NATCHEZ — Rep. Sam Mims boasted Wednesday about a structurally sound budget and key pieces of legislation from the recent legislative session.

Speaking to the Rotary Club of Natchez, the legislator said those things were all possible because of a united Republican House of Representatives.

That’s only been the case since 2011, Mims said, when the Republicans gained the majority.

“I had a friend ask me, ‘Does that really matter?’ and it absolutely matters who is in charge,” said Mims, who has been serving District 97 for 11 years. “Now, we’ve been able to get our agenda passed and get pieces of legislation we think are important passed.”

A top priority for Mims going into the 2014 legislative session was creating a budget that would fund the necessities, but also creating a rainy day fund.

Legislators were able to pass a budget with nearly $400 million in the rainy day fund.

“This budget is one of the best that’s been passed in the last 15 to 20 years,” Mims said. “Some legislators are out there saying, ‘You need to spent that $400 million and worry about the rest tomorrow.’

“We’re going to make sure we have that money in the bank.”

Mims also spoke about a bill he sponsored that received criticism across the state and even nation.

The bill implements drug screenings for some applicants who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Mims said the point of the bill was not to kick Mississippians off the program, but instead about helping them improve their lives.

A Mississippian who applies for TANF benefits will now be required to take a questionnaire. If those results come back saying the resident has a high probability of drug use, they will be asked to take a drug test, Mims said.

“If he comes back positive, we’ll get him some help,” Mims said. “We want to help this population, and if we can help them become better community members and moms and dads with the goal of getting them off the dependency of the government, isn’t that what we want them to do?”

Mims took questions from Rotarians after his speech, including one from Walter Tipton, who is the director of the Natchez Convention Center.

Tipton asked Mims why the legislature only appropriated $6 million to tourism. Those figures, Tipton said, are low when compared to surrounding states, such as Louisiana that funds tourism with $20 million.

“Tourism is important to Natchez and important to our state,” Tipton said.

Mims said he agreed with Tipton and that he would continue to work to allot more funding to tourism in the next session.

“For some reason, that has been a difficult issue for the last three years in the Capitol,” Mims said. “We have to set it as a priority, because I do know how important that is.”