fiscal years, the state will face increased demands to pay for programs being established now.
   Speaking of balancing resources between higher education and primary and secondary education, he noted that the State Education Department did get $200 million more in the FY 2010 budget, but needs an additional $176 million.
   Bryant said, “K-through-12 is just going to have to understand that education extends past your senior year.”
   Hewing to a fiscally conservative    line, he touted the legislature’s targeted tax cuts to stimulate the state economy.
   In particular, he is proud of the recent tax holiday where the sales tax on clothing items under $100 was waived for the weekend. Citing Metro Jackson results, he said merchants reported Christmas-sized crowds.
   The argument for such an activity is that it encourages hiring, moves more stock, and stimulates auxiliary enterprises such as restaurants.
   Farm implement taxes have been cut from 7 to 1.5 percent with the intent of re-opening support businesses in smaller communities.
   The carbon dioxide tax rate also was reduced from 7 to 1.5 percent as long as the CO2 is used to claim oil in Mississippi fields that still hold significant deposits.
   Bryant was disappointed that the legislature, as yet, has not established charter schools. The first legislation sunsetted last year and nothing was done to revive it.
   Finally, he proudly touted the Children First Act that focuses on students, not on bureaucracies, staff, administration, or facilities.