Monday morning legislators will convene in Jackson for a specialsession to consider Governor Ronnie Musgrove’s economic developmentplan.

Musgrove called the session to allow legislators the opportunityto focus on the single issue because of his fear that his planwould be lost in the shuffle of the regular legislative session inJanuary.

The special session is a gamble for the governor in that he isputting all of his political eggs in a one basket. If he issuccessful in getting his economic initiative passed, his politicalstock as a “can do” governor will be increased significantly. If hefails, he may be licking his wounds for some time.

Politics aside, the Advantage Mississippi Initiative seems to bea sound plan that should give the opportunity for Mississippi tobecome more competitive against surrounding states in attractingnew industry. It should be successful helping raise the payrolllevels by attracting higher-paying, more-specialized jobs.

Mississippi for so long has regionalized itself with one regiongetting more of the plums of the economic development pie overanother. Political power has seen to it that when industry camelooking, certain areas got preferential treatment. And GovernorMusgrove is correct when he says southwest Mississippi has been onthe short end of the stick when it comes to splitting the economicdevelopment pie. A look at the state highway construction planconfirms that.

There are parts of the plan that maybe troublesome, but all inall, the plan appears to be sound and deserves a proper debate withstrong consideration by our legislative delegation.