The Mississippi Legislature is expected to pass and send to the governor this weekend a bill that would establish a state building code for the five counties most impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
David Reddick, senior state affairs manager for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said the bill "represents a good starting point in getting the states' counties and municipalities to adopt more uniform building code standards."
He said Republican Gov. Haley Barbour has previously expressed support for a state building code and will most likely sign the legislation.
For the past few weeks, lawmakers have been negotiating over the number of counties subject to the state code with a House-Senate Conference settling on five this week.
The Senate has approved the report and Mr. Reddick said the House will more than likely do the same before adjournment this weekend. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature.
The bill's Senate champion, Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, said most of the opposition stemmed from the House leadership, which argues that counties should not be dictated to by the state.
In addition, Mr. Reddick said that municipal and county officials objected to having to fund the cost of enforcing the state-imposed code.
But Mr. Chaney and other advocates said that building codes have proved their effectiveness in other states.
In addition, more than three-quarters of Mississippians say they favor adoption of a state building code, according to a survey conducted by the Coalition to Build a Safer and Stronger Mississippi.
"It also showed that half of the respondents thought their county already had a building code when, in fact, only three of 82 counties in Mississippi have a minimum code," Mr. Reddick said.
Among other Gulf Coast states impacted by hurricanes, Louisiana passed a statewide building code last fall, while Florida lawmakers are currently debating lifting the code exemption for the state's Panhandle. A bill has been introduced in the Alabama Legislature but has yet to make it out of its committee of origin, Mr. Reddick said.
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