Senators introduce bills to limit journalist access to MS Capitol floor. See why

Two bills filed with the Mississippi Senate late last week could remove reporters from the Senate floor and their office spaces in the State Capitol. Some lawmakers, though, say they doubt the bills will ever pass.

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R, who represents DeSoto County, told the Clarion Ledger on Monday he filed the bills because he believes members of the media should be limited to being on the senate floor 30 minutes before and after sessions, and they could still cover the chamber from the gallery.

“Personally, I’m tired of talking to a colleague on the floor and turning around and having someone from the press two feet away from me, or having a camera stuck in my face,” Blackwell said. “We've got a lot of staff that don't even have places to sit, they've got to stand, but we got a lot of activity that goes on, and the press can partake in all that and be up in the gallery and not miss a lick.”

The bills, Senate Resolution 3 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 511, would rewrite current Senate rules to remove the press from the floor, but not from the gallery, as well as reallocate the press office spaces equally among senators and representatives.

“In this day and age with the technology that's available, (reporters) are doing all your stuff on laptops and iPads and stuff like that,” Blackwell said. “I just don't see the need for you to occupy that much office space when we have elected legislators having to meet constituents and conduct their business in the hallway.”

Sen. Chuck Younger, R, who co-authored the bills, said part of the reason Republicans filed the bill was because he and others feel the press have been too “selective” with stories they choose to write and sources.

“It seems like to us that the press sometimes seems to be more selective,” Younger said. “We also felt like nobody else was out on the floor. Y’all can still be in the gallery.”

However, Mississippi Press Association Executive Director Layne Bruce and former MPA attorney Leonard Van Slyke both said any attempt to put further distance between the press and lawmakers would be a mistake.

"We remind lawmakers who would limit press access on the Capitol floor or evict them from office space they have occupied in that building for decades that the legislature is elected to conduct the people’s business," Bruce said. "That means accountability and transparency to the voters who elected them, and the presence of the press is vital to that process."

“It's a terrible idea to eliminate the press from the Senate floor and press office. By eliminating the press, you are effectively eliminating the public and Senators are there to serve the public," Van Slyke said. "This would be a disservice to the public.”

Bruce said the MPA will also do what it needs to oppose any such legislation.

"We have faced similar bills in the past to increase the distance between the press and the legislature, and our organization will vigorously oppose any efforts to widen the gap."

Will legislators pass the bill?

The bills now being considered by the Senate was sent to the Rules Committee late Friday afternoon, according to the Mississippi Legislature records.

Committee Chair Dean Kirby, R, told the Clarion Ledger it is unlikely either of those bills would make it beyond committee, but he declined to comment further until he and other senators consider the bills, which he does not plan to do this week.

“Every bill is seriously considered, but I doubt it will come out of committee,” Kirby said.

Sen. Walter Michel, who serves as the committee’s vice chair, said he would at least be willing to consider them, but he would not support removing the press from the Senate floor or outright giving away the Press Corps office space without seeing how necessary it is to reporters.

“I would not support kicking y'all off the floor of the Senate,” Michel said. “But if there's a way that there's some space not being used in the fourth floor offices, that we could work it where some senators that currently have to work their desk on the floor would be able to get an office, then I'd be in favor of that.”

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS Senate bill seeks to limit news media access to State Capitol floor