February
27, 2006
TO THE MISSISSIPPI STATE SENATE:
GOVERNOR'S
VETO MESSAGE FOR SENATE BILL 2418
I am returning Senate Bill 2418:
"AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-1-46, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE
REINSTATEMENT FEES FOR SUSPENDED DRIVERS' LICENSES; TO PROVIDE FOR THE
DISPOSITION OF THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES" without
my approval, and assign the following reasons for my veto.
After full consideration, I am
vetoing Senate Bill 2418, which increases the fees to reinstate suspended
drivers licenses and directs a portion of the increases to fund overtime pay
for some highway patrol officers. I
respect the Legislatures attempt to address the serious problem of insufficient
pay for law enforcement officers, but this legislation is the wrong solution.
State law enforcement officers,
whether they are highway patrol officers, members of the Bureau of
Investigations, or narcotics agents, need and deserve a pay raise. These men and women risk their lives day and
night to protect our families and our communities, yet many have not had a pay
raise in six years. I have proposed
that these law enforcement officers, along with the rest of our state
employees, receive a pay raise in the coming fiscal year through the normal
appropriations process. I am pleased
the vast majority of both the House and Senate seem to agree with that
proposal.
However, Senate Bill 2418 relies
on increased fees generated by traffic tickets to fund additional pay for
highway patrol officers. The
legislation doubles from $25 to $50 the fee required to reinstate a driver's
license which has been suspended, revoked, or cancelled. The bill also increases from $75 to $200 the
additional fee required to reinstate a driver's license which has been
suspended, revoked under the provisions of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law
or as a result of a conviction of a violation of the Uniform Controlled
Substances Law. For these situations to
occur, a law enforcement officer must first issue a citation.
It is inappropriate for law
enforcement salaries to be dependant upon fees resulting from traffic
tickets. Such a salary system creates a
perception among the public that highway patrol officers stop motorists and
write tickets for the purpose of increasing their own pay. This perception would not be fair to the
Highway Patrol and neither would the salary structure.
To add insult to injury, state and
local law enforcement who issue thousands of citations that result in driver
license revocations would not be treated the same as highway patrol officers,
but the fees resulting from their work would be paid exclusively to highway
patrol officers. That's not fair, and
it would be bad for morale and hurt the working relationships among various
state and local law enforcement organizations.
The policy of my Administration is
for all state law enforcement to work together in support of local law
enforcement efforts. The Legislature's
goal of getting other law enforcement officers paid for overtime is laudable. I am pleased state law enforcement officers
received several millions of dollars for overtime worked during and after
Katrina ($3.7 million to Department of Public Safety officers and staff
alone). The federal government is
reimbursing that amount to the state.
When federal funds aren't available, as is often the case, money
appropriated out of the General Fund should pay our state law enforcement
officers for their overtime work.
For these reasons, I urge the
members of the Legislature to sustain the veto and reject Senate Bill 2418.
Respectfully submitted,
Haley Barbour
Governor