MDOT presents The Extra Mile podcast legislative session.

Jas N – Welcome everybody to The Extra Mile podcast from the Mississippi Department of Transportation. We are in our second week of the legislative session special edition and we have a special guest host for you this week. I’m Jas N Smith, The Director of Public Affairs for MDOT and with me is Public Information Officer Katey Hornsby. Katey.

Katey - Hello, Everyone. You might have heard my name. I’m usually behind the scenes as a producer but Jas N and I are stepping up as hosts this week so we’re really excited about that.

Jas N - We’ve got our special guest with us as well. Katey, will you introduce our guest for us please?

Katey - Yeah. So very excited to have Senator Jenifer Branning in the studio today. She is the Highways and Transportation Chair. She represents District 18 which includes Leake, Neshoba and Winston counties. We are so happy to have you here today.

Senator Branning - Thank you for the invitation.

Katey - Of course. Just kind of starting off we just left a subcommittee hearing and for people who might not be familiar with that out of all the hearings the Mississippi Department of Transportation was a part of that. Kind of talk about what happened.

Senator Branning - Sure. So early this session we have made it a point on the Appropriations Committee. We are broken down into various subcommittees and I do chair the committee that deals with highways and waterways and those types of agencies and so we have these preliminary hearings which are broken down into subcommittees. There are usually three to four senators on these committees. It’s just an information gathering process.

And the agencies bring to us their preliminary requests for their budget and we ask questions and then we go back and work to craft their budget. And if we have questions for them in the process we sort of circle back. But then the subcommittee makes the decision and brings it before the full appropriations committee. It will go through that process and then eventually make it to the Senate floor and then we’ll flip and we’ll do the house bills and the house will take our bills for consideration. So it’s just a part of how we divide and conquer the monster of the appropriations process and I think it works very well. Chairman Hobson does an outstanding job and tries to keep it streamlined and very organized the way we approach all the budgets. That’s what today consisted of was just a subcommittee hearing.

Katey - And like I mentioned the Mississippi Department of Transportation had their own hearing. Kind of talk about what was discussed and what kind of the outcome was.

Senator Branning - Sure. Director White is doing an outstanding job. He brought information to the subcommittee that sort of briefed us on what the MDOT requests will consist of for the next budget year. He talked about the additional federal dollars that will be available. What monies will be there and what monies will not be there because there has been some information floating around that may not be entirely accurate. I appreciate him being able to get in the weeds with us today and help us understand what those dollars mean.

We have made it a point today and I think I invited all the committee members today those that had additional follow up questions that we would do something that we don’t typically do in the appropriations subcommittee process and that is to have even a second hearing before we bring that budget before the full appropriations committee. We want to have the opportunity to allow Director White to bring us additional information. There were a couple of senators with questions. And so that’s what we’ll do. We’ll keep working to make sure we understand what the numbers mean. What the request is and then we’ll decide from there if we’re able to fulfill all the requests or some of the requests or we may have additional suggestions from there.

Jas N - Okay. We are wrapping up this wraps up the second week of the session so far. What are some of the highlights that have been dealt with and some of the major issues so far in the session?

Senator Branning - So far we did congressional redistricting yesterday. That took us a couple of hours on the senate floor so we adopted the Magnolia One Plan that came to us from the house. A very good debate I thought on the redistricting plan, I think it’s a great plan. Today we went through the Medical Marijuana Bill that passed the Senate after about three hours of debate.

We have gotten a lot done in the first two weeks of the session which is not typical to bring legislation to the floor that quickly. But we’re doing that because we realize we have more major issues to deal with in this session than is typical of any other 90 days session. So we’re trying to be efficient with our time and get the people’s work done in a timely manner.

Katey - And so for people who might not be familiar with the legislative session or how it works or the committees kind of give us an overview of what your committee the Transportation Committee how it’s made up and how it functions.

Senator Branning - So the lieutenant governor put the committee together at the beginning of the new term and so I believe there are about 13 members of that committee. I may be off a little bit. I don’t recall the exact number but he appoints those members to the committee. Senator Barbara Blackmon is the vice chair. Bills are assigned to the committee by the lieutenant governor based on subject matter and so I will receive a lot of bills this year that are filed that deal with transportation policy.

Now I don’t expect to see a lot of major transportation policy moves this session coming out of the senate basically because we are so focused on the appropriations side. We have a lot of money that we need to spend and we need to spend wisely. So I spent a large amount of my time out of session this summer and this fall going to different parts of the state. Certainly did not get to every county or every district but I got to the places that I was able to this time. I plan to do some more of that next year but I even crawled under and over bridges just to see what we are dealing with so that I can understand as transportation chairman when people come to me with problems to solve and they’re talking to me about we need more maintenance money or we need more money for bridge repair or we need this or that.

I want to understand and say, “Yes. I’ve seen that.” So I can understand what the needs are and how we can solve those at the capitol. So with all that said I spent time out of session looking at projects that are needed to have a better understanding that now we are looking to spend those dollars. I want make sure we’re plugging those in so they can provide us the greatest benefit.

Katey - What was your biggest take away from those trips that you made?

Senator Branning - So the needs in our state range vastly. They’re different from each county. From county to county. Just because they’re different tax basis in the counties. And each county board of supervisors may have different ways that they spend their money. Just different ways of doing business. There are all different kind of scenarios. I noticed over in the delta for example in the Greenville area one county Washington County I believe has about 23 bridges that are out. I don’t mean load posted. I mean out. And so what that means is in that particular county and there are other counties that have needs but this is one that stands out.

You know if someone has an emergency out in the rural part of that county they have to go miles and miles and miles out of the way potentially to get to the hospital. Farmers in that area have to go miles and miles out of their way to get their harvest to market. So you’re talking about eating into someone’s profit for that week. You talk about the mom and pop operations that means a bid deal the additional miles. So what I’m trying to do as transportation chair is to look and take a holistic approach to the transportation needs in our state. And no we here at the state level traditionally do not look at the counties and take that as part of our burden but I’m looking at that because I know that makes up part of Mississippi’s infrastructure system.

You know back in 2018 the legislature passed and put into place the Emergency Road and Bridge fund. That fund gave us all the opportunity and I say holistically speaking everyone in the state the opportunity to submit projects for a ward. MDOT has done a wonderful job at administering that program. That’s enabled us to get money down to the parts of the state that attention was not being paid for whatever reason. So we have seen drastic improvement in infrastructure. So we hope that this year we can continue to put money into that program. Again to take that holistic approach to see infrastructure improvement in the state of Mississippi.

Jas N - That is similar to the way that the Commission has approached the lottery funding. In that rather than putting it just lumping it in with all of our general funds and just dole it out little bits at a time they specifically set it aside and say we’re gonna deal with rural highways that are in the most need that maybe are in areas that are less populated so they haven’t seen the regular maintenance of a road that get a hundred thousand cars a day.

(Senator Branning) That’s correct. We have seen even back home the two lane paving projects we have seen that first hand so that’s been very successful. The Commission’s done a great job in administering those funds for sure.

Jas N - Who are some of the committee members for the transportation committee?

Senator Branning - So you’ve got Senator Fillingane who was the chairman before I came in.

Jas N - Down in the pine belt.

Senator Branning - That’s right. You’ve got Senator Younger who was one of my members there. Senator Williams. Bart Williams is the newest member from Oktibbeha County. He didn’t start out on the committee. You know we had a senator to retire and things sort of changed up he was able to get on the committee and has loved it. He has asked me for projects on the committee. I saw him just before the podcast and told him I was gonna give him a bill to handle and so he is going to study up over the weekend and be ready for that.

But our committee members are very engaged. We have a great group there and so I’m very happy with the composition of the transportation committee. We’ve gotten a lot of good work done in the last year.

Katey - In the last podcast we spoke with Speaker Gunn about ARPA funding. If you want to touch on that. Kind of what could potentially come from that?

Senator Branning - ARPA has given us a great opportunity I think to make some generational changes in the state of Mississippi. And so I’ve been working with my colleagues to identify the use of some of those funds. Now the senate formed an ARPA committee which is another subcommittee for appropriations. I’m not on that committee so there’s going to be some details at this point I’m not privy to.

But let’s just say the rural water system for example. There’s going to be some monies available to improve rural water in the state of Mississippi and that’s something I know a little bit about. I’ve served as board attorney for Central Water Association over in Neshoba County for a long time before I even came to serve in the senate. So I know how the rural water needs affect every day Mississippians. That’s down to where we live so to speak. So we’ve got a great opportunity really out in the rural parts of Mississippi to make improvements to our utility infrastructure. That’s one of the great things that I think is gonna come from the ARPA funds.

Jas N - This session seems to have some very specific things that are going on. Like you mentioned there’s a lot that’s been done just in these first two weeks. What are some other things that are on the horizon?

Senator Branning - That’s right. Well you know aside from the appropriations process which I think is probably going to consume the majority of my time we have the ballot initiative process that we know will be coming up because of the Supreme Court’s decision last year. We know that we have to restore that right and we are talking about the mechanism to do that and what that bill should look like going forward. Certainly we have touched on the income tax elimination under the senate. Chairman Harkins is working on a plan for that. I have not seen his plan but I know that it’s in the works. And there are other issues that sort of coincide with the appropriations and spending but those are a couple of the major issues that you will see coming forward in addition to what we have already seen just this week.

Jas N - How has the relationship been between the chambers this session? Senate and House?

Senator Branning - So far so good. I certainly am not with the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor every day to see what happens but I can tell you down on a personal level my representative is Scott Bounds over in the House. We have a great working relationship. In fact we talk probably every day or every other day during session. We make sure that we’ve got issues that affect our hometown or home county or mutual district handled. We’ve been very successful in getting things done for people back home that way. So we try to really make an effort to work together. But back to your question on the higher level. So far. So good as far as I know.

Jas N - You’ve been there eight years? Is that right?

Senator Branning - This is my seventh session. Yes.

Jas N - Oh. Seventh. Okay. So what is different this session from maybe the first session you were there?

Senator Branning - Let me just be real honest with you and say my first session I was doing good to figure out which hallway I should be on. And I am not exaggerating when I tell you this. It was very overwhelming for me coming in as a freshman. I have only visited our state capitol probably a couple times as a teenager maybe on a school trip or what have you. I didn’t spend a lot of time here at the capitol in college or anything like that even though I did attend Mississippi College School of Law just a few blocks over. So I remember one day in particular I was trying to meet the drafting deadline. That was the first deadline that we had and I had a bill. I don’t even remember what the bill was but that was my bill and it was important and I was trying to get the drafting deadline met. I went downstairs to find the senate attorneys to turn my bill in to go through the process. I didn’t know where to go and I was trying to find my way.

I ended up on the house side. I walked in their attorneys office over there and I’m sure I had this bewildered look but this very kind lady who worked in legislative services for the house was very graceful and she didn’t make me feel anymore dumb than what I was that day and she escorted me down to the senate side and got me acquainted with the right people. But that was my freshman year was really just a learning experience. I continue to learn every session. Continue to learn. But this session and I’ve told people this many times. We have more major issues that we are dealing with this session than I have dealt with in the short seven years that I’ve been serving. We have a lot of work to do really in a short amount of time but I think we’re committed to get that done.

Jas N - I think so too.

Katey - And kind of shifting gears to a lighter question. You know we like to ask when you’re traveling an hour and a half on your way home what are some good local food spots you might want to hit up that you would recommend to somebody traveling throughout the state?

Senator Branning - You know one of my favorite spots here locally we have so many. My husband actually is here with me today in the studio and he’s nodding at me as I say it. We love food. We love to eat. We like places like The Mayflower. We like Lou’s Full Serve. We like to hit up Native Coffee Shop here in Jackson when we have just a minute for a treat. When I have a car full of pages when that week rolls around for me we will hit Chik Fil A about a hundred times that week. It just depends on how much time I have and who’s traveling with me.

Katey - I can agree with the Lou’s Full Serve. For sure.

Senator Branning - Yes. So good.

Jas N - Well thanks for giving us some specifics. I won’t say the Speaker ducked the question but he was a little reticent so I’m glad to know some names of places. That’s nice.

Katey - Now how can people contact you if they have questions or anything like that?

Senator Branning - Sure. Well I have an email address for the senate. It’s jbranning@senate.ms.gov. I respond very well to email. That’s probably the best way to get me or just come see me at the capitol. 212A is my office. I’m there a lot during session. I do drive home so I’m not there a lot of times for evening events. I have a family that’s waiting for me at home. It’s very important that I get back to my boys but I’m available anytime to help anyone who’s got questions about transportation or suggestions. The good. The bad. I welcome it all.

Katey - Awesome and you have answered all of our transportation questions today. Thank you so much. Anything you’d like to add that we haven’t asked you?

Senator Branning - You know it has been an honor to serve as transportation chair. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed working here with the people at MDOT. Director White and his staff have just been phenomenal. They have just been great to work with. They are teaching me because I have so much to learn about transportation. I’ll just leave you with that. I’m having a blast at my job. I really enjoy it.

Jas N - Terrific.

Katey - Again thank you so much for being here today. We thoroughly enjoyed this interview.

Senator Branning - Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Jas N - Thanks everyone for listening. We want to thank all of the listeners. The podcast has grown tremendously since we started it. I think it’s been actually exponential growth. We’re getting more listeners and more subscribers so we appreciate that. If you’re listening and you like the podcast and you like the info please tell your friends and your family and share it on your socials. Let folks know they can get more info on what MDOTs doing. What transportation happening in Mississippi and the things that we’re doing. We look forward to talking to you next week. We’ll have another edition of the podcast special edition legislative session.

Katey - If you want to hear more episodes of The Extra Mile legislative session just be sure to subscribe or download wherever podcasts can be found. You can now watch each episode of The Extra Mile. Just search The Mississippi Department of Transportation on YouTube. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We give lots of updates there so just give us a follow. Again thank you for listening and as always drive smart on Mississippi highways.