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The post Marshall Ramsey: Pauper’s Grave appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves’ office says Mississippi won’t participate in a federal summer food program for children because of his desire to reject “attempts to expand the welfare state.”

But officials at the state’s welfare agency that Reeves oversees, which participated in a similar federal program earlier in the pandemic, offered a different reason for opting out of the program: a lack of state resources to administer it.

The Summer EBT program would provide the families of students who receive free or reduced lunch during the school year with electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards that can be used to purchase groceries in the summer. For each eligible child, families would receive $40 per month for a total of $120.

Thirty-five states, all five U.S. territories, and four Tribes will be participating in the program for its first year, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it expects will benefit nearly 21 million children. The other states that have opted out include Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming.

Mississippi previously administered the pandemic EBT program, which gave a similar summer benefit and provided assistance during the school year if school was conducted primarily virtually or hybrid for at least one month. The cost of running the pandemic-era program was covered fully by the federal government but the new summer version would require states to cover half of the administrative expenses, something other states have pointed to as a reason not to participate.

“Both (the Mississippi Department of Education) and (the Mississippi Department of Human Services) lack the resources, including workforce capacity and funding, to support a Summer EBT Program,” said Mark Jones, a DHS spokesperson.

Republican governors in some other states have also said they chose not to participate in the program because of their opposition to expanding federal benefits, according to Chalkbeat.

Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson directly blamed Reeves for the state opting out of the program in a statement his office released Thursday. 

“Shame on Tate Reeves for refusing essential food assistance for eligible children during the summer,” he said. “These federal funds would have provided crucial support for parents and guardians to ensure their child or children are adequately fed throughout the summer.  Unfortunately, the repercussions of the governor opting Mississippi out of this new program casts a significant burden on multiple families.”

Reeves’ spokesperson Shelby Wilcher, asked for comment about whether Reeves made the decision to opt out of the federal program, countered by pointing to the existing programs that help feed children in the summer.

“It’s disingenuous for Representative Thompson to insinuate that children won’t get the support they need by not participating in something that was originally intended to be a temporary pandemic-era program,” she said.

The Mississippi Department of Education said it would continue to administer the Summer Food Service Program, which serves meals on-site in low-income communities.

The post Mississippi opts out of federal summer food program, Reeves cites opposition to ‘welfare state’ expansion appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a citywide boil water notice for Jackson on Thursday morning after finding E.coli during its monthly sampling, however the city’s water manager quickly questioned the test results, saying they’re likely a false positive.

Each month, the city has to send 120 samples from around Jackson to the Health Department’s lab, which tests the samples for contaminants including E.coli. E.coli is a bacteria that’s commonly found in feces. Most of it are harmless, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, but some can lead to sickness such as vomiting and diarrhea.

JXN Water, the city’s third-party water manager, submitted its monthly samples to MSDH on Wednesday. The state agency responded Thursday morning that two of the samples showed positive results for E.coli.

That afternoon, JXN Water’s Ted Henifin called the results “highly suspect” for a number of reasons. For one, he said, JXN Water has a chlorination and disinfection process to get rid of bacteria like E.coli, and no previous samples have shown E.coli since the third-party manager took over in late 2022.

Another reason for suspicion, Henifin added, was that MSDH also reported finding E.coli in samples from neighboring Flowood, also on Thursday.

“Having positive results from any system, Jackson’s in particular, or any throughout the state, is fairly unusual,” he said during a press conference. “Having two positives from two different water systems on the same day, analyzed at the same time, seems highly suspect.”

Jacobs Solutions, which JXN Water contracts to staff the city’s treatment plants, also collects the samples around Jackson that get sent to MSDH. Yvonne Mazza-Lappi, Jacobs’ director of Drinking Water Compliance, said that there are a number of ways MSDH’s testing could have yielded a false positive.

“How they’re doing their testing and how they’re sterilizing and so forth… if those precautions are not done, we know there’s human error in there,” Mazza-Lappi said, adding that improper equipment handling — such as with control samples that contain E.coli — could lead to cross-contamination.

Jacobs also went to the sample locations where the positive results came from, she said, and found that there was enough residual chlorine at the locations that “we should have never seen a total coliform or E.coli positive.”

The earliest JXN Water could lift the boil water notice is likely Monday, Henifin said. He explained that the city has to have two consecutive days of negative test results from its water samples, and then also allow time for the state lab to analyze the samples. He added that he was confident that the next round of testing will show no levels of E.coli.

Henifin also criticized MSDH as being “overly conservative” for issuing the boil water notice, instead of going back and validating the test results.

In 2016, Mazza-Lippi said, the EPA revised its rules to allow a water system to retest sample locations that show positive results for total coliform or E.coli, and to do so before issuing a boil water notice. JXN Water requested that MSDH allow it to retest the samples before issuing the notice, but the agency declined, Henifin said.

The lab at the MSDH is the only EPA-certified lab in Central Mississippi, he added, and that the next closest one is in Purvis, about two hours away.

Henifin was frustrated with the impact the notice would have on trust among residents, something that has suffered for years with the city’s decades-long water crisis.

“There will be a number of people who will no longer drink tap water as a result of this, and they won’t be just in Mississippi,” he said. “So yeah, this is tragic. We took it very personally and we’re doing everything we can. Our poor restaurants and businesses that depend on water, they were just coming out of this PTSD around regular citywide boil water notices and starting to feel confident.”

Henifin clarified that, despite his belief that the test results were likely false positives, that Jacksonians should follow MSDH’s notice until JXN Water can get it lifted.

In response to JXN Water, the Health Department said in a statement Thursday afternoon that it didn’t believe the results were false positives.

“Officials in the (MSDH Public Health Laboratory) do not believe there was any contamination of the samples while in the lab and the results are not false positives,” the agency said. “MPHL leadership staff has done a preliminary review of the lab protocols related to these results and are confident in their validity.”

The last citywide boil water notice was issued a little over a year ago on Christmas day in 2022, after cold weather again impaired Jackson’s distribution system. JXN Water said it will hold a press conference on Friday to show steps of how to prepare for the expected cold temperatures early next week.

The Jackson boil water notice affects 188,723 customers, according to MSDH. The Flowood notice affects 27,997 customers. On Wednesday, MSDH also issued boil water notices to 713 customers in Jackson County, and 742 customers in Amite County, both of which were due to a loss of pressure in the systems. Visit MSDH’s website for instructions on what to do during a notice.

The post State issues citywide boil water notice for Jackson, JXN Water disputes E.coli results appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Most of the key chairs from the past four years will remain in place under the committee assignments announced Thursday by Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.

Hosemann had his committee assignments read to the members, as is the custom, Thursday before the Senate adjourned for the weekend.

“We have spent hundreds of hours working on these assignments,” Hosemann told the senators. “My decision in these appointments is to place senators in the best position to serve the state of Mississippi and the citizens who sent us here.”

Republican Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg will remain as Appropriations chair, and Republican Josh Harkins of Flowood will continue as Finance chair, two powerful committees with jurisdiction over budget and tax policy.

Despite criticism from former state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who unsuccessfully challenged him in last year’s Republican primary election, Hosemann, as is the custom of past Republican lieutenant governors, continued to appoint some Democratic committee chairs — most notably Hob Bryan of Amory as the influential Public Health chair.

Bryan, the longest-serving state senator in the chamber, told Mississippi Today that he had not thoroughly analyzed the full list of committee chairs, but he believed Hosemann appointed qualified people to lead the committees.

“I have great confidence in the presiding officer of the Senate,” Bryan said of Hosemann. 

In 2020, Hosemann named 13 Democrats as chairs. On Thursday, he named 10. The 52-member Senate has 41 committees.

Jennifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, who maintained her post as chair of the Transportation Committee, said, “Certainly diversity is not a bad thing. I do think the lieutenant governor recognizes the talent in this chamber. He has made a good effort to capitalize on the talent we have here.”

Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, who will chair Elections Committee, replacing Jeff Tate, R-Merdian, who will chair Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, said he believes Hosemann appointed hard workers as chairs.

“Mississippi is so much different than what they have in Washington,” England said. “… We have some great talent to offer regardless of party.”

Most, if not all, of the committees are comprised of a majority Republican membership that limits a Democratic chair’s power.

FULL LIST: The 2024 Senate committee assignments

The post Hosemann makes Senate committee assignments, keeping most of his leadership team intact appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Officials from the Mississippi State Department of Health have confirmed the state’s second pediatric flu death of the 2023-2024 flu season on Thursday. 

A pediatric death is defined as the death of an individual under the age of 18.

There have been a total of 26 pediatric flu deaths, including this one, in the state since pediatric flu deaths were first reported during the 2008-2009 flu season. Flu season in Mississippi usually peaks between January and March, and the vaccine can take up to two weeks to provide immunity. 

The patient in this case had not received a flu vaccine this season, according to the health department.

“We highly encourage people to get a flu shot. A vaccination won’t necessarily keep you from getting the flu, although it can reduce your risk of infection and is the best protection to keep you from a severe outcome,” interim State Epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Taylor said in a press release. “With a few months left in this season, we recommend everyone six months of age and older consider a flu and COVID-19 vaccination.” 

For individuals 18 and under, flu shots are covered by insurance, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program. Some children may be eligible for free vaccination under the Vaccines for Children Program at qualifying locations.

Uninsured and underinsured adults who meet certain high-risk criteria qualify for an adult influenza vaccination at county health department clinics. The vaccine is available for insured adults through pharmacies, retailers and private physicians throughout the state. 

The post Mississippi reports second pediatric flu death appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A prisoner at the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, a state prison once deemed among the worst for sexual misconduct in the nation, has pledged to go on another hunger strike if the Mississippi Department of Corrections fails to investigate his allegations that a guard inappropriately touched him during a pat down. 

The status of Garnett Hughes’ three-month-old complaint is unclear as he has received conflicting information from prison staff, and MDOC wouldn’t comment on the case except to say “the agency is handling this matter in accordance with our policies and procedures.” 

On Oct. 16, Hughes, 35, filed a grievance alleging that a week earlier, three officers had awoken him in the middle of the night, ordered him out of bed and, while patting Hughes down, touched him “in the wrong area.” When Hughes said “don’t touch me there,” one of the officers allegedly told Hughes to shut his mouth and follow orders before doing it again. 

This grievance should have triggered MDOC to conduct an investigation under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law that requires prisons to maintain “zero tolerance” toward sexual violence.

But Hughes said no one from MDOC ever spoke to him about what happened until early December when — in the midst of a hunger strike Hughes undertook to regain his canteen and phone privileges that he lost after attempting to flee — a nurse practitioner told him the case was closed due to a lack of visual evidence. It’s not clear how the nurse practitioner learned of Hughes’ complaint, which is supposed to be confidential, and he did not receive any formal notification as required under the PREA (pronounced pre-yuh) law.  

A few days later, Hughes said another prison staff member told him his complaint was being investigated. Still, no one has contacted Hughes to ask him any questions, such as the name of the officer Hughes alleges violated him, which isn’t noted in his grievance. And, those same officers continue to come to Hughes’s zone, he said. 

Now Hughes is pledging to go on another hunger strike if he doesn’t hear anything by Jan. 15 from the Corrections Investigation Division, the office within MDOC that is responsible for investigating complaints of prison rape. Hughes also has a Change.org petition seeking his release.

“I’m putting my trust that they are gonna do their jobs,” Hughes told Mississippi Today, adding,  “but I gave up on asking, and I’m like, whenever the 15th comes, I’m going to go back up on my hunger strike and deal with it that way.” 

Hughes’ stance toward MDOC isn’t unusual; many incarcerated people distrust internal processes to resolve their complaints about sexual abuse, which often go unreported, according to the National PREA Resource Center. 

In Mississippi, that’s an instinct borne out by the troubled state of MDOC’s facilities which face widespread understaffing, deteriorating infrastructure and a culture of violence. And Walnut Grove, where Hughes has been incarcerated since December 2022, had an especially notorious reputation for horror and violence when it was a private prison, with the Justice Department once finding that “the sexual misconduct we found was among the worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation.” 

Walnut Grove closed in 2016 but it was reopened by Commissioner Burl Cain in 2021 to house alcohol and substance abuse programs and anyone deemed a gang member. 

Data also backs up the lack of trust Hughes and other incarcerated people feel. Under PREA, any allegation of sexual violence toward an incarcerated person — whether in the form of a grievance filed by that person or a call from a third-party source — is supposed to trigger an investigation. But according to state and federal data, when cases are reported, what often happens is: nothing. 

At the federal level, a 2022 congressional report found that of more than 5,000 allegations of sexual abuse by Bureau of Prison employees, 134 were substantiated. 

In Mississippi, there were 194 allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment by prison staff on incarcerated people between 2012 and 2021, according to reports available on MDOC’s website. Just eight were substantiated. The rate isn’t much better for prisoners who allege they were assaulted by other prisoners: Of 602 allegations, 18 were substantiated. 

These numbers don’t include MDOC’s reports from 2014 and 2016, which aren’t available, and 2019 because it contains duplicative numbers from 2018. An MDOC spokesperson said the agency would update its website “to reflect our current PREA statistics.” 

There are several reasons why so few allegations of prison rape are substantiated, said Julie Abbate, the national advocacy director at Just Detention International, an organization that aims to end sexual violence in detention facilities. Abbate was part of the working group that helped draft PREA standards. 

One reason is that the correctional officers often charged with investigating PREA complaints apply a tougher burden of proof than they are supposed to. 

“Because correctional staff have a law enforcement mentality, they often go to the burden of proof of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ which is quite high,” Abbate said. “For administrative investigations, they should only be using a ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard.” 

Another reason is officers may feel like it’s futile to punish an incarcerated person when they’re already serving prison time. Put differently, every aspect of incarceration, from intake to the fact that guards have total authority over prisoners, can exacerbate conditions that lead to prison rape. 

“It’s been illegal to rape people forever,” Abbate said. “If you could just criminalize your way out of this issue, it would be done, just like if you could criminalize your way out of the crime problem in the country, it would be done. It doesn’t work on the streets, and it doesn’t work in a correctional facility.” 

And prison rape can be difficult to substantiate. In particular, Abbate said allegations like Hughes’ of improper pat downs can be especially tough to prove since pat downs are, by nature, invasive. 

Other aspects of Hughes’ case are emblematic of the problems that persist in prisons despite PREA, Abbate said. Most alarming to her is the nurse practitioner who knew Hughes had a complaint and that it was closed. 

“Allegations are supposed to be disclosed just on a need-to know basis to avoid any sort of retaliation or rumor-mongering,” she said. 

Since PREA complaints are confidential, MDOC isn’t required to share information about Hughes’ case with anyone, including the press. Confidentiality is crucial to protect incarcerated people, but Abbate noted it can backfire in some circumstances. 

“It can certainly have unintended consequences when well-intended outsiders are looking at what’s going on on the inside,” she said. 

That was the case with Anthony Allen, a former correctional officer who now works as a bail bondsman in south Mississippi and makes YouTube videos about the conditions in MDOC’s prisons. In mid-October, Allen was contacted by a prison-reform advocate who was concerned about Hughes’ case. So, hoping to help, he called Walnut Grove to make a third-party report. 

Allen was transferred to CID. 

“I’m trying to see if y’all will take the complaint and investigate it,” he told the staff member, according to a recording he made of the call. 

“What’s your name?” She asked. “And who do you work for?” 

It wasn’t until Allen explained he is still a certified correctional officer that the staff member told him, “I’m gonna get your number and get our investigator to give you a call.”

No one did. 

“You could be someone sweeping the floor in the warden’s office,” Allen said. “If you are given a complaint, that is failure to report and that is a big fine and that is something you do not do.”

The post MDOC prisoner vows hunger strike if his sexual assault complaint is not investigated appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi Braves are moving to Columbus, Georgia, after this coming season, and I can’t say I am shocked. That’s because I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have been to M-Braves games at Trustmark Park over the past two decades when empty seats outnumbered warm bodies by at least five to one.

Let’s put it this way: I am not nearly as shocked as I was on April 1, 2004, when we first got the news that the Atlanta Braves were moving their Class AA minor league franchise to Pearl from Greenville, S.C.

At first, I thought the news was an April Fool’s joke. Both the New York Mets and the Houston Astros had moved Class AA franchises out of the Jackson area because of financial woes stemming from lack of ticket-buying customers. Con Maloney, who was Mr. Baseball in mid-Mississippi, had tried everything he knew to try to make minor league baseball work at Smith-Wills Stadium in the capital city. Despite several championship teams and a world of talent that came through here, it just did not interest enough fans.

And I remember asking John Schuerholz, the remarkably successful Atlanta Braves general manager, if the previous baseball failures in the Jackson area were a concern for his franchise.

“No,” he answered, matter-of-factly. “We don’t care what other people do. We have a system and we believe in it. We made a 20-year commitment here. We have confidence in the way we operate. Excellence is our byword.”

“A 20-year commitment,” Schuerholz said. Do the math. That was 2004. This is 2024. The Braves are out of here after this coming season. And, yes, the Atlanta Braves got a sweetheart deal 20 years ago. Trustmark Park, replete with 22 suites, was built at a cost of $28 million. It would cost nearly double that today. The Atlanta Braves, who signed a 20-year lease, provided none of those millions. They just provided the talent, and there has been plenty of that, which we’ll get to here shortly.

Much has changed in 20 years. Back then, the Braves’ Class A team had just moved to Rome, Georgia, and was the only Braves minor league affiliate in Georgia. Otherwise, Atlanta Braves had minor league franchises in Danville, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Pearl.

This time next year, all the Braves’ minor league teams will be in Georgia. That has to be by design.

Columbus, Georgia, has agreed to spend $50 million to renovate a century-old ballpark. Ironically, when the Houston Astros moved their Class AA franchise to Jackson in 1991, it moved away from the very same Columbus stadium, Golden Park, because of a lack of attendance there.

Some terrific ballplayers, including future Baseball Hall of Famers, have come through Trustmark Park. Several have made the leap from the Mississippi Braves to Atlanta, skipping Class AAA all together.

Freddie Freeman, for sure, will have a plaque in Cooperstown. Reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna, barring injury, is headed in that direction, too. Craig Kimbrel, who has saved 417 Major League Baseball games as a closer, was virtually un-hittable as a fresh-faced, 20-year-old flame thrower here.

Indeed, future Major League stars who played in Pearl are almost too many to name, but here are a few: Brian McCann, Martin Prado, Jeff Francoeur, Yunel Escobar, Charlie Morton, Jason Heyward, Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, A.J. Minter, Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Michael Harris.

In all, 169 former Mississippi Braves have advanced to the Major Leagues. That’s an average of more than eight per season — and that’s a lot.

Brian Snitker, manager of the 2021 World Champion Atlanta Braves, was the first Mississippi Braves manager in 2005. Five of Snitker’s World Series champion everyday starters were former Mississippi Braves. All five starting pitchers were former M-Braves, and much of the bullpen staff had come through here as well.

We have seen some phenomenal talent come through here. Unfortunately, too few people watched them while they were here.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Pearl Mayor Jake Windham said the city, Rankin County and state officials had done all they could to keep the Braves at Trustmark Park. “We are sad to see them go,” he said. Windham also said every effort will be made to bring another minor league franchise to fill the void.

On a positive note: Trustmark Park, has been well maintained. It looks virtually brand new and is a really nice minor league ballpark. The negative: If an Atlanta Braves minor league franchise didn’t draw well enough here, who would?

We shall see.

The post The Braves committed to 20 seasons in Pearl. That’s exactly how long they stayed. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker will face at least two competitors in the GOP primary this year after a state legislator and a retired military colonel filed paperwork last week to run against him. 

Wicker, state Rep. Dan Eubanks and retired Marine Corps Colonel Ghannon Burton all qualified to run in the GOP primary, according to Mississippi Republican Party officials. 

Wicker, a 72-year-old Tupelo resident, has represented the Magnolia State in the U.S. Senate since 2007. Before the Senate, he served several terms in the U.S. House and in the Mississippi Legislature. 

He is currently the top Republican serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over matters involving the U.S. military. If the GOP gains a majority in the Senate next year, Wicker could be the first Mississippian to lead that committee since John Stennis.

During his latest term, Wicker has opposed legislation that would codify same-sex and interracial marriage, voted against President Joe Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act,” voted against a measure meant to curb gun violence and opposed efforts to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

He has also supported efforts to send funding to Ukraine, voted for legislation that appropriates new money for infrastructure improvements and supported a measure to give additional funds for the research and manufacturing of semiconductors.

“Sen. Wicker has delivered on critical issues such as fighting to secure the Southern border, strengthening our military, and bringing vital resources back to Mississippi to fix our roads and bridges,” Nathan Calvert, the communications director for the Wicker campaign, said in a statement. 

Eubanks, 53, has represented DeSoto County in the state Legislature since 2016 and helped found the Freedom Caucus, a coalition of ultraconservative House members.  

Eubanks told Mississippi Today that he decided to challenge Wicker because he disagreed with the senator’s votes to pass several measures to fund the federal government, his strong support of packages sending defense aid to Ukraine and his support of Scott Colom for a federal judgeship. 

“I don’t care what party you affiliate with,” Eubanks said. “It doesn’t take much to look at where our nation is headed to realize we’re on a precipice basically.” 

Burton is a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and a Mississippi native. After serving in the military for around 30 years, Burton returned to the state. He has never held political office.

Two components of Burton’s campaign are working to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the country’s southern border and implementing economic policies to stop inflation.

“I am honored to return to the state that shaped me and fight for the people who have always been my community,” Burton said in a statement. “Mississippi and America can do better, and I am here to lead that charge.”

The last day for candidates to file paperwork to run for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seat is Jan. 12. Party primaries will take place on March 12. If neither candidate secures an outright majority, a runoff election will take place on April 2.

The GOP nominee will compete against the Democratic nominee during the general election on Nov. 5. Ty Pinkins is the only candidate so far to have qualified in the Democratic primary. 

READ MORE: Democrat Ty Pinkins relaunches campaign for U.S. Senate

The post U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker faces two GOP challengers in reelection campaign appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves was sworn into office on Tuesday and delivered his second and final inaugural address.

Below is a complete transcript of his speech.

Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice. It is a great day to be a Mississippian.

Lieutenant Governor Hosemann, Speaker White, President Pro Tem Kirby, Speaker Pro Tem Barton, members of the Mississippi Legislature, friends, family, and my fellow Mississippians joining us in person and those watching from home, it is my pleasure to stand before you here today.

It is the single highest honor of my professional life to serve as the governor of the great state of Mississippi. And it brings me tremendous joy to stand before great leaders, the people of Mississippi, and God to take this oath today.

Before I go any further, I’d like to take a moment to thank the most important Mississippian to me and my family, my wife and our First Lady, Elee Reeves.

There are no words that can properly summarize how much you mean to me. From the day we met, less than one mile from this Capitol, everything has been different, and better. You are a wonderful wife, an amazing mom, and a terrific ambassador for our state. Thank you for being right by my side over this wild ride together.

I also want to thank our daughters, Tyler, Emma, and Maddie. I know that each of you make sacrifices as well – and you have made them as long as you can remember. Your mom and I are incredibly blessed by you – and I am so excited to see the strong, confident young women you are becoming.

I want to thank my dad, my mom, my brother Todd, my Mamaw, and the rest of my family. None of you signed up for, nor do you deserve, the lies and false attacks hurled at you simply because you are related, but please know that I love you all and I’m grateful for each of you. The reason I find myself here today is rooted in the values and love that come from you.

Many years ago, just after college, Elee and I decided to plant our roots in our home state, and to do everything in our power to make it better. It was a conscious decision. We had other options. We could have gone other places and done other things. But the pull of Mississippi was too strong. We were all in from the start. We volunteered. We worked hard. Bought a house in the city of Jackson. We did not at that time imagine statewide office, but we were determined to make a difference.

Then, in 2003, in what was a surprise to a lot of people, the voters of our state took a chance on a conservative young investment banker, and made me the first Republican treasurer in the history of our state.

My gratitude to the people of Mississippi for placing their trust in me, that day and every day since, can never fully be expressed in words. I thank God each and every day that he has provided the opportunity to serve.

And I’d like you each to know, from the bottom of my heart, how deeply thankful I am for your support.

I’ve met a few Mississippians who have voted for me every single time since 2003. And not all of them are related to me. 

And I’m fully aware there are people who have never voted for me, not once in twenty years – but pray for me to succeed never the less.

And whether you voted for me or not, this time or ever, I want you to know it matters not. As I did four years ago, I want to once again make this promise to all of you – that I will be a governor for ALL Mississippi. 

The longer I have served, the more I have come to appreciate that the defining characteristic about Mississippi is that sense that we are all in it together.

It is not our food, our football, or even our music that makes us unique. It is our commitment to each other.

I don’t think anybody could have anticipated what we would face together as a state over the last four years. Tornadoes. Floods. Hurricanes. And a pandemic on top of it all. Yet, through every challenge encountered, we have emerged stronger.

Through every moment of despair, Mississippians showed the strength of our character and chose to be a light amidst the darkness.

That is a testament to the goodness of our people. And it makes me all the prouder to be a Mississippian.

I’ll tell you this, I have frequently turned to God in prayer over these last four years. As a matter of fact, I have prayed a lot more as governor than I thought I would when I was sworn in the first time. And I know that I will do so again over the next four years.

That’s why I’m especially thankful that we were once again able to start this inaugural ceremony with a prayer service Sunday. Mississippians are never bashful about our reliance on the Lord. We know that our faith is responsible for the ties that bind. And I am proud we come together so consistently to lift up our voices in unified prayer to an almighty God.

I promise all of you that I will continue seeking God’s guidance through every challenge that we face – and I ask that you ask God to guide me when you pray as well.

Four years ago, I stood before you and discussed what we aimed to accomplish over this first term.

Four years ago, I stood here and called for a history-making increase in workforce training.

Then, together, we created the Office of Workforce Development, Accelerate Mississippi – and invested millions to equip our people with the skills they need for good jobs.

Just last week, Site Selection Magazine said our workforce efforts passed Texas and Louisiana in 2023, and we ain’t done yet.

Four years ago, I called for a pay raise for our teachers.

Together, we secured the largest pay raise in state history.

Four years ago, I said we would travel the world to bring more great companies to Mississippi.

Together, we secured record breaking economic investment, which included the single largest economic deal in state history.

And you ain’t seen nothing yet! We’ve got some big things coming. Projects that will fundamentally change lives and transform our state for the better.

On top of this, we delivered the single largest tax cut in our state’s history and returned over half a billion dollars to Mississippians. We made historic investments in our state’s infrastructure. We’ve achieved the Mississippi miracle in education, with more kids graduating than ever before. We went from 49th to 21st in fourth grade reading, from dead last to 23rd in fourth grade math, and we were among the top 5 in the entire nation when it came to fourth grade reading test scores for African American students. We are making sure ALL of Mississippi has momentum. 

We bolstered our state’s hospitals, expanded conservation efforts, increased training opportunities for medical professionals, committed more resources to public safety, and so much more.

And today, I am proud to tell you, we’re just getting started.

So what comes next for Mississippi?

There is no doubt that our bad numbers are getting better, and our good numbers are becoming great.

I love to talk about rankings and results. I’m a numbers guy. But we are not pursuing test scores to beat Alabama. We are not pursuing capital investment to have bragging rights over Arkansas.

We are pursuing excellence – to secure permanence.

For too many decades, Mississippi’s most valuable export has not been our cotton, or even our culture. It’s been our kids.

Mississippi minds dominate some of the top positions in government, business, and entertainment across the country. They carry with them the pride and grit that is engrained in every Mississippian. They made other places better – and we missed out on all they could have done here at home.

My goal is not just to ensure that Mississippi is a source of pride, but that it can be the place where they achieve their fortune and dominance in their field.

By now you know I love to say that Mississippi has momentum. And we do. But today I want to tell you what I believe we must DO with that momentum.

Our goal must be what I call Mississippi Forever.

I want to build a state where my daughters, and all of our sons and daughters can proudly stay and raise their families. 

I want every kid, from the Delta to the Coast, from Tishomingo to Tallahatchie, to grow up with the idea that they’ll be Mississippi Forever.

I want every child to have the opportunities for an education, and a career, that enable them to be Mississippi Forever.

I want companies that are born here, to know they can grow here – Mississippi Forever.

And I want people who live in other states, many of whom grew up here, who are frustrated by the breakdown of culture and society where they live, who feel like they cannot get ahead, I want those families to look across the dinner table at each other and say: “honey, we need to go to Mississippi forever.”

We do not need to aim to merely get better. We need to make it our priority to be the best, at everything that matters.

To accomplish this, we must be realistic about the challenges that we still face.

We need to honestly assess the barriers in our economy – and boldly knock them down.

We need to recognize that the cost of healthcare continues to rise, and access seems too limited. 

We need to make sure we do not rest on our success in education and workforce training. Momentum is our asset and inertia is our enemy. We cannot settle for better – we have to demand the best.

Here in this building, we need to be adjusting our sights.

We need to be bold in our goals and carry our Mississippi pride into our actions. We can compete with anyone and win. We can achieve the things that our neighbors have achieved. 

When our sons and daughters say: “I am from Mississippi,” we can give them the pride to deliver that statement with a straight back and a strong voice. 

Let’s continue to give Mississippians relief from taxes and eliminate the burdens on their families. Let’s be transformational in those efforts to compete with the best.

Let’s continue to invest in and bolster Mississippi’s nationally recognized education system.

Let’s protect mothers and babies by further expanding the Pro-Life Agenda – by making Mississippi the best place in America to have and raise a child.

Let’s protect the rights of parents and let’s protect our kids.

Let’s proudly defend our culture and our way of life.

Let’s make Mississippi the safest state in the entire nation.

And let’s relentlessly recruit new jobs not just to our prosperous counties but to all our communities.

The fact is that everything we do, we do together. There is no black Mississippi or white Mississippi. There is no red Mississippi or blue Mississippi. There is only one Mississippi – and it is Mississippi Forever.

We know that in our hearts, none of us ever leave Mississippi. Our task is to make sure our opportunities align with our sentiment.

I really do believe that this is Mississippi’s time. We have an opportunity ahead of us that we must seize. But it will require that we be bold and ambitious.

We must be bold in our reforms. We must be bold in winning new jobs and businesses. We must be bold in our commitment to principles. And we must be bold to build a brighter future for the state we all love.

I’d like to end this speech where I started. Back twenty years ago when I first took this oath. As I have prepared for this day these last few weeks, it has been apparent to me that this is my last opportunity to do the thing I have most wanted to do my entire adult life.

And I know that I am not alone. I am surrounded by people in this Capitol, in both parties, who have chosen a path to make Mississippi better. And as I campaigned this year, I was struck by the fact that virtually everyone was driven by a desire to bring Mississippi up.

We have all been placed in a position of great importance. We sit at a crossroads for our state. 

We’ve been entrusted by our friends, peers, and neighbors to make decisions that will impact many lives, not just today, but for many years to come.

Let us take up this work with joy and determination. Let us come together and heal our differences. Let us all throw ourselves at the great mission. Let us be united by our mission to make Mississippi the home for all its sons and daughters – forever.

Thank you all for being here today. Thank you to all of our legislators for giving your time and energy to serve our state. Thank you all for your support. And thank you all for your prayers.

May God bless you. May God bless your families. And may God bless the great state of Mississippi!

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