OurTupelo

In an exchange on the floor of the Mississippi Senate last week, lawmakers debated the economic uncertainty coming from the Trump administration’s burgeoning trade war and helter-skelter policy decisions.

“You never know what’s going to happen with — you know, what we’re going through with increases in cost for things, whether it’s guardrails or bolts or whatever,” said Transportation Chairman Chuck Younger, a Republican from Columbus. He was outlining a bill that would increase the amount of money MDOT could add to a road contract without rebidding from $100,000 to $250,000. This, he said, would prevent highway projects facing long delays from potential huge increases in cost of materials.

“But we’re not in COVID any more, we shouldn’t have those supply chain problems,” said Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, questioning the need for the measure.

“No, we’re not (in) COVID. It’s Trump, and we’re going through all these tax things (tariffs) that are going through for other countries,” Younger said. “… It’s fixing to happen.”

Mississippi is a poor state with a fragile economy. There’s an old adage that we’re usually “first in and last out” of a national recession, and another that, “What other states call a recession, we call Tuesday.”

Some of Trump’s threatened or enacted policies, tariffs and slashing of federal spending appear tailor-made to hammer Mississippi’s economy.

But staring down the barrel of potential economic chaos or calamity, Mississippi lawmakers are not drastically cutting spending, hoarding tax dollars or even proceeding with caution. Their main focus this legislative session is a total overhaul of the state’s tax structure including massive tax cuts combined with fairly massive tax increases — an unprecedented economic experiment betting that the state’s fortunes will rise and cover the spread.

Mississippi, under one plan, would become the first state ever to eliminate an existing individual income tax, which accounts for nearly one-third of the revenue that funds state government. Increases in sales and gasoline taxes would shift the tax burden to use or consumption taxes — a move some point out would be regressive, hitting poor people, of which Mississippi has many, hardest.

What could go wrong?

For starters, Mississippi is perennially among the most federally dependent states, with more than 40% of its annual budget coming from federal dollars and the state receiving nearly a 3-to-1 return for every dollar in federal taxes it pays. The trillions of dollars in cuts to federal spending Trump and Elon Musk are promising with the Department of Government Efficiency could easily cripple Mississippi’s economy.

Agriculture is, depending on how you measure, Mississippi’s No. 1 industry. Trump’s proposed trade war with other countries and other policies could hit Mississippi farmers hard. Already, China has announced retaliatory tariffs on soybeans, chicken and other products Mississippi grows. In a smaller scale trade war in his first term, Mississippi farmers lost nearly $270 million in profits from soybeans and cotton from Chinese tariffs and fallout. U.S. taxpayers later had to bail farmers out from that smaller-scale trade war in Trump’s first term.

Mississippi might not have the direct exposure to tariffs as some states, but it is the 22nd largest exporter of agriculture products and 31st of other goods. In 2024, Mississippi exports totaled $13.7 billion, and they make up about 10% of the state’s GDP. Canada is perennially the state’s top trading partner, with Mexico also usually in the top three, and Mississippi also exports chicken and soybeans to China. Reductions in exports or other fallout from Trump’s promised trade wars with Canada, Mexico and China could be devastating for the Magnolia State.

The list goes on for potential impact of Washington’s moves on Mississippi.

Mississippi has long been in the automobile manufacturing business, with large Nissan and Toyota plants. Experts are warning Trump tariffs on Mexico and Canada could almost instantly cause North American auto production to drop by a third, cause massive layoffs and even closure of plants.

Mississippi leaders have recently celebrated several large economic development wins, including the state landing a massive aluminum rolling mill in Columbus. Mississippi taxpayers invested $247 million in state incentives to land a $2.5 billion investment from Steel Dynamics. The company’s goal is to provide more aluminum and steel for auto manufacturing, and the Columbus site will work along with satellite recycling centers in the U.S. and Mexico. While some speculate Steel Dynamics might benefit in the long run from Trump tariffs on Chinese steel, tariffs coming and going from Mexico and upheaval in the auto industry could impact one of Mississippi’s biggest economic development wins.

Another recent economic development coup for Mississippi is the Amplify Cell Technologies plant. The $2 billion to $3 billion joint venture including Daimler Trucks and China-based EVE Energy, helped by $482 million in state tax incentives, plans to produce electric vehicle batteries by 2027. Such projects were a result of Biden-era subsidies and rules promoting a switch to electric vehicles. Trump has vowed to roll back these subsidies and rules.

Mississippi has also celebrated Amazon’s commitment to spend an estimated $16 billion over 10 years to build two huge Amazon Web Services data centers in Madison County. It’s hailed as “the single largest capital investment in Mississippi history.” Mississippi taxpayers have provided $278 million in incentives and hundreds of millions in tax breaks and exemptions for the centers.

AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon, and some say AWS could help insulate it from tariffs to and from China. But the mother company is a retailer with massive exposure on about 25% of the goods it sells. And spikes in construction and materials costs on a $16 billion project are not to be taken lightly.

The AWS centers also hinge on a $2 billion to $3 billion deal with Entergy for the power company to up its game to feed the massive power needs. Renewable energy — of which Amazon is a big proponent — is a major part of that plan for powering the AWS centers. Besides that, Mississippi has seen major development in solar and wind production. Around 40 solar farms have been approved for construction and operation in Mississippi.

But the Trump administration has vowed to reverse course from the Biden administration’s policies and spending on renewable energy. This includes an executive order to suspend spending from the Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure acts, and the Trump EPA is fighting about $20 billion Biden allocated to clean energy.

Energy production and costs, at least in the short term, are in limbo like everything else with the new administration’s maneuvers.

So, apparently, is expansion of broadband internet, which Mississippi leaders have heralded as a game changer for a poor, rural state on the magnitude of electrification in the 1920s and ’30s. On his first day in office, Trump put funding for broadband expansion, including Mississippi’s $1.2 billion plan, in question with an executive order.

Trump has warned that Americans may feel “a little pain” from his economic and spending policies in the short term. But Mississippi is positioned to potentially feel great pain with an economy less diversified than others and the state struggling with generational poverty.

But Mississippi lawmakers and Gov. Tate Reeves appear nonplussed by this. They are forging ahead with one of the biggest economic experiments in history, betting that revenue largely from sources Trump is vowing to stifle will continue to grow.

Reeves has recently on social media said, “Mississippi’s economy is on fire!” There’s a potential, with looming trade wars, other D.C. policy and a state tax experiment, for that to take on a new meaning.

The post ‘Not COVID. It’s Trump’: Lawmakers prepare for tumultuous Trumpenomics by … upending state tax structure appeared first on Mississippi Today.

“Noooo!” the vast majority of House State Affairs Committee members shouted for voice votes on two controversial bills aimed at overhauling the state employee retirement system last week.

Despite what sounded like no more than one or two of the 11 members present saying “Yes,” Committee Chairman Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs, ruled each time that the yeses had it. The bills were moved forward. He ignored pleas from several members, including his committee Vice Chairman Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, calling for real vote counts.

A similar “vote” transpired in the House Education Committee recently, with members’ pleas to Chairman Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, for a real vote count being ignored on a hot-potato bill and a voice vote sounding uncertain.

This has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and advocates and renewed questions of whether committee hearings and votes are just to rubber stamp what legislation the GOP leadership has decided it wants to move forward.

In recent years, particularly in the House, publicly held committee hearings and votes have become pro forma. Real decisions appear to be hashed out, and straw polled, in closed door Republican Caucus meetings.

And given the GOP holds a supermajority, it’s akin to the House holding secret sessions and votes on legislation.

Also recently, in a lawsuit brought by the Mississippi Free Press over the closed-door caucus meetings, a Hinds County judge ruled the Legislature is not subject to the state’s open meetings law — that the Legislature imposes on other state and local government bodies.

These are ill omens for the public and press and their right to witness what their elected lawmakers are doing, including how they spend billions of tax dollars. It also concentrates legislative power to a very small handful of folks, and it strips rank-and-file lawmakers of input or even the ability to speak out on issues.

Vice Chairman Johnson, who’s also House minority leader, said he believes House rules require chairmen to allow a roll-call or counted vote when requested. But House Speaker Jason White, Zuber and others have argued that’s not the case.

House rules are unclear or conflicting. One passage says the House shall allow “division” or a counted vote if 1/5 of members demand it. Another says committees will follow the rules for the full House, but then goes on to make that sound optional.

Johnson, along with opponents of the PERS changes in the two bills, which included some of the universities’ lobby, were angry and cried foul after the non-vote votes.

“Most committee chairmen have always abided by, if one person wants a roll call, they do it,” Johnson said. “There were only 11 members in the room, and you heard it, several called for a roll call. This is the second time this session this has happened.

“Now you can’t even vote in committee,” Johnson said. “We have not formally addressed this with the speaker yet, but I think we will. We just can’t operate that way.”

Oddly, the two PERS bills that caused the dustup both died — without a vote — after they were forwarded to another committee. Apparently a tentative deal the leadership had on the measures fell through, so the chairman of the second committee let them die with a deadline without calling them up.

WATCH

Quote of the Week

“I want my sweet potato. Everybody got one but me. Somebody stole mine. I want it back.” — Rep. Willie Bailey, D-Greenville, in a committee meeting last week before a vote on a measure to make the sweet potato the official state vegetable. Before an earlier House vote weeks ago, sweet potatoes were placed on lawmakers’ desks.

In Brief

Clark laid in state at Capitol

Robert Clark, elected in 1967 as Mississippi’s first Black lawmaker in the modern era and who rose to the second-highest leadership role in the state House of Representatives, laid in state at the Mississippi Capitol on Sunday. 

Hundreds came to the Capitol to pay tribute to Clark who was a lifelong advocate for public education and Black representation in state and local government. As chairman of the House Education Committee, he played an instrumental role in the transformational Education Reform act of 1982 that saw the establishment of public Kindergarten statewide. 

House Speaker Jason White, who is also from Clark’s native Holmes County, told House members last week that Clark was “a trailblazer and icon for sure”who had always been gracious to him. The House and Senate last week held a moment of silence in his honor. — Taylor Vance

Paid family leave bills survive

Two bills to create paid family leave for state employees survived a crucial deadline in the Legislature.

Both bills would give state employees who are primary caregivers six weeks of paid leave – although the original House version offered eight weeks for primary caregivers and two weeks for secondary caregivers.

If either bill is signed into law, it would apply to employees working for state government agencies but would not include public school teachers. – Sophia Paffenroth

DEI restrictions to be ironed out in conference

Senate and House lawmakers aim to negotiate in conference a final proposal to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the state’s public schools.

One sticking point between the chambers is whether to keep legislation aimed at the state’s universities and colleges, as the Senate bill does, or to include K-12 schools, as the House bill does.

The Senate Universities and Colleges Committee this week inserted language from the Senate DEI ban into the House bill, while the House let the Senate bill die. The move sets up negotiations down the road in a conference committee.

The measures passed by each chamber differ in who they would impact, what activities they would regulate and how they aim to reshape the inner workings of the state’s education system. The Senate bill also would create a task force to look for inefficiencies in the state’s higher education system. The House bill contains a provision that would force all public schools to teach and promote that there are two genders. It also threatens to withhold state funds based on complaints that anyone could lodge. – Michael Goldberg

Medicaid expansion vehicle alive; passage unlikely

One bill that could act as the vehicle for Medicaid expansion is alive in the Legislature, though lawmakers have made it clear that expansion is unlikely to come up this year with a sea change to Medicaid funding expected to take place under the new Trump administration.

Senate Bill 2386 is a “dummy bill,” meaning it brings forth the necessary code sections to expand Medicaid eligibility, but includes no details on the policy. – Sophia Paffenroth

Lawmakers trying to revive PBM measure

A bill pushed by pharmacists that would have strengthened regulation of pharmacy benefit managers died on Tuesday in the House, but Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee members have proposed adding its language to a similar House bill with a strike-all amendment.

Pharmacists prefer the Senate’s language because it would tighten appeal procedures, ensure pharmacy benefit managers promptly pay certain claims, and mandate that affiliate pharmacies are not paid more for dispensing drugs than other pharmacies. – Gwen Dilworth

Nurse scope of practice legislation dies

Legislation that would have allowed advanced practice nurses and certified registered nurse anesthetists with a certain amount of training to practice without a collaborative agreement with a physician died on Tuesday.

After strong lobbying against the bill from the Mississippi State Medical Association and other physicians, House Bill 849 died in the Senate Public Health committee on Tuesday. – Kate Royals

Postpartum depression screening bill dies

A bill authored by Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, that would require health care providers screen mothers for postpartum depression and prohibit insurance companies from implementing step therapy protocol for FDA-approved postpartum depression drugs also died on deadline day.

House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Chair Kevin Ford, R-Vicksburg, did not bring up SB 2874 in his committee. – Kate Royals

Senate trying to revive CON reform

A bill that would have reformed the state’s certificate of need law died, but the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee proposed that some of the bill’s language be added as a strike-all amendment to HB569.

The prevailing proposal would raise the capital expenditure limits for health care facilities and order the Mississippi State Department of Health to study the exemption of small hospitals from being required to acquire a “certificate of need” from the state to open dialysis and geriatric psychiatric units.

It would also require the department to study the feasibility of requiring acute adult psychiatric units to treat a certain percentage of uninsured patients and exempt the University of Mississippi Medical Center from certificate of need requirements in a certain area in Jackson. – Gwen Dilworth

By the Numbers

479

The number of bills alive in the Legislature after last week’s committee passage deadline, according to Mississippi Statewatch legislative tracking service. Normally, at this point in a legislative session, there would be hundreds more alive. Senate committees last week killed 85 bills the House had passed, and House committees killed 105 bills the Senate had passed. There were 3,216 bills introduced this session.

Full Legislative Coverage

New Mississippi legislative maps head to court for approval despite DeSoto lawmakers’ objections

Voters from 15 Mississippi legislative districts will decide special elections this November, if a federal court approves two redistricting maps that lawmakers approved on Wednesday.  Read the story.

Lawmakers honor longtime journalist Emily Wagster Pettus

The Mississippi Legislature on Thursday honored longtime, award-winning journalist Emily Wagster Pettus for her decades of legislative news coverage. Read the story.

PERS overhaul sputters: Securing the future, or giving new state employees ‘worst of both worlds’?

Proponents say failing to make major changes now endangers current employee and retiree benefits and taxpayers down the road. Opponents say drastically reducing benefits for future state employees will make it impossible to recruit, and especially retain, teachers, police and others in relatively low-paying government jobs. Read the story.

Senate says ‘school choice’ transfer bill is dead as House tries last ditch effort to save it

A bill that would make it easier for K-12 students to transfer to other public schools outside their home districts will die in the Mississippi Senate, the chamber’s leaders said as a Tuesday night deadline loomed. Read the story.

House chairman pushes for absentee ballot expansion instead of early voting 

Elections Committee Chairman Noah Sanford has successfully pushed some House members to scrap a Senate proposal to establish early voting in Mississippi and expand the state’s absentee voting program instead.  Read the story.

Trailblazing Mississippi lawmaker Robert Clark dies

Robert Clark, the first Black person elected to the Mississippi Legislature in the modern era, has died at age 96. Read the story.

Mississippi lawmakers keep mobile sports betting alive, but it faces roadblock in the Senate

A panel of House lawmakers kept alive the effort to legalize mobile sports betting in Mississippi, but the bill does not appear to have enough support in the Senate to pass. Read the story.

House absentee voting plan might still require voters to lie 

The worst-kept secret about Mississippi’s elections is that any voter can vote by absentee each cycle if they are willing to lie. Read the story.

Key lawmaker reverses course, passes bill to give poor women earlier prenatal care

A bill to help poor women access prenatal care passed a committee deadline at the eleventh hour after a committee chairman said he wouldn’t bring it up for a vote.  Read the story.

Legislation to license midwives dies in the Senate after making historic headway

A bill to license and regulate professional midwifery died on the calendar without a vote after Public Health Chair Hob Bryan, D-Amory, did not bring it up in committee before the deadline Tuesday night. Read the story.

Podcast: Mississippi Legislature enters homestretch, still facing uncertainty from Trump admin maneuvers

Mississippi Today’s politics team outlines some challenges lawmakers face in the final month of their session from uncertainty of the affects Trump administration moves will have on the state level. They also discuss what lived and died with last week’s deadline for committee passage. Listen to the podcast.

The post Are House leaders rubber stamping some bills without apparent committee support? Legislative recap appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Former Mississippi Rep. Robert Clark Jr. lay in state Sunday in the Capitol Rotunda as family, friends, officials and fellow citizens paid respect to the first Black legislator in the state since Reconstruction.

Clark, a Holmes County native, was elected to the House in 1967 and served until his retirement in 2004. He was elected speaker pro tempore by the House membership in 1993 and held that second-highest House position until his retirement.

The Senate and House honored the 96-year-old veteran lamaker last week.

“Robert Clark … broke so many barriers in the state of Mississippi with class, resolve and intellect. So he is going to be sorely missed,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said last week.

Hosemann was among those who came Sunday to honor Clark. So did House Speaker Jason White, who like Clark hails from Holmes County. 

Clark was the only Black Mississippian serving in the Legislature from until 1976 and was ostracized when first elected, sitting at a desk by himself for years without the traditional deskmates. But he rose to become a respected leader.

An educator when elected to the House, Clark served 10 years as chair of the House Education Committee, including when the historic Education Reform Act of 1982 was passed.

Clark served as the only Black Mississippian serving in the Legislature from 1968 until 1976.

“He was a trailblazer and icon for sure,” White said last week.

The post Mississippians honor first Black lawmaker since Reconstruction appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Oops appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A Lafayette County circuit judge ended an attempt to prosecute Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., the son of a prominent north Mississippi church family who is accused of killing a fellow University of Mississippi student named Jimmie “Jay” Lee, for evidence tampering.

In a March 7 order, Kelly Luther wrote that Herrington cannot be charged with evidence tampering because of the crime’s two-year statute of limitations. A grand jury indicted the University of Mississippi graduate last month on the charge for allegedly hiding Lee’s remains in a well-known dumping ground about 20 minutes from Herrington’s parent’s house in Grenada.

“The Court finds that prosecution for the charge of Tampering with Physical Evidence commenced outside the two-year statute of limitations and is therefore time-barred,” Luther wrote.

In order to stick, Luther essentially ruled that the prosecution should have brought the charges against Herrington sooner. In court last week, the prosecution argued that it could not have brought those charges to a grand jury without Lee’s remains, which provided the evidence that evidence tampering occurred.

READ MORE: ‘The pressure … has gotten worse:’ Facing new charge, Tim Herrington will remain in jail until trial, judge rules

The dismissal came after Herrington’s new counsel, Jackson-area criminal defense attorney Aafram Sellers, filed a motion to throw out the count. Sellers did not respond to a request for commend by press time.

The post Judge tosses evidence tampering charge against Tim Herrington appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Nearly five years after a pipeline spewed poison gas across a Mississippi town, federal regulators appeared ready in recent weeks to institute new safety rules aimed at preventing similar accidents across the U.S.’s fast-growing network of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines. 

But the proposed rules, unveiled five days before the end of Joe Biden’s presidency, were quietly derailed during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term. 

A federal pipeline safety official not authorized to speak publicly said the proposed rules were “withdrawn” in accordance with a Jan. 20 executive order that freezes all pending regulations and initiates a review process by Trump’s newly appointed agency leaders. Putting the pipeline rules in further doubt is a Feb. 19 executive order aimed at rooting out all regulations that are costly to “private parties” and impede economic development. 

Trump’s choice to lead the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which proposed the rules, is Paul Roberti, an attorney strongly backed by pipeline and energy industry groups. Roberti, who is awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation, oversaw PHMSA’s safety enforcement during Trump’s first term, a time marked by fewer citations and smaller fines than the Obama and Biden administrations. 

Pipeline safety advocates still hope to push the Trump administration to approve the rules, which they say are critically important for reducing the risks of potentially deadly accidents across a growing number of states. 

“It’s not dead yet,” said Paul Blackburn, an energy policy advisor for the Bold Alliance, an environmental group that tracks pipeline development. “It can be brought back by Trump, and I think the Trump administration should be pressured to do that.”

The more than 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines in the U.S. are primarily used for enhanced oil recovery, a process that injects carbon dioxide into old oil reserves to squeeze out leftover deposits. Much of the current and predicted growth of the CO2 pipeline network is linked to the recent boom in carbon capture technologies, which allow industrial plants to store CO2 underground instead of releasing it into the air. 

The CO2 pipeline network could top 66,000 miles – a thirteenfold increase – by 2050, according to a Princeton University-led study. 

The Trump administration isn’t as supportive of carbon capture, but industry experts say growth will continue as companies try to meet state-level climate benchmarks. 

While proponents say carbon capture will help address climate change, transporting pressurized CO2 comes with dangers, especially for rural stretches of the Midwest and Gulf Coast, where the network is concentrated. 

CO2 can cause drowsiness, suffocation and sometimes death. Colorless, odorless, and heavier than air, carbon dioxide can travel undetected and at lethal concentrations over large distances. 

The proposed rules would establish the first design, installation and maintenance requirements for CO2 pipelines. Companies operating pipelines would need to provide training to local police and fire departments on how to respond to CO2 leaks, and emergency communication with the public would need to be improved. 

Operators would be required to plan for gas releases that could harm people within two miles of a pipeline. The proposed rules show that PHMSA finally recognizes that the threats from CO2 pipelines are different from oil and natural gas pipelines, which can spill, burn or explode, but don’t usually imperil people miles away, said Bill Caram, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit watchdog group.

“These are relatively strong proposals,” he said. “Would these rules make CO2 pipelines completely safe? No. But it would modernize the pipelines.”

PHMSA currently has no specific standards for transporting CO2. Rules governing the CO2 pipeline network haven’t undergone significant review since 1991, according to the trust. 

The proposed rules apply “lessons learned” from a 2020 pipeline rupture in Sataria, Miss., PHMSA officials said in an announcement on Jan. 15. 

The rupture in the small community 30 miles northwest of Jackson forced about 200 Satartia residents to evacuate. Emergency responders found people passed out, disoriented and struggling to breathe. At least 45 people were treated at nearby hospitals. 

“I have learned first-hand from affected communities in Mississippi and across America why we need stronger CO2 pipeline safety standards,” then-PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown, a Biden appointee, said in a statement on Jan. 15. “These new requirements will be the strongest, most comprehensive standards for carbon dioxide transportation in the world and will set our nation on a safer path as we continue to address climate challenges.”

Accidental releases have occurred from CO2 pipelines 76 times since 2010, according to PHMSA data reviewed by Verite News. Of the more than 67,000 barrels of CO2 released over the past 15 years, the vast majority – about 54,000 barrels – came from pipelines owned by ExxonMobil subsidiary Denbury Inc. 

Denbury operates the 925-mile pipeline network that failed in Satartia and more recently in southwest Louisiana. In April, a pipeline at a Denbury pump station near the Calcasieu Parish town of Sulphur ruptured, triggering road closures and a shelter-in-place advisory. Some residents reported feeling tired and light-headed, but local authorities reported no serious illnesses. 

The pump station and pipeline weren’t equipped with alarms or other methods of alerting nearby residents when accidents occur. 

Several Sulphur-area residents said they received no notice of the leak or became aware of it via Facebook posts more than an hour after the gas began to spread. 

“There should have been alarms, and the whole community should have been notified,” Roishetta Ozane, a community organizer who lives near the station, told Verite in April. “I don’t trust the system we have at all.”

Unless the proposed rules are enacted, similar or worse accidents are likely, said Kenneth Clarkson, the trust’s communications director. 

“In the absence of a rule, blatant regulatory shortfalls will remain, leaving the public fully exposed to the risks of CO2 pipelines,” he said. 

The post Trump withdraws new pipeline rules inspired by CO2 leaks in Mississippi, Louisiana appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jacksonians hoping for a conclusion to the corruption allegations against the capital city’s mayor, a councilman, and the county’s district attorney will have to wait until at least summer 2026.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan on Friday morning set the trial, which is expected to last six weeks, for July 13, 2026, during a status conference held at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in downtown Jackson.

“When I set this, that’s going to be the date. Someone’s going to be in the hospital for us to move it,” Jordan said.

A federal grand jury indicted Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks last fall in a bribery scheme after concocting a sting involving undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers. All three officials pleaded not guilty. The conference Friday was the first public hearing in the case since the November arraignment.

Prosecutors wanted a trial in early 2026. Defense attorneys wanted a trial in September or October of 2026. The judge split the difference.

“The right to a speedy trial is also a public right,” Jordan said.

The judge has some experience overseeing court spectacles involving Jackson mayors. Jordan presided over the 2009 felony civil rights trial against former Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, a case he referenced several times Friday. When the U.S. Department of Justice trial lawyer Nicholas Cannon said he thought they might need one to two days to select a jury, Jordan informed the prosecutor that it took a week for parties in the Melton case to compile a jury.

“Ninety percent had seen about the case in the news,” Jordan said. “I suspect it’s going to be at least that here given the changes in how cases like this are covered, social media and whatnot. I would be shocked if we picked a jury in a day or two. I think a week would actually be doing pretty well.”

Lumumba is still running for reelection this year and will face 11 challengers in the Democratic Party primary for mayor April 1. Banks is not running for reelection, leaving the position open to one of nine candidates running in the Democratic primary. Owens has said he will not step down as district attorney and he does not face an election until 2027.

None of the politicians were present inside the courtroom Friday morning as defense counsel and prosecutors discussed the process for sharing large volumes of evidence in the case and hashed out a series of dates and deadlines leading up to the trial.

The 32-page indictment unsealed in November told a detailed story about how federal agents pretending to be high-rolling developers flattered Owens, allegedly enticing the district attorney to schmooze Lumumba and Banks on behalf of their proposal to build a long-awaited convention center hotel downtown. Owens allegedly helped the fictitious investors bribe Lumumba with $50,000 in campaign contributions and Banks with $10,000 in cash in exchange for favors — a solicitation due date change from the mayor and the promise of a future vote from the councilman.

The lengthy charging papers contained many salacious quotes from Owens gathered through secretly recorded conversations and photos of Owens handling cash and sitting with Lumumba on a yacht in Florida.

The evidence compiled by the federal government and turned over to defense counsel includes 44,000 pages of records and 500 hours of audio recording, Banks’ lawyer Carlos Tanner revealed during the status conference.

Tanner said Friday the evidence he’s received extends far beyond the allegations made in the indictment, referencing “multiple investigations and spinoffs and such.”

“From the looks of the indictment, you’re talking about a two to three month window,” Tanner said. “… The discovery goes back two to three years.”

The defense teams are still waiting to receive transcripts of the recordings and data from the cellphones of their co-defendants.

In court, this material is called discovery, and defendants are entitled to review it entirely to prepare their defense, which is why trial dates often get pushed back.

The trial was originally set for Jan. 6 — a date that was as uncanny as unlikely. Within a couple weeks, all parties agreed that the case is complex and that defendants would need much longer to review the discovery, according to a joint motion to continue the case.

“There are three Defendants; the nature of the prosecution includes charges that typically require extensive proof (for example money laundering and racketeering); and the discovery apparently includes hundreds of hours of recordings and thousands of pages of other evidence that must be thoroughly reviewed to properly prepare for trial,” reads Judge Jordan’s November order to continue the case.

Jordan directed the parties to confer and offer three potential trial dates by mid-December. They did not agree on dates, with the government proposing to try the case in early 2026 and the defendants proposing dates four to six months later. But by this point, defendants had not yet received discovery from the government. “Defense lawyers were operating ‘in the blind,’” Banks’ lawyer Carlos Tanner wrote in his January motion.

“Even the ‘speaking’ indictment in this case does not fully reflect the length of time the Government began its investigation nor the full extent of its investigative activities,” Tanner wrote in the January motion. “Until I started skimming the materials in an effort to organize the documents and other evidence the Government had provided me, I was not aware of the vast number of people and entities referenced in these materials.”

In February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lakeysha Greer Isaac signed a protective order requested by the government that prohibits the dissemination of any discovery materials beyond the parties, legal staff, witnesses or experts in the case. The order also encourages attorneys, when necessary, to file any sensitive information attached to pretrial motions under seal.

Tanner said Friday that after reviewing the initial discovery, defense counsel wanted a later trial date in September or October of 2026, but Jordan, citing the public’s right to a speedy trial, settled on July.

Defense teams and prosecutors will meet separately again before June 26 to go over any questions about discovery. Jordan set the next status conference for Oct. 1. Parties will have a Feb. 6, 2026, deadline for dispositive motions — that is, filings to settle the case without going to trial — and a May 29, 2026, deadline for any plea change.

Lumumba was indicted on one count each of conspiracy, bribery, racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. Owens was charged with the same, plus two additional counts of bribery and making false statements to the government. Banks was charged with conspiracy and bribery. If convicted, the most serious charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering come with prison sentences of up to 20 years each, while bribery carries 10 years, conspiracy 5 years and making false statements 5 years.

The FBI sting in Jackson ensnared two other alleged co-conspirators, former Councilwoman Angelique Lee and Owens’ business associate and cousin Sherik “Marve” Smith, who both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery last year. They have not been sentenced.

Lumumba is represented by Jackson attorney Thomas Bellinder and Detroit attorneys Gerald Evelyn and Jeffrey Edison. A fourth attorney, Winston Thompson from Jackson, withdrew from Lumumba’s defense in February.

Owens is represented by local attorneys Gerry Bufkin, Rob McDuff and D.C.-based attorney Gary Kohlman. Banks is represented by local attorneys Tanner and Tom Rich.

Prosecuting the case are local assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Kirkham and Kimberly Purdie and from D.C., U.S. Department of Justice Public Integrity Section trial lawyers Cannon and Madison Mumma.

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JXN Water is losing money at a rate it can’t sustain, according to a financial outlook it released last week, as the federal dollars it received to run day-to-day operations are set to run out next month.

Ted Henifin, who manages the third-party provider, told Mississippi Today on Thursday that the funding shortfall may extend repair times for line breaks, and that the utility will look to once again raise rates on customers’ water bills. Henifin explained that various factors — such as debt payments, higher-than-expected operating costs, and slower-than-expected collections gains — have left the water utility in a precarious position where it’s now losing $3 million a month.

“Gone from a water disaster to a bit of financial disaster or so,” Henifin described.

The federal government set aside a historic $800 million for Jackson to fix its water and sewer systems in 2022, with $600 million of that tied specifically to the water system. That included $150 million of “flexible” funding, which JXN Water has used mostly for line repairs as well as on a contract with Jacobs to run the day-to-day operations of the system. The rest of the $600 million was intended for bigger, capital projects.

But the $150 million, Henifin said, is on track to run out in April. He said JXN Water will look for grants and low-interest loans to hold its operations together, as well as work with Congress to free up some of the $450 million — the amount intended for larger projects — for operations spending.

The water provider is also set to impose an almost 12% rate increase on customers’ water bills this spring — just under $9 per month for the average resident — the second rate hike in as many years (the utility a year ago raised rates on average $10 per month). While the 2022 federal order requires it to put rate increases before the Jackson City Council, JXN Water only needs the approval of overseeing U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.

In addition to higher-than-expected operating costs, such as fixing line breaks, Henifin said the utility was also unsuccessful in retiring some of the city’s debt due to federal constraints over how it spends the $450 million pot. As a result, JXN Water is paying $1.5 million a month, or half of its total losses, in debt services.

Meanwhile, the utility’s revenue collection rate of 70% is an improvement from a year ago, when it was under 60%, but it’s still far below the national average. Last year, Henifin told Mississippi Today in order to make the water system self-sustainable by the time federal funding runs out, the rate needs to reach 80% in 2025 and 90% in 2026. The financial report says there are 14,000 accounts that receive water but aren’t paying bills.

Henifin admitted on Thursday, though, that even if collection rates were at 100%, JXN Water would still be losing money.

“It’s really the running out of the federal funds and not having closed that gap on local revenues,” he said. “Error on our part maybe that we didn’t focus on this earlier, but we were really trying to get the water system working.”

Last week’s financial plan added that a decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over whether to release SNAP recipient data is expected within the next two months. JXN Water last year introduced a first-of-its-kind discount for SNAP recipients, but both federal and state officials appealed an order from Wingate to release the names of those recipients, preventing the utility from automatically applying those discounts.

To help free up funding for the utility, Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, wrote a bill which would allow JXN Water to become a water authority for the purpose of accessing tax-exempt bonds or loans. The bill now just needs to pass a floor vote in the Senate.

Henifin added that, after some initial uncertainty, JXN Water’s current funding won’t be impacted by the Trump administration’s recent freezing of federal grant funds.

He also said the funds they do have access to are being used to make major improvements, such as fixing the membrane trains, filters and sediment basins at the O.B. Curtis treatment plant.

“I think it’s a pretty bright future,” Henifin said. “If we can just get over this little cashflow hump we’re in good shape.”

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Editor’s note: This column is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a new platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives address systemic advantages historically accumulated by white individuals, often at the expense of marginalized communities.

Although these programs benefit various underrepresented groups — including women, individuals with disabilities and military veterans — public discourse frequently characterizes DEI primarily as a “Black issue.” This narrow framing is comparable to how social welfare programs are commonly portrayed, with Black Americans disproportionately depicted as their primary beneficiaries despite evidence to the contrary.

For those shielded from these realities, ignorance can be a privilege — one that DEI disrupts by fostering awareness of uncomfortable truths. For example, one luxury is dismissing DEI as simply an unearned liberal policy. A key component of DEI is training that exposes individuals to different cultures, histories and lived experiences. Understanding these perspectives helps dismantle biases and fosters inclusivity in workplaces, education and public policy. As a resident of Mississippi, a state with a complex racial history and a population consisting primarily of Blacks and Whites, I focus here on how these dynamics have shaped inequalities from a Black/White dynamic.

People often react defensively to discussions of racism, shutting down meaningful dialogue. But structural racism is not about individual prejudice — it’s about the laws, policies and systems that have historically advantaged White people while disadvantaging Black and other marginalized groups. These systems shape access to education, housing, economic opportunities and political representation. DEI is not about blaming individuals but about understanding and addressing the deeply rooted systems that perpetuate inequality.

White unearned advantage: the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow

While some argue that the abolition of slavery over 150 years ago should absolve current generations from addressing racial inequities (“Blacks should get over it”), this perspective overlooks how advantages gained during slavery were systematically preserved through legal frameworks.

In Mississippi, the transition from slavery did not lead to equality. The Mississippi Plan of 1875 effectively ended Reconstruction through organized terrorism, including lynchings and widespread election fraud. This campaign of violence paved the way for the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, which legally codified Black disenfranchisement through mechanisms like literacy tests and poll taxes.

These barriers were particularly insurmountable for Black citizens: literacy tests presented an almost impossible challenge for those who had been legally denied education under slavery, while poll taxes effectively excluded those who had been systematically prevented from accumulating wealth or accessing economic opportunities.

The effectiveness of these measures was striking. By 1964, only 6.7 percent of Black Mississippians were registered to vote, despite comprising a significant portion of the state’s population.

Far from being distant history, these deliberate policies created intergenerational advantages for Whites as it relates to economic opportunity, political representation and social mobility that continue to shape Mississippi’s racial landscape today. The effects of these systematic exclusions did not simply disappear with time but rather compounded over generations, creating disparities that persist in modern society.

Internalized oppression: When historical unawareness perpetuates inequality

The sanitization of history extends beyond its effects on White Americans, creating equally devastating consequences for Black individuals denied knowledge of their own heritage. When educational systems omit or minimize historical truths, Black Americans can develop a form of historical disconnect that leaves them unaware of their past and its impact on their present.

Perhaps most troublingly, this historical unawareness can manifest even among Black individuals in positions of authority. Leaders who haven’t been educated about the historical mechanisms of white supremacy may unwittingly implement policies or practices that discriminate against fellow Black community members, thereby perpetuating cycles of inequality within their own communities.

Educational disparities: funding and economic inequality

In the 1940s, White communities had access to better-funded schools, often subsidized by Black taxpayers. While Black citizens paid taxes that funded White schools, their own schools remained severely underfunded. In 1940, the state spent $133 per year to educate a White student, compared to just $33 per year for a Black student. This systemic inequity reinforced racial disparities that persist today.

A clear example of these funding disparities can be seen in Mississippi’s land-grant universities. Alcorn State University, an historically Black university and the state’s first land-grant institution, was established before Mississippi State University. In 1878, Alcorn was set to receive 60% of the state’s land-grant funding, but within a few years, its funding was drastically reduced — from $50,000 to $15,000, and eventually to just $5,000. Over the past 30 years, Alcorn has been underfunded by $257 million. In a zero-sum game, the decrease in funding for Alcorn leads to an increase in funding for Mississippi State.

These funding disparities affected educational opportunities and career trajectories. One Alcorn student highlighted the stark differences, explaining that their agricultural curriculum focused on small-scale, family farming of crops like greens, peas and okra. Meanwhile, students at Mississippi State University were trained in large-scale, commercial agriculture, cultivating high-profit crops such as cotton, corn and soybeans.

This divide has direct economic consequences. While Mississippi State graduates are positioned for lucrative careers in large-scale commercial agriculture, Alcorn State graduates are often limited to smaller-scale, lower-income farming opportunities. This disparity in educational investment has reinforced racial economic inequality, shaping access to wealth-generating careers for Whites, thereby deepening the racial wealth gap in Mississippi’s agricultural sector and broader economy.

The Mississippi Delta: A case study in economic neglect

One of the clearest examples of structural racism is found in the Mississippi Delta, where persistent Black poverty is directly tied to the legacy of slavery. This region had the highest concentration of enslaved Black people, yet there has never been any meaningful economic development to create sustainable industries or wealth.  The impact of this neglect is still evident today, as parts of the Mississippi Delta remain among the poorest areas in the world, a direct consequence of slavery and the policies that followed. Overall, one can see the impact of structural barriers in Mississippi. 

After slavery ended, White landowners created a system that ensured Black people remained economically dependent. Laws were passed that made it illegal for Black individuals to be unemployed, meaning they could be arrested if they were found without work. Those arrested were then leased out to White businesses and farms — essentially continuing slavery under a different name.

Without job opportunities, people in that region have had to rely on government assistance. Rather than recognizing these conditions as the product of historical exploitation, many reinforce biases that depict Black individuals as lazy or dependent. DEI challenges these false narratives by providing historical context — showing how slavery, segregation and systemic disinvestment created today’s racial wealth gap. Poverty in the Delta is reflected by the state as a whole. The poverty rate for Whites is 11% compared to an alarming 31% for Blacks.

Perceived threat: The browning of America and resistance to DEI

This opposition to DEI is deeply tied to the “browning of America” — the growing demographic shift where Black and Brown populations are increasing. For some Whites, this demographic shift is perceived as a threat, triggering a defensive response to maintain White dominance.

In his seminal 1949 work, Southern Politics in State and Nation, historian V.O. Key observed that in areas with large Black populations, Whites often implemented punitive policies that stifled the social, political and economic advancement of Black communities. This pattern continues today, as opposition to DEI initiatives reflects a broader reluctance to share power and resources with marginalized groups.

Why DEI matters

Some argue that teaching difficult history fosters division, but ignoring these truths only upholds inequality. In the Black-White context in Mississippi, the sanitization of this history maintains White supremacy. DEI ensures accountability, promotes fairness, and dismantles long-standing biases. Without it, structural racism remains hidden, allowing privileged individuals to continue benefiting from an unfair system without acknowledging it.

Eliminating DEI would preserve the luxury of ignorance, enabling those in power to remain comfortably unaware while marginalized communities suffer the consequences. The luxury for Whites, then, is being ignorant comfortably. DEI is not just about education. It’s about justice, equity and ensuring that future generations inherit a society where inclusion is non-negotiable.

For some Whites, luxury then is being ignorant comfortably.

Byron D’Andra Orey is professor of political science at Jackson State University. His research is in the area of race and politics. He currently serves as the president of the Southern Political Science Association and is one of the authors of the forthcoming book, Mississippi Conflict and Change. 

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