In an obvious shot at the Senate and at least part of the casino lobby for the state not legalizing online gambling, the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday approved a tax increase on casinos.
Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar said his bill, which would increase taxes on Mississippi casinos from 12% to 16%, is to recoup the tens of millions of dollars a year Mississippi is “losing” from not legalizing online betting. He said, “if everybody’s honest with themselves, online sports betting is already going on” illegally, but the state is not generating any taxes from it.
He said his bill, which now heads to the full House, is also aimed at shedding light on why the online betting bills the House has passed in recent years die in the Senate. Some Mississippi casinos, particularly smaller ones that might struggle to contract or build online betting infrastructure, have opposed the move.
“The goal post continues to be moved on the other end of the building (the Senate),” Lamar told committee members. “We’re going to tax it appropriately. There needs to be some further light shed on this topic … (Illegal online gambling) has reached pandemic level … It’s my understanding that a small handful of casinos are standing in the way of that legislation. “
Lamar said he’s been given estimates ranging from $26 million a year to $80 million a year the state could generate in revenue from online gambling — so he estimates it at about $50 million. Neighboring Tennessee, which legalized online gambling, is making about $140 million a year.
Currently Mississippi casinos pay 12% in taxes, 8% going to the state and 4% to local governments and schools. Lamar said increasing the state’s share to 12% would generate an estimated $50 million a year.
Senate Gaming Committee Chairman David Blount criticized Lamar’s tax increase on Tuesday, and the House’s major tax overhaul proposal, which would eliminate the income tax, but raise gasoline and sales taxes.
“The House is fixated on raising sales taxes, increasing the gasoline tax and raising taxes on Mississippi businesses,” Blount said. “I don’t support a 50% tax increase on Mississippi businesses (casinos) that are vital to our state. The House wants to raise taxes on everything Mississippians buy and every time they go to the gas station, and they want to raise taxes on one of the largest employers in our state.”
The move marks the first time in at least a decade that there’s been serious talk of raising the casino tax in Mississippi. The state’s relatively low and stable tax rate on gambling has been credited with helping the industry grow over years. However, some in the industry say gross gambling revenue growth has been stagnant in recent years because of illegal online gambling in Mississippi or legal online gambling in neighboring states.
The Mississippi House Democratic Caucus has been shut out of discussions over consequential bills as the agenda of their Republican colleagues has been shaped by President Donald Trump, Democratic lawmakers said at a Tuesday press conference.
House Republicans hold a supermajority and have scuttled the priorities of Democrats with little input from the minority party, said Rep. Robert Johnson, the House Democratic Leader.
“Nobody has talked to us. Nobody wants to hear what we have to say about it,” Johnson said. “We represent 40%-50% of the state of Mississippi, Democrats do. And nobody has said a word about how this will impact your community (and) what can we do to help,” Johnson said of the tax cut proposals moving through the Legislature.
Republican House Speaker Jason White has said his chamber allows ample debate on the House floor, where Democrats can propose amendments to legislation and raise concerns. Legislative Republicans have also said their agenda this session will attract corporate investment to the state, create jobs and make the state’s universities more meritocratic.
At the Capitol on Tuesday, a group of House Democrats outlined several legislative proposals they say have been either shaped without their input or inspired by President Trump.
“This state suffers severely in so many areas. We don’t pay our public safety people enough money or give them enough money for training. Our infrastructure is in dire need of repair. Our health care system is strained and collapsing,” Johnson said. “And then we’re going to come back and talk about cutting $2 billion in one bill and $1 billion in another bill out of our budget where we’re not taking care of the things we need to take care of right now.”
Failure to expand Medicaid and looming cuts
Rep. Omeria Scott said the refusal of Mississippi Republicans to expand Medicaid coverage threatens the health care of Mississippians, especially as Congressional Republicans prepare to take up a reconciliation proposal that could result in massive cuts to the Medicaid program.
“In Mississippi, where we are the poorest and the sickest of Americans, health care ought to be at the height of our concern. But as you know, Mississippi has refused to expand the Medicaid program. You know what Mississippians ought to be really afraid of? The reconciliation bill they’re taking up,” Scott said. “If they are talking about cutting $880 billion out of the budget, Mississippi is going to be on its knees. Some of y’all may want that, I don’t know. But that’s where we’re going.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bans
Rep. Jeffrey Harness said House and Senate proposals to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs are an attack on minorities in the state with the nation’s highest percentage of Black residents.
“It is an attack on fairness, truth and on the values that bind us together,” Harness said “When our Republican colleagues claim they want a better Mississippi, the question remains: for whom? Their proposed bans on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in our educational institutions tell us the answer loud and clear: it is not for the majority of Mississippians.”
by Samuel Hughes and Kennedi Drake with contributions from Rowan Luke, Rasheed Ambrose, Gretta Graves, Gerome Webster, Hailey Perkins, and Evan Baronich
LUMBERTON—Farmers in southeast Mississippi are facing rising production costs, making it harder to stay profitable.
With crop prices fluctuating and economic uncertainty ahead, many are searching for new solutions to sustain their livelihoods.
The costs of farm production, like supplies and labor, have increased dramatically in recent years while international market forces have driven prices down, leaving farmers facing losses after harvest.
In a recent Mississippi Senate Committee hearing, experts within Mississippi agriculture presented data on the issue. Pinion Global, an agriculture accounting firm, reported to the Senate that among a sample of 22 large producers in the Delta region, farmers lost $22 million across 153,000 acres last year.
According to Terrain, many U.S. farmers are still projected to experience tight or negative margins after accounting for the economic assistance payments in 2025. Click on the image to view a larger version.
Using those numbers across Mississippi’s 3.5 million acres of farmland, that amounts to roughly $550 million in losses, according to Pinion. Inflation has increased by 51% since 2007, while operational costs for row crop producers—those growing soybeans, corn, cotton and rice—have more than doubled. Pinion reported that labor costs under the federal H-2A program, which employs foreign workers in U.S. agriculture, have also increased in recent years.
Rising costs and shrinking profits
Mike McCormick, president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, said the state’s agriculture sector is experiencing its greatest challenge in recent decades. Row crop producers are facing another year of loss in 2025 despite a record-breaking crop yield last year.
“Historically, there’s always been a hole that the (row crop) farmers could find — there’s one commodity that they could grow and make money off of,” McCormick said. “There’s just none of them out there right now.”
According to a nationwide report by Terrain, a team of agricultural economists, farms producing soybeans and corn have seen a 45% decrease in net cash farm income since 2022, the lowest in the past 15 years.
The report also states that row crop producers did not see profit in 2024. McCormick said future projections do not indicate profitability for those producers in 2025.
While the American Relief Act is helping U.S. farmers acquire loans to plant crops in 2025, it is not getting farmers close to breaking even, according to Terrain. Agricultural industry leaders call for a new Farm Bill as a longer-term solution. Click on the image to view a larger version.
McCormick said that some agricultural lenders, concerned about future cost and price projections, may deny farmers loans to plant their crops this year—uncertain farmers will have the assets to pay back their debt after harvest.
“Most farmers have crop loans. Very few of them can self-fund their own operation. So, they’re at the banks with higher interest rates, with their hat in their hands, trying to show them a budget that at least potentially works for them to come back in and pay the bank back for the money that they’re getting. That’s getting harder and harder,” McCormick said.
Adapting to survive price shifts
Conversely, the outlook differs for many southeastern Mississippi farmers, where diversified agricultural production offers more stability. John and Liz Corley, owners of Corley Farms outside Lumberton, grow row crops like corn and soybeans but also raise cattle.
“All of our inputs have been in this inflationary period of increasing, and we’ve seen those double and triple. Liz and I, we moved to growing row crops with cattle, because it’s a diversification of the farm income,” John Corley said. “When you look over history, normally when one commodity is high, the other one will be low, or vice versa.”
According to Terrain’s report, net cash farm income on cattle farms increased 183% since 2022, while other livestock farms have seen an increase of 54%.
Soybeans – U.S. Department of Ag riculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) agronomist Larry Heatherly examines an early maturing variety of soybean plants growing in a flood-irrigated field in Mississippi. (Keith Weller)
Brennan Ferguson, owner of Ferguson Family Farms in Perkinston, said while his farm has tried various agricultural outputs, current market conditions have led his family to transition to livestock production.
“At one time, we’ve done a U-pick. We’ve done a lot of vegetables, different things, and then as things progressed—COVID-19 and different things hit—we kind of transferred over into selling our pork. We raise Duroc, Yorkshire and Hampshire hogs, and we cross-breed and get a good meat quality hog,” Ferguson said. “Equipment, fuel, feed—it all fluctuates up and down. So, we have to just go off of what the economy is doing.”
Corley noted that not all Mississippi farmers have the option to diversify their output. Those with significant investments in row crop equipment—often totaling millions—cannot afford to let the equipment sit idle.
“Here in the hilly country, we can raise livestock easier than we can grow grain, but in the Delta and other regions, maybe their only means of income is row crop, and so, they’re really struggling. There are a number of people that invested heavily in equipment and in other things to produce more (row crops) and then all of a sudden, the market has kind of collapsed,” Corley said.
An uncertain market
The agriculture industry is volatile and is heavily influenced by international forces, according to Will Maples, an agricultural economist at Mississippi State University.
Maples said that, for example, the U.S. has historically traded much of its soybean crop to China, but recent trade conflicts have led China to favor Brazil as its primary supplier. That, combined with a global stockpile of soybeans, has brought prices down.
The price of cotton, which is largely dependent on consumer demand of products like clothing and furniture, has fallen due to inflation, making such purchases less attractive, according to Maples.
The price of corn, however, has defied past projections of a lower price. A low yield in the Midwest had led to better margins for some Mississippi farmers planting corn, but Maples warned that as more farmers turn to corn in hopes of profitability, prices will likely drop again.
Meanwhile, recent droughts across the U.S. have tightened livestock herd numbers, driving up prices amid strong consumer demand. This has made livestock production a more viable way for farmers to cover expenses.
Maples said if anything is certain about the international agriculture market, it is that prices will rise and fall.
“It could be two years, five years—eventually, it will get back out of it. It just rolls up and down year to year, but really, the question is, ‘How long it will last?’ That is where the uncertainty lies,” Maples said.
Smaller farmers, limited by available acreage and equipment, will face more greater financial pressure from these market forces than larger operations, especially during extended periods of low prices.
McCormick said these challenges are pushing the average row crop farmer—who, in Mississippi, is about 60 years old—to retire, while simultaneously making it harder for younger farmers to secure loans to enter the industry.
“We’ve got a lot of the older guys that probably made some money over years, and are looking at, ‘Why am I continuing to do this? I might as well stop and retire.’ At the same time, they’re not being able to find anybody to come in and buy them out and start over as a young farmer,” McCormick said. “I think we’re consolidating, where some of the bigger farmers that want to stay in are just getting bigger and taking up some of this land from people that want to retire, but certainly, there’s a breaking point … if they continue to lose money, they’re not going to have the resources to keep going. That’s why we need a farm bill.”
Push for policy solutions
Terrain presented to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 11. Crop producers have experienced significant challenges due to low prices and high inputs, while some livestock producers have benefited from high cattle and milk prices, helping to offset elevated input costs. Click on the image to view a larger version.
In December, Congress passed the American Relief Act of 2025, a large disaster relief package that included $10 billion in direct aid for row crop producers nationwide. Once distributed, the aid will help farmers present stronger financial statements to agriculture lenders.
While the aid will help get crops in the ground this year, McCormick said a new farm bill is needed to provide long-term stability against international market shifts.
The 2018 Farm Bill, a landmark piece of federal legislation, provides key relief programs, including crop insurance and agricultural disaster assistance. The bill expired in 2023 and is facing a third extension as Congress debates a new version.
McCormick said that commodity prices set in the 2018 legislation are outdated, and farmers are not receiving the intended level of federal relief.
“They have targeted prices in the 2018 Farm Bill that were set that no longer work because of inflationary reasons. The price needs to go up to trigger the payments to the farmers for this crop insurance they’re buying,” McCormick said. “2018 was a long time ago, and just like anything else, a lot of the language needs to be cleaned up.”
Beyond farming, the Farm Bill covers a broad scope of programs, from food assistance to environmental conservation, making it a contentious issue in Congress.
Republican state Sen. Andy Berry, a cattle farmer and vice chair of the upper chamber’s Agriculture Committee, said the state is working support farmers as they await a new farm bill, with much of the effort focused on local tax policy.
Lawmakers in the state Legislature have separate plans that could redistribute taxes across the state economy.
Farmers may own or rent large stretches of land, making property taxes, which fund local services like schools and law enforcement, a considerable expense.
“A lot of us in agriculture that work here at the Capitol are keeping an eye out … that when we’re adjusting the income or the grocery or the fuel tax, that that does not cause local county governments to raise ad valorem, property taxes, on our farmers,” Berry said.
Berry, Maples and McCormick said row crop prices will eventually stabilize, partly because farmers are leaving the sector due to low prices. With less producers and less product, prices will increase.
“I hate that that might be the case, but I believe it is,” Berry said. “You know, there’s an old saying in agriculture—that low prices fix low prices, high prices fix high prices, that the market will eventually work out.”
Members of the Child Care Advisory Council and child care providers, who had raised issues earlier about new proposed regulations, are voicing more concerns after the state Department of Health shared revisions.
Over 200 child care providers attended a meeting Friday of the Child Care Advisory Council along with members of the advisory council and Nicole Barnes, director of the child care bureau at the Health Department, to discuss the new proposed revisions to child care regulations in the state.
The advisory committee had a week to review the new proposed revisions, which have not been released to the public. They also weren’t shown during the meeting.
Advisory council members Vincent Burke and Roberta Avila spoke on the need for a clearer process for discussing and passing changes to child care regulations. Burke suggested giving council members at least 30 days to review regulation changes. “We feel uninformed as an advisory board,” he said.
Avila explained her point in an email after the meeting. “There is a need for clarity of the process in discussing and approving changes to the Licensure Regulations,” she said.
The council voted to meet again in March to further discuss the new regulations. During the open comment period, several providers raised concerns about the licensing agency’s conduct. Debbie Ellis, who owns and operates The Learning Center in Greenwood, criticized the licensing agency’s handling of the regulation changes, saying that it was “disrespectful” and “alienates” child care providers.
Two other providers who are also part of the advisory council, Regina Harvey and Lesia Daniel, spoke before the meeting about the advisory council’s role.
“Regulations should not be released to the public until the advisory board has had a chance to read them and advise,” said Harvey, who runs SMART Beginnings Preschool in Ocean Springs. “This is what the board is supposed to be — made up of industry leaders and providers. My experience so far is that this is not happening.”
Daniel, owner of Funtime in Clinton, said that having a week to look at all the new revisions wasn’t practical. “The document is hundreds of pages and so taking the time to compare each section to the current regulations to identify the proposed changes is a waste of everyone’s time. To me, that communicates a lack of respect to providers.”
Barnes explained in the meeting that the revisions were done to comply with the Child Care and Development Block Grant’s health and safety standards. There are no federal child care regulations.
The licensing agency filed its first round of proposed regulation changes in November. Many child care providers criticized the previous revisions and how the licensing agency debuted them. They also felt the licensing agency wasn’t considerate of their perspectives.
The licensing agency acknowledged they did not get input from the Child Care Advisory Council or the Small Business Regulatory Committee. Providers said they were not notified of the revisions until weeks after they were filed, when they should’ve been notified three days after they were filed. The licensing agency maintains that it followed the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act.
The controversy over regulations comes at a crucial time for the child care industry. Labor shortages, high prices, and more are contributing to a child care crisis in the U.S.
The licensing agency is set to bring the proposed revisions to the Board of Health in April, as well as all public comments from providers. According to Barnes, the new regulations would take effect in May if the Board of Health approves them.
Editor’s note: Linda Williams-Short, the mayor of Mayersville, leads one of Mississippi’s smallest towns. This piece is part of an ongoing Mississippi Today Ideas series showcasing perspectives of mayors across the state.
When you think about the Mississippi Delta, you might not always think about Mayersville.
But this small but mighty town I’m proud to lead is as important as any in the Delta, and we are making great strides. We like to think of Mayersville as being a small town with big dreams. We live by that motto.
Linda Williams-Short Credit: Special to Mississippi Today
Perhaps these strides we have made would be considered baby steps in larger cities, but in Mayersville, population 433, according to the 2020 Census, these steps can be considered monumental to our town’s survival.
We strive to follow the lead of former Mayersville Mayor Unita Blackwell, who was the first Black woman mayor of a Mississippi town. She was a leader for all of us in Mayersville, and she inspired me to enter politics.
And today we still follow her lead in working to improve housing in Mayersville and the overall economic condition of all our residents.
We have faced the adversities of other small Delta towns. Through the decades we also have faced natural disasters, including barely missing a direct hit from the awful 2023 tornado that reaped destruction on many of our south Mississippi Delta neighbors.
The natural disasters Mayersville has faced go way back including the historic and devastating 1927 flood that resulted in the levee that separates our town from the direct access to the Mississippi River that was key to our economy decades ago.
Despite the obstacles, town leaders and I are committed to improving the health and well-being of our constituents. As part of this effort, the town of Mayersville became the second smoke-free community in the state of Mississippi.
Since being elected mayor in 2001, we have worked, following in the tradition of Unita Blackwell, to build seven new homes within Mayersville. That might not seem like a big deal, but in a town of our size and with the housing issues we face, we are proud of this accomplishment.
We have strived to repair the town’s failing infrastructure and to bring healthy food options to the community through a partnership with the Mississippi Food Network. We also are working with the Delta Health Center to provide a clinic to assist residents who have limited transportation options.
And like other small Delta towns, tourism is critical. To that end, I helped found the Mayersville Annual Homecoming Festival. This festival brings former and current residents together annually from all over the United States.
These efforts are important to me because Mayersville, which is the county seat for Issaquena County, is important to me. I am a lifelong resident.
I am the youngest daughter of the late Saul & Edie B. Williams. For 29 years I have been married to Larry D. Short. He is my lifelong partner and love of my life. I am the mother of James Jr., Jeremy, JaSona, Kiara, Katerri and the late Jercelle and proud grandmother of 13 grandchildren. I have been a member of one of our great and impactful churches — Rose Hill M.B. Church — for 49 years, and I currently serve as the senior choir director. In addition to being mayor, I am a small business owner operating as Tony’s Grocery and Celle’s Estate Housing complex.
I am passionate, dedicated, driven in terms of my job as mayor of Mayersville.
But my story is not unique. In Mayersville, we all pitch in for the betterment of our town and its residents.
In Mayersville, we live by the motto, “Always service over self.” I am proud to take that motto to heart every single day.
The city of Clarksdale on Monday filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit against the Clarksdale Press Register and a judge’s order that required the newspaper to remove an editorial from its website, a court action that stunned free press advocates.
The motion asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, which means the city cannot refile the same lawsuit against the city in the future. Hinds County Chancellor Crystal Wise Martin would have to agree to the motion.
The city leaders and the newspaper are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning. But if the judge agrees to the dismissal motion before then, the court will likely cancel the hearing.
“They shouldn’t have filed the lawsuit in the first place,” said Wyatt Emmerich, the newspaper’s owner. “But I’m glad they’re dismissing it.”
Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy and the Board of Commissioners filed the petition last week in Hinds County Chancery Court, alleging that an editorial the local newspaper published criticizing them was “libelous” and saying the editorial would bring “immediate and irreparable injury” to the city.
The editorial criticized the city for conducting a special-called meeting without informing the news outlet beforehand. The purpose of the meeting was to ask the Legislature for permission to enact an additional local tax.
“Have commissioners or the mayor gotten kickback from the community?” the editorial reads. “Until Tuesday, we had not heard of any. Maybe they just wanted a few nights in Jackson to lobby for this idea — at public expense.”
The state’s Open Meetings Act requires public bodies to email a notice of the meeting to media outlets and citizens who have asked to be placed on the city’s email distribution list.
The Clarksdale city clerk, Laketha Covington, filed an affidavit with the city’s petition stating that she forgot to send an email notice about the special meeting to the outlet. Still, she said it was a simple mistake and not intentional.
Angered, the city leaders filed the petition over the editorial in Jackson, around 155 miles from Clarksdale, where the judge issued the temporary restraining order that ordered the newspaper to remove the website from its website.
A temporary restraining order is typically issued by a judge instructing someone to stop a specific action. It is issued when the judge believes immediate and irreparable loss or damage will occur before the court can conduct a full hearing.
But Charlie Mitchell, a lawyer and former newspaper editor who has taught media law at the University of Mississippi for years, doubted if the editorial met the irreparable loss burden and said the judge’s order went a step further than a typical restraining order and ordered a “remedy” by demanding the news outlet to take corrective action.
“The opinion expressed in the editorial — government secrecy breeds mistrust — has been voiced countless times throughout American history and is the very root of the First Amendment,” Mitchell said.
The Mississippi Press Association and other press advocates were alarmed by the ruling, calling it “unconstitutional” and worried that it would set a dangerous precedent for nearly a century of case law that clearly outlawed prior restraint orders.
National news outlets, including the Associated Press and the New York Times, quickly picked up on the story, and legal advocates supported the Clarksdale Press Register. Now, six days after the judge entered her order, the city is dismissing its petition.
Emmerich believes other government bodies would be hesitant to pursue similar actions against local news outlets in the future because of the swift response from free press advocates nationwide.
“I’m really inspired by all the support throughout the country and that First Amendment advocates quickly responded to this,” Emmerich said.
Mississippi Today is a finalist for the Peter F. Collier Award for Ethics in Journalism, which celebrates journalism that meets the highest ethical standards in the face of pressure or incentives to do otherwise.
Administered by New York University’s Ethics and Journalism Initiative, the new prize commends work — in student, local, and national/international categories — published or broadcast between September 2023 and August 2024.
Mississippi Today is one of three announced finalists for the local prize for its continued coverage of state officials’ alleged misuse of federal welfare funds in the face of an ongoing lawsuit against the publication by former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
“We’ve vowed to not let Gov. Bryant’s meritless lawsuit distract us from the critical work in front of us, and it’s an honor to be recognized for doing just that by the NYU Ethics and Journalism Initiative,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today’s editor-in-chief. “Every day, we deliberately meet specific criteria for fairness to our sources, subjects and readers. These standards are essential to our work, and I’m hopeful this new prize will help everyone better understand the care and effort our journalists put into everything we publish.”
Other finalists announced in the local category are Documented NY and the Baltimore Banner. The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and the Guardian/NBC News are finalists in the national category.
“Ethical journalism is more important than ever in this age of misinformation and distrust,” said Stephen J. Adler, founding director of the Ethics and Journalism Initiative. “Our panel of distinguished judges recognized outstanding work that gained credibility and authority due to the thoughtful handling of difficult ethical issues. Congratulations to the inaugural-year finalists.”
Winners and first and second runners-up will be announced on April 10 in New York.
The Senate voted Monday evening to pass a tax cut that reduces the state income tax and the sales tax on groceries while raising the gasoline tax, setting up negotiations with the House.
The measure passed the GOP-majority Senate 34-15, with four Democrats supporting it and four Republicans opposing it. It now heads to the House, whose leadership is advocating for its own plan, which would eventually eliminate the state individual income tax.
The Senate plan amounts to a net tax cut of $326 million, a more modest sum than the $1.1 billion net cut passed by the House. The Senate would reduce the state’s flat 4% income tax to 2.99% over four years, while the House would eliminate the income tax over more than a decade.
Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, told reporters that the legislation was a responsible way to cut taxes while slightly increasing the gasoline tax to provide more revenue for infrastructure funding.
“I think we’ve put forward a really good plan that helps families at the grocery store by lowering the sales tax on groceries,” Harkins said. “And it provides incentives and rewards work.”
The Senate plan would reduce the state’s 7% sales tax on grocery items, the highest in the nation, to 5% starting July 2025. Municipalities receive a portion of grocery tax revenue, and the Senate plan would make cities whole.
The Senate bill would raise the state’s 18.4-cents-a-gallon gasoline excise by three cents yearly over the next three years, eventually resulting in a 27.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax at completion. This is an effort to help the Mississippi Department of Transportation with a long-running shortfall of highway maintenance money.
Most of the chamber’s Democratic members opposed the plan over fears that the state could not afford to wipe out around half a billion dollars each year from its budget and still address some of the state’s critical issues such as public education and health care.
“That’s a lot of money, and we need that money for basic infrastructure,” Democratic Sen. Hob Bryan of Amory said. “Everyone benefits from infrastructure.”
Some Democratic members attempted to amend the bill to eliminate the grocery tax or change the tax structure to avoid increasing the gas tax. But the GOP-majority chamber on party-line votes defeated the amendments.
Four Republican senators voted against the final measure because it raised the gasoline tax, something they viewed as going against the GOP’s core ideology.
Sen. Angela Burks Hill, a Republican from Picayune, told reporters the gas tax increase would hurt rural people the most because they have to drive further for work and to purchase groceries.
“I’m just trying to follow my party’s platform of low taxes,” Hill said.
Now that both chambers at the Capitol have passed separate tax proposals, the key question will be how much legislative leaders can compromise on a final package. House Speaker Jason White, a Republican from West, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves have said abolishing the income tax is their primary goal this session.
White previously told Mississippi Today that he’s willing to compromise with the Senate, but he wants a final tax cut that’s substantive and meaningful.
“We’re not interested in a small piece of a tax cut while not addressing other issues,” White said.
Reeves has thrown cold water on the Senate’s proposal because it doesn’t entirely eliminate the income tax. If lawmakers can’t agree on a proposal, he could call them into a special session to address taxes.
Harkins, though, said he hopes lawmakers can “build consensus” on a final package during the regular session. House and Senate leaders will likely debate the measure for the next month. The deadline for lawmakers to approve tax and appropriations bills is March 31.
Michael Williams slams home a dunk after an alley oop pass from his brother, Mason, who was 30 feet away from the basket and out of the picture. Credit: Keith Warren/MHSAA
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question in recent years: What has happened to Jackson Public Schools basketball?
Good question.
And I do know the answer, at least a large part of it. But first some background.
Used to be, you could count on several JPS powerhouses to bring huge crowds to the State Tournament at Mississippi Coliseum every February to watch Murrah, Lanier, Provine, Callaway and Jim Hill teams that annually produced some of the greatest basketball talent in Mississippi history. Often, fire marshalls stepped in and locked the Coliseum doors with still hundreds of fans outside hoping to get in.
That’s no longer the case. Not a single JPS boys team made it to the State semifinals this year. (The Lanier girls will play Choctaw County in a 4A semifinal game Wednesday afternoon.) Even just a decade ago, no JPS boys teams in the State Championships would have been heresy. This is not to say that the Jackson metro area is not represented at the Big House. Northwest Rankin, Brandon, Germantown and Madison Central teams all played in the semifinals on Monday. The Canton girls and boys will play Tuesday.
The suburbs are killing it. Inner city Jackson is not.
Sam Funches, 32, slams a dunk for Germantown in the Mavs’ 55-30 victory over Biloxi.
OK, so here’s a major reason why: In many cases, the city has moved to the suburbs. This is best illustrated by how the Germantown team from out Gluckstadt way hammered Biloxi 55-30 in the Monday noon Class 7A semifinals.
There were Germantown guards Michael and Mason Williams controlling the flow of the game with their ball-handling, passing and defensive skills. There was 7-footer Sam Funches IV dominating the paint at both ends with his length, nifty footwork and soft touch around the basket. There was guard/forward Michael Johnson contributing in so many ways with hustle and grit. And there was Devin Moore, a sturdy, 6-5 guard/forward scoring nine points on just five shots and also contributing five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Here’s the deal: Michael Williams (a senior) and Mason Williams (a junior) are the sons of Mo Williams the former Murrah, Alabama and NBA great who now coaches at Jackson State. Funches is the son of Sam Funches III, who also played at Murrah, was recruited by Jim Calhoun at Connecticut and finished his career at North Texas. Johnson’s dad, Trey, played at Murrah and then was the SWAC Player of the Year at Jackson State before a long professional career in the NBA and overseas. Moore’s dad and an uncle both played at Jim Hill. Now, all live in Madison County and have turned the Germantown Mavericks, 23-5, into a powerhouse. The Mavs will play neighboring Madison Central in the 7A championship game, which will be played Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Said Mo Williams, who watched Monday’s proceedings from a seat in the Germantown cheering section, “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? It’s like the city has moved to the ‘burbs.”
We weren’t three minutes into the Germantown-Biloxi game when brothers Michael and Mason Williams combined to make a play that reminded we longtime Jackson-area fans of the kind of plays their daddy made at Murrah. Mason lofted a high, looping alley-top pass high above the basket. Michael , who will play for his dad at Jackson State, soared high above the rim and slammed the ball through to give the Mavs a lead they never relinquished.
Michael dunked again moments later, swished a three-pointer after that, and then scored on a spin move and a mid-range jumper seconds later. Before you knew it, a 7-6 deficit turned into at 21-11 lead,
Meahwhle, Funches IV, a 16-year-old junior, showed why virtually every college basketball coach in the country is recruiting him. Yes, he needs to get stronger. He could be – and probably will be – more aggressive. But you can’t teach a kid how to be 7 feet tall, and you can’t teach the deft shooting touch he already possesses. That’s inherited. These Germantown players inherited well.
This time last year, Mo Williams’ sons were helping Jackson Academy win the overall private schools state championship at Jackson Academy. Now they are trying to win a public schools championship.
Michael asked me: “Has anybody ever done that?”
I don’t know. I thought Andy Kennedy, the former Ole Miss and current UAB coach, might have done it back when he still had hair and transferred from Winston Academy to Louisville High School. But Kennedy text-messaged back: ”We won it at Winston but only won the north half at Louisville, got beat in the semifinals at the Coliseum.”
Somebody else might have done it. I don’t know. I do know precious few have had the opportunity.
