Septima Poinsette Clark, whom Martin Luther King Jr. called “the mother of the movement,” was born in Charleston, South Carolina.
As an educator, she studied summers with W.E.B. Du Bois at Atlanta University and later worked with Thurgood Marshall on successful litigation that equalized salaries for Black and white teachers.
In 1956, after the South Carolina Legislature passed a law that banned state employees from belonging to the NAACP, the school board fired Clark, who lost all her pension, despite 40 years of work. She began conducting workshops at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee and helped establish “Citizenship Schools,” which spread through the Deep South.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter awarded her a Living Legacy Award, and three years later, South Carolina honored her with its highest civilian honor. She died in 1987 on the same Johns Island where she originally taught.
GULFPORT — Republican Gov. Tate Reeves formally launched his reelection campaign Tuesday night just yards from the Gulf Coast shoreline, signifying the importance of the region to the state GOP and the political stranglehold the governor has on the area.
Reeves told a crowd of supporters and state lawmakers gathered at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center that he wanted to hold his first campaign event in Gulfport because of how strongly the region supported him during his first gubernatorial campaign.
“We’re here tonight because in 2019, y’all fought for us every single day of that campaign,” Reeves, flanked by campaign signs and cheering supporters, told the crowd of about 75. “In 2019, I promised that I would spend every day fighting for the Mississippi Gulf Coast as governor, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
The event setting chosen by Reeves, a metro Jackson native, underscores an important reality for the first-term governor: that the state’s “bottom six” counties of George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone are his political firewall.
In 2019, facing a formidable Democratic challenger in former Attorney General Jim Hood, Reeves won by just 45,000 total votes. In the bottom six counties alone, Reeves bested Hood by 35,000 votes, leaving a needed margin of victory of just 10,000 votes in the state’s other 76 counties.
Facing two Republican primary opponents and another tough Democratic challenger later this year, the Gulf Coast wins of four years ago will almost certainly remain at top of mind for the Reeves camp.
“Four years ago, we learned early on the momentum that Tate was gaining down here,” Todd Reeves, Tate’s brother who spoke before Reeves took the stage, said at the Tuesday event. “As the results rolled in from the Coast on election night, it not only touched Tate and (First Lady) Elee (Reeves), but it meant a lot to our entire family.”
One reason the Gulf Coast has flocked to Reeves is the symbiotic relationship he has strategically cultivated with the area his entire political career.
During his two terms as lieutenant governor between 2012-2020, Reeves went out of his way to visit the Coast. Long eyeing an eventual run for the Governor’s Mansion, he hosted several town halls and press conferences over those years, typically focused on funding opportunities for the region.
Since he started his term as governor in January 2020, however, the governor doubled down on that focus, sprinkling the region with hundreds of millions in federal grants administered by state agencies that report to him. Though most of those funds must be designated for and spent on Coast-based projects, Reeves has never missed an opportunity to take full credit. In his three-and-a-half years as governor, he has held more than a dozen press conferences in at least eight “bottom six” towns to formally announce the projects before local TV cameras.
“The Coast’s success is Mississippi’s success, and this is another great victory,” Reeves said in a press release just this week announcing that he signed a bill that designates federal grant spending in several Coast towns and counties.
Aiding Reeves’ political prospects on the Gulf Coast this year is the fact that he has a several years head start in the region on his Democratic opponent, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley. Presley, a northeast Mississippi native, enjoys minimal name ID on the Coast and will need to spend considerable time and money to build up a base of support here.
Politics aside, most of the people who attended the event told Mississippi Today they wanted a governor who plans to grow the state’s economy and wants to improve public K-12 education.
“If those things happen, it can encourage people outside of Mississippi to look at our state as an opportunity. And I think Tate Reeves has accomplished that,” said Gulfport businessman Dave Dennis, a 2011 candidate for governor.
Because of the area’s strong showing for Reeves, the governor has choked out any serious competition from the area and nearly locked down key supporters.
Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican from Jackson County, explored challenging Reeves in the GOP primary by using his hometown roots to chip away at the governor’s Coastal grip.
Instead, Watson bowed out and opted to run for reelection to secretary of state, virtually leaving the governor without any serious threat to the GOP nomination.
“We’re very proud of our governor,” said Mississippi GOP Chairman Frank Bordeaux, a longtime Gulf Coast resident. “We’re proud of the shape that our state’s in, and the Coast has sent a big message tonight that this is his place.”
Memorial Hospital, the largest hospital in Harrison County, began laying off employees on Tuesday.
The cuts are due to increased costs brought on by the pandemic, according to a statement released by the hospital.
Fewer than 90 people, or 2% of the hospital’s workforce, were laid off, and none of the positions involved direct patient care, according to the statement. No additional layoffs are expected, and no service lines will be shuttered.
“These difficult steps will help ensure the long-term sustainability of our health system so we can continue to offer the same services to our community,” CEO Kent Nicaud said. “We are committed to providing high-quality care close to home.”
Affected employees can apply for Memorial’s dozens of open positions, the hospital said, and Memorial will offer career placement services.
Memorial has sustained big financial losses in recent years. Just a year ago, the hospital laid off and demoted several top administrators, citing financial strain prompted by the pandemic.
It’s the latest hospital to make cuts amid the state’s health care crisis.
Recently, Alliance Healthcare System in Holly Springs ended inpatient care, Singing River in Gulfport suspended obstetric services, and Greenwood Leflore closed its labor and delivery department.
One report puts a third of Mississippi’s rural hospitals at risk of closure, with a half of those at risk of closure within three years.
A handful of major hospitals say they’re ending their membership with the Mississippi Hospital Association, long an influential player in the policy and political spaces in the state.
Mere days after the University of Mississippi Medical Center announced that it’s leaving the MHA, Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Singing River Health System on the coast and George Regional Health System in Lucedale have all terminated their relationship as well, citing concerns with the hospital association’s leadership. None cited specific reasons for their concerns.
MHA President Tim Moore could not be reached by press time. He’s led the organization for almost 10 years.
As first reported by Magnolia Tribune, UMMC sent a letter to the MHA on April 28, ending its relationship and citing concerns with current MHA leadership. The letter was signed by Vice Chancellor LouAnn Woodward and Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Alan Jones. UMMC is the state’s largest public hospital.
A spokesperson for UMMC replied they had “no comment” to questions emailed by Mississippi Today about the decision.
Memorial Hospital sent a similar letter, signed by its CEO Kent Nicaud, to the MHA on May 1.
“After much thought and deliberation, and as I mentioned at our Executive Meeting on April 21, 2023, I have significant concerns regarding the strategy, vision, and behavior of MHA leadership,” Nicaud writes. “While I sincerely believe in an effective, united, and strong association, I do not feel that is the case at this time.
“Based upon recent actions, I have lost confidence in the association and fear that in the near future, MHA’s current leadership and vision will detract from the strength and vision to which we have all contributed over the past several years.”
Singing River terminated its relationship with the MHA on May 1 through a letter signed by CEO Tiffany Murdock and Board President Erich Nicols. The letter lists concerns about “strategy, communication and leadership.”
“While the MHA can play an important role in supporting hospitals across the state, we have lost confidence in its ability to do so under the current leadership,” it reads.
A letter dated May 1 and obtained by Magnolia Tribune shows George Regional Health System leadership, too, shared doubts about the MHA’s “leadership strategy.” A hospital spokesperson could not be reached for comment by Mississippi Today by the time of publication.
The MHA represents the interests of Mississippi’s hospitals. The association advocates for policy change on both the state and federal level, and its website says the MHA comprises “over 100 hospitals, health care systems, networks, care-providers and a pool of over 50,000 employees.” It has lobbied for Medicaid expansion
It’s not clear how many hospitals could follow suit in the coming days.
Mississippians who are insured by Medicaid no longer have to make copayments for health care services, the state’s Division of Medicaid announced.
The policy change, which went into effect May 1, includes copays for prescription medications as well as hospital and doctor’s office visits.
The Medicaid division will keep paying providers for their services, including copays — the only change is that beneficiaries will no longer be responsible, according to communications officer Matt Westerfield.
Copays are a form of cost sharing in health insurance plans. Insurance companies pay a portion of the bill, while the patient is responsible for a certain out-of-pocket amount.
Harold Miller, CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, said copayments in Medicaid create problems for both policyholders and providers.
Copays can discourage people from getting the care they need because they cannot afford it, which can snowball into a worse, even more expensive health care issue, “which means the Medicaid program would end up paying more overall,” Miller said.
“For example, if an asthmatic child doesn’t get an inhaler because their parents can’t afford the copayment, they could end up in the hospital,” he said. “Sometimes people stretch out medications to reduce the number of refills, and that can cause problems.”
And then providers have to try and collect the copays.
“If the person can’t afford the copayment and the provider sees the patient anyway, the provider just gets paid less, and that can discourage physicians from taking on Medicaid patients,” Miller said. “In theory, the copayment discourages people from getting services they don’t need, but on balance, the problems they create by discouraging necessary care likely outweigh the advantages.”
In a month, Medicaid plans to submit a state plan amendment in pursuit of the change to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which is required when a state plans to revise its policies. If approved, it will be retroactively effective to May 1. The amendment will be posted on the Medicaid agency’s website upon its submission.
“We are always looking for opportunities to increase access to services while reducing administrative burdens on members and providers,” Westerfield said.
In his effort to label incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann “Delbert the Democrat,” challenger Chris McDaniel says Hosemann gives Senate Democrats too much power as committee chairmen.
But Hosemann counters that he’s appointed more Republicans to chairmanships than any first-term lieutenant governor and that he routes important legislation to GOP-run committees.
McDaniel, if elected, vows to break with Republican lieutenant governor predecessors Hosemann, Gov. Tate Reeves, former Gov. Phil Bryant and Amy Tuck and appoint only Republicans to Senate chairmanships.
“As lieutenant governor, I will empower my Republican colleagues and appoint Republican senators to all chairmanships,” McDaniel said in a statement.
But McDaniel faces at least one challenge in that: math.
The Senate has 41 standing and joint committees.
The Mississippi Senate has 52 members. There are 36 Republicans and 16 Democrats, a number not expected to drastically change with this year’s election.
Further complicating things, of the 36 current Republicans, there are 11 freshmen. While there are occasional exceptions, unless they come in with specific expertise, freshmen are not usually appointed to major chairmanships until they’ve served at least a term because they haven’t learned the ropes of legislating and how to run committees.
Under McDaniel’s vow, it would appear some Republican senators would chair multiple committees. Unlike the House, there is no Senate rule against one member chairing multiple standing committees, but it would create a heavy workload for someone doing so, and concentrate much power into a smaller, less diverse group.
Under the current Senate makeup, this would also mean McDaniel would appoint no Black senators to chairmanships, despite Mississippi having the highest percentage Black population in the nation, 38%. An all-white Senate leadership team would hearken back to Mississippi’s Jim Crow past style of governance.
Hosemann has appointed 13 of the 16 current Democratic senators to chairmanships. This is the same number of Democratic chairmen now-Gov. Reeves had in his final term leading the Senate as lieutenant governor. In Reeves’ first term as lieutenant governor, he appointed 17 Democrats as committee chairs.
But McDaniel has not accused Reeves, who he endorsed for governor, of closeted Democratic leanings, instead recently saying, “Tate is a conservative.”
Reeves’ predecessor, Republican Gov. Bryant, ran a Senate that still had a slim Democratic majority and fewer committees. In his term as lieutenant governor, Bryant had 17 Republican committee chairs and 19 Democrats.
In his statement, McDaniel said: “Lieutenant Governor Delbert ‘the Democrat’ Hosemann used his office to further his liberal agenda and undermine Republican lawmakers by appointing Democrats to chair powerful committees. His appointment of Democrats to these pivotal positions undermines the will of Mississippi voters — who elected supermajorities in both chambers for a reason.”
McDaniel points to Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, serving as Public Health Committee chairman — a relatively powerful position in the Legislature — and said Hosemann “appointed one of Mississippi’s most liberal leaders to its powerful post.”
But Bryan has served nearly 40 years in the Senate, and held the Public Health chairmanship under Bryant. Under Reeves for two terms, Bryan held the also-powerful post of Judiciary B Committee chairman.
McDaniel, whom Hosemann appointed chair of the Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee, said: “The Democratic Party is so radicalized today, they do not reflect the values of Mississippi, and certainly do not deserve appointment to position of power to wield their socialist agendas.”
Hosemann in a statement said: “I have appointed more Republicans to chair committees during this term than the first term of any lieutenant governor. Additionally, every major piece of legislation has gone through Republican chairmen — from a $525 million tax cut to our election security package to increasing penalties for violent crime to the largest teacher pay raise in the state’s history.
“My opponent simply is not being honest about the Senate’s conservative achievements and the facts.”
No Republican lawmaker in the Mississippi House or Senate voted in favor of Medicaid expansion when legislative Democrats forced votes on the issue during the recently completed 2023 session.
But those votes do not necessarily mean the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature opposes opting into the policy that would provide health coverage for hundreds of thousands of poor, working Mississippians and revive rural hospitals that have been struggling to stay open.
Only a handful of lawmakers in both the House and Senate say they outright oppose Medicaid expansion, according to a Mississippi Today survey of legislators conducted during the 2023 legislative session.
Just 21 of the House members surveyed, or 18% of the House, said they outright opposed Medicaid expansion. And just 18 of the Senate members surveyed, or 38% of the Senate, said they outright opposed it.
In the House, 67 members — a voting majority — said they either supported Medicaid expansion or were undecided. Mississippi Today could not get answers from 32 representatives.
And in the Senate, 25 members — one vote shy of a voting majority — said they either supported Medicaid expansion or were undecided. Mississippi Today could not get answers from nine senators.
But among the lawmakers who said they opposed expansion or asked to be labeled as “undecided,” several went on to add that they were actually open to some version of expansion.
Several lawmakers who said they opposed expansion said they supported policies similar to those passed in states such as Arkansas, Kentucky or Indiana — all states that have passed versions of Medicaid expansion.
Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from DeSoto County who chairs the Senate Medicaid Committee, was among those. Other key legislative leaders fell in this camp.
“I am open to considering something like Indiana has done,” said Rep. Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, after asking to be labeled “undecided.”
“I’m against it other than I would consider something like in Kentucky or Indiana, where everyone’s got skin in the game,” said Rep. Kevin Horan, a Republican from Grenada who asked to be labeled “no.”
Mississippi is one of just 10 states that have resisted Medicaid expansion. Economists say the policy would bring $1.5 billion in new revenue annually while creating jobs, helping bolster the budgets of struggling hospitals and providing up to 300,000 poor, working Mississippians with health coverage.
The years-long resistance to expansion has come most directly from Republican leaders — namely Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn — who have likened the policy to socialism. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has in the past indicated support for some version of expansion but hasn’t earnestly pushed legislation since he was elected in 2020.
And as poor Mississippians struggle to afford basic health care and dozens of the state’s rural hospitals struggle to keep their doors open, Mississippi voters appear resolutely behind expansion. An April poll from Mississippi Today/Siena College showed that 66% of Mississippians support Medicaid expansion. An earlier survey in January showed 80% of Mississippians favored expansion.
Several rank-and-file Republican lawmakers polled by Mississippi Today said they were open to expansion, and some shared they believed there was a greater willingness among Republicans to pass expansion than in previous years. All 57 Democratic lawmakers support expansion.
Still, there was no serious push by Republicans in the 2023 session to even debate expansion, let alone vote on it.
“I think people are a little more open-minded about it than they were,” said Rep. William Tracy Arnold, a Republican from Booneville who supports Medicaid expansion. “We have a substantial amount of revenue now. We have to help save our struggling hospitals, and this would not only be giving hospitals more funding, it would help the struggling, tax-paying citizen.”
“Years ago when I first ran, I was totally opposed to Medicaid expansion,” said Rep. Mark Tullos, a Republican from Raleigh. “But I’ve looked at it further, and looked at what Arkansas did, and I would support something similar to what Arkansas has, with coverage for low income working people. Being from rural Mississippi, hospitals play a large role in our community. For rural Mississippi we are going to have to do something.”
“I’m for giving the working people of Mississippi health coverage,” said Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany. “I’m for giving the working people health coverage. It would save lives. It would keep people working and prevent medical issues down the road.”
“I am for health insurance for our working people in Mississippi,” said Rep. Jerry Turner, a Republican from Baldwyn. “I’m for a program that would have everybody have skin in the game.”
Dozens of other Republicans asked to be marked as “undecided” in Mississippi Today’s expansion database. Some of those indicated they were waiting on leadership to present some options, and others said they wouldn’t speak to any theoretical policy change without first seeing a bill.
“We need to have the conversation,” said Sen. Bart Williams, a Republican from Starkville. “We have a hospital crisis and we need to listen to any and all ideas.”
“Without knowing what a bill looks like, it is hard to say. But we have to do something to help our rural hospitals,” said Rep. Jon Lancaster, a Republican from Houston. “But I am concerned about the federal strings.”
“We need to have discussions about it,” said Rep. Nick Bain, a Republican from Corinth. “There are good parts to it and not so good.”
“The devil is in the details, where the money is coming from,” said Sen. Walter Michel, a Republican from Ridgeland. “I do want to help the hospitals, but I would have to see the bill.”
Still, several Republicans remain firmly opposed to expansion. And many of those opposed declined to expound on why they are opposed.
But Rep. Dana Criswell, R-Olive Branch, said: “It’s bad insurance, so there’s no reason to keep expanding it.”
As candidates for state offices begin to make their campaign pitches to voters, a new Mississippi Today/Siena College poll shows that a vast majority of Mississippians across partisan and demographic lines still support expanding Medicaid access to the working poor.
The poll conducted on April 16-20 shows that 66% of Mississippians — including 82% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans — support “lawmakers voting to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid” coverage.
Only 22% of respondents said they were opposed to the policy, and 11% said they did not know enough information about the issue.
Editor’s note: Poll methodology and crosstabs can be found at the bottom of this story. Click here to read more about our partnership with Siena College Research Institute.
Despite repeated data showing Mississippians across the state support the policy, the state’s Republican leadership has consistently rejected expanding coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The GOP-dominated leadership in the state Legislature earlier this year killed all efforts to expand the federal insurance program to more people and even cut off debate from Democratic lawmakers over the topic.
And the policy debate over expansion is already starting to form as a key wedge issue during the 2023 gubernatorial election.
Brandon Presley, the Democratic candidate for governor, has made expanding Medicaid a core component of his campaign and has repeatedly cast incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves as a hypocrite for espousing pro-life values and opting not to expand Medicaid.
“We’ve turned back billions of dollars in Mississippi,” he said in an April 19 press release. “Not because of policy. The only reason we’ve turned down federal dollars for health care in Mississippi is petty, partisan, cheap politics.”
Reeves, the Republican running for reelection, at a recent press conference doubled down on his stance that he is opposed to the policy, which he often derisively refers to as “Obamacare.”
“I have not changed my position on the expansion of Obamacare,” Reeves said. “Adding 300,000 additional people to welfare in our state is not the right path for Mississippi.”
Evidence shows that if state leaders would expand the insurance program to the working poor, it would economically benefit the state.
Mississippi’s state economist, employed by the state’s public university system, published a 2021 report concluding that if Mississippi put up the money for the 10% match, the benefits it received would more than cover the initial match.
“Based on our estimates of the costs and savings associated with Medicaid expansion, Mississippi could enter Medicaid expansion in 2022 and incur little to no additional expenditures for at least the first decade of expansion,” the report said.
Over one-third of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of immediate closure soon, according to a report, and some hospitals have recently shuttered critical patient services.
Given the financial struggle of rural hospitals, some voters are openly wondering if the crisis will have a ripple effect that trickles down into their communities.
Estella Cox-Williamson, a Grenada County resident who attended a recent campaign event for Presley, said access to health care in Grenada was one of her main issues she wants statewide candidates to address this election cycle.
“Really, I just want a governor who will actually produce results this time,” she said. “And that includes health care.”
The Mississippi Today/Siena College Research Institute poll of 783 registered voters was conducted April 16-20 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. Siena has an ‘A’ rating in FiveThirtyEight’s analysis of pollsters.
