The graveyard of dead legislation is filled with bills that appeared destined for the law books, only to be snuffed out in the committee rooms of the capitol with little or no explanation. 

Even though one piece of local legislation met that fate Tuesday, Adams County residents should not be content to let the issue perish without knowing why.

Despite overwhelming support from local leaders and local legislators, a bill to change how Natchez-Adams School Board members are chosen died in the Mississippi House’s education committee Tuesday.

The bill to make members of the school board an elected position passed 46-6 last month in the state Senate. The bipartisan support gave reason for optimism that the bill would have the same success in the House.

Any hope of the bill’s passage died when the House education committee failed to advance the legislation to the full House before Tuesday’s deadline. The chairman of the committee Rep. Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, apparently never brought the bill up for consideration.

Committee chairmen, such as Bennett, hold much power in the Mississippi Legislature. They set committee agendas and determine which bills will or will not be considered.

Phone calls and emails requests to Bennett have yet to be answered.

Adams County residents deserve to know why the local legislation, with unanimous support from city and county leaders, never made it past Bennett’s desk.   

An effective government depends on the public’s trust to remain credible and legitimate. Open communication is critical to building and maintaining that trust.

Decisions made behind closed doors, without explanation erodes that trust, leaving constituents to mourn not just the death of a bill, but to wonder about the health of state government as well.