MS House Speaker Billy McCoy says Gov. Barbour hurt state by releasing Toyota letter

The Clarion Ledger ^ | April 30, 2004 | By Emily Wagster Pettus

[WKB]

House Speaker Billy McCoy says the governor hurt Mississippi by soliciting and releasing a letter from a Toyota executive that criticized the state’s civil justice system.

“I am appalled ... that our governor would choose to use an international company in such a way and that he would ask Toyota to be publicly critical of Mississippi,” McCoy, D-Rienzi, said today during a news conference in his Capitol office.

“I am not only appalled. I am deeply disappointed that the governor is directly responsible for media coverage that damages Mississippi,” McCoy said.

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour responded in an interview later: “Mississippi cannot solve its problems if we don’t admit that we have the problem. We’re not going to end lawsuit abuse in Mississippi by sweeping the problem under the table.”

On Monday, Barbour released letters from three corporate leaders, including Dennis C. Cuneo, a New York-based senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America Inc.

Cuneo said in an April 20 letter to Barbour that Toyota decided against locating a manufacturing plant in Mississippi last year in part because of the state’s legal climate.

Barbour has said he asked Cuneo to write the letter after Cuneo was quoted in Site Selection magazine earlier this year saying the same thing.

The letters are part of a long battle over whether Mississippi lawmakers will change the state’s judicial system to limit the way civil lawsuits may be filed and how large the awards may be.

Barbour ran last year on promises to enact new limits. That effort is backed by business and medical groups, including some of Barbour’s financial supporters.

Opponents say putting new limits on medical-malpractice or product-liability cases would hurt people who are harmed by others’ negligence. Trial lawyers, who often give Democrats financial support, are the most vocal opponents of Barbour’s proposals.

McCoy said he talked to Cuneo by phone Thursday. Cuneo sent McCoy a follow-up letter and said he was surprised his message to Barbour had been widely distributed.

“My letter (to Barbour) was meant to convey my opinion that a state’s litigation climate is one factor that is considered in site selection,” Cuneo wrote to McCoy. “It’s not the only factor, and in our case wasn’t the deciding factor — but it was one of several factors that we consider.”

Toyota is building its new plant in Texas.

McCoy said it was wrong for Barbour to solicit and release a letter that casts Mississippi in a bad light.

“Mississippi’s elected officials should not actively work to tarnish the reputation of our state,” McCoy said. “This tactic has damaged Mississippi, and that damage cannot be undone easily.”

Barbour has said he’ll call a special session if lawmakers finish the four-month regular session without passing “comprehensive” tort reform. Among other things, Barbour wants a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages for things like pain and suffering.

House Judiciary A Chairman Ed Blackmon, D-Canton, said he will not agree to any non-economic caps because they would disproportionately hurt children, retirees and people who don’t work outside the home.

“It means their life is not worth anything — $250,000,” Blackmon said Friday. “That’s beyond anything I’d be willing to do.”

The session is set to end May 9.

The House has passed a bill designed to give doctors more medical malpractice insurance coverage, but that bill died without coming up for a vote of the full Senate. The Senate has passed two bills with civil justice changes Barbour wants, but those bills died without coming up for votes of the full House.

A resolution has been filed to revive the civil justice debate, but the two chambers haven’t agreed on what they might consider.

Lawmakers have until the last day of the session to work on the issue.

[WKB]

Must be getting to him PING

[AmishDude]

McCoy said it was wrong for Barbour to solicit and release a letter that casts Mississippi in a bad light.

Nobody noticed outside of MS until you upped the coverage, dummy.

[friendly]

McCoy said it was wrong for Barbour to solicit and release a letter that casts Mississippi in a bad light.

Bad light? Reform the broken toilet of a legal system in Mississippi and you will end the bad light. I LOVE Barbour!

[smonk]

it doesn't portray mississippi in a bad light, it
portrays the dems in the mississippi legislature,
paid off by the trail lawyers lobby, who protect
this monstrous judicial system, in a bad light.

[thanks for adding me to your ping group, WKB]

[BurbankKarl]

I thought for sure Jessie Jackson was going to appear in this article. Toyota has been sucking up to him for years.

[MEG33]

Lawsuits are a racket in Mississipi.It seems to be a great little money maker for some communities.I saw a dateline or PBS thing on it and it was outrageous.

[smonk]

they WERE a good racket. but now there's a new
sheriff in town.

[MEG33]

AHA!

[snooker]

Hah, attack our corrupt donors, take that, and that and that.

Meanwhile in a similar tirade, 'lil Tommy was deeply sadden that his friends would be treated so badly. 'It's all Bush's fault that we have a jobless recovery', said 'lil Tommy.

[BlueCat]

I've always thought that Haley Barbour is an excellent politician, and this just adds to my belief.

[onyx]

Trial lawyers, who often give Democrats financial support, are the most vocal opponents of Barbour’s proposals.




Well, DUH.
And McCoy is their most vociferous puppet.
Governor Haley is trying to end jackpot justice.
He desperately needs our "vociferous" support.

[onyx]

I LOVE Barbour!






Then we do have something in common.

[friendly]

bump for Barbour!

[SuziQ]

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour responded in an interview later: “Mississippi cannot solve its problems if we don’t admit that we have the problem. We’re not going to end lawsuit abuse in Mississippi by sweeping the problem under the table.”

Ain't that the truth!

[dixiechick2000]

Welcome to the MS ping list!

Good post. ;o)

[dixiechick2000]

What you said...

[mewzilla]

MS's little problem has been national news for quite a while, though.

[Veronica Lodge]

Follow the money flow.

Mississippi was the first state in the tobacco suit. It grabs something like 4 billion; the Mississippi Lawyers got almost a Billion. This is spread out over many years; to help keep the Bentley's; Large Yachts; Jet industry making Lawyer toys. Some lesser Lawyers get 60 million; enough to keep them off the dole. :)

Missisissippi has alot of fat folks; highest percentage in the nation. Also unwed pregnancies are the highest in the country. Insurance for a small business is astronomical. The Lawyers want the medical trials in the dumber counties; with the highest unemployment; say 20 to 30 percent a raw minimum. The lawyers want dumb emotional jurors; who are easy to sway.

Sadly; the jurors dont understand how the constant lottery for the Lawyers hurts businesses. It does make alot of millionaires; a larger percentage than you might imagine.

Industry is moving out of Mississippi. Even a dumb glove factory. The masses flok to Walmart; buying their foreign goods; as insurance rises; and factories close.

The HUGE medical industry makes a mint; due to short lifespans; heart problems; little exercise. Doctors are leaving the state; driven out by insurance costs. Walmart bucks the trend; and runs almost all "associates" at less than 30 hours; to avoid the health insurance trap.

The democrats act sometimes like they are for the common man in the street; ie Joe Six pack ( during election); but they really are in bed with the HUGE insurance/Lawyer/Lottery system; which creates millionaires.

There are alot of good folk in Mississippi; it is abit sad that the state cannot be pro business; instead of pro Lawyer/ Pro insurance /pro get rich by the jackpot justice. It is appalling that the spineless speaker Billy McCoy is such a puppet to the Jackpot lawyer millionaire club. He needs to try to improve the state; understanding the actual cost of the god damn insurance coverage a business faces. Insurance costs in Mississippi are the number one expense in many business in Mississippi.