A group of Mississippi lawmakers announced the formation Tuesday of a Freedom Caucus that will try to move forward conservative legislation in the Republican-dominated Legislature.
The six members, mostly state Representatives from north Mississippi along with state Rep. Joe Bomgar, R-Madison, have been an unofficial conservative voting bloc during their time in the Legislature.
They’ve often drawn the ire of House leaders over their opposition on issues such as teacher pay raises and spending.
“We are going to hold the people in this building accountable and we want the people of this state to hold us accountable,” said State Rep. Dana Criswell, R-Olive Branch.
Former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, is the chairman of the Conservative Partnership Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that is helping set up Freedom Caucuses in state legislatures like Mississippi modeled after the one in the U.S. House of Representatives that came about in 2015.
DeMint said the organization has set up similar organizations in 10 other states, including Georgia and that it will offer staff and electoral support to caucus members. His goal is to have one in all 50 states.
He used the example of how campaign cash is being given in the U.S. Senate by leaders Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky and Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and they then dole it out to individual senators. DeMint says this keeps the individual senators in line and that something similar is happening in the Mississippi Legislature, necessitating a group like the Freedom Caucus to ensure that these members can compete.
“Some states already have a Freedom Caucus, some have tried it, but it kind of got beat down by the system,” DeMint told the Northside Sun. “Our job is come in and put these things together, give them support, make sure they have an executive director that is trained, particularly in what other states are doing so they can have the best practices and raise money for their re-elections.”
Former state director of Americans for Prosperity, Hattiesburg native Steven Utroska, will be the group’s executive director in Mississippi.
In addition to Bomgar and Criswell, the Mississippi Freedom Caucus also includes state Rep. Dan Eubanks, R-Walls, state Rep. Brady Williamson, R-Oxford, state Rep. Steve Hopkins, R-Southaven, and state Rep. Chris Brown, R-Nettleton.
DeMint said numbers aren’t critical to the Freedom Caucus pushing the state’s Legislature in a direction toward limited government and greater economic freedom.
“It doesn’t take a majority,” DeMint said. “You just need five to 10 people to keep pushing and gather public support to push the Legislature in a positive direction.
“What tends to happen is, with a seniority system, you get a lot of cronyism as people stay here 10 to 15 years, they start aligning themselves with the special interests in the area. And suddenly the Legislature is working with big interests rather than the common interests.”
