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Mississippi Remove Four-Year Limit on State University Employment Contracts Amendment (2019)
| Mississippi Remove Four-Year Limit on State University Employment Contracts Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2019 | |
| Topic Education | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Mississippi Remove Four-Year Limit on State University Employment Contracts Amendment, Senate Concurrent Resolution 547, was not on the ballot in Mississippi as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2019.[1]
This measure would have amended the state constitution to remove a restriction preventing employment contracts of over four years being approved by the board of trustees of state colleges and universities.[2]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article VIII, Mississippi Constitution
The measure would have amended section 2013-A of Article VIII of the state constitution. The following statement would have been deleted from the second to last paragraph of the section shown below: "for a term not exceeding four (4) years":[2]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
The state institutions of higher learning now existing in Mississippi, to-wit: University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, Mississippi University for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and any others of like kind which may be hereafter organized or established by the State of Mississippi, shall be under the management and control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the members thereof to be appointed by the Governor of the state with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint only men or women as such members as shall be qualified electors residing in the district from which each is appointed, and at least twenty-five (25) years of age, and of the highest order of intelligence, character, learning, and fitness for the performance of such duties, to the end that such board shall perform the high and honorable duties thereof to the greatest advantage of the people of the state of such educational institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations. There shall be appointed one (1) member of such board from each congressional district of the state as now existing and one (1) member from each Supreme Court district, and two (2) members shall be appointed from the state at large. The term of office of said trustees herein provided for shall begin May 8, 1944; and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make such appointments during the regular session of the Legislature of Mississippi in 1944; and one-third (1/3) of the membership of said board shall be appointed for a period of four (4) years; one-third (1/3) for a period of eight (8) years; and one-third (1/3 for a period of twelve (12) years; and thereafter their successors shall hold office for a period of twelve (12) years. The members of the board of trustees as constituted at the time this amendment shall be inserted in the Constitution as a part thereof shall continue to hold office until their respective terms expire under existing law, after which time the membership of the board shall consist of the number hereinabove provided for. In case of a vacancy on said board by death or resignation of a member, or from any other cause than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his successor, who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the Legislature. During such term of the session of the Legislature the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his predecessor was appointed, to hold office until the end of the period for which such original trustee was appointed, to the end that one-third (1/3) of such trustees' terms will expire each four (4) years.
The Legislature shall provide by law for the appointment of a trustee for the La Bauve Fund at the University of Mississippi and for the perpetuation of such fund.
Such board shall have the power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the teaching staff, and all administrative employees of said institutions for a term not exceeding four (4) years; but said board shall have the power and authority to terminate any such contract at any time for malfeasance, inefficiency or contumacious conduct, but never for political reasons.
Nothing herein contained shall in any way limit or take away the power the Legislature had and possessed, if any, at the time of the adoption of this amendment, to consolidate, abolish or change the status of any of the above named institutions.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Mississippi Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of those present is required in both the Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives, provided at least a majority of all members approve the amendment in each chamber.
This amendment—Senate Concurrent Resolution 547—was authored by Sen. Josh Harkins (R-20). On February 5, 2018, the state Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 30-14, with seven senators absent, and one present but without a "yea" or "nay" vote on the measure. Since 45 senators were present, 30 votes were required to pass the amendment with the two-thirds supermajority vote required. The 14 votes against the amendment were from Democrats. Five Republicans and one Democrat were absent. Sen. Briggs Hopson (R-23) was recorded as present and voting, but without a "yea" or "nay" vote. Hopson's vote is counted as a "nay" vote in the chart below to represent the percentage by which the measure passed. The remaining 27 Republicans voted in favor of the amendment, joined by three Democrats.[1] The measure died in committee on February 27, 2018.[4]
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mississippi State Legislature, "Senate Concurrent Resolution 547," accessed February 20, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mississippi Legislature, "Senate Concurrent Resolution 547," accessed February 20, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Mississippi Legislature, "SCR 547 Bill Status," accessed October 12, 2018
- ↑ Although Sen. Hopson did not cast a "nay" vote, he was present and did not cast a "yea" vote. And, since a two-thirds majority of those present was required, it is more accurate to count this as a "nay" vote with regard to the required percentage of "yea" votes.
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