We are glad the city of Oxford found a way to get funds to the Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation and hope the county finds a way to do the same quickly.

The EDF is an engine that recruits businesses and industry to Lafayette County and is possibly the area’s biggest official cheerleader.

It is beyond beneficial that the city no longer has to go through the state capitol and use legislation coming out of the Local and Private Committee to fund the EDF. One less level of bureaucracy will help the people of Oxford and Lafayette County see quicker results and less red tape.

The rumor was House Speaker Philip Gunn was dissatisfied with Jay Hughes and therefore did not let the Lafayette County legislation come out of committee, and therefore the bill died.

Whether the rumor is true or not, it is how politics works. There are many, many important bills that did not come out of committees in the hallways of Jackson this session. It is up to us to look at what is most important to us, see how our topics fared in committees and vote accordingly at the next opportunity.

We thank the city and county for finding ways around this red tape to get necessary funds to the EDF.