OurTupelo

Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield are examining the power of sheriffs’ offices in Mississippi as part of The Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter who has examined civil rights-era cold murder cases in the state for more than 30 years.

One of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves the Goon Squad was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, months after he and his co-defendants pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses for torturing and sexually assaulting two Black men and a third white man who has remained anonymous until now.

Hunter Elward, the deputy who shot one of the victims in the mouth, received the maximum penalty allowed under his plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Mr. Elward broke down in tears as he stood before a U.S. District Court judge, Tom Lee, and apologized to the victims and their family members. Mr. Elward turned to face Eddie Parker, 36, and Michael Jenkins, 33, who were tortured and sexually assaulted by the officers during a raid on Mr. Parker’s home.

“I hate that I was involved in this,” he said. “I hate what’s happened to them.”

As Mr. Elward left the podium, Mr. Parker stood up and said that he forgave him.

During the hearing, Mr. Elward said that he had witnessed brutal conduct by other deputies throughout his seven years at the department, which his lawyer, Joe Hollomon, said was “the culture of Rankin County sheriff’s department.”

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Jenkins, the man Mr. Elward shot in the face during what was described as a mock execution, said that he did not forgive Mr. Elward. “If he wouldn’t have gotten caught, he would still be doing the same thing.” Mr. Jenkins said.

Both men said they were satisfied with Judge Lee’s sentence.

Over the next two days, the other officers involved in the incidents, who each could be sentenced to a decade or more in prison, will appear in federal court in Jackson, Miss. Prosecutors are expected to detail the officers’ violent actions, and victims will have an opportunity to share their stories.

The sheriff’s department in Rankin County, a suburban community just outside Jackson, came to national attention last year after five Rankin County deputies and a Richland Police detective raided the home of Eddie Parker, 36, and his friend, Michael Jenkins, 33, following a tip about suspicious activity.

The officers handcuffed and tortured the men by shocking them repeatedly with Tasers, beating them and sexually assaulting them with a sex toy. Mr. Elward put his gun into Mr. Jenkins’s mouth and shot him, shattering his jaw and nearly killing him.

“They tried to take my manhood away from me,” Mr. Jenkins said in a statement to the court on Tuesday morning. “I don’t ever think I’ll be the person I was.”

The officers destroyed evidence and, to justify the shooting, falsely claimed that Mr. Jenkins had pointed a BB gun at them, according to federal prosecutors.

Three of the department’s deputies also pleaded guilty in a separate incident, but prosecutors have so far provided few details about what happened. Prosecutors are expected to read a statement written by the victim in that case, 28-year-old Alan Schmidt.

So far charges against officers in Rankin County have been narrowly focused on these two incidents, but residents in impoverished pockets of the county say that the sheriff’s department has routinely targeted them with similar levels of violence.

Last November, The New York Times and Mississippi Today published an investigation revealing that for nearly two decades, deputies in the Rankin sheriff department, many of whom called themselves the Goon Squad, would barge into homes in the middle of the night, handcuff people and torture them for information or confessions.

In the pursuit of drug arrests, the deputies rammed a stick down one man’s throat until he vomited, dripped molten metal onto another man’s skin and held people down and beat them until they were bloody and bruised, according to dozens of people who said they witnessed or experienced the raids.

Many of those who said they had experienced violence filed lawsuits or formal complaints detailing their encounters with the department. A few said they had contacted Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey directly, only to be ignored.

Sheriff Bailey, who has denied knowledge of the incidents, has faced calls to resign by local activists and the N.A.A.C.P. He has said he will not step down.

Malcolm Holmes, a professor in the department of criminal justice and sociology at the University of Wyoming, said that the Goon Squad case was “going to be one that finds its way into the chronicles of history.”

“There’s so much well-documented evidence that this is a pattern of behavior,” he said, noting that the case revealed “something we’ve covered up for a long time, particularly in rural America.”

The sentencing hearings this week are expected to reveal more details about violence perpetrated by Rankin County deputies, including what happened to Mr. Schmidt.

In an interview with The Times and Mississippi Today last week, Mr. Schmidt spoke publicly for the first time about what happened in December 2022 when a Rankin County deputy pulled him over for driving with an expired tag.

According to the federal indictment, deputies Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward and Daniel Opdyke arrived at the scene shortly afterward. Two other deputies, including the one who pulled Mr. Schmidt over, were also present throughout the arrest, Mr. Schmidt said. Neither has been criminally charged.

Mr. Schmidt said the deputies accused him of stealing tools from his boss, and then Mr. Dedmon pressed a gun to his head and fired it into the air before threatening to dump his body in the Pearl River.

“I thought this was it,” Mr. Schmidt said. “I’m never going to see my family again.”

Mr. Dedmon and the other deputies punched Mr. Schmidt and held his arm in a fire ant hill, then shocked him repeatedly with a Taser, Mr. Schmidt said.

Mr. Dedmon also pressed his genitals against the man’s face and bare buttocks as he yelled for help and kicked at the deputy, Mr. Schmidt said.

“It still goes through my head constantly,” Mr. Schmidt said of the experience.

Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett has begun to review and dismiss criminal cases that had involved Goon Squad members, his office confirmed last week, but Mr. Bramlett declined to share details about the cases under review.

State lawmakers introduced a bill in January that would expand oversight of Mississippi law enforcement, allowing the state board that certifies officers to investigate and revoke the licenses of officers accused of misconduct, regardless of whether they are criminally charged. Lawmakers have said that the Goon Squad and several other incidents of alleged police misconduct in Mississippi helped prompt the bill.

The Mississippi House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass the bill last week. The state senate is expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks.

The post Goon Squad Officer is Sentenced to 20 Years in Mississippi Torture Cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A majority of Mississippi’s Republican primary voters support expanding Medicaid coverage to the working poor, according to a recent poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society. 

The poll, conducted on February 19-20 by private polling firm Cygnal, surveyed 600 people and showed that 55% of likely GOP primary voters in the Magnolia State support Medicaid expansion to cover low-income individuals. 

“This showed what we’ve been feeling for a while now, which is that just among Republican primary voters, a majority of them support expanding Medicaid to close the coverage gap,” said Kimberly Hughes, the Mississippi government relations director at the American Cancer Society Action Network.

The coverage gap is made up of low-income workers who make more than 28% of the federal poverty level — the maximum income allowed to currently qualify for Medicaid in the state — but less than the 100% of the federal poverty level needed to get subsidies that would make private insurance plans affordable.

It’s estimated that 123,000 uninsured Mississippians would gain coverage under expansion – that includes the 74,000 people under the poverty level and an additional 49,000 uninsured adults whose income is between 100% and 138% of the FPL. 

The Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly passed a bill to expand Medicaid, and its fate now lies with the GOP-majority Senate, which has yet to take a full vote on the issue. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, previously told reporters he plans to introduce a Medicaid expansion plan this week. 

A reason that some senators, particularly those from rural districts, are reluctant to support expansion is a fear that they could attract a GOP primary challenger who would potentially criticize them for voting in favor of the policy. 

But Brent Buchanan, president & founder of Cygnal, said the poll surveyed Republican voters proportionally across the state’s four congressional districts who indicated that there was little opposition to Republicans passing Medicaid expansion legislation.

“Who would be on the other side funding you getting beaten over this? It doesn’t exist,” Buchanan said. “The way I view Medicaid expansion is that no primary voter is waking up thinking about expansion. This is an issue that has a great upside and very limited downside.” 

The ACS poll reflects similar conclusions that several Mississippi Today/Siena College polls showed last year. 

An April poll conducted by the two organizations found that 60% of overall voters including, 52% of Republicans voters, supported the policy, and a June poll of likely GOP primary voters also found 52% of primary voters supported the policy. 

The post Poll: Majority of Mississippi Republican voters support Medicaid expansion  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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

Spring is here and so is our raffle!

Do you want to Win a Staycation in Jackson, Mississippi, “The City With Soul” while also supporting the good work of a local non-profit?

Keep the awesome prizes for yourself or give them to a loved one for a birthday, special celebration, or even a much-needed “Mommy Get Away.”

Enter the raffle offered by Growing Up Knowing, a 501C3 that empowers youth across Mississippi by providing relevant sex education and wellness through its signature programs, “My Body, My Boundaries” and “Tween Talk: A Comprehensive Sex Education” and start planning a fun weekend!

So, what do you win? The fabulous grand prize includes a one-night stay at Jackson’s newest, swanky hotel, The Orchid Bed and Breakfast, a $100 gift card to Bravo, and a $50 gift card to Highball Lanes for an evening of bowling and libations. By purchasing more tickets, you increase your chances of winning!

Buy 10 Entries for $25
or 25 Entries for $50
or 75 Entries for $75
or 100 Entries for $100

The raffle will last until March 30th! Do not miss your chance to win and by supporting GUK, you are supporting a healthier Mississippi all around. Visit our raffle website to purchase entries!

Growing Up Knowing (GUK) is a local education and health nonprofit that provides free age-appropriate programs to Mississippi youth and their parents/caregivers. Our mission is to promote healthy life decisions through family education and community partnerships. Growing Up Knowing engages young people and their families in real conversations about sexual health and preventing abuse. To learn more, visit us at www.growingupknowing.org.

The post Growing Up Knowing and The Orchid Bed and Breakfast Pair Up for a Spring Raffle appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi House has passed legislation to give the state’s officer training board the power to investigate law enforcement misconduct.

“We’re glad that it’s moving forward,” said Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell.

House Bill 691 now moves to the Senate, where the fate of its own version, SB 2286, is uncertain. 

Tindell said he’s happy to see “continuing conversations on how to improve the board and its oversight.”

If the bill becomes law, he anticipates the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training would hire two or three investigators who would investigate matters and make recommendations. 

“Ultimately,” he said, “it’s going to be up to the board.”

The bill comes in the wake of an investigation by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today and The New York Times into sheriffs and deputies across the state over allegations of sexual abuse, torture and corruption.

For the first time, deputies, sheriffs and state law enforcement would join police officers in the requirement to have up to 24 hours of continuing education training. Those who fail to train could lose their certifications.

Other changes would take place as well. Each year, the licensing board would have to report on its activities to the Legislature and the governor. 

The board’s makeup would be changed to include the public safety commissioner and the director of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy.

The bill calls for a nine-member board with the governor having four appoints – two police chiefs, a sheriff and a district attorney. Other members would be the presidents of the Constable Association, the Mississippi Campus Law Enforcement Association and the sheriff’s association (or designee).

The post Law enforcement misconduct bill moves forward in Legislature appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A school voucher bill died Thursday – a deadline day – when House leaders opted not to bring it up for consideration.

House Bill 1449, which was first introduced as a far reaching, universal voucher bill allowing public funds to be spent on private schools, had been amended to create a committee to study the issue. But on Thursday the bill died when it was not brought up for consideration, killing not only universal vouchers, but the prospect of studying the use of vouchers.

“Even though it was just a study committee, the code section was still alive,” meaning spending tax dollars on private schools could have been reincorporated in the bill later in the process, said Rep. Daryl Porter, D-Summit.

“We wanted it to die – at least I did,” he said.

There might be bills alive where some form of voucher legislation could be enacted, but the most far reaching – the Mississippi Student Freedom Act — will no longer be alive during the process.

The bill was unique in the legislative process because it would not have placed any limitations on who could receive vouchers – referred to as a scholarships in the legislation. House Education Chair Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said when he filed the legislation he just wanted to start a conversation on the contentious issue and indicated then the bill would not survive.

Even after the bill was changed to a study committee, Mississippi Today reported that House leaders were saying it would be killed in the House and not advanced to the Senate.

Thursday was the deadline for original floor action on bills in the chamber where they originated.

The post House leaders kill school voucher bill without vote appeared first on Mississippi Today.

When Brandon Allred woke up in the hospital after suffering heat stroke and a series of seizures at work, all he could think about was how much it was going to cost.

It was a legitimate concern: Seven years later, he’s still paying off the medical debt.

“It’s not just anxiety,” the 35-year-old father said, “but also the conscious, embarrassing fact that I’m living in one of the richest countries in the world and I am a natural born citizen and I have to sit here day by day and think ‘I dream of healthcare.’ I dream of a day where I can get all my teeth fixed and not have to worry about that. Or maybe I can figure out what was going on with me with those seizures.”

Allred, a prep cook and the primary provider for his six young daughters, works full-time but falls into Mississippi’s coverage gap, where he says health care is but a “pipe dream” and a “whimsical idea.” 

The coverage gap is made up of low-income workers who make more than 28% of the federal poverty level — the maximum income allowed to currently qualify for Medicaid in the state — but less than the 100% of the federal poverty level needed to get subsidies that would make private insurance plans affordable. And it’s surprisingly big, comprising roughly 74,000 Mississippians, according to a recent KFF study. 

If Medicaid were expanded in Mississippi – one of only 10 states that has not done so – Allred and tens of thousands of other working Mississippians like him would be covered. Income-eligible adults without children would also be covered. 

It’s estimated that 123,000 uninsured Mississippians would gain coverage under expansion – that includes the 74,000 people under the poverty level and an additional 49,000 uninsured adults whose income is between 100% and 138% of the FPL. That means that under expansion, a family of four could make up to $43,056 and qualify for Medicaid.

Critics of expansion argue that anyone, even if they’re not offered health insurance through their employer, can purchase it through the marketplace. Those plans exist, but are so expensive that for those in the coverage gap, they practically do not exist.

Other critics of expansion argue that because there is a chance that some privately-insured Mississippians would switch to Medicaid under expansion, that’s reason to keep the 123,000 uninsured Mississippians uninsured — and turn down at least $1 billion a year in federal money to cover most of the cost.

Private insurance plans, especially ones with low premiums, have high deductibles that can easily run $5,000 a year. A plan with a deductible on the higher end of that spectrum would equate to about $400 a month – on top of premiums and copays – that an individual would need to pay in order for insurance companies to start picking up the slack.

A majority of uninsured adults make slightly too much to qualify for Medicaid under the present eligibility criteria, and so have no path toward health care.

As it stands, Medicaid eligibility for adults in Mississippi is very limited. 

Firstly, Medicaid in Mississippi doesn’t currently cover childless adults – period. And even adults who have children would need to be making less than 28% of the FPL to be eligible for Medicaid. For a family of two, such as a single mother and her child, 28% of the federal poverty level would be about $5,700 a year, or $475 a month. 

That means that a working mother making incrementally more, such as 29% of the FPL, would not qualify for Medicaid but would have to use nearly her entire salary if she were to pay out of pocket for a private insurance plan through the marketplace. This is an obvious impossibility for someone paying for rent and food and other basic necessities.

Nobody knows that better than Lakeisha Preston, a single working mother who couldn’t afford the deductibles on her insurance plan, and therefore was stuck paying out of pocket for a bout of pneumonia that put her in the hospital in 2019.

Over four years later she’s still paying off that medical bill – which forced her to move back in with her parents and take out personal loans.

“I had health insurance, it’s just that the deductibles were so high,” Preston explained. “I don’t go to the doctor all the time, and of course you have to meet the deductible first before the insurance covers you. So I was in that predicament.”

Ironically, Preston works at a federal Medicaid call center. She helps thousands of people, with incomes similar to hers, enroll in Medicaid in states with Medicaid expansion. As a Mississippian, she cannot get that coverage. 

Preston said: “As a call center worker, I expect more from the state of Mississippi.”

Mississippi lawmakers have debated the need for expansion — mostly over partisan political reasons — for over a decade, despite the state’s abysmal public health metrics and pleas from doctors, hospital leaders and other health providers. 

On Thursday, the deadline day for bills to pass their original chambers, Care4Mississippi, a coalition of 36 organizations whose goal is health care for all Mississippians, held a press conference at the Capitol. Doctors and health officials shared experiences from the frontline and urged lawmakers to pass expansion bills.

“As a pediatrician, I have seen firsthand the impact of parents’ health on their children,” Dr. Anita Henderson said during the press conference. “Children need their parents, and their parents need to act healthy, mentally, physically, and able to engage with their children. I have seen patients whose parents worked, sometimes two jobs, and lacked health insurance … The men and women in Mississippi are living almost a decade less than the people of Hawaii.”

This is the first year since Medicaid expansion was offered to states under the Affordable Care Act in 2014 that Mississippi Republican legislative leadership is considering it seriously. A House Republican bill overwhelmingly passed the full House and now sits in the Senate – which just killed its own expansion bill, according to Medicaid Chair Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven.

But Allred said that after a decade, lawmakers aren’t moving fast enough or treating the situation for the health care crisis that it is. 

“If there was a state that needed to have a red flag pinned on it to say ‘you have a medical emergency to take care of,’ it would be Mississippi,” he said. “And we need a rethinking of what health care is for our citizens in the state.”

Allred saw his father lose all his money as he battled cancer in the last six months of his life – despite the fact he’d worked hard at one company for 30 years. Growing up, his mother warned him not to let a medical debt go to collections, and said it always felt like “the medical industry was there to be feared.”

The father of six said he hopes that by the time his daughters are grown, they won’t have to choose between paying rent or paying a medical bill. Right now, his children are covered by Medicaid. But he worries if legislation isn’t passed, they’ll be in the same predicament he’s in once they turn 18. 

“I don’t want them to follow in the same footsteps as me when they shouldn’t have to,” Allred reflected. “When they’re being told their whole life they’re being raised in the greatest country in the world but they’re also being told the greatest country in the world can not take care of you.”

The post Inside Mississippi’s coverage gap, workers say health care is a ‘pipe dream’ or ‘whimsical idea’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Republican-controlled Senate will delay voting on a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor this week while it works to build support among members for its own version of an expansion plan. 

Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, on Tuesday said that he will let a Senate bill to expand Medicaid die on Thursday’s deadline to pass all Senate bills in the full chamber. 

Instead, Blackwell said he plans to use the House’s Medicaid expansion bill that overwhelmingly passed that chamber last month and amend it by inserting a Senate plan. That Senate plan has yet to be made public, and Senate leaders including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann have provided scant details. The Senate’s bill to-date was a “dummy bill” that contained only code sections required to expand Medicaid with no details or new policy.

READ MORE: Where’s the plan? Senate still has only ‘dummy bill’ for Medicaid expansion

“We’re going to do a strike-all amendment on the House plan,” Blackwell said. 

Blackwell did not disclose any details of an expansion plan, but he’s previously said his proposal would contain a work requirement for those who enroll in the expanded coverage — something experts have told lawmakers would not receive needed federal approval.

The deadline for Blackwell to advance the House bill out of his committee is April 2. 

The decision to delay a full vote on an expansion plan allows the 52-member Senate chamber to delay a potentially bitter debate over the proposal when numerous Capitol observers have speculated the GOP-controlled chamber may not have enough support to pass an expansion measure with a veto-proof majority. 

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves remains steadfastly opposed to expansion and has privately told senators he will veto any expansion legislation that reaches his desk. 

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves privately tells senators he will veto any Medicaid expansion bill

Numerous studies show expanding Medicaid would provide health care coverage to at least 200,000 people in one of the poorest, unhealthiest states and that it would help the states foundering hospitals, create jobs and help the overall state economy. The federal government would pay most of the cost of expanded coverage, and under the House proposal, hospitals would cover the state’s share beyond.

Physicians from around the state convened at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon to urge lawmakers to pass a measure to expand Medicaid coverage.

The post Senate killing its Medicaid expansion bill without a vote, continues work on a plan appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi House has voted to remove the board that currently oversees the state government pension – composed primarily of governmental employees and retirees elected by their peers – and replace it with a board dominated by political appointees.

The legislation also would block the enactment of a 2% increase in the amount governmental bodies contribute toward the retirement system.

The governing board of the Public Employees Retirement System said the extra 2% levied on the paycheck of each employee — to be paid by the governmental entities – is needed to ensure the financial stability of the massive system. PERS provides retirement benefits for most state employees, local governmental employees, and public education employees and university and community college staff.

The legislation, House Bill 1590, is the latest salvo between legislators – particularly the House leadership – and PERS officials.

Various government leaders – including House Speaker Jason White — have complained of the planned increased cost to governments.

The board has announced plans to phase in a 5% increase in the employer contribution rate over a three-year period. There has also been talk of phasing in a 10% increase in the employer contribution rate.

The first 2% increase scheduled to be enacted July 1 would cost the state $60 million, not including the cost for local and county governments. Under current law, the board has the authority to act on its own to increase the employer contribution rate, though the Legislature could change the law as the House is attempting to do with the bill it passed Wednesday.

The bill approved by the House would block the scheduled 2% increase and leave it to the new board to decide the next step in ensuring the system’s financial sustainability, said Rep. Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs, chairman of the State Affairs Committee.

City and county officials have told legislators they cannot afford the increase.

PERS impacts well over 10% of the state’s population. It has a membership of more than 350,000 current and former government employees who are receiving or will receive benefits.

The contribution rate for governments on each employee paycheck is currently 17.4%.

Wednesday’s House bill that would halt the 2% increase passed 85-34 with most Democrats voting against it. Supporters pushed to fast-track the measure, getting “immediate release” of it to the Senate, which could vote to send it to the governor this week.

Ray Higgins, director of PERS, earlier told legislators that the retirement system currently has $30 billion in assets to pay retirees, but also has $20 billion in debt.

“When it comes down to the long-term sustainability of PERS, we should either fund it, change it, or eventually we may risk it,” Higgins said. “Revenue must increase, expenses and liabilities should decrease, or both.”

On Wednesday, Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, asked why the bill was trying to repeal a governing board consisting of people who were in the system.

Zuber said, “It is not any one reason. It is just so we can get a new set of eyes to review the whole picture.”

When asked about how the revenue that would be lost from not enacting the 2% increase would be replaced, Zuber said, “That is going to be left up to the new board, obviously.”

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has said repeatedly that a priority for the current legislative session is preserving the financial integrity of the retirement system and ensuring the promises made to former and current state employees about benefits are fulfilled.

“I look forward to reading the House bill,” Hosemann said.

Before the session started, White told Higgins: “I think there has been a commitment at least around the coffee pot … that we (legislators) want to fix this long term … For myself, I would say we are not going to just increase it (the amount of government money put into the plan) 5%, 10% and hope it gets better.”

The PERS board has asked the Legislature for an infusion of cash for the system. There is a possibility that money could be pumped into the system later this session. While the board has not given the Legislature a specific amount, sources have said an additional $360 million is needed.

The new board would consist of 11 members: four appointed by the governor, three appointed by the lieutenant governor, as well as the state treasurer, the commissioner of revenue, a member elected by retirees and a member elected by current public employees.

The current PERS Board consists of a gubernatorial appointee, the treasurer, two retirees and two current state employees and a member each representing the county and municipalities, universities, public schools and community colleges.  All of the current members with the exception of the treasurer and gubernatorial appointee are elected.

The post House votes to replace elected PERS board with political appointees appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A shock bill to merge the Mississippi University for Women with another public institution was narrowly defeated in the Senate Wednesday by 27 lawmakers, including the Republican from Columbus.

The sponsor of Senate Bill 2715, Sen. Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, asked lawmakers to essentially defang his bill by stripping it of the merger idea and turning it into a request for the legislative watchdog to study the feasibility of MUW and the Mississippi School for Math and Science, a residential high school for academically inclined juniors and seniors.

“I’m just curious, not that it’s required, but has the administration of MUW and MSMS been informed of today’s proposal?” Sen. Angela Turner-Ford, D-West Point, asked.

“Of this proposal? Not this proposal, no,” DeBar replied.

When the bill went to a vote, lawmakers technically voted against the feasibility study, but any effort associated with the bill was killed. Since the vote was so close, the Senate could reconsider the bill before Thursday’s deadline.

DeBar said the amendment was a necessary change to his legislation because another bill that the Senate advanced yesterday, which would create a task force to study the “efficiency” of Mississippi’s eight public univerisites, was not guaranteed to pass.

In a statement, MUW’s president, Nora Miller, said she was looking forward to working to help MSMS secure funding to renovate its dormitories.

“We are relieved that we can return our focus to carrying out our mission, growing our enrollment and working with MSMS to get the funding to address their facility needs as part of our campus master plan,” Miller said.

DeBar’s original bill sought to relocate the MSMS to the campus of Mississippi State University. Since MSMS opened in 1988, it has been located on MUW’s campus.

But shortly before the committee deadline last week, DeBar dropped a surprise substitute to his bill, one that would have resulted in MUW becoming the first public university in Mississippi to merge with another institution. Mississippi State, and its powerful president, Mark Keenum, would take control.

MUW alumni wrote op-eds and campaigned against DeBar’s proposal. Miller, who used to be MUW’s chief financial officer and an auditor for the Institutions of Higher Learning, said the school is in solid financial health.

“We vehemently deny any rumor or speculation” the university is at risk of closure, Miller told Mississippi Today on Wednesday.

DeBar’s bill came on the heels of a failed effort by MUW to change its named to “Wynbridge State University of Mississippi.” Legislation to do that was proposed by Rep. Donnie Scoggin, R-Ellisville, the chair of the House Colleges and Universities Committee, but never made it to the floor.

That campaign, DeBar told Mississippi Today before Wednesday’s vote, seemed to decrease public confidence in MUW’s leadership, but it was not an impetus of his bill. He also said he had heard concerning stories about the state of the facilities at MSMS. The high school has requested $51 million to renovate the dorms.

On the floor, Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Columbus, commended DeBar for his dedication to improving education in Missisippi, calling DeBar’s efforts “beyond greatness.” DeBar is the chair of the Senate Education Committee.

“I appreciate your hard work, but bigger isn’t always better sometimes,” Younger said before voting against the bill. “I love Mississippi State, but I love the W, so it’s a hard situation for me to be in, but anyway my hat’s off to you.”

DeBar responded by acknowledging the tough situation Younger was in and added that he just wanted to help the bright students at MSMS. He noted he had no complaints with MUW’s administration but that it was still important to gather data on the situation.

“If the report comes back and says we need to upgrade the W, upgrade MSMS where they’re located, so be it, I’ll be the champion, obviously,” he said.

Yesterday, the Senate advanced a bill from Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, to create a task force to study “efficiency” in the state’s public university system. Boyd has said the goal of the task force is to help the universities weather the impending decline in the number of high school graduates going to college in Mississippi, and she has held a hearing on the topic.

Several lawmakers voiced concern the bill was a trap-door attempt to close universities, particularly the three smallest institutions by enrollment: MUW, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University.

Boyd denied this.

“We as a legislative body can stick our heads in the ground and continue to let these universities fail, or we can actually step up and do something about it,” she said. “If you want things to remain the same, if you want to see some of these universities with continuing declining populations, then you vote no on this bill. But if you want to see this system grow, if you want to see our universities prosper, then you vote yes on this bill.”

UPDATE 3/13/24: This story has been updated to clarify the Senate vote.

The post Bill to merge Mississippi University for Women narrowly dies appeared first on Mississippi Today.