All 77 Republicans in Mississippi received a message from Speaker Philip Gunn on Monday, March 14, 2014. He had scheduled a House Republican Caucus meeting at 3 p.m. that day. Gunn informed the Republicans inside the Capitol committee room that Trey Dellinger, his chief of staff, and Trey Lamar had significantly reworked a tax reform plan that could, if approved, change the funding system for Mississippi’s public services. Gunn’s tax proposal is the subject of a dramatic leadership battle at the Capitol. Speaker and other House leaders have made it clear that they won’t allocate the majority of $1.8 billion in federal stimulus funds unless Senate Republicans support Gunn’s plan for eliminating the state’s income taxes. Gunn’s tax plan is opposed by Senate leaders who fear it will do too much too fast and could compromise the state’s ability fund the state government over the long-term. Until Monday’s closed-door caucus meeting, very few House Republicans had any idea of Gunn’s revised tax plan. Mississippi Today spoke to several meeting attendees on condition of anonymity. They said that there was not much discussion about the tax proposal and no questions about the changes made in the meeting. The bill was passed in regular public meetings by the majority-Republican House Ways and Means Committee just a few minutes after the end of the caucus meeting. After asking no questions about it, every House Republican on the committee voted “yea”, despite only learning the details a few minutes prior. The bill was passed by the committee within minutes and the whole House approved it on the floor. Every Republican voted “yea,” and no Republican asked any questions. Gunn called a press conference at Capitol the next day to promote “unanimous House Republican support for his tax proposal,” using it to criticize Senate Republicans for not following suit. Gunn was supported by dozens of House Republicans, who were able to view the camera. Gunn uses the caucus meetings as one tool to force House Republicans to pass bills that he supports or authors. He also restricts public debate among his partymates. According to several House Republicans, the following is how it works: The weekly closed-door Republican caucus meeting is where rank-and-file House Republicans get information about major policy decisions Gunn and a few other House leaders make privately. Gunn will ask the caucus members for their support. Members of the Caucus that don’t agree with the bill are asked to discuss their views privately with the chairmen of the relevant committee — Gunn appointees, who are close friends of the speaker. If members feel that they cannot support the bill, after speaking with the chairman the member will be sent to Gunn for a private meeting. Several House Republicans stated that Gunn can be very forceful in these meetings. He often demands support and leaves little room for discussion or pushback. Many rank-and-file members feel pressured to vote for policies they don’t support personally or believe their district would support, in fear Gunn and other House leaders might retaliate. The House speakers from Mississippi have used similar tactics for years to get support for any bill. For Republican representatives, the bottom line is that not following the wishes of the speaker could result in them losing power and influence back home. In the worst case, it could even lead them to lose their nomination for the Republican primary challenger. Gunn is the principal author of 14 important pieces of legislation, which are still pending or have passed this session. At any stage of the legislative process, no House Republican has voted in opposition to one of these bills. Since 2012, Gunn has held these closed-door House Republican Caucus meetings. These meetings are usually called by private group text messages and are not announced publicly. They are not open to the public. Mississippi Today was told by several House Republicans that they have been asked by Gunn to vote on individual bills during caucus meetings in the past. However, this session, vote-taking has not occurred. Many Capitol Republicans, including some Senate Republican leaders, are questioning whether the House Republican Caucus meetings infringe Mississippi’s Open Meetings Act. This state law governs how government bodies meet. Lt. Governor. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann was elected lieutenant governor in 2020 and became the presiding officer for the Senate. Second-term Republican state Senator Mike Seymour asked whether caucus meetings are legal under the Open Meetings Act. After some research by the Senate staff, Hosemann decided not to convene Senate Republican Caucus meetings. Staff advised him that the Open Meetings Act could be violated. Any public body cannot discuss policy changes in private, except in an executive session. According to state law, a “public body” is defined as any executive or administrative board or commission, authority, authority, department, agency or bureau of the State of Mississippi. It also includes any standing, interim, or special committee of Mississippi’s legislature. The House Republican Caucus has 77 members. According to legislative rules, the quorum of a House is 50%. According to legislative rules, the caucus can pass any bill without the need for a single independent or Democratic vote. This makes private caucus discussions crucial to policymaking. The Mississippi Ethics Commission’s executive director Tom Hood stated that in a 2017 case involving a city council, it was clear that an Open Meetings Act meeting takes place when a quorum of public bodies deliberates on a matter within their authority. Hood did not speculate as to whether the House Republican Caucus meetings were in violation of state law. The Open Meetings Act doesn’t specifically mention legislative caucuses. Caucus meetings are not subject to challenge in courts or before the Mississippi Ethics Commission. When Gunn’s staff was questioned by Mississippi Today, they repeated several times this session that the House Republican Caucus wasn’t obligated to follow the Open Meetings Act since it isn’t a “public body” under the Act. Emily Simmons, Gunn’s communications director, said, “The House Republican Caucus does not have to adhere to the Open Meetings Act.” Gunn’s chief staff officer, Dellinger, also shared the same reasoning with Mississippi Today. This interpretation was used by House leaders to exclude the public from caucus meetings. Two journalists were denied entry to the caucus meeting on March 14, which was about the tax bill. Two journalists were barred entry to the Capitol because of the tension created by Gunn and House leaders’ governance — including the caucus meetings. Political observers claim that the tension between the Senate and House leaders is worse than ever since 2004’s tort reform debate. An anonymous top Senate Republican leader said this: “Take a look in the Senate and House votes. We have Republicans in the Senate who vote how they like or what they believe their districts would vote, even if that is against what Senate leadership wants. This is the right way to do lawmaking. While we may lose some votes it is the only way it works. Everybody can go back and explain to their constituents why they voted as they did. Take a look at House votes. They are always in line with the leadership’s wishes. Do you think that every House Republican agrees with the speaker on every bill they want passed? It’s funny how it works.” READ MORE. Philip Gunn, Delbert Hosemann are still at an impasse over tax cuts. Several House Republicans spoke to Mississippi Today and said that they appreciated the caucus meetings as it allowed them time to discuss concerns and questions about bills before moving into a messy floor or committee debate that could delay final voting or kill them altogether. However, debates of legislation, especially one as transformative as Gunn’s tax plan, are open to the public. The Open Meetings Act helps Mississippians make better decisions about their elected officials and protects them. The House Republican Caucus meetings compromise the democratic process, legal or not. The public can’t understand why their representative isn’t able to fully explain major legislative debates that take place in the Capitol’s back rooms. The constituents are left without any explanation for the votes and concerns of their legislators, as they are stripped of their power. Voters are then forced to make less informed choices at the polls every four year. This kind of dealing is only good for politicians and bad for the people they represent. House leaders might consider reading the reasoning of their legislative predecessors when the Mississippi Open Meetings Act first became law. “It being essential for the fundamental philosophy of American constitutional form of representative governance and to the maintenance of democratic societies that public business be conducted in an open and public manner and that citizens be informed of the performance of public officials, as well as the deliberations, decisions, and decisions that go into making public policy, it is declared that the State of Mississippi’s policy is that the formulation and determination of public policies shall be done at open meetings, except where otherwise.