Mississippi
Poll: 80% of Mississippians favor Medicaid expansion
![Poll: 80% of Mississippians favor Medicaid expansion Poll: 80% of Mississippians favor Medicaid expansion](https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Greenwood-Leflore3-scaled.jpg?fit=2560,1708&ssl=1)
A large majority of Mississippians throughout partisan and demographic traces help increasing Medicaid to supply well being protection for the working poor, in keeping with a newly launched Mississippi Right now/Siena Faculty ballot.
The ballot confirmed 80% of respondents — together with 70% of Republicans — both strongly agree or considerably agree the state ought to “settle for federal funds to broaden Medicaid.”
The numbers seem to indicate a continued shift of voter sentiment in what has lengthy been a partisan battle. Mississippi’s elected Republican governors and different leaders for the final decade have blocked Medicaid growth by way of the Inexpensive Care Act and the billions in federal {dollars} that will have include it. This resistance continues whilst struggling hospitals and extra residents within the poorest, unhealthiest state cry for assist.
“Sure, I help it,” mentioned Pleasure Cevera, 60, a Republican voter from Oxford who mentioned she usually helps Gov. Tate Reeves however disagrees with him on Medicaid growth. A number of ballot respondents agreed to speak with Mississippi Right now about their responses.
For Cevera, a disability-retired cook dinner, the difficulty is private.
“I was one of many working poor,” she mentioned. “I watched my son undergo as a result of I couldn’t afford medical look after him … He’s now 35, and I’m nonetheless watching him undergo as a result of he’s one of many working poor. There’s acquired to be one thing performed. If different states can do it, why can’t we?”
The ballot confirmed giant majorities throughout partisan and demographic traces strongly help the state’s hospitals, giant and small, being adequately funded and a majority consider state authorities has a duty to assist poor, working individuals pay for fundamental healthcare. Huge majorities, together with 91% of Republican voters, agree each Mississippian ought to have entry to good well being care.
“I believe we do have a duty as a society to assist people, and typically the oldsters you’re serving to aren’t your favourite people, however too unhealthy,” mentioned Brad Dickey, 58, an engineer from Southaven who mentioned he votes Republican no less than 90% of the time. “The appropriate to dwell is a fundamental proper … They need to broaden it. We’re an unhealthy state … I inform my pals who say they don’t need to give cash to individuals who don’t work or can’t afford insurance coverage, ‘Sure, however they’ve youngsters.’
“They’ve to have one thing, in any other case what they do is go to the emergency room,” Dickey continued. “It will be far more inexpensive care if performed one other approach. It stresses the hospitals, and sure, we find yourself paying for it anyway.”
Editor’s be aware: Ballot methodology and crosstabs might be discovered on the backside of this story. Click on right here to learn extra about our partnership with Siena Faculty Analysis Institute.
Mississippi is considered one of 11 states to refuse growth. The choice means the state is refusing about $1 billion a 12 months in federal funding meant to assist poor states present healthcare, and leaving as much as 300,000 working Mississippians with out protection.
In the meantime, well being officers say 38 rural hospitals are in peril of closure, largely because of consuming the price of offering care to indigent sufferers. A few of these hospitals are bigger regional care facilities, resembling Greenwood Leflore Hospital, and even bigger metro space hospitals are struggling financially due to uncompensated care prices.
However 14% of voters, together with 23% of Republicans, in keeping with the ballot, stay against Medicaid growth. A few of these, resembling small enterprise proprietor Joseph Allen, 42, of Brandon, see it as a difficulty of equity and an excessive amount of of their tax {dollars} going to social or entitlement applications.
“I pay for my very own insurance coverage myself, and it’s some huge cash,” Allen mentioned. “… To me it’s like the identical outdated damaged document in America. The extra you place in, the extra you’re penalized. The more durable you’re employed, the extra they take.”
Unbiased voter Michelle Dukes, 52, a homemaker and caregiver in Edwards, mentioned beforehand working 15 years within the psychological well being providers subject confirmed Medicaid is a flawed program and “the system must be mounted earlier than they broaden it.”
For some voters, help of Medicaid growth comes with caveats and limits.
“I help it, however in a really particular approach,” mentioned Robby Raymond, 47, a heavy tools operator who helps Gov. Reeves and is pals with him from their hometown in Florence.
“I do consider we have to do extra to assist the working poor, or the retired,” Raymond mentioned. “… However for the people who find themselves capable of work that don’t and suppose they want help — what they want is a job. That’s our massive downfall on this complete nation, that we don’t do sufficient to assist the folks that need assistance, and do an excessive amount of for the individuals who don’t want it … I’ve been lucky and at all times had an excellent job, made good cash and had insurance coverage. However there’s plenty of individuals I do know that wrestle.
“I do disagree with Tate Reeves (on Medicaid growth), however I nonetheless speak with him a few instances a 12 months, and I do know that he additionally shares my viewpoint that we should always do extra to assist our retired and our working poor,” Raymond mentioned.
Tim Moore, president of the Mississippi Hospital Affiliation and advocate for Medicaid growth, mentioned he was not stunned to see widespread help for growth, however the numbers had been somewhat greater than he would have anticipated.
“I’ve for a very long time thought it’s no less than 65%-70%, merely due to the excessive numbers we acquired on our final ballot simply with Republican voters,” Moore mentioned. “An awesome majority of Mississippians help it. I don’t know the way our management ignores that.”
Moore mentioned MHA participated in polling in 2019, gearing up for a poll initiative drive for voters to pressure Medicaid growth over legislative reluctance. However the state Supreme Court docket, in a ruling on medical marijuana, invalidated the state’s poll initiative system and lawmakers have but to revive that proper to voters.
Moore famous that South Dakota, like Mississippi, was lengthy a maintain out on Medicaid growth due to partisan politics. South Dakota voted 56% to 44% final 12 months to broaden Medicaid.
“South Dakota can also be a really crimson state,” Moore mentioned. “Their governor made a public assertion that she didn’t help it, but when that’s what South Dakotans wished, she would put it in place.
“I’m very inspired by the numbers this new ballot is reflecting,” Moore mentioned. “Mississippi is seeing the necessity for change.”
State Rep. Tracy Arnold, a conservative Republican from Booneville, mentioned he’s not stunned on the help the ballot confirmed for Medicaid growth. He not too long ago did some casual polling of his constituents on Fb, and mentioned he estimates help was 90% to 95%, “So long as you’re speaking concerning the working poor.”
“I’m not stunned, as a result of that’s the one portion of our society that’s neglected of the whole lot — working individuals and small enterprise homeowners,” Arnold mentioned. Arnold mentioned he’s enthusiastic about “some kind of hybrid,” growth, maybe just like that enacted by Arkansas.
“Perhaps have some purchase in, like regular insurance coverage with copay for visits and medicines, or perhaps a voucher to allow them to purchase insurance coverage on the non-public market,” Arnold mentioned. He mentioned he may additionally help serving to seniors who wrestle to pay for supplemental insurance coverage for Medicare.
Arnold mentioned that though the management has thwarted voting or debate on Medicaid growth in recent times, he suspects will probably be no less than debated when different points are introduced up, such because the Senate’s push to broaden postpartum protection for moms.
“I believe individuals are somewhat extra open minded about it than they had been,” Arnold mentioned. “We have now a considerable quantity of income now. We have now to assist save our struggling hospitals, and this is able to not solely be giving hospitals extra funding, it will hep the struggling taxpaying citizen.
“There’s only some states left that haven performed this, and it seems to be offering some profit and providers the place they’ve,” Arnold mentioned. “… My place is, I’ll take heed to the individuals I characterize.”
The Mississippi Right now/Siena Faculty Analysis Institute ballot of 821 registered voters was performed Jan. 8-12 and has an total margin of error of +/- 4.6 share factors. Siena has an A score in FiveThirtyEight’s evaluation of pollsters.
Click on right here for full methodology and crosstabs related to this story.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Mississippi
Playing for Mississippi State not an option for Arizona State back Kyson ‘Sipp’ Brown
Arizona State forces 3 turnovers in win over Wyoming to start 2024
All offseason, coach Kenny Dillingham preached getting turnovers. Forty seconds into the season’s first game, the defense produced its first one.
Sophomore running back Kyson Brown is one of the faster players on the Arizona State football team. But Brown seems to have a little more pep in his step this week. Why? Well, the Sun Devils (1-0) are set to take on Mississippi State (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Sure an SEC opponent is enough to get any athlete fired up. But the 6-foot, 200-pounder hails from Tupelo, Mississippi, which is where he got his nickname, Sipp. Tupelo is 67 miles north of the Mississippi State campus in Starkville that Sipp has visited a handful of times.
“I have family, growing up they were all Mississipp State fans and some Ole Miss fans,” he said. “Some of my family are debating whether they want to cheer for me or not. It’s going to be good. A lot of hometown friends. Got a couple guys I went to high school with there. It’s going to be good seeing those guys and hopefully, we compete at a good level and get the W.”
Brown, a mechanical engineering major, is enrolled in ASU’s Barret honors program, He emerged as one of the team’s most improved players. He saw some time on special teams as a true freshman in 2023 and has set himself up for a bigger role, although the ASU backfield has a lot of depth.
In the last week’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, Brown pitched in with six rushing attempts for 25 yards and two receptions for 73 yards. His 68-yard touchdown reception was the longest play from scrimmage that ASU had on the night.
“It felt amazing just to get back in the end zone again,” Brown said. “You come out of high school, you know I’m used to being in the end zone every game, all the time. That play, I knew — once I made the first guy miss — I knew I wasn’t going to let anybody catch me.”
Brown lived in Mississippi until moving to Lancaster, Texas, outside of Dallas, after his sophomore year of high school. He sat out junior year after the transfer. As a senior he averaged 9.5 yards per carry, finishing with 707 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries while adding 14 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Sitting out his junior year hurt his recruiting, but he still had notable offers from Purdue, Missouri and Houston. The balance of his options were lower-profile schools. Mississippi State didn’t offer.
He is happy with the end result. A place on the ASU football roster. In the offseason, he worked on his agility, flexibility and catching the ball, which was evident in his recent scoring play.
“We all have the big-play potential,” he said of his fellow running backs. “I feel my role is to make plays, wherever they put me be able to perform.”
Mississippi
Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why
![Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/30/PJAM/73515915007-tcl-legislature-06.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2999,1687,x0,y100&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Lawmakers, PERS director agree they must work together in the future
How to plan for retirement using an online calculator
Retirement calculators can give you an idea of when you’ll financially be able to retire.
Problem Solved
State lawmakers will need to readdress concerns about the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi in 2025 if it is to remain viable long term, according to a July study.
Legislative actions in the 2024 Session to reduce public employer contribution rate hikes and increase state funding are not enough to address billions in unfunded future benefits to retirees, according to a report released by the Legislature’s third-party watchdog group, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee.
Projections show the state’s retirement plan being less than 50% fully funded by 2047 and having $25 billion in liabilities. According to several municipal leaders who spoke to the Clarion Ledger earlier this year, the legislative move from lawmakers in the past session should save public employers from cutting positions and raising taxes to keep and hire more public employees.
“Change in approach for increasing the employer contribution rate, in addition to the one-time funds transfer, reduces the plan’s projected future funded ratio from 65.5% to 49.9%,” the report reads. “…The PERS plan is currently expected to be at a lower-funded level in the future than it currently is today.”
PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins told the Clarion Ledger he wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings.
“The PEER analysis seems to be an accurate report and generally reconciles with our information,” Higgins said. “Also, the legislative action from last session appears to be a short-term solution.”
While the report does not list out any specific recommendations for lawmakers this coming year, it says continued work will be necessary to fix the retirement system that has 118,000 retirees receiving benefits and 147,000 active members paying into the system.
In 2023, the PERS governing board, made up of mostly elected members, as advised by financial actuaries who watch over the state’s retirement plan, passed a rate increase on public employers, such as cities, counties and school districts from 17.40% to 19.90% that was to take effect July 1. The rate would have continued to increase to 22.4% by 2027.
In the 2024 Session, the Legislature passed two bills. Senate 3231, prohibits the PERS Board’s plan to gradually increase the employer contribution rate and replaces it with a plan to increase to 19.90% over the next five years in 0.5% annual increases. SB 3231 also takes the board’s only regulatory power to increase rates and puts it in the hands of the Legislature.
SB 2468 enacts a one-time transfer of $110 million of capital expense funds into the PERS trust.
More on PERS bill MS Legislature passes bill restricting state retirement board’s authority
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Rupp Smith told the Clarion Ledger efforts Hosemann helped push forward that resulted in those bills’ passage led to a potentially more stable retirement system.
“To avoid this calamity while developing a future solution, the Legislature adopted a less-aggressive employer increase,” Smith wrote via email. “We are now informed the plan has a projected future funding ratio of 65.5% as of 2047, as compared to 48.6% projected one year ago.”
Republican House Speaker Jason White’s Communications Director Taylor Spillman did not reply to several emails requesting White’s comments on the report.
What are the big problems?
Higgins previously said the ratio of retirees to active members has seen a reverse trend since 2013, when there were 93,000 retirees and 162,000 active members. This increases the unfunded liability of the system as fewer people take jobs in government, reducing active members and more people retire, increasing the funding obligation of PERS.
The other issue lies with projections for the retirement plan’s future if state lawmakers decide not to take action in the years to come.
“While the ($110 million) funding for the first year is comparable, each year in the future could potentially see a greater deviation in expected employer contribution revenues for the PERS plan,” the report reads. “This deviation does not immediately constitute a problem for the PERS plan; however, careful evaluation of the plan’s future liabilities and funding needs will be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the PERS plan.”
Are there any solutions?
Higgins and Smith both said future work on PERS is still a top priority.
Higgins specifically mentioned a new retirement benefits package that could be offered to new public sector employees, which the PERS board has called tier 5.
“The Board has previously recommended a tier 5 for new employees to help better sustain PERS in the future and is currently considering what may be included or resubmitted in next year’s legislative package,” Higgins said.
Read about new Medicaid program Mississippi Medicaid prenatal care access program still awaiting federal approval. Why?
Earlier this year, Hosemann told the Clarion Ledger he wanted to see evidence that a new tier of benefits could help maintain the retirement system long term. Smith did not confirm whether Hosemann’s office is currently studying that idea in the legislative off season, but she did say the Legislature is looking at several ideas.
“The Legislature is exploring any option for a more viable plan,” Smith said. “The Lt. Governor continues to be committed to fulfilling current employee and retiree benefits, including the cost-of-living adjustment for these individuals.”
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
Mississippi
Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies?
![Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies? Mississippi votes conservative. Are we going to see more conservative policies?](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/07/15/PJAM/89169fbe-3f64-4f81-81fd-727f995bada2-Douglas_Carswell.jpg?auto=webp&crop=554,312,x3,y96&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Waiting for my suitcase in the arrivals hall at Jackson airport the other evening, it occurred to me that the luggage carrousel was a pretty good metaphor for Mississippi politics.
Like suitcases on a carrousel, many leaders simply sit on the conveyor belt of state politics, waiting their turn to get moved along to the next role.
Too often leaders are carried along by time and process, rarely offering any vision as to what our state should do differently. That explains why Mississippi conservatives have achieved less in 12 years than Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama have accomplished in the past 12 months. Louisiana did not even have a Republican governor this time last year, yet they’ve already passed universal school choice.
Things could be about to change if House Speaker Jason White has his way. This week, White announced that he will be hosting a Tax Policy Summit on Sept. 24 to take a deep dive into the prospects for tax reform.
My friend, Grover Norquist, will be speaking, as will Gov Reeves, as well as leading conservative figures from the state Legislature.
Having a conversation in public matters because in the past the leadership in our state Senate has done what it can to head off tax cuts. Bringing the facts of what can and cannot be done into the open makes it far harder for anyone to keep finding new excuses to oppose actual conservative policy.
Sunshine is the best disinfectant against the putrid politics of backroom deals. We have seen far too many backroom maneuvers used to kill off good conservative policy in this state. Back in 2022, Mississippi passed a law to cut the state income tax to a flat 4 percent. This $525 million tax cut, driven forward by Speaker Philip Gunn and Gov Reeves, benefited 1.2 million taxpayers and their families. But we must not forget how some in the Senate fought against it — not in the open, of course.
Weak Senate leadership has a history of opposing conservative proposals in our state. Seldom do they have the courage to come out and explicitly kill off conservative measures. Instead, they do it on the sly. The Senate leadership maneuvered to stop anti-DEI legislation in 2024. I don’t recall anyone coming out and explaining why they opposed anti-DEI law. They just killed it in committee with a nudge and wink.
For three years in a row, the Senate leadership has killed off attempts to restore the ballot initiative. Again, those against resorting the ballot lack the courage to say they are against it. They killed that, too, on the sly.
Rep Rob Roberson’s excellent school funding reform bill, perhaps the only big strategic achievement of this year’s session, passed despite attempts to scupper it by some in the Senate. (Part of the backroom deal to get the bill passed was to change its name. It really was that petty.) When the Senate leadership wants to oppose an authentically conservative policy, they follow a now familiar pattern.
A reason is cited as to why what is being proposed can’t be done. School choice, we were once told, would be unconstitutional. An anti-DEI law, it was implied, was unnecessary because there was no DEI on campus.
Once that excuse is shown to be nonsense (there is no constitutional bar to school choice, DEI is rampant on campus), another excuse is promptly conjured up. And on it goes.
Each time the Senate leadership opposes conservative policy this way, I wonder what their alternatives are. The answer is that most of the time there are none. It is pretty low grade to oppose ideas simply because they are not your own. Eventually, of course, a suitcase that sits on the carousel for too long ends up in lost luggage.
As a direct consequence of the 2022 Reeves-Gunn tax cuts, Mississippi is now starting to see a flood of inward investment into the state.
Every time you hear about a new factory opening up in our state, remember who and what helped make it happen. I am very optimistic that this tax summit could see further progress to make our state more competitive.
— Douglas Carswell is the president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
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