By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
Why on God’s green earth would a state legislature decide to override the autonomy of a municipality – simply deciding to take what does not belong to them? This is not an ordinance or policy being preempted by the state legislature. This is the flat out seizing of control of something that does not belong to you – we typically call it stealing or theft. That is precisely what Mississippi Senate Bill 2162 did, in 2016 – eight years ago.
The City of Jackson owns the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN) and has fought against the state takeover ever since.
JAN and Hawkins Field are operated by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA), a component of the City of Jackson. JMAA’s commissioners are appointed by Jackson’s Mayor and approved by the Jackson City Council. JMAA commissioners then appoint a chief executive officer.
Services are provided to approximately 1.29 million passengers each year. The most recent audit, dated September 30, 2023, reveals assets of $182,673,695 and liabilities of $50,551,030. The total net position, per auditors Forvis, LLP, is $133,678,748, representing a $7,544,240 increase over the previous year.
Do you suppose it is numbers like these that motivated the Mississippi legislature to vote to pass the partisan SB2162 by 74-46 in the House of Representatives and 31-15 in the Senate? It sure could be a factor, but after all, this is Mississippi, so we just know there is more to it.
The title of the eight-year-old version of SB2162 is “Airports; create Jackson Metropolitan Area Airport Authority.” As introduced, Section 1 of the bill says, “The Metropolitan Area Airport Authority is created and established and full power is vested in the authority to manage, control and enforce all necessary and beneficial matters pertaining to the operation of Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport and Hawkins Field Airport. The authority shall have the same powers and duties as a municipal airport authority under this chapter and any other laws pertaining to municipal airport authorities.”
It’s just that simple, Jackson owns and controls the airport, it’s land and surrounding land, yet by creating a different airport authority, the state will be in “full power.”
Do you suppose this idea was hatched by Democrats in the minority, and mostly African American? It wasn’t, and it never is. This was done by Republicans, every last one of them white males. On March 9, 2016, the ringleader of this particular takeover, Senator Josh Harkins (R-Rankin), told the Jackson Free Press, ““This makes common sense and is about maximizing the effect because that is a major economic driver for our state,” Harkins said during the discussion. “All I am trying to do is take a regional approach to it.”
Senator John Horhn, always the first to stand up and speak out against oppression by the state, said on the Senate floor at the time, “You are doing it because you can do it, not because it’s the right thing or the just thing but because you can.”
Mississippi’s legislature is chock-full of power brokers like Harkins, they are in the majority, they are all white, and whenever they are questioned about racism, paternalism, or oppression, they act shocked. It’s a well-rehearsed refrain, albeit pure fiction.
Do we know of other municipal assets around the state that the legislature is trying to take over? Jackson is unique in that it’s the capital city, the most populous city, and majority African American.
On November 19, 2024, a panel of Fifth Circuit Justices ruled on the appeal from District Court…” For the fourth time, Mississippi state legislators appeal a district court order compelling discovery in an eight-year-old dispute over control of the Jackson-Medgar Evers International Airport. For numerous reasons that have percolated throughout this litigation, we conclude that the current plaintiffs, members of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, lack Article III standing to sue.
Groundhog Day has come to an end. Accordingly, we VACATE the order of the district court with instructions to dismiss…” Wow, now that is power – state legislators refusing to comply with subpoenas from a U.S. District Court – can you and I do that? Then having the appeals court panel have their backs.
It’s not over until it’s over, and as of today it is not over. One thing we will never get over is the blatant oppression that blooms in Mississippi each new season. All of the legislators that drafted or sponsored 2016’s SB2162 are white Republicans – Harkins, Kirby, Moran, Caughman, Browning, Polk, Baker and Monsour. Half of that group of eight no longer serves in the legislature. Then in this latest ruling from the Fifth Circuit panel, all three justices are white Republicans. The 10 page ruling can be viewed using this link, accessed via a WLBT article: https://www.scribd.com/document/794802433/Fifth-Circuit-ruling#from_embed
The panel ultimately refers to the case as a political dispute between state and local government. They think Jackson made a big deal out of it, dragging it into Federal Court. Simple as pie, basic politics, nothing to see here they are saying. And God knows nothing racial is involved when white people are stealing control of a Black-controlled municipal asset that does not belong to them.
Should Mississippi ultimately succeed in stealing Jackson’s property, how long do you think it will be before the words Jackson, and Medgar Wiley Evers, disappear from the airport name altogether?
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