Last Thursday, Mississippi Sen. Joseph Seymour (R-Vancleave) introduced a bill to the state legislature that would “delete the authority of public governing entities to move historical monuments and memorials.”
Seymour’s bill, SB2068, was introduced on the same day that the IHL Board of Trustees tabled an agenda item to decide whether or not to give final approval on the relocation of the Confederate monument to the Confederate cemetery. IHL Trustee Tom Duff made the motion to table the agenda item, citing a need for more information from the university before proceeding with the relocation.
If passed, SB 2068 would prohibit the relocation, removal or destruction of monuments from the “Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, War Between the states, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, War in Iraq or Native American Wars.” The bill was assigned to the Public Property Committee and has not yet been voted on by committee or the full senate.
Seymour also introduced SB 2045, which if passed, would require government entities and public colleges or universities that receive state funding to fly the official Mississippi state flag. Seymour’s bill recommends that the state withhold funding from entities who do not comply.
Seymour could not be immediately reached at the time of publication.
