Mississippi senators push bill to specify lawmakers must meet in public

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for January 30

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

A group of lawmakers is backing legislation to specify the Mississippi Legislature is subject to the state’s open meetings law and essentially prohibit the House Republican Caucus from conducting closed-door meetings, the Daily Journal reported.

"I just think the government should be transparent," Sen. Jason Barrett, a Republican from Brookhaven who authored the bill, said.

The legislation comes after a dispute over House Republicans meeting in private, although Barrett, a first-term lawmaker, told the newspaper that had nothing to do with his decision to file the bill. The newspaper reported that 19 other lawmakers have signed on in support of the bill with many citing campaign promises they made to support open government.

Republican members of the House, which make up a majority of the Legislature, meet regularly in closed-door caucus meetings where policy and legislative strategy are sometimes discussed.

MISSISSIPPI LAWMAKERS APPROVE NEARLY $247M IN STATE INCENTIVES FOR ALUMINUM PLANT, WOULD BRING A THOUSAND JOBS

Senators in Mississippi are backing a legislation that will specify that lawmakers must meet in public instead of closed-door meetings. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Mississippi Ethics Commission last year ruled that Mississippi’s House Republican Caucus does not have to meet in the open. The ruling came after the Mississippi Free Press had filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission, arguing that the caucus meetings violated state open meetings law because a majority of the House chamber meets outside of public view.

House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, and House leadership contend that the Mississippi Republican Caucus is not a public body and is not subject to the state open meetings laws.

The staff of the Ethics Commission, led by longtime executive director Tom Hood, had recommended that the commission should find the Mississippi House of Representatives is a "public body" as defined in the Open Meetings Act and require the caucus meetings to be open. But the politically appointed commission overruled Hood’s recommendation 5-3.

The news outlet appealed the ruling to a Hinds County court, where it remains unresolved.