The Clarion-Ledger

The Clarion-Ledger

The airport bill championed by Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Brandon, is nothing but a state-sponsored robbery of the city of Jackson.

To be clear, it is undeniable fact that the airport and the land on which it sits was purchased and developed by the city of Jackson through up-front capital and bonds, with some matching funds provided by the federal government. Neither the state nor any other local government had anything to do with the development of the airport, unless you count Rankin County selling the land on which it sits to the city of Jackson. (And the last time we checked, once an entity sells property to another entity, it gives up all stakes and claims to said land.)

Furthermore, it should be noted that current state statute says nothing specifically about the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. All state statute does is prescribe how any airport authority should be set up by a “municipality or a state-supported institution of higher learning or a public community or junior college.” These statutes apply to every municipal airport authority in the state of Mississippi, regardless of how large or how small.

Now comes Harkins and Senate Bill 2162, which currently sits before the Senate with minor amendments from the House. This bill would create new statute that governs just the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, leaving untouched every other airport authority in the state.

Harkins and supporters of this bill claim that the airport should be governed by a regional board because it has regional economic development impact. Ironically, the proposed measure is not truly regional nor does it give the city of Jackson the majority stake as claimed.

While both Rankin and Madison counties get to make an appointment each to the board, Hinds County does not. That’s not an oversight; that’s a purposeful snub. Furthermore, while the majority of the nine-member board will be made up of appointees who live in Jackson, only one member will actually be appointed by the mayor of Jackson. What gall lawmakers must have to tell the leader of the city who paid for the airport that the city now has little more than a 10-percent stake in the board that controls its property.

Supporters also make claims that the current authority board is mismanaging the airport, citing high costs of tickets and the loss of Southwest Airlines.

Hogwash.

Southwest made a business decision to leave several smaller airports and reinvest that money in larger operations. There was nothing the current board or the board dreamed up by Harkins could have done to stop it. Any argument to the contrary is willful ignorance or downright deceit.

The same can mostly be said for the cost of doing business at the airport. There is little — if anything — the authority board can do to lower the cost of air travel from Jackson. Many of the services utilized by the individual airlines are shared services, which keeps costs to each airline low. The truth is that passenger traffic is the driving force, not any fees or expenses passed by the board.

Plus, let us not forget that the airport is operating with a profit. It is not losing money, nor is it facing any kind of financial despair. It’s hard to argue with the bottom line.

No, what Harkins and other proponents of the airport takeover want is control — control over contracts and economic development decisions on land surrounding the airport. In recent years, the board has hired different attorneys, taking a lucrative contract away from the Baker Donelson firm and divvying up the work between two firms. It is worth noting that the two new firms are minority-owned, one closely aligned with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and the other with the late-Mayor Chokwe Lumumba.

Motives aside, what matters most is the state has absolutely no claim to the airport or the board that runs it. If the state is unhappy with the qualifications of the members of the board — a legitimate criticism, we believe — then lawmakers should change qualifications for all airport authorities, not just JMAA.

Thankfully, if this bill becomes law, it is still dependent on approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. This could take many years, as JMAA will fight the state on the takeover. Expensive legal battles should also be expected. This could be avoided if Senate leaders would do the right thing and kill the bill or if Gov. Phil Bryant would veto the legislation if it passes to his desk.

While both scenarios are unlikely, given the public support from those parties, we can still hope that someone with the authority to stop this madness will finally realize they are advocating for big-government abuse of the highest order.

SB 2162 is state-sponsored theft, plain and simple.

Correction: A previous version of this editorial incorrectly stated that two new contractors were both aligned with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson.