The 140th Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature is now under way, and as lawmakers argue over how to spend $7 billion of your dollars, it can be hard for the layperson to understand all the legislative jargon, mangled Latin terms and rules and definitions.
Scores of lawyers have worked for decades to make legislative rules and jargon confusing. If it weren’t, we might not need scores of lawyers.
For instance, state government doesn’t borrow money. It issues bonds, or passes bond bills. Agencies don’t overspend, they request “deficit appropriations.”
As I’ve done several times before, I present a primer of legislative terms and meanings.
Committees. A legislative bill first goes to a committee, a small group of lawmakers, most of whom haven’t read the bill. They vote it on to the full membership of the House or Senate, most of whom also haven’t read it. These smaller groups are used because it’s much easier and less expensive for lobbyists to wine and dine small groups.
House and Senate rules. Each chamber has a large book of rules that set the metes and bounds of legislating. Only two people have ever read them, Sen. Hob Bryan and Rep. Bryant Clark. When Bryan or Clark point out that something isn’t following a rule, that rule is then either ignored or changed.
The usual motion. Lawmakers often make “the usual motion” during proceedings. This means: I can’t remember all the rules and gobbledygook I’m supposed to say, but let’s pretend I did.
Morning roll call. Members are counted absent or present each day on the morning roll call, and in the Senate many bills are automatically passed by the roll call. This is more complex than it sounds. Since legislators’ per diem pay is based on the roll call, lawmakers have sometimes practiced teleportation. Some have been counted present and even voted on bills, despite simultaneously being in Hot Springs, Arkansas, or Biloxi.
Aye, yay and nay. Lawmakers often vote “aye,” “yay” or “nay” instead of yes or no on bills. This is a throwback to the time when most Mississippi legislators were pirates.
The daily journal. This is the official record of what lawmakers do each day. But its veracity is a little dubious: Lawmakers often vote to leave at, say, 10 a.m., but let the journal reflect they stayed until 5 p.m.
Gentleman, lady. Legislators use decorous language. Instead of calling a colleague Jim or Jane on the floor, they say, “the gentleman (or lady) from whatever county. And instead of saying, “shut up, I want to make my point,” they would say, “gentleman, do you yield?” That is, except when a legislator gets really mad and accidentally says something like, “shut up, Jim, so I can make my point.”
Voice vote. This is when lawmakers vote by loudly shouting aye or nay. Besides scaring school children touring the Capitol, this allows lawmakers to vote for or against something, but still deny to constituents that they voted that way. The lieutenant governor or House speaker listens closely, then rules that whichever way their political party voted was the loudest. If they act quickly, 1/10 of lawmakers can stand and demand a roll call. But often, if they’re of a different political party than the leader, they find they have become invisible when they stand.
LBR, or Legislative Budget Recommendation. Key lawmakers gather before the legislative session starts, and pass a fictitious budget, with low spending levels. It is mainly used to scare lobbyists and agency heads.
EBR, or Executive Budget Recommendation. This is a fictitious budget submitted each year by the governor. As they set the real budget, lawmakers use the EBR to prop up uneven desk legs or for scrap paper for notes and doodles.
Title sufficient do pass. This means: Even though no one has read this bill or knows what’s in it, let’s go ahead and pass it.
Reverse repealer. This is often added to bills that are so bad, it would be disastrous if they were accidentally passed.
Dead, dead, dead. The saying at the Capitol is that a bill isn’t dead until it’s “dead, dead, dead.” Lawmakers sometimes have to kill particularly tenacious legislation several times before it is truly dead.
Sine die. Besides “per diem,” this is lawmakers’ favorite Latin term. Loosely translated, it means: Everyone is mad and the lobbyists have quit buying us steaks, so it’s time to go home for the year.
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