House votes to sell Mississippi’s state jet

A bill brought before the state legislature last week could influence the way USM administration officials view the plane they currently lease from the USM Foundation.

The Mississippi House of Representatives voted Wednesday 66 to 54 in favor of selling the jet Governor Haley Barbour uses to travel around the country.

The USM plane has been a topic of discussion since the lease was signed. The agreement will expire in 2013.

Martha Saunders, president of USM, said she believes all universities are looking at ways to lower their budgets given the cuts in funding that education has received this year.

While Saunders has considered time-sharing the plane with other institutions in the area, she has yet to make a decision on the matter.

“We will take a look at the pros and cons of time-sharing when the lease is up in a few years,” Saunders said. “At this point, we do not have the option of making any changes in that lease.”

Toby Barker, representative of district 102, said this is the second year the state plane proposal has been brought to the state legislature.

Barker said last year representatives were told the plane could be sold for $3.2 million.

“The bill would put that money into the car tag fund,” Barker said. “While our car tags are high, the car tag fund keeps costs lower than they would otherwise be.”

Despite the favorable vote in the House, Barker doubts the senate will pick the bill up this year. 

Last year, the proposal died in the senate.

At the moment, the question of the lease of the USM Foundation plane is up in the air. 

Because the university does not have the luxury of altering the lease at this time, the administration is forced to cut funding from other areas of the Southern Miss community.