The Extra Mile Podcast: Legislative Session
State Representative Chris Bell

(Drew) MDOT presents The Extra Mile podcast legislative session.

(Paul) Welcome in to another edition of The Extra Mile Podcast: Legislative Session, presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I’m MDOT Deputy Director of Public Affairs Paul Katool. And, as always, I’m joined by my co-host Will Craft. He handles government and constituent affairs here at the agency. And today just a note: We’re recording on January 24. Things move very quickly during the session so just wanted to give you a heads up on that. We are ending kind of getting close to the first month of the session. Kind of crazy.

Today, we’re very excited to have a new guest in the studio with us today. This is representative, State Representative Chris Bell, and he first took office in 2016 and represents district 65, which is Hinds County. That’s, that’s me. You’re my state representative.

(Will) So, there you go.

(Paul) Great stuff. Representative Bell, thank you for making time for us during this busy time of the year.

(Rep. Bell) No, thank you for having me today. I really appreciate it.

(Will) Oh, man, yeah. We really appreciate it.

(Paul) Absolutely. For sure. So, let’s just get right into it. We mentioned you’re a new guest on the podcast. So, tell us a little bit about yourself, why you decided to run for and become an elected official.

(Rep. Bell) Well, to be honest, I think, uh, I went out with some friends one night, and we had a lot to eat, and I woke up the next morning, and I wrote my name on the list to run. No, seriously.

(Paul) Best answer.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. I ran to make a difference in my community in the state. Um, I love Mississippi. I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois. Um, I’ve been here long enough - a graduate of Jackson State University. I had opportunities to leave the state several times, and I just want to be here and to be, make a difference, to be able to make a difference. It’s very important that we have individuals to step up and run for office and be a part of the community, whether it be an advocate with a non-profit or public official, or just any individual who just wants to make a difference. We got to uplift our community, and that’s why I ran.

(Paul) That’s a great answer.

(Will) Absolutely. Well, tell me. How did you get down here from Chicago?

(Rep. Bell) That’s enough - that’s - we came for a family reunion and I made the statement, “Hey, we should move to Mississippi,” and two years later we were like, “Hey, we’re in Mississippi.”

(Will) How old were you then?

(Rep. Bell) Uh, 12.

(Will) Oh wow. Yeah. So, yeah, you’re you’re full-on resident of Mississippi. You may have been born in Chicago, but we got ya.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. That was the worst decision in my mind. You know, I’m a Bears fan so -

(Will) Okay.

(Rep. Bell) all things Chicago and, uh, you know, I don’t get to see the Bears as often as I like on TV. I get the Saints so that I don’t want to offend my Saints fans and constituents.

(Will) Yeah.

(Rep. Bell) But, uh, you know, I love my Bears so…

(Will) It’s fair. It’s very fair. Well, uh, we’re certainly glad you’re here, man. We’re glad to have you in the state and working hard, especially all the good things you just said. We love folks being plugged in - that’s right, not just elected officials if you’re just out there plugging it. Um, but, we are talking about the legislative session like Paul mentioned. We’re at wide open, and we’re getting going. Uh, Representative, you’re on several committees: Executive Contingent Fund, you’re the chair of Banking and Financial Services, Energy Insurance, Public Health, and Human Services and Tourism. Do you have any free time?

(Rep. Bell) Uh, no.

(Will) Wide open.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah, um, I serve on a lot of committees. Um, and honestly, out of the committees I served on, maybe one that we haven’t met.

(Will) Sure.

(Rep. Bell) But for the most part, yeah, we are busy. And we do have a lot of committee meetings and hearings and things of that nature.

(Will) I bet Energy wide open right now.

(Rep. Bell) Yes.

(Will) You guys got a lot of stuff going on in there.

(Rep. Bell) A lot of Energy and, especially, in insurance.

(Will) Insurance, yeah,. The George Dale former was on SuperTalk this morning. I heard him talking about, uh, old insurance stuff stories. I’m sure you remember Mr. Dale.

(Rep. Bell) Yes, I do. I used to go to the gym with them at the YMCA when it was open.

(Will) There you go. A shoutout to George Dale right there.

(Paul) There you go.

(Will) What are some, maybe some of the more important, measures that you guys have going through right now?

(Rep. Bell) Well, right now we have a lot, uh -

(Will) Sure.

(Rep. Bell) We have a lot, especially pertaining to the city of Jackson. Um, more so things that are helping the city, so to speak. You know that we’ve had $8 million towards our water treatment plant and things of that nature, and we’re thankful for the feds doing that for us. We also have a lot of construction going on around Hinds County. Um, I mean, it’s a lot. It’s a lot going on today. And we have a lot of it, hate to say it, but we have a lot of takeover bills for the city of Jackson as well.

(Will) I’ve seen some of those popping up.

(Rep. Bell) And that’s unfortunate.

(Will) Truly. Yeah. And whatever the answers may be for for Jackson, I do not have them, but I’m glad to know they’re folks like you plugged in over there working. What about tourism? Got some big projects going on tourism right now?

(Rep. Bell) Well, there is a concerted effort to, uh, to provide a lot of tourism dollars to our city through the convention center, uh, Visit Jackson, I’m sorry.

(Will) Okay.

(Rep. Bell) Um, Marty Stewart. You saw that.

(Will) Oh yeah.

(Rep. Bell) So, that’s been a big deal. They just did a celebration for him last week. Um , hopefully we’ll have some, um, some more dollars coming in this year to give away to some other communities like Meridian, Tupelo, Hattiesburg, and places like that.

(Will) Yeah. I love - flow that money to Hattiesburg. To the top.

(Paul) Excellent.

(Rep. Bell) Oh, boy.

(Paul) Lots of good things going on in Mississippi.

(Will) Yep. Absolutely.

(Paul) So, let’s talk about some legislation that’s pretty important to you. I know that, uh, you know that MDOT is not just roads and bridges - public transit, things like that. So, isn’t public transit kind of important to you? You have a bill kind of hopefully going through.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. The chairman made a commitment that he would bring my legislation out, so hopefully it’ll pass off the floor. It’s, um, it’s about a transit rail - light rail - coming from the airport to downtown Jackson. And this is starting, um, and the purpose of me introducing that legislation: every major city that you go in, they have some type of major trans-, transportation coming down to the airport to their downtown.
In order for us to upgrade our our community, our downtown, have more people to come visit the city of Jackson in the state of Mississippi, we need to provide them with transportation. I don’t know if you’ve been to the airport in Jackson and tried to get an Uber late at night or take a cab back, but what have you is pretty non-existent. Um, and this piece of legislation would build on the economy for the city of Jackson, because once you start introducing light rail and having rail, you have to have employees. You have to buy cars. They have to make the cars. So, there’s an opportunity to stimulate the economy that way as well.

(Will) Sure.

(Paul) Absolutely.

(Will) I have actually not been able to ride a train thus far in my life. It is on the bucket list.

(Rep. Bell) You should.

(Paul) You should do it.

(Rep. Bell) You should. Especially the City of New Orleans.

(Will) Really? Okay. I’m gonna have to check that out.

(Paul) That’s fun. Overnight, you know, will get you there.

(Will) Okay, and I’m sure, you know, like you just mentioned, that transit aspect. So, that is it, specifically for airport to downtown?

(Rep. Bell) That’s the initial -

(Will) Okay.

(Rep. Bell) But to move forward, move it out to Madison towards Canton -

(Will) Sure.

(Rep. Bell) as well as the Continental Tire in Clinton.

(Will) Oh yeah.

(Rep. Bell) Um, there was a research, and I don’t want to mispronounce the name. I think it’s E Pluribus Unum did a research study, and in Mississippi, the number one reason why people can’t get to work is transportation. Um, you know, I think it was like 85%.

(Will) Wow.

(Rep. Bell) So, um, it’s very important for this piece of legislation to pass. When you have Continental Tire and Nissan saying that, you know, we can’t find employees to come to work, and the struggle is that these employees may not have transportation, this will provide a way for those individuals to get to work. And it also takes the strain off our roads and bridges, as well, because you won’t have that many vehicles on the highway hopefully.

(Will) That’s very true.

(Paul) Absolutely.

(Will) Very true. Uh, quick question for you. I know you’re dealing with the republican super majority over there. Is it easy to get stuff there? Is there a good relationship across the aisles?

(Rep. Bell) I’m gonna be very honest with you. It is a good working relationship.

(Will) Good.

(Rep. Bell) A lot of people think that we don’t… hate each other and we don’t speak to each other. That’s not true. I think honestly about 85% of us get along. Uh, of course you’re going to have a few that you don’t get along with or you have an issue with for whatever reason. But for the most part, especially in the House, we all get along.

Um, you know, we were sent there to represent our districts and our communities. And we’re gonna fight and we don’t take it personal. And that’s the way, yeah, I do it. And I let them know ahead of time, “look, hey, I’m gonna have to get on your butt on this one,” but, uh, at the end of the day we’re still friends.

(Will) That’s right. It comes out you know y’all handle an important business, important work over there. Sometimes tensions can get high.

(Rep. Bell) Right.

(Will) Things happen.

(Paul) That’s very refreshing. So, just back up a little bit and kind of want to go general. Of course, this is an MDOT podcast, so can you kind of tell us in your own words why - tell us about the importance of having a strong efficient transportation network in the state.

(Rep. Bell) Oh, look. You can’t – look, the first thing people look for when they bring businesses to your state or your city is education and roads. “How’s the school district and how’s the transportation?” Uh, you look at the map here, and you see all the things that are going on throughout the state, how many of those companies came in and said, “hey, we will come here but this road needs to be fixed”? Or you have a great role, you have a great bridge system - they come here. It’s efficient. It’s, uh, it’s essential, I should say. It’s essential to the growth of the state of Mississippi.

(Will) Yeah.

(Paul) Absolutely.

(Will) It isn’t - that’s something we continue to talk about, you know, that again infrastructure - it is more than highways and bridges: the transit aspect that you mentioned, ports and rails, uh, airports that we’ve talked about. You know, it is. It all contributes and makes everything work together. Um, switching gears here just a hair here getting to the fun stuff the real good details here.

We like to eat as a state. I think I mentioned last time as a podcast we like to eat. We have a good time eating. Is there any, uh, new spots out there that you’ve gotten the pleasure of trying lately or maybe if you’re driving around, is there a favorite spot that you only get to go to every now and then? What you got?

(Rep Bell) So, I know I’m gonna have a lot of friends that watch this podcast and listen to it.

(Will) We hope so.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. I know I will. I’m positive. So, they know my number one spot is always Char.

(Will) Okay.

(Rep. Bell) That’s my favorite go-to restaurant. I’ve never been disappointed. Um, Elvie’s.

(Will) That’s Paul’s go-to.

(Paul) That’s my favorite. Oh, yeah.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. So…

(Will) I haven’t got to try it with you.

(Paul) Yeah.

(Rep. Bell) You should. So, of course, uh, Bully’s restaurant. Look, I stimulate the economy so…

(Will) That’s right.

(Rep. Bell) I visit restaurants.

(Will) I haven’t been to Bully’s either. Is that around here?

(Paul) Oh, yeah.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah.

(Paul) Kind of right outside downtown.

(Rep. Bell) Yeah, Livingston Road.

(Will) Okay, yeah.

(Rep. Bell) You should try it. Soul food place.

(Will) We got a laundry list. Um, I mentioned on an episode or maybe just in conversation: Stamps Burgers is one that I continue to hear about, but I have not yet been able to go. And I think I saw them on the national news here recently.

(Rep. Bell) So, guess what? This is what we’ll do. I’ll take you to Stamps.

(Will) Let’s go.

(Rep. Bell) And, uh, bring your appetite.

(Will) Okay.

(Rep. Bell) It’s not a sit-in place. You gotta get it, and go.

(Will) Okay. I’ve heard that you got to know what you want to order before you get up there -

(Rep. Bell) Yeah.

(Will) or they’ll fuss at you.

(Rep. Bell) They will. That’s the glory of it.

(Paul) There you go.

(Will) This makes it so appealing to me. I can’t wait!

(Paul) That’s right. It’s fun stuff. So, we - we’ve covered a lot of ground today, but is there anything, any message, you - that we haven’t talked about that you kind of want to get out there to your constituents?

(Rep. Bell) Well, I guess one thing I would say is just be patient with us with respect to infrastructure needs with the city of Jackson - especially our water. Ted Henderson is working his butt off trying to make sure that we get everything in place. He’s a third-party administrator running everything now. Just have faith in us. We are definitely coming together to make sure that the city of Jackson has clean drinking water. And I know this is MDOT, but we don’t have to tear up the roads in order to fix some of these pipes. But just bear with us. We’re definitely making strides.

(Will) I am in no way, shape or form envious of those in those positions. The challenge at hand is seemingly insurmountable. So, hey, all the best. Godspeed again. Glad there are smarter than me, and, and folks like you out there working on those problems. Kind of wrap it up here. Contact for you? Do you have a - I’m sure, like a Facebook or something?

(Rep. Bell) Yeah. I’m on Facebook. It’s, uh, Representative Chris Bell. Chris Bell on Facebook. Twitter is MSRepChrisBell. And email is cbell@house.ms.gov.

(Will) Got the email out there too. And folks out there listening, again, as we’ve mentioned, it is the middle of the session. They’re wide open, fast and furious. If you shoot him a message somewhere, give him some time. He might take a little while. I bet you get 3,000 emails a day, but -

(Rep. Bell) Yes.

(Will) The folks are working hard. Drop them up. Drop them a heads up, and I mean, a thumbs up, and keep up the good work.

(Rep. Bell) I appreciate that.

(Will) We appreciate you being on with us, man.

(Paul) No doubt. No doubt. And before you get out of here, I do want to, uh, you know, we’re talking about restaurants and small businesses. I want to send a shout out to Fondren Fitness. Without Fondren Fitness, this podcast wouldn’t have happened. Early in the morning, I think a Saturday morning, I went up and bothered Representative Bell and asked him if he’d want to come on the show.

(Rep. Bell) He didn’t bother me. No. You look - it’s funny. Paul is in the gym working out, and I try to speak to him. He’s like, focused. I’m like, look at here.

(Will) I believe it. There we go.

(Paul) We’re always locked in. That’s how we do it at MDOT. Representative Bell, again, we know it’s a busy time of the year. Thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us.

(Rep. Bell) Thank you so much so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

(Paul) Awesome. We’ll just wrap things up. Thank you to our listeners out there for tuning in to The Extra Mile podcast. Remember, you can watch and listen to episodes by visiting goMDOT.com/theextramile. Remember to follow us on social media at MississippiDOT on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and etc. We want to thank our producer Katey Hornsby, our editor Drew Hall. They do a lot of work behind the scenes for us. Let’s wrap things right there. Remember to drive safe out there on Mississippi highways.