JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi does not need to spend $50,000 on a public relations campaign to tell people that wild hogs are dangerous, Republican Gov. Phil Bryant said this week in blocking part of a budget bill.
He vetoed that bit of spending in Senate Bill 3015 , saying the group designated to receive the money, Mississippi State Cooperative Extension Service, didn’t even request it.
“Wild hogs are destructive and are a threat to Mississippi property owners and the economy,” Bryant wrote in his veto message. “State government has a role to play in helping protect public property and natural resources. But I also believe state government has a duty to seek the most cost-effective solutions first.”
Earlier this year, the extension service went to the Beaver and Wild Hog Control Advisory Board and presented a no-cost option to spread information about the destruction wild hogs can cause. Bryant said the state should try that before spending money.
The governor also vetoed a portion of Senate Bill 2956 that could have limited state financial aid to students attending private universities. The state constitution says general changes to state law cannot be put into budget bills, and Bryant said the section about private universities violated that ban. State law says that if state money for student aid falls short in a given year, the awards would be prorated among all students receiving money. Bryant said the portion of the bill he vetoed would have created different rules for students at public and private universities.
Bryant also struck down all of Senate Bill 2861 , which would have created a committee to examine emergency telephone service charges. The committee was supposed to meet before the bill became law, and Bryant said that is impossible.
“As governor, I have a duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed,” Bryant wrote. “Sometimes, fulfilling that duty requires me to block proposed laws that cannot be faithfully executed.”
Because legislators are not in session now, it could be weeks or months before they consider whether to overturn the vetoes. Doing so requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate.
____
Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus .
Please read our comment policy before commenting.