June 17, 2025
TO THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE FOR HOUSE BILL 50
(FIRST EXTRAORDINARY SESSION 2025)
I am
returning House Bill 50 (First Extraordinary Session 2025): “AN
ACT TO DIRECT THE STATE TREASURER TO TRANSFER A CERTAIN SUM FROM THE CAPITAL
EXPENSE FUND TO THE VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND COMMERCIAL SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.”
Article 4, Section 72 of the
Mississippi Constitution of 1890 (“Constitution”), commonly referred to as the
Presentment Clause, prescribes the exclusive method for a bill to become
law. The Clause is modeled after the Presentment Clause in the United
States Constitution, a clause adopted by the Framers to clearly spell out the
procedures for adopting laws and prevent factions from attempting to depart
from this constitutional law-making process.
Article 5, Section 121 of the
Constitution establishes the procedures for the Governor to convene the
Legislature into Extraordinary Session and defines the limits of legislative power
when so convened:
The Governor shall have power to convene the
Legislature in extraordinary session whenever, in his judgment, the public
interest requires it. Should the Governor deem it necessary to convene the
Legislature he shall do so by public proclamation, in which he shall
state the subjects and matters to be considered by the Legislature, when so
convened; and the Legislature, when so convened as aforesaid, shall have no
power to consider or act upon subjects or matters other than those designated
in the proclamation of the Governor by which the session is called,
except impeachments and examination into the accounts of state officers. The
Legislature, when so convened, may also act on and consider such other matters
as the Governor may in writing submit to them while in session. The Governor
may convene the Legislature at the seat of government, or at a different place
if that shall become dangerous from an enemy or from disease; and in case of a
disagreement between the two Houses with respect to time of adjournment,
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not beyond the day of the
next stated meeting of the Legislature.
Thus, by the plain text of Article
5, Section 121 of the Constitution, the Governor has the sole and exclusive
power to designate the subjects or matters to be considered during an
Extraordinary Session of the Legislature, and the Legislature shall have “no
power to consider or act upon” any subject or matter not designated by the
Governor. In 2002, the Mississippi
Attorney General addressed the scope of the Legislature’s power when called
into Extraordinary Session and opined:
“The constitution states, and it’s the Opinion of the Attorney General
that the two houses of the legislature have no power to act on matters outside
the governor’s call.” See Miss.
A.G. Opinion No. 2002-0554.
Specifically, the Attorney General opined that “general civil justice
reform” fell outside of the scope of the Governor’s call limited to matters
“exclusively to and for no other purpose than the provision of affordable and
accessible healthcare for all Mississippians that is at present seriously
jeopardized by the inability of many healthcare providers to obtain or afford
medical malpractice insurance.” Id.
With this Constitutional framework
in mind, I turn to the passage of House Bill 50. On May 27, 2025, I issued a Proclamation
convening the Legislature in Extraordinary Session commencing on May 28, 2025
at 11:00 am (“the Call”). The Call
stated the Legislature shall be convened “for the sole and exclusive purpose of
(and for no other purpose unless as otherwise expressly authorized herein)
adopting a budget to fund the operations of state government for State Fiscal
Year 2026.” Among other items, the Call
expressly authorized the Legislature to consider eighteen transfers of state funds
between accounts within the State Treasury, including transfers of funds from
the Capital Expense Fund into various other accounts within the State
Treasury. None of these authorized
transfers within the State Treasury empowered the Legislature to consider the
transfer of funds in the Capital Expense Fund to the Victims of Human
Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund. Nevertheless, House Bill 50 mandates the State
Treasurer, in conjunction with the State Fiscal Officer to transfer the sum of
Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000) from the Capital Expense
Fund to the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Fund.
In the words of John Locke: “As usurpation is the exercise of power,
which another hath a right to; so tyranny is the exercise of power beyond
right, which no [institution] can have the right to.” All state action, including legislative
power, must be exercised within the strict boundaries established by the
Constitution. Failure to recognize such
limitations on power threatens to undermine the legitimacy of the rule of
law--the very foundation of our Constitutional Republic. No matter how laudable or worthy a
legislative act may be, if it is taken in contravention of the carefully
crafted balance and separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution, it is
the duty of the other two co-equal branches of government to prevent such an ultra
vires act.
As openly acknowledged by multiple
members of the Mississippi Senate, both Republican and Democrat, during the
floor debate on House Bill 50, this proposed piece of legislation is “outside
of the Call.” See Senate Floor
Debate, March 29, 2025 at 6:50:00-7:04:30.
Again, by its plain text, the Call authorized the Legislature to
consider the passage of eighteen transfers of state funds between accounts
within the State Treasury, but none of those proposed transfers empowered the
Legislature to transfer $2,500,000 of state funds in the Capital Expense Fund
to the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Fund. While the Governor cannot mandate
that the Legislature pass any specific piece of proposed legislation when
called into Extraordinary Session, Section 121 of the Constitution gives the
Governor the sole and exclusive power to limit what matters may be considered
during an Extraordinary Session. Stated
differently, the Governor, through the Call, sets the menu for the
Extraordinary Session, and the Legislature has the power to order any or all of
the items on the menu but is strictly prohibited by Section 121 of the
Constitution from ordering off the menu.
Thus, because House Bill 50 clearly falls outside the Call, its passage
violates Section 121 of the Mississippi Constitution, and such proposed
legislation, no matter how worthy, cannot be lawfully presented to the Governor
for consideration. Accordingly, both
Sections 72 and 121 of the Constitution compels me to veto House Bill 50 at
this time.
Respectfully submitted,
TATE REEVES
GOVERNOR