By Adam Ganucheau
Mississippi Today
Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, wants to amend the Mississippi Constitution to limit the governor’s sole power to appoint trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning — a direct response to a controversial chancellor search the IHL board conducted at the University of Mississippi last fall.
Lamar, an Ole Miss alumnus whose mother sits on the IHL board, filed two measures this session that would equally split the IHL appointment power between the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the house. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a close confidant of House Speaker Philip Gunn, Lamar is one of the most powerful lawmakers under the Capitol dome in Jackson.
“It dawned on me over the last year that maybe it’s not the best policy to have all 12 board seats appointed by the same person, as is the case right now,” Lamar told Mississippi Today this week. “Especially after what happened last year (at Ole Miss), I think it’s worthy of some discussion and debate.”
IHL board members — considered among the most powerful political appointees in the state — are appointed by the governor, as dictated by the state Constitution, and confirmed by the Senate. After legislators and voters amended the constitution in 2004 to reduce board members’ staggered terms from 12 years to nine years, former Gov. Phil Bryant in 2018 became the first governor in the state’s history to appoint every member of the board.
But because the current appointment power is set forth in the state Constitution, Lamar’s proposal to change how IHL board members are appointed is more complex than the passing of a typical bill.
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