Candidate for Mississippi Attorney General, State Representative Mark Baker, was guest speaker at the January meeting of the Winston County Republican Women, held at Lake Tiak O’Khata, Monday, January 21.
Baker was first elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 2004, representing District 74 which currently includes parts of Rankin County and which previously also included parts of Madison County. As Republican Leader from 2007 -2011, Baker coordinated the recruitment, fundraising and campaign efforts which led to a Republican majority in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 2012 for the first time since Reconstruction. Representative Baker is Chairman of the House Judiciary En Banc and Judiciary A Committees and is a member of the Appropriations, Banking and Finance, Transportation and Investigate State Offices Committees.
Baker has seen some very positive changes in his years in Congress. In 2004 the State was saddled with an $800M deficit, but with much hard work and leadership from Gov. Haley Barbour, within three years the deficit was eliminated. Even so, Republicans were in the minority and unable to pass conservative legislation such as protection for the unborn and 2nd Amendment protections.
Tort reform was another big issue that had to be dealt with by the legislature. Many communities had difficulty recruiting doctors, due to the high cost of insurance, and businesses were one lawsuit away from bankruptcy. Mississippi was ranked 49th by a Harris Poll as dealing with the civil justice system. However, even after passing the most comprehensive tort reform in the country, the state has only moved up to 45 in the poll.
Baker stated that the civil justice system, administered through the Attorney General’s office is crippling our economy. He said, “Since 2009, our current Attorney General has given out over 110 no-bid, no-lose, contingency contracts to out-of-state lawyers to sue basically every business that will stand still long enough to get served with process.” He added that those lawyers have been paid $110M-$120M in contingency fees, none of which was appropriated by the legislature.
Baker stated that his position is if a business needs to be sued, it should be done by the Attorney General and the lawyers working for him, and use the $110M for other needs in the state.
Baker added that Mississippi had never had a true conservative in the Attorney General’s office, and our current Attorney General has not been on the forefront of protecting Mississippians.
He stated that it is easy to verify his stances in that every vote he has ever taken is online, and that the State needs an Attorney General who will truly partner with the President.
Baker said, “You have to have a passion to do what need to be done, and you’ve got to have the willingness, and you’ve got to have the experience, ‘cause this ain’t no dog and pony show. This is as serious as it gets.”
