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In discussions about the highest-paying career paths and college degrees, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is often viewed as a golden ticket. Yet access to the field isn’t equal. Minority groups — such as African American, Hispanic, and Native American individuals — are less likely to pursue STEM college degrees or professions. Women are also underrepresented.

To help combat the problem, SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy launched to promote equity in STEM education. The Mississippi-based institution focuses its recruitment on underrepresented minorities, instilling a love for lifelong learning while
preparing its students for emerging STEM opportunities in the state.

Introducing the Academy

The SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy is a public charter school that hosts children from kindergarten age to the 5th grade. As the name suggests, it has a comprehensive STEM curriculum and aims to help its students secure college places. The school was launched in partnership with the nonprofit SR1 (Scientific Research), which works with public and private organizations to offer more educational opportunities to minority groups in Mississippi.

To facilitate learning, the institution is building a 200-acre campus with learning spaces inspired by nature (proven to boost creativity and lower stress), plus a blend of indoor and outdoor learning. It also has a dedicated teaching team, with an approach that emphasizes critical thinking and intellectual curiosity over rote memorization.

Despite a strong focus on educational attainment, the SR1 Academy recognizes that a student’s future success comes down to more than just their grades, so it goes above and beyond to facilitate a holistic curriculum with lots of extracurriculars. This includes plans to carry out regular trips to destinations like the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and STEM centers to inspire its students.

“As pioneers in STEM-focused education, SR1 CPSA is committed to leveling the playing field and empowering underrepresented minorities to excel in STEM fields,” says school founder Tamu Green.

The Rise of STEM in Mississippi

Mississippi is known by many for its eponymous river, and few people would associate it with science, engineering, or technology. Yet the state is set to be the home of numerous exciting advancements in STEM-related fields that are reshaping the economic landscape and making it a hub for future opportunities. This means Mississippi is the ideal location for a STEM-focused school.

In January 2024, state legislators approved incentives to build an EV battery factory in Marshall County. Four companies will be investing a combined $1.9 billion into the project, which aims to bring manufacturing to the US instead of relying on imports from foreign nations like China. It promises to provide 2,000 jobs to the area, with an average salary of $66,000 — offering fantastic career opportunities for those studying engineering-related subjects.

The state may also be on the cusp of building two data centers worth a total $10 billion in Madison County. A large (unnamed) company has been in talks with the Mississippi Legislature to seek approval for the project. If it goes forward, it will create 1,000 jobs, with salaries at least 125% above the average state wage. The initiative would also be the largest capital investment in Mississippi’s history.

These are just two of the most prominent examples of projects underway in Mississippi, and they both demonstrate that the STEM sector offers high-paying work. Lawmakers are also striving to bring economic development initiatives to other parts of the state to spread the wealth.

Economic Mobility and Growth

College has often been known as the great equalizer in society, promising graduates stable careers and high salaries. Recently, some have questioned this narrative due to high numbers of graduates meaning many struggle to find work in their fields, along with stifling student debt. Yet this doesn’t necessarily mean that education isn’t a driver of economic mobility anymore.

The college wage premium is an economic concept demonstrating the difference in lifetime earnings between a graduate and someone with no education beyond a high school diploma. Overall, the college wage premium is flattening, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco — but lifetime earnings are still higher for graduates, showing that college remains a sound investment. However, the subject a college student chooses has a huge impact on earning potential.

In a report by Georgetown University about the economic value of different college majors, significant discrepancies were found between subjects. Petroleum engineering graduates earned far more than their peers in other fields, with median earnings of $120,000. Other STEM fields were also at the top of the list — Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Mathematical and Computer Sciences graduates both enjoyed average earnings above $100,000. Meanwhile, the lowest-earning category was mostly populated by non-STEM subjects, such as Early Childhood Education and Counseling Psychology. 

The analysis becomes even more complex when accounting for different ethnic backgrounds For instance, wages of black and Hispanic high school graduates have increased more quickly than college graduates in recent years (while wages increased at roughly the same rate for white individuals). This may be due to differences in subject choices.

A report about Diversity and STEM from the National Science Foundation found that 18% of the black and African American population works in STEM occupations (with the other 82% working in non-STEM occupations). Hispanics had a similar proportion, with 20% working in STEM. Meanwhile, 25% of the white workforce are in the STEM sector. There’s also discrepancies between the genders, with 29% of the male workforce yet 18% of the female workforce occupying STEM professions. 

Even more concerning is that the median wage for white people in the STEM field is almost $66k, compared to an average of $45,480 for Hispanics and $54,734 for black and African American individuals.

The SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy hopes to correct this discrepancy by encouraging those from underrepresented groups to pursue STEM early on in their education, empowering them to choose college degrees and professions in the field.

This is a critical driver for economic impact and societal advancement. When certain groups are insufficiently represented, it isn’t just detrimental to those groups — it also has a negative impact on society and the economy, as future talent is lost, and innovation is hindered. In contrast, education and equity have the power to boost economic growth and foster innovation.

SR1 CPSA is excited to announce that we are offering FREE school supplies and uniform vouchers to families who fully enroll. Join us in giving your children the resources they need for a successful school year!  For more information visit our website at www.sr1cpsa.org , email: info@sr1cpsa.org or call: 769.275.0330.

The post New STEM school in Mississippi to boost economic growth and equity appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-at-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Natalie Moore, Peer Wellness Support Services Coordinator for the Mississippi Mental Health Association. Moore and Ramsey share their experiences battling mental health issues and the Congregational Recovery Outreach Program’s upcoming mental health summit.

CROP is a faith-based, grant program that aims to help individuals recovering from substance use disorders and mental illnesses.

The post Mississippi Stories: Natalie Moore appeared first on Mississippi Today.

U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate ordered the release of government benefits data on Tuesday to allow Jackson’s third-party water manager to carry out a first-of-its-kind approach to billing.

The order calls on government agencies, mainly the Mississippi Department of Human Services, to release data to the manager, JXN Water, showing who in the capital city receives benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Late last year, JXN Water’s Ted Henifin released a new billing system proposal that would raise rates for most but provide discounted bills for those receiving SNAP.

The proposal hit a snag in the last few months, as both MDHS and the U.S. Department of Justice opposed JXN Water’s motions asking the court to require that the agencies release a list of SNAP recipients. The two agencies argued that doing so would violate privacy laws that are a part of the program. MDHS also said it didn’t have the capacity to provide such assistance without funding.

In Tuesday’s order, Wingate says that JXN Water’s SNAP discounts are equivalent to a federal assistance program.

“The prompt implementation of the most recent rate schedule is critical to ensuring that residents pay equitably for public drinking water and sewer services,” the judge wrote.

In its proposal, JXN Water said the new discounts would save those residents 69 cents a day on average. Census data from 2022 shows that almost 10,000 Jackson households, or about 16% of the city’s homes, receive SNAP. When presenting the new structure last November, Henifin said the model would be the first of its kind in the country for a water system.

But since the new water bill system went into place in on Feb. 1, JXN Water says it hasn’t been able to apply the discounts because it doesn’t know who receives SNAP. Wingate’s order this week gives the government agencies until the of month, April 30, to provide the data and requires them to give quarterly updates of the list of recipients starting in July.

The post Wingate orders release of SNAP data for JXN Water discounts appeared first on Mississippi Today.

His Masters performance reinforces Scottie Scheffler’s role as golf’s No. 1 guy, but watch out for Ludvig Aberg. Plus, the Ole Miss baseball team shows that reports of its early demise were greatly exaggerated. Lane Kiffin shows what many of us have suspected all along: Spring football games are a waste of energy. The Clevelands also take a dive into the WNBA draft.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: It’s Scottie Scheffler’s world and the rest of us golf in it. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In December 2001, with the support of a diverse group of people, businesses, and community organizations, Link Centre opened on Main Street in Tupelo. Although at 17 years old, I (Melanie Deas) vowed to never return to Mississippi, I found myself saying yes to the role of Executive Director in January 2007. 

Link Centre is a multi-faceted place. It’s a nonprofit organization, a community partner, a landlord, an artist co-op, a transit center, an entrepreneurial incubator, an event venue, a storm shelter, a medical clinic, a referral service, an imaginative reuse of an historic property, a movie set, a neighborhood lighthouse, a creative academy, a sacred space – and a place where people with many different opinions on many different topics regularly cross paths. We proudly name “respectful,” “compassionate,” and “responsible” among our core operating principles. We are intentional about being a place of acceptance and art – something that doesn’t always make us popular, but we believe it does make us essential. 

We strive to build a community in which people and organizations could work together and learn from each other. In spite of our efforts, however, we continue to see people growing further apart. We seem to be finding less common ground. Particularly since the pandemic, we seem to be less interested in interacting with other people. Over the same period of time, multiple studies show that more than 75% of Americans are exhausted by political division and view escalating polarization as a threat to our country’s survival. These facts are what excited us most when we heard of the opportunity to partner with National Week of Conversation. 

We want to be part of the movement to provide people opportunities to take positive action to reverse the troubling trends of polarization. We believe that the best way we can do that is by acting on a hyper-local scale. Indeed, this is where Link Centre thrives. Our vision is to “Celebrate creativity. Engage partners. Build community. Enrich lives.” These principles are similar to the values that ground National Week of Conversation. 

Like others across the country, we believe in building a better community; and Link Centre’s programs depend on people being willing to gather in public. We consider it an honor and a responsibility to offer art as a way for our community members to explore their differences while uniting in common activities. For these reasons, we are proud to offer two opportunities to come together, share a meal, and begin a conversation about how we might build a better North Mississippi. 

This year, Link Centre will screen two Better Together Film Festival selections; the first on April 16, featuring “LIST(e)N”, the second on Wednesday, April 17 featuring “Purple: America, We Need to Talk”. By providing one evening screening and one lunchtime screening, we hope that we can reach as many people as possible. 

We invite you to join us. We are ready to listen. 

Join the conversation.

Join us at Noon on Friday, April 19 for a VIRTUAL lunch and learn session exploring tools to make us better listeners, and in turn, better equipped to engage in meaningful conversations across differences.

The session will be led by Dr. Graham Bodie, professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Media and Communication in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.

This event is free and open to the public. Register to receive more information.

REGISTER FOR FREE

The post Tupelo’s Link Centre celebrates creativity to build community appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Powerful business groups are urging legislative leaders “to work together” to improve health care access as they negotiate whether to expand Medicaid coverage for Mississippians and by how much.

“Access to healthcare is not just about individual health, but about the well being of our entire community,” the Mississippi Economic Council, Mississippi Manufacturers Association and the Business and Industry Political Education Committee said in a letter to House Speaker Jason White. “It means a healthier population, a healthier work force and an improved quality of life, all of which contribute to stronger Mississippi communities.”

White released the letter on social media and said, “We appreciate the business community’s support to provide healthcare access to low-income Mississippians. A healthy economy is dependent on a healthy workforce.”

The House, where White presides, has passed legislation to expand Medicaid as is allowed under federal law to cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level or about $20,000 per year for an individual. The Senate’s proposal would expand Medicaid to those working and earning less than 100% of the federal poverty level or about $15,000 annually.

House and Senate leaders are in the process of trying to hammer out their differences on the issue.

While the business groups did not explicitly endorse either plan, they did say they routinely expected state leaders to “responsibly” use federal dollars for education, infrastructure and for other services.

“Let’s give our hospitals and healthcare experts the same opportunity so hard-working Mississippians will benefit,” the letter leaders said.

Under the House plan, the federal government would pay 90% of the health care costs for those covered by Medicaid expansion. Under the Senate plan, the federal government will pay about 77% of the costs, which, according to studies, means fewer Mississippians would be covered at a significantly higher cost to the state under the Senate plan.

In addition, under the House plan, the state would receive an additional nearly $700 million over a two-year period, which the federal government is offering to the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.

The post Business leaders urge legislators mulling Medicaid expansion to improve access to health care appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Charles and Cheryl Penson shuffled up the steps of a bus in Tupelo at 4 a.m. on Tuesday to begin a long day’s trek to the state Capitol. 

The reason the Pensons, both of whom are ministers, traveled over three hours to the seat of Mississippi’s government is they know several people in rural northeast Mississippi, including one of their own daughters, who could benefit from expanded Medicaid coverage. 

Their daughter is a businesswoman and a single mother, they said, who works hard at her job, but she could use assistance with health care costs, especially to help her young child who has experienced health issues recently. 

“I am here because I want to see what is morally right done for the people of Mississippi,” Cheryl Penson said as her husband nodded in agreement. “If you have a heart, you have to have a heart for all people.”

The husband and wife weren’t alone. 

The two joined hundreds of doctors, clergy and other Mississippians from over 35 communities across the Magnolia State who shared stories of their own at a “Full Expansion Day” rally at the Capitol. They urged legislators to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act.

Christine Dunaway of Jackson told Mississippi Today she attended the rally because she spent 20 years as an advocate for people living with disabilities as the former director of Living Independence for Everyone of Mississippi.

“I worked with so many people over the years who would have benefited from Medicaid expansion — working poor people trying to go to work, who didn’t have insurance, couldn’t afford it, didn’t have access to it,” Dunaway said. ” … I was born missing three limbs. My parents would have been considered middle class, but they couldn’t afford prosthetics back then.”

As personal stories meshed with religious sermons the concrete steps on the front of the Capitol became like church pews when faith leaders from different religions and Christian denominations pleaded with legislators to give poor Mississippians access to health insurance.  

“As a state that is proud of its pro-life stance, it is only fitting that this Legislature now leans into the opportunity to make it possible for all Mississippians across this state to have full access to health care,” said the Rev. Reginald Buckley, pastor of Jackson’s Cade Chapel M.B. Church.

But just hours earlier, some of those same ministers and participants appeared to take James’ epistle of “faith without works is dead” to heart by beginning their day of advocacy in actual pews at the historic sanctuary of Mt. Helm Baptist Church in downtown Jackson. 

The morning service in one of the oldest Black churches in Jackson started with songs, prayers, scripture centered on civilly pressuring the 174 state lawmakers in Jackson to pass expansion.

“We thank you for collective power, but surely Lord we know that apart from your power, we can do nothing,” the Rev. Dr. C.J. Rhodes, the pastor of the church, prayed. “For it’s not by power nor by might, but by your spirit, says the Lord of hosts. So breathe upon us, give us your spirit, oh God, and give us your blessings so that we can do what seems to be impossible even today.” 

The prayers of accomplishing the insurmountable, though, quickly turned into advocacy chants, the new sanctuary became the 2nd floor rotunda of the Capitol and the hymns morphed into telephone calls that flooded the voicemails of holdout legislators. 

After the morning of worship, the interdenominational group assembled signs, slapped supportive stickers on their shirts, reviewed phone-banking scripts and tweaked message to their local legislators over expansion.   

“Jesus is the reason that I’m here,” said Brittany Caldwell, a coordinator of community engagement for Great Rivers Fellowship and Natchez resident, said. “To be a disciple of Jesus is to be a disciple in both word and action.”

The rally comes in the middle of House and Senate leaders attempting to negotiate a compromise on Medicaid expansion legislation after the two chambers passed drastically different plans earlier in the session. 

The House’s expansion plan aims to expand health care coverage to upwards of 200,000 Mississippians, and accept $1 billion a year in federal money to cover it, as most other states have done.

The Senate, on the other hand, wants a more restrictive program, to expand Medicaid to cover around 40,000 people, turn down the federal money, and require proof that recipients are working at least 30 hours a week. 

Those at the rally made clear they support “Full expansion now,” which they frequently chanted, and not the Senate proposal, which its drafters have referred to as “expansion lite.”

Representatives of the two chambers, called conferees, have not yet met in public to haggle over a final expansion plan, and as of Tuesday evening, the Legislature’s website did not list a scheduled meeting to take place later this week. 

A natural compromise is for the two chambers to agree on a  “MarketPlus Hybrid Plan,” which health policy experts with the Center for Mississippi Health Policy and the Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County estimate could save the state money in the long-term. 

The hybrid plan would offer expanded Medicaid coverage through the state’s managed care program for those making under 100% of the federal poverty level. For those making 100% to 138% (up to $20,000 for an individual) of poverty level, the plan would use federal money to provide assistance for them to buy private insurance plans through Mississippi’s marketplace exchange.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has privately vowed to lawmakers that he will veto any Medicaid expansion bill that reaches his desk, putting the future of expansion in the hands of the Legislature, who can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

House Speaker Jason White, a Republican from West, previously told Mississippi Today in an interview that he believes he can hold a bipartisan group of more than 90 House members, a veto-proof majority, together in support of a compromise expansion package. 

But the coalition of support in the 52-member Senate is more fragile. The Capitol’s upper chamber only passed its austere expansion plan by 36 votes, one vote shy of the two-thirds threshold needed to override a governor’s veto. 

One reason the expansion debate has caused some Republican senators to oppose the proposal is it’s become mired in partisan politics because of the governor’s messaging and hardline conservatives derisively labeling it “Obamacare expansion.” 

But clergy at the Capitol on Tuesday said the issue rises above partisan politics. 

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Parker, senior pastor at Southside Baptist Church in Jackson, is a self-described “Southern Baptist Republican,” who believes in the Gospel of Matthew, where it says “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” should move Christians to support expansion.

Parker recounted a conversation he had with a friend shortly before the rally who warned him he would be branded as a liberal if he spoke too forcefully in favor of the Medicaid expansion. 

“I looked at him, and I finally said this: ‘Are we reading the same Bible?’” Parker said. “I would challenge every church in the state of Mississippi, regardless of your denominational tag, to take a long, hard look at the book of Matthew.” 

Mississippi Today reporters Bobby Harrision and Geoff Pender contributed to this report.

The post ‘A matter of life and death:’ Hundreds rally at Capitol for full Medicaid expansion  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Steve Sloan, who died April 14 at the age of 79, spent five autumns (1978-82), mostly unsuccessful, as the head football coach at Ole Miss. I covered those last two seasons as the Ole Miss beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Covering losing football teams is often a thankless chore. Sloan made those two seasons bearable.

My lasting memory of Sloan: He was, without question, the nicest football coach I ever encountered and one of the nicest, most decent human beings, period. Many knowledgeable football folks would tell you Steve was too nice to be a successful football coach in the dog-eat-dog Southeastern Conference, and I honestly can’t write that I disagree.

His record over five seasons in Oxford: 20 victories, 34 defeats, one tie. His 1980 team led the SEC in total offense, yet won only three games. His last two Rebel teams won a total of one SEC game, the 1981 Egg Bowl.

And there’s a story there. I approached Steve the Monday before the game with an idea for a story that would need his cooperation. Honestly, I didn’t think he would do it. I’m not sure I’ve ever covered another college football coach who would have. My proposal was that he would tell me his Egg Bowl game plan, which I would not divulge in print or otherwise until after the game. My plan was to write about the game plan – and whether it worked or not – in our Egg Bowl special section afterward.

Much to my surprise, Steve said he didn’t see any harm in it. Perhaps, he just didn’t see where he had anything to lose. And, on Tuesday of Egg Bowl week, he gave me a detailed game plan. He did so while chewing Vitamin C tablets the way some folks chew bubble gum, trying to fight a bad cold that had bothered him for weeks. I remember telling him he looked like death warmed over, and I remember him chuckling and telling me, “Well, buddy, you don’t look so good yourself.”

Defensively, he said Ole Miss would play an eight-man front throughout the game. “We’ll look like we’re in a goal line defense when we’re at midfield,” he said. “Our only chance is to stop the run.”

“Offensively, we know we can’t run the ball on them, but we have to run it some just to keep them honest, or we’ll never have time to throw,” he said. “Up front, we will double team Glen Collins (State’s splendid defensive tackle). We’ll use a guard and a center and if that’s not enough we’ll use a back in pass protection. He’s that good.”

I asked him about trick plays. “We’ve got one pass play we got off TV the other night,” he said, describing a pass play using two running backs out of the backfield in a crossing pattern, hoping to take advantage of linebackers in pass coverage.

Everything worked. State passed only 12 times, despite the eight-man front. Ole Miss ran the ball 35 times for a meager 74 yards, but that helped quarterback John Fourcade have the time to complete 22 of 29 passes. The great Collins, double- and triple-teamed, was not in on a sack. The trick play worked to perfection for a touchdown on the Rebels’ first possession.

Ole Miss, a 15-point underdog, won, 21-17. Rebel players awarded Sloan the game ball, and this was one time he earned it.

That didn’t happen nearly often enough for Sloan at Ole Miss. A year later, he left for Duke, and not many Ole Miss folks were all that sad to see him go. 

Mississippi football fans of that era will well remember the enthusiasm that accompanied Sloan’s arrival at Ole Miss. At the time, he was considered the best bet to be Bear Bryant’s successor at Alabama, where he had been Bryant’s quarterback and team captain.

He was, without question, the hottest young head coach in the business. He had won at Vanderbilt, for goodness sakes. That’s right. He took the Vandy head coaching job at age 28 and in his second year he guided the Commodores to a 7-3-1 record and a Peach Bowl berth. Then it was on to Texas Tech, where he took the Red Raiders to two bowl games in three seasons, including a 10-1 record and a share of the Southwest Conference championship in only his second season at Lubbock.

Then came Ole Miss, where he was then-athletic director Johnny Vaught’s hand-picked choice to revive the Rebels slumping football program. The word was Bear Bryant had advised Sloan not to take the Ole Miss job, to remain in Texas until he decided to step down at Alabama. If that was indeed the case, Sloan bucked his former coach and headed to Oxford, where he was greeted as a football savior. The early returns were good. His first recruiting classes were rated among the nation’s best. That recruiting success never translated into victories.

What happened? Nearly half a century later, this might be an oversimplification, but here goes: Both at Vandy and at Texas Tech, Sloan’s defenses were headed by a future coaching legend, a guy named Bill Parcells. Yes, that Bill Parcells, a two-time Super Bowl champion coach. And Parcells was slated to come with Sloan to become the Rebels’ defensive coordinator. Never happened. The head coaching job at Air Force came open, and Parcells took it.

So Sloan came to Ole Miss without Parcells, who was not only a defensive whiz but also the “bad cop” to Sloan’s “good cop” at both Vandy and Texas Tech. In retrospect, Sloan’s Ole Miss teams lacked the defensive grit, discipline and overall toughness of his Vanderbilt and Texas Tech teams. Even Sloan’s worse Ole Miss teams could move the ball and score; they just could not stop anybody.

Had Parcells come to Ole Miss, things surely would have been different. We’ll never know, but I believe had Sloan, after losing Parcells, retained Jim Carmody from Ken Cooper’s Ole Miss staff, he would have won more games.

That’s all conjecture at this point, but this is not: If the worst thing anybody can say about you is that you were too nice, that not all bad. In fact, that’s not bad at all.

The post About Steve Sloan, the worst you could say is he was too nice a guy appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The House and Senate can now begin negotiating ways to enact a law to expand Medicaid coverage to poor Mississippians after legislative leaders named the six people to hammer out a final plan.

House Speaker Jason White, R-West, recently appointed Republican Reps. Missy McGee of Hattiesburg, Sam Creekmore IV of New Albany and Joey Hood of Ackerman to be the House negotiators. 

Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann last week named Republican Sens. Kevin Blackwell of Southaven, Nicole Boyd of Oxford and Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula to represent the Senate in the deliberations.

The six conferees are all white Republicans, despite Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, a Democrat from Greenville, recently calling on Hosemann to appoint a Democrat as a conferee. Two of the six conferees are women, but no Black lawmaker will have a seat at the negotiating table.  

The six members, called conferees, will attempt to forge an agreement over the different versions of the expansion plan that have passed the House and Senate. 

The House’s expansion plan aims to expand health care coverage to upwards of 200,000 Mississippians, and accept $1 billion a year in federal money to cover it, as most other states have done.

The Senate, on the other hand, wants a more restrictive program, to expand Medicaid to cover around 40,000 people, turn down the federal money, and require proof that recipients are working at least 30 hours a week. 

White previously told Mississippi Today in an interview that he is willing to compromise on a plan that fully covers people up to 138% of the federal poverty level, but he does not intend to agree to a plan that forgoes the full 90% matching rate from the federal government. 

“Look, at this point, if it makes sense, and when I say conservative, I mean from a dollars and cents standpoint,” White said of expansion. “I’m convinced, and health care professionals have convinced me, that this population, this is the way to cover these individuals.”

If the House and Senate conferees agree on a compromise, the final bill will go back before the two chambers for consideration. If lawmakers sign off on the plan, it will then go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves who has privately threatened to veto any type of expansion bill. 

Here are the three House negotiators and three Senate negotiations who will soon begin meeting on a final Medicaid expansion bill.  

House conferees: 

Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg: 

McGee is the chairwoman of the House Medicaid Committee and has been a champion of reforming the state’s Medicaid laws to provide more services to current Medicaid recipients and expanding coverage to more people. 

Earlier this year, she spearheaded legislation to allow pregnant women whose net family income is 194% or less of the federal poverty level to be presumed eligible for Medicaid and receive care before their Medicaid application is officially approved by the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. 

Even before White appointed her to lead the Medicaid committee, she successfully shepherded legislation through the Capitol that extended benefits for pregnant people on Medicaid that increased their timeline for receiving benefits from 60 days for a full year. 

Rep. Sam Creekmore IV, R-New Albany:

Creekmore is the chairman of the influential House Public Health Committee. While Creekmore’s committee does not necessarily have jurisdiction over Medicaid policy, his stance on the issue holds enormous sway over House colleagues and the state’s medical community. 

The son of a physician in rural northeast Mississippi, Creekmore has also been an early voice calling for lawmakers to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. He’s also advanced legislation to provide more mental health services to Mississippians. 

Rep. Joey Hood, R- Ackerman: 

Hood may be a somewhat unusual conferee because he is currently the chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee, a committee with jurisdiction over the state’s civil code. 

Hood, however, is a close ally of Speaker White’s and previously led the House Medicaid Committee during the last four-year term. Hood somewhat became the face of Medicaid policy stagnation during the last term because he called relatively few committee meetings and let numerous expansion bills die at his hands.

Hood last year, though, did allow McGee’s postpartum Medicaid bill to come up for a full vote on the House floor. Ironically, Hood will now have a hand in shaping the finalized Medicaid expansion bill that his House colleagues consider passing into law.  

Senate Conferees: 

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven: 

Blackwell is the chairman of the Senate Medicaid Committee, who has advocated for a more strict Medicaid expansion plan. He has previously been opposed to Medicaid expansion, but has come around to adopting a hybrid model, similar to Arkansas’ expansion plan.

Blackwell has advocated for strict work requirements for Medicaid expansion recipients and advocated for a plan that only extends Medicaid coverage for 99% of the federal poverty level. 

The DeSoto County legislator has indicated the Senate may be unwilling to deviate from many of its hardline positions on expansion, so his voice during the conference process will be critical.  

Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford:  

Boyd is the vice chairman of the Senate Medicaid Committee. Though she’s only in her second term as a lawmaker, she has quickly cemented herself as a legislator who can usher substantive policies through the Capitol and broker deals with the House. 

She has previously led the debate on Medicaid reform bills in the Senate and could be crucial in navigating a potential impasse with House leadership over the ongoing Medicaid expansion legislation. 

Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula:   

Wiggins is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary A Committee, the committee that deals with the state’s civil statutes. A member of the Public Health Committee, the Jackson County lawmaker has been supportive of postpartum Medicaid extension and presumptive eligibility. 

During the debate over its expansion plan, Wiggins spoke out in favor of passing the Senate’s expansion plan and has pushed back on Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ opposition to the legislation. 

The post Meet the six people negotiating a final Medicaid expansion bill at the Capitol  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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