Open Meetings Bill Passes House of Representatives

When the news of Singing River Health System’s (S.R.H.S.) pension crisis came to light, coastal representatives in the Mississippi legislature knew something needed to be done to prevent a similar situation in the future.

Some were skeptical, but the Mississippi House of Representatives has finally passed an amended version of the Opening Meetings Bill. With S.R.H.S. retirees in Jackson Tuesday, legislators say the face of the bill was just what Coast representatives needed to push the bill through.

As the Jackson County DA and State Auditor work their investigation into the S.R.H.S. pension crisis, legislators are looking to the future. What they came up with is the Open Meetings Bill, which requires public hospitals to conduct their business in the open, and hopefully prevent another situation like the one S.R.H.S. is now facing. Charles Busby, a member of the House Education Committee, says, “What we passed yesterday is good policy. I think it’s just good public policy and I think it’s great that the retirees were here for the passage of the bill.”

Tuesday, the amended bill finally passed, and many legislators say the presence of S.R.H.S. retirees at the capitol made that possible. Representative Hank Zuber (R), District 113, says, “It did help, without question, because once they came up, my colleagues, the speaker, the lieutenant governor, the governor, you can put a face with the issue.”

While the House Public Health Committee had altered the bill to only include Jackson County, Coast legislators worked together to explain why all public hospitals needed to be included. Senator Brice Wiggins (R), District 52, says, “It has happened in other places, and I think that was part of the misinformation that was distributed by the hospital association. It’s happened in Natchez, which is Adams County. It’s happened near Batesville, it happened in Neshoba County.”

Legislators say they were able to protect public hospitals’ business interests while still requiring more transparency. Busby closes, “I worked with the Hospital Association to draft an amendment that would provide the public access to the information that they needed for public hospitals, while at the same time maintaining certain confidential information so as to not give the private hospitals a competitive advantage over the public hospitals.”

Amendments to the bill will also require public hospitals to notify employees when any changes are made to the pension plan. Legislators believe the bill now protects the interests of hospital employees and the State of Mississippi.