The Sun Herald | 03/04/2004 | New House rules are likely to kill tort reform plan: "majority vote to pull stalled bills out of committee for a vote of the full chamber. Previously, only a simple majority, 62, was required to pull out a bill that was facing death in committee.
The change left some supporters of Barbour's tort reform plan - mostly Republicans - angry at House Speaker Billy McCoy and other Democrats and vowing partisan war this legislative session. So far this session, McCoy, who was targeted in his last election by tort reform supporters, has proved a powerful foil to most every item on Republican Barbour's legislative agenda."

more to come...