Gov. Reeves says he will sign bill changing Mississippi flag. Here’s where vote stands.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Saturday morning on Facebook he will sign into law a bill changing this Mississippi flag if it comes to his desk this weekend, but the House did not take up a measure Saturday morning as anticipated.
A bill to replace the flag could come up this weekend, but nothing is certain.
“The Legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag,” Reeves wrote Saturday morning on Facebook. “The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it. If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it.
“We should not be under any illusion that a vote in the Capitol is the end of what must be done—the job before us is to bring the state together and I intend to work night and day to do it.”
Reeves has said he wanted a statewide referendum on whether to replace the flag. But he conceded earlier this week, also on Facebook, that the two-thirds majority vote needed to bring the bill out of committee for a vote also means the Legislature would have enough votes to override a gubernatorial veto.
A two-thirds majority vote would be needed in both the House and Senate to suspend rules before a bill to change the flag could be considered because the deadline for such bills has passed.
Once on the floor, a bill to replace the flag would need only a majority vote to pass.
“Make no mistake, a vote to change the rules is a vote to change the flag,” Reeves wrote earlier this week. If they get those votes, a veto would be pointless. That debate would be over, and the flag would change.”
Voters rejected a change in the flag in a 2001 referendum by a 2-to-1 margin. Growing support for the Black Lives Matter movement and the flag’s adoption by white supremacists has increased calls for it to be replaced. Vocal opponents claim the state flag represents their Southern heritage.
The debate over the flag has attracted nationwide publicity. Influential groups in Mississippi, including business, athletic and religious leaders, have called for the flag to come down.
He also wrote in the post: “For economic prosperity and for a better future for my kids and yours, we must find a way to come together. To heal our wounds, to forgive, to resolve that the page has been turned, to trust each other. With God’s help, we can.”
This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 11:55 AM.
