OurTupelo

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

The state’s tax system plays an important role in the function of our government.  Mississippi, like all states, needs enough revenue to meet its current needs and invest in the future of its communities.

However, the state’s tax system is regressive, meaning that the state’s top income earners pay a smaller share of all state and local taxes than their share of all income. Meanwhile, the bottom 80% of the state’s income earners pay more.  

In fact, in Mississippi, families earning less than $19,300 per year – who represent 20% of the population – paid 12.4% of their income in state taxes in 2023, according to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy. Those earning between $19,300 and $31,500 – also 20% of the population – paid 10.8% in state taxes. In contrast, the wealthiest, the top 1% who earn more than $362,300, paid 6.9%. This disparity is particularly concerning in a state where nearly 20% of the population lives in poverty. 

Sadly, our tax system is becoming even less equitable. Currently, the 2025 Mississippi Legislature is on track to eliminate the state income tax. The plan, House Bill 1, which is pending Gov. Tate Reeves’ signature, calls for gradually reducing the 4% income tax rate by 0.25% annually from 2027 to 2030, reaching 3% in 2030. After that, further reductions would depend on “growth triggers” tied to state revenue and spending. It also includes cutting the sales tax on groceries from 7% to 5%, increasing the gasoline tax by 9 cents per gallon over three years, and changing retirement benefits for government employees hired after March 2026. 

Altogether, while this plan aims to reform the state’s tax structure, it poses significant risks to Mississippi’s long-term prosperity. Mississippi’s income tax is a major source of revenue, generating approximately $2.1 billion annually—nearly 30% of the state’s total revenue.  The 2022 income tax cuts are already expected to create a $535 million hole in the state budget once fully implemented. These cuts add to the more than 50 tax cuts totaling $577 million since 2012, according to Mississippi Today. Those tax cuts mostly benefited Mississippi’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.  

The loss of $2.1 billion in revenue would severely impact funding for education, healthcare, roads, and other vital services. For comparison, this amount is nearly equal to Mississippi’s entire K-12 education budget. It could fully cover the state’s share of Medicaid expansion for at least eight years, support at-risk hospitals, replace deficient roads and bridges, or fund policies like a child tax credit to reduce poverty—costing $1 billion less than eliminating the income tax. 

At the same time, eliminating the income tax disproportionately benefits wealthier Mississippians. Once fully phased in, less than 20% of the benefits of the 2022 tax cuts will go to families earning under $50,000. Also, the $25,500 tax cut the top 1% of Mississippians will get is more money than over a third of Mississippi households make in a year. 

Under the current plan, these disparities could worsen. If the income tax is fully eliminated as House Bill 1 aims to achieve, the state’s wealthiest residents would receive a $41,000 tax break, close to the state’s average annual salary.  Meanwhile, the average Mississippian would save just $700 per year, barely enough for a month’s groceries for a family of four. And low-income residents would save only $3 per year, according to ITEP. 

Additionally, the increased reliance on sales and gas taxes would widen income disparities. This is because as the wealthy are let off the hook from paying their fair share. This tax shift is especially severe for Black and Hispanic communities, women and rural residents, who already face higher living costs and financial challenges due to historic inequities. 

And while cutting the grocery tax may benefit everyone, the savings could be offset by other tax increases for Mississippians with lower incomes. Also, without clear and stable revenue sources at both the local and state levels, local governments should be concerned about losing crucial revenue, which could lead to budget shortfalls and further challenges, particularly in rural areas and places with higher food insecurity. 

In all, this tax cut, combined with other fiscal policy challenges like inflation, a $101 million welfare repayment to the federal government, proposed federal budget cuts at a time when Mississippi is the second most federally dependent state, and the threat of potential school voucher programs, could exacerbate financial strain for Mississippi’s families. 

Past tax cuts after the 2007-2009 recession show the potential consequences—jeopardizing funding for infrastructure, schools, healthcare and other public services.   

We can also look to states like Arizona, Kentucky and Ohio, which have faced severe budget deficits due to recent tax cuts, resulting in cuts to public services and higher costs for residents, underscoring the unsustainability of such tax policies. Arizona faces a $1.6 billion deficit due to a flat personal income tax and private school vouchers, forcing cuts to colleges, universities and public services. Kentucky’s income tax cuts are costing $1.3 billion annually, with most benefits going to the wealthiest 20%. Ohio’s revenue is down by half a billion dollars, as a result of a series of tax cuts and lower-than-projected revenue collections in the state. 

Proponents claim eliminating the income tax will attract people and businesses, but evidence shows that tax cuts don’t guarantee stronger growth. Instead, a focus on quality education, affordable healthcare, strong infrastructure and inclusive leadership is more likely to foster greater opportunity, build stronger communities and grow economies.

Instead of prioritizing tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, policymakers should prioritize building a fair and sustainable tax system, where the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, ensuring that every family, regardless of income, has the resources necessary to succeed and thrive. 

Kyra Roby is policy analyst for One Voice, a non-profit, civic engagement organization working to give voice to marginalized and vulnerable communities across the South. 

The post Policy analyst: Income tax elimination risks significant harm to Mississippi’s future  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

by Joshua Wilson

A reader from Forrest County recently asked the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center’s “What Is True?” fact-checking service if a Trump administration executive order, issued on the president’s first day in office for his second term, would halt federal funding aimed at expanding broadband internet access to rural portions of Mississippi.

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, including one called “Unleashing American Energy.” This particular order directed federal agencies to pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion package aimed at modernizing U.S. infrastructure, improving sustainability and boosting economic growth. The act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021, allocated $65 billion for broadband expansion and affordability efforts.

Mississippi’s broadband expansion and federal funding

The act also created the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, better known as BEAD. The goal of BEAD is to expand high-speed broadband access across the country and particularly to rural, unserved and underserved communities. BEAD was given $42.45 billion to accomplish this goal, and each state, territory and the District of Columbia received a slice of that funding. After state officials submitted a comprehensive plan for expanding access, the Magnolia State was awarded more than $1.2 billion of this funding.

At the time of this award, state leaders were already well on their way to expanding broadband access to hundreds of thousands of Mississippians. In a 2023 interview with the Mississippi Business Journal, Sally Doty, head of the state broadband office, said that funding streams for this effort included about $450 million from the federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, about $75 million from the 2020 federal CARES Act, $32 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Infrastructure Program and around $152 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

In that interview, Doty said the BEAD funding would have a “tremendous impact on Mississippi.” She said her office was working with federal officials on an implementation plan, and, in August 2024, the Biden administration announced that an initial plan proposal had been approved, enabling “Mississippi … to request access to funding and begin implementation.”

Clarifying the order’s impact

After Trump took office and signed the “Unleashing American Energy” order, several news outlets — including StateScoop — reported that broadband expansion was “in limbo.” To clarify matters, the Trump administration issued a memo stating that the funding “pause only applies to funds supporting programs, projects, or activities that may be implicated by the policy established in Section 2 of the order.” Section 2 discusses the administration’s plans to expand domestic energy production, reduce reliance on foreign resources and eliminate regulatory barriers that favor technologies like electric vehicles.

While this executive order does not mention internet expansion efforts and will likely not affect BEAD funds for Mississippi, CNN recently reported that the U.S. Commerce Department, which has oversight of the program, is “revamping” it. The original BEAD framework prioritized fiber-optic networks as the preferred solution for high-speed internet expansion, but the department’s changes, according to CNN, include the adoption of a technology-neutral approach, allowing satellite providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink to compete for federal funding.

According to British daily newspaper The Guardian, Musk, a senior White House adviser, has publicly called for defunding BEAD while also suggesting that Starlink “could provide internet connectivity to rural homes at a fraction of the connectivity cost.”

State broadband office responds

Doty told “What Is True?” that she foresees “no drastic change in Mississippi’s plan for the buildout of broadband infrastructure to the approximately 125,000 households across the state that remain unserved.” She added that her office “had already anticipated that (low-Earth orbit satellite providers Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper) or fixed wireless would be used for our extremely high-cost locations in Mississippi.”

“Alternative technologies are the right answer in certain situations and can provide acceptable speeds, especially as this technology evolves,” Doty said. “Starlink will have a role in our buildout, but (it) is not the answer for all remaining unserved locations in Mississippi.”

She said that she agreed with Musk’s criticism surrounding the program’s “slow rollout.”

“I emphatically agree that the program has been excruciatingly slow,” Doty said. “From my view, many of the federal requirements that states must meet are time-consuming, expensive and unnecessary for an effective program.”

Doty said that she expects the new administration to “streamline the process,” which will allow her office to move “with more urgency.”

Looking ahead

Although the Trump administration’s executive order does not explicitly halt broadband expansion funding, the Commerce Department’s revamp of BEAD introduces uncertainty about its future in Mississippi. While state officials, including Doty, anticipate progress will continue, the implementation process may shift under new federal guidelines.

“What Is True?” is a media literacy initiative dedicated to investigating false and misleading information. Our team fact-checks claims, provides context and helps the public navigate today’s complex news landscape. Submit your claim.

The post Does a Trump order halt broadband funds for Mississippi? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The grin on best-selling author Angie Thomas’s face could not have been bigger. The Zoom call, surprising Owen Jarvis with news he had won the full-ride scholarship to Belhaven University named in Thomas’ honor, was a giddy secret that was hers to share.

“Sometimes when it happens, I feel like Oprah when she gave out the cars,” a gleeful Thomas said of informing the winner. For the Young Adult author and Jackson native, now living in Atlanta, the activity falls right in line with her stories’ focus on young people as they find their own voice and the power it can hold. 

Thomas, a 2011 Belhaven grad, is the author of New York Times bestselling novels “The Hate U Give” and “On the Come Up” (both made into major motion pictures), “Concrete Rose” and  “Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy.” 

The scholarship in her name began in 2020, established by Belhaven University to support aspiring writers as they pursue dreams of authorship. “To watch in real time, the burden lift off of them, is incredible because, you know, we talk about education, but we don’t talk enough about the cost of education, and the stress and the burden of it,” Thomas said, noting that several winners were the first in their families to attend college.

She attended Belhaven on partial scholarship, but still had to take out student loans because of family financial struggles. “My mom was a full-time caregiver to my grandmother, and so money was tight at the time. There were plenty of times where I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for gas … much less books and all of those things. So, by the grace of God, I was able to get my education and now to know that that’s a burden that these future creative writing graduates won’t have — that’s incredible to me, and to know that it was done in my honor is even more incredible.”

Jarvis, of Pelham, Alabama, is the fifth recipient of the Angie Thomas Writers Scholarship. While only one is awarded annually, other applicants receive partial scholarships.  “They kind of set me up really, really good,” he said with a sheepish chuckle about the surprise. He thought the call was a finalist interview, right up to the moment Thomas chimed in with congratulations. “I was blown away.” 

He grew up in south Florida and moved to Alabama as a teen. His writing focus took hold the summer between freshman and sophomore years in high school, after a friend’s death. “It was kind of a big shock in my life, and the way I dealt with the grief was writing poetry,” he said, then moving on to other forms. A self-described fantasy writer, he also delves into sci-fi, dystopian stories and more. 

“There’s so many crazy things in the world today that you can just look at and say, ‘Wow, that would be really interesting to make it a little more extreme.’ It’s not peering into the future, but it’s sort of, almost, a ‘What if?’” he said.

The first student awarded the scholarship, Imani Skipwith of Jackson, graduated in April 2024. Now pursuing her master’s degree at Jackson State University, she is also working on a poetry collection and  exploring creative nonfiction. “It just opened a door,” she said of the scholarship that made college more accessible. “It’s a reminder, for me, that I’m on the right path.”

Skipwith is an avid reader turned writer. “I read a lot, but I didn’t see a lot of characters that looked like me. And, if they did look like me, they were the supporting characters of white people. … They weren’t representative of me.” Later, her interest expanded into the mental health of her community, and highlighting needed change.

“I like to say that I write for the eldest daughter,” said Skipwith, whose own sister is about a decade younger. “In a sense, I kind of helped raise her. … There is a lot that I experienced, being an eldest daughter, and being a Black eldest daughter, that I felt like I should share, for guidance.” 

Thomas pulls from her own experience for advice and encouragement for scholarship students. “I always remind them that they earned this, and they deserve it,” the author said. “One thing I’ve noticed about us writers — we have a lot of doubts, and all of us, at one point or another, struggle with imposter syndrome and we have these moments, even when we’ve seen success, where we’re like, ‘Did I really?’ ‘Am I that good?’

“I always want them to know that they deserved it, and I always, too, want to remind them that this is a journey,” she said. The university’s creative writing program, founded and led by Randall Smith, can help hone young writers’ gifts.

“Seeing these young people come in, finding their voices through the program, and also seeing such a diversity in the voices is incredible. It’s much more diverse now,” she said, than when she was the only Black student in the program. “Not just racial diversity, but diversity in the voices and the types of stories young people are telling, and the socioeconomic backgrounds that are now coming to the program, and it’s a great place to nurture that.”

Next up from Thomas is the second book in her Nic Blake series for younger readers, due out this fall, “It’s a fantasy series that partially takes place in Jackson, which is fun to be able to do, to bring a little magic to Jackson because Jackson sure could use it.” 

Though she cannot talk now about her next Young Adult book in progress, “I think that fans of ‘The Hate U Give’ will be happy once this one is announced,” she said. 

Work on movie and TV scripts continues.

Scholarship involvement is a good fit for a writer who sets stories, targets audiences and puts her belief in the younger set. “I’ve, in a lot of ways, given up on older generations for fixing and changing,” Thomas said, with a characteristically youthful laugh. “Day by day, my hope in older generations is just dying out little by little. And so, I see young people, obviously as the future, but as the hope.

“What I’m doing, hopefully, is an investment in the future, and seeing a world more like the one I would love for us to have right now.” 

She wants more young people to recognize and use their power. “I look at every movement in this country, specifically, in which true change was achieved and usually young people were either at the forefront of it, or they were the motor behind it. 

“If I’m the one who wants to see change in the world, I think the best way to do that is to invest in young people. Invest in them through the stories that I tell. Invest in them through the opportunities that I can provide, and just give them mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors.” Books, films — literature, period — can do that, she said.

“They can show young people themselves, and help them see the beauty in themselves, the power in themselves, or they can show young people lives unlike their own situations and … to give them a window into others’ lives. Or, they can be a sliding glass door that opens up opportunities for them to see a wider world.

“One of the big issues we have right now is that we have people in power who have a very limited worldview. 

“If we want change, we have to make sure we’re giving them a worldview that is beyond just their little pocket of the world, so that they can understand the world, and they can understand others better. And so, honestly, we can at least have some empathy again.”

The post Fifth student receives full ride to college on writers scholarship appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The week of March 17 in the Mississippi Legislature dawned with a continuing tax standoff between the state House and Senate as they entered the final weeks of a three-month legislative session.

The two chambers remained so far apart with their tax plans that lawmakers and politicos expected the governor would have to force them into special session for more negotiations or else they would leave with no tax plan — heck, maybe even with no state budget.

Speaker Jason White and his GOP House leadership were steadfast in their yearslong desire to relatively quickly eliminate the state income tax and increase the state’s sales and gasoline taxes. This shift to more regressive taxation would stand to strip more than $2 billion from the $7 billion general fund of America’s poorest state, hitting lower-income people hardest and generally helping the more affluent.

Mississippi would, under this House proposal, become the first state to eliminate an existing income tax in American history. But House leaders promise the experiment will lead Mississippi to beulah land and generate more than enough economic growth to cover the billions cut from income tax revenue.

But on the other side of the Capitol, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and his GOP Senate leadership were standing firm that this House proposal is foolhardy, particularly with massive federal spending cuts and economic uncertainty looming. Mississippi is perennially dependent on money from Washington, and no one can confidently say they know what the coming months from the new Trump administration will mean for the state.

Senate leaders had instead offered only another cut to the state’s income tax, which is already among the lowest in the nation, rather than a total elimination the House was proposing. It was also pretty clear they’d be OK with ending this 2025 legislative session with no major tax changes at all if the House didn’t rein it in.

The stakes on this disagreement between the House and Senate are high for Mississippians for generations to come.

... In the end, it wasn’t earnest negotiation or any agreement between the two sides that led to the passage of total income tax elimination in Mississippi — it was a few typos.

The Senate had accidentally put in some decimal points that essentially eliminated the growth triggers that would have staved off full elimination of the income tax for years …

READ THE FULL ANALYSIS: The Typo Tax Swap Act of 2025 may be the most Mississippi thing ever

Quote of the Week

“I know the snake oil salesman who showed up in Mississippi selling this bill of goods must be laughing uncontrollably that they’ve put this one over on the rubes in Mississippi.” — Sen. Hob Bryan, speaking in committee against a measure to eliminate the state’s individual income tax and raise the gasoline tax

In Brief

Legislators introduce over 60 suffrage restoration bills

Lawmakers introduced around 66 measures to restore suffrage to people who have had their voting rights taken away from them because they were convicted of a disenfranchising felony offense. 

Mississippi strips voting rights away from people for life if they have committed one of around 23 disenfranchising offenses. The only way for a person to regain their suffrage is to get two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers to agree to restore it. 

Governors can restore suffrage to people through pardons, but no governor has issued such a pardon since the end of Gov. Haley Barbour’s administration.   – Taylor Vance

Governor signs turkey stamp bill into law

Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill requiring hunters to obtain a turkey stamp before harvesting the wild birds into law. 

Senate Bill 2280 requires in-state hunters to purchase a $10 turkey stamp and out-of-state hunters to pay a $100 fee for the stamp. In addition to the new stamp, the law still requires hunters to obtain a normal hunting license. 

Proponents of the measure said the stamp fees would be used to maintain and improve turkey-hunting lands around the state.   – Taylor Vance

Lawmakers haggle on absentee voting measure

A bill that could either establish early voting or expand absentee voting in the state is headed to a conference committee for final negotiations. 

House Speaker Jason White named Republican Rep. Noah Sanford of Collins, Republican Rep. Mark Tullos of Raleigh and Republican Rep. Jansen Owen of Poplarville as the House conferees. 

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann named Republican Sen. Jeremy England of Vancleave, Republican Sen. Kevin Blackwell of Southaven and Republican Sen. Lydia Chassaniol of Winona as the Senate conferees. 

The Senate passed a bill earlier in the session to establish two weeks of no-excuse early voting, but the House rejected that idea and proposed expanding absentee voting options.   – Taylor Vance

Ed board recommends moving MSMS to MSU

The state Board of Education last week voted to recommend to lawmakers that the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science be moved from the Mississippi University for Women to Mississippi State University.

The board had sought proposals from the universities to run the school for gifted high schoolers, which was created in 1987. The board said MSU’s proposal scored far higher than MUW’s. The Legislature would have to approve the move, and provide funding for it, which is not likely to happen as lawmakers enter the final days of the 2025 legislative session.   – Geoff Pender

Bill requiring panhandler permits heads to governor

The Legislature has passed a bill to require panhandlers to get a permit costing up to $25 from their city or county government.

Proponents of the measure said it is a safety measure, to prevent people soliciting donations on busy streets. Opponents said it unjustly punishes and taxes homeless people. Failure to get a permit before soliciting donations would carry a fine up to $500 and jail time up to six weeks.  – Geoff Pender

By the Numbers

.85% instead of 85%

Errant decimal points prompted an end to debate and passage of a monumental change in taxation for Mississippians. The Senate, urging caution in the move to eliminate the state’s personal income tax, in its proposal had an economic growth “trigger” that was supposed to ensure the tax would be phased out only with booming economic growth — for instance, when revenue surplus equals 85% or more of the cost of a 1% cut in the tax rate. But the bill accidentally put decimal points in front of the percentage, basically eliminating the trigger. The House, which wanted faster elimination, seized on the typos and passed the bill, and Gov. Tate Reeves says he will sign it into law.

Full Legislative Coverage

Legislature stumbles into final weeks of session in a tax-fight funk

As the Mississippi Legislature stumbles into what is supposed to be the final few weeks of its 2025 session, it’s in a funk, caused primarily by the continuing standoff between Republican House and Senate leaders over cutting/eliminating/increasing taxes. Read the story.

Podcast: Bill to ensure rape kits are available pending in final days of legislative session

Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, joins Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison and Sophia Paffenroth to explain the importance of passing her legislation during the 2025 session to ensure local emergency rooms use rape kits in a timely manner. Listen to the podcast.

Lt. Gov. Hosemann feigns ignorance on typo that led to tax overhaul passing by mistake, claims victory

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s House counterparts took advantage of typos in a bill his Senate approved — bringing forth the most sweeping tax overhaul in modern Mississippi history. Read the story.

Sweeping Mississippi tax overhaul passed … by mistake. Gov. Reeves eager to sign typo tax swap into law

The House on Friday took advantage of Senate typos — a few errant decimal points — in a bill and sent to Gov. Tate Reeves the most sweeping overhaul in taxation in modern Mississippi history. Read the story.

OOPS! Senate sent House an income tax bill with typos. House ran with it. What’s next?

Mississippi Senate leaders have said a House plan to eliminate the state income tax over about a decade was foolhardy, and instead proposed a much longer, more cautious approach. Read the story.

Doctors, advocates rally at Capitol: ‘Defend and expand Medicaid’

Dozens of advocates, doctors and spiritual leaders gathered outside the Capitol Tuesday to call for the “defense and expansion of Medicaid.” Read the story.

Following reports of victims unable to access rape kits in ERs, lawmaker pushes fix

Rape victims aren’t guaranteed a rape kit when they show up at a hospital emergency room – though it’s not clear how often they are turned away. Read the story.

The post How did the Mississippi Typo Tax Swap Act of 2025 happen? Legislative recap appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Portia Scott interjected when her friend didn’t want to talk about Jackson’s upcoming mayoral election as they waited for the annual Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade to begin. 

“I’ve got something to say,” she declared: It’s time for a change in the city. 

A 26-year-old Willowood resident, Scott just wants the stoplights to work in her south Jackson neighborhood. She wants the city to stop giving her the “runaround” when she calls. And she wants to feel more confident in how her tax dollars are being spent than she does under Democratic Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s administration. 

“It’s not just Republicans, Democrats, we’re looking at independent people who actually can come into the city and transform it, because that is so important right now,” she said. “It’s not about race, Black or white, it’s about the integrity of the people.” 

Despite these strong feelings, and her efforts to make sure her friends are registered to vote, Scott doesn’t yet know who’s going to win her over in the April 1 primary election. While she follows TV news and plans to watch candidate interviews in more detail within the next week, she hasn’t been to a forum, because she doesn’t know how to find out about them. 

“They don’t really publicize it for the people,” she said. 

Many voters out at the parade Saturday felt similarly. Jackson needs new leadership, they said, but they don’t know who they want to lead it. And they haven’t had the time yet to get educated on the candidates. 

“I spend a lot of time at work,” said Dalisha Christon, a 31-year-old west Jackson resident who thinks the city needs to create more after-school programs for its youth. 

Plus, with 19 candidates on the ballot, Jackson voters who are trying to be informed face a daunting task this election season. There are 12 people running in the Democratic primary alone, which historically decides the city’s next mayor and is likely to go to a runoff on April 22.

“It’s so many candidates,” said Rickey Ellis, an employee at a medical supply warehouse. He was leaning against a black Nissan under the shade of a live oak tree.

What Jackson needs, Ellis said, is a mayor with experience. He’s liking state Sen. John Horhn, who’s represented the city in the state Legislature for more than 30 years, or Socrates Garrett, a longtime city and state subcontractor. 

But when it comes to Lumumba, Ellis said he thinks the mayor should’ve accomplished more in his eight years at the helm. 

“I hate crime,” Ellis said, adding that he wants to stop hearing nightly gunshots in his south Jackson neighborhood.  

Safety was a big issue for voters, along with the state of the city’s roads. Several brought up Lumumba’s recent bribery charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, as a reason they would not vote for him this cycle. 

“Yeah, we feel bamboozled,” exclaimed Jasmine Giles, who voted for Lumumba in 2017. “He’s out in the club, and we down here suffering.” 

Giles, a 30-year-old nurse who lives downtown but grew up in the Georgetown neighborhood, elaborated: Individually, many Jacksonians are doing well, earning money, taking care of their families and trying to avoid the negative traits of living here, such as the primarily interpersonal violence occurring across the city.

“Actually, we okay, but the picture that they draw of the city is a suffering picture to look at,” she said. “It’s a lot of murdering going on, it’s a lot of crime, the police could be doing a lot more than they’re doing.” 

Just after 7 p.m., hours after the parade concluded, a shooting near the parade route on Pearl and Lamar streets claimed the life of one individual, 21-year-old Cortez George, and injured seven others. Bailey Martin, a spokesperson for the Capitol Police, wrote in a text that the information she was able to provide is subject to change, because officers are continuing to investigate.

“It is believed that two groups of individuals were involved in a dispute that escalated for unknown reasons,” Martin wrote. “This shooting was not targeting parade goers, nor was it random.”

Cities across the state face the similar problems as Jackson, Giles said, but since it’s her home, she wants Jackson to thrive, which she added was also the state’s responsibility. That sentiment was echoed by other parade-goers who said the capital city’s problems are greatly the result of state leaders’ neglect, which one man said he believes is due to racism against its primarily Black population.

“We all have to experience our experiences,” Giles said. “But overall, people can obviously do a lot more. The mayor – not the mayor, but the governor, he could do way a lot more, but that’s a whole other conversation.” 

Jackson has never had a female mayor, and this race, dominated by men, suggests that won’t change any time soon. But there are two women on the ticket: Lillie Stewart-Robinson, an independent, and LaKeisha Crye, a Democrat. 

Lillyunna Robinson, a recent Belhaven University graduate, said she was considering voting for Crye after meeting her at Soulé Coffee in Fondren. During their conversation, Robinson said Crye was asking voters “did we even know she was running for mayor.” 

What does Robinson want to see changed in Jackson? 

“Man,” she said, drawing out the word. “Almost everything.” 

She wants to see more jobs for young people. And she thinks the city should offer more financial assistance for those who don’t have very much. 

Instead, Robinson feels like she mainly sees abandoned homes and people moving away. Other parade-goers Mississippi Today spoke to had grown up in Jackson but moved away to Clinton; Ridgeland; Dallas, Texas; and Georgia. 

“Jackson overall is kind of becoming a bare city,” Robinson said. 

For that, Scott has one explanation she wants the mayoral candidates to hear. 

“You wanna see Jackson grow, you wanna see Mississippi grow, you wanna keep the money here, you wanna keep your residents here,” she said. “But if you’re not really just out here putting in the work, I will go.” 

CORRECTION: This story was updated to reflect that in addition to the person killed, seven people were injured in the shooting on Saturday.

The post At St. Paddy’s Parade, voters want ‘almost everything’ to change in Jackson, but say they don’t know who to vote for appeared first on Mississippi Today.

by Samuel Hughes with contributions from Aidan Tarrant and Pragesh Adhikari

POPLARVILLE – From cinderblock, single-story duplexes and quadplexes to rows of brick townhomes, public housing projects aren’t difficult to spot in Mississippi — particularly those that buckle under the weight of their age. 

Getting these properties cleaned up comes with much federal red tape and frustration for many local leaders. As these past housing solutions go offline, underfunded authorities hope to address community needs by doing more with less. 

Hurdles in public housing redevelopment 

One abandoned public housing project in Poplarville, Glenwild, was built in 1967 with asbestos and lead paint and now sits vacant. The city has little power to address its condition. 

“We would love to be able to just come in, demolish it and do something, but it’s not that easy,” said the Rev. Jimmy Richardson, a director for South Mississippi Housing Development. “There’s so much red tape … let alone the dollar amount it would take.” 

Federal law requires a replacement plan before redevelopment. Glenwild’s cost estimate is around $10 million, and even if a project is planned, the South Mississippi Housing Authority must prove it has the financial backing to proceed. 

Funding shortages and policy shifts 

Public housing authorities nationwide have struggled with budget shortfalls for decades. Justin “Jimmy” Brooks, president of the South Mississippi Housing Authority, said funding has been insufficient since the 1980s. 

“When I was a director at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in in the 2010 time period, we estimated there was about a $40 billion shortfall in what we needed to take care of our priorities nationwide, and that was in 2010 — it’s probably more than tripled since then,” Brooks said.  

To offset this shortfall, HUD introduced the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, shifting public housing to a private funding model with capped rents. 

“A lot of large housing authorities — us, included — just dove right in. We took all of our public housing out of the public housing program — put it all this private program. It’s been an absolute challenge ever since, because we don’t generate enough revenue to take care of the properties, and now we’ve eliminated our ability to get federal grant funding,” Brooks said. 

Now, the South Mississippi Housing Authority must generate its own revenue, much of it from capped rents. In some cases, rent prices are set at half the market rate. 

“For example, a two-bedroom rent here, the market rent is $1,000 — we might be getting $540 a month. We’re literally being asked to do the same thing as the private market, with substantially less funding,” Brooks said. “We’re stuck with it until Congress takes action, which is to be determined.” 

Rising costs and insurance pressures 

Brooks said the biggest challenge for Mississippi public housing has been rising insurance costs, which have been eating away at the authority’s operational budget. 

“When I came here (in June 2021), it cost about $1.2 million to insure all of our properties. Now, the cost to insure our real estate is over $4 million,” Brooks said. “We’re scared to death to see what our May 1 renewal is going to look like this year, but whatever it is, the properties can’t afford it today, and we could barely afford what the insurance was last year.”  

The South Mississippi Housing Authority, the largest in the state, serves about 26,000 people. It manages 917 active units and about 100 deteriorating ones across Mississippi’s lower 14 counties. As costs rise, more units may go offline. 

“We’ve got lagging income, we’ve got expenses that are just on a rocket ship ride. We’ve got insurance that is completely unaffordable to anyone in luxury apartments down to government-subsidized housing, and if you can get the materials that you need to maintain your properties, you’re going to pay probably 50% higher than what you could realistically budget for. And we’ve got all of those factors rolling into what is ultimately going to be the biggest crisis that I’ve seen in affordable housing,” Brooks said. 

As a result, many of these public housing projects sit untouched, falling into further dilapidation.  

“Which creates friction with cities, with counties, with code enforcement, with the community who’s saying, ‘Hey, you really need to do something about these properties,’ Brooks said. “And then you have public housing authorities like us that are saying, ‘Well, we’re already investing $2 million of losses back into to the properties to keep them at the status quo.’” 

In Poplarville alone, the South Mississippi Housing Authority loses more than $100,000 annually to keep public housing units online for low-income families. In 2025, as the South Mississippi Housing Authority faces these pressures, more units will go offline, Brooks said. 

For smaller properties like Glenwild, projected revenue from capped rents does not cover the costs of redevelopment. The South Mississippi Housing Authority has a plan to demolish the 12 units and partner with a nonprofit to build affordable single-family housing, a plan not yet approved by HUD. 

Despite these challenges, housing authorities across Mississippi are still working to provide new public housing solutions. The South Mississippi Housing Authority is about to begin construction on a 40-unit project in north Gulfport called North Park Estates Phase 2, which involves demolishing old, dilapidated units for a rebuild. 

“We’ve had supply issues. We’ve had construction pricing issues. You know, the 40 units, we estimated it would cost about ten million to build it. We’re up to about $14 million in estimated cost right now,” Brooks said. 

Brooks said large projects are more cost-effective for public housing developers because they produce more revenue, but getting money on the front end is challenging. He said much funding for affordable housing at the city and county level has dried up in the past two decades. 

The authority’s other active project, Coastal Pointe, includes more than 12 funding sources to form a $16 million plan viable to HUD. The project will demolish older units on a property called Canal Point and move residents into 60 units of new, three-story apartment buildings. 

Sheleatha McCullum, 44, was born and raised in Gulfport public housing. Currently a nursing assistant, she said her six years at Canal Point has allowed her to achieve some financial stability is looking forward to the new project. 

“(Public housing) has helped me tremendously in trying to get to where I’m trying to get to,” McCullum said. “I don’t plan on moving, but if I did, this would be a start — for anybody.” 

Tamillia Black, a Moss Point native, moved into Canal Point three years ago. She is thankful for what she finds to be a peaceful community.  

“I was homeless. I had nothing. It’s a blessing to have a roof over my head,” Black said. “I was on a wait list; I think I waited five years to get out here. I was home to home, living off others. It was tough for me at some points, really tough.” 

Black said public housing is necessary, and that new development at Coastal Pointe is necessary to answer the aging structures in the community. 

State response and mitigation efforts 

“With public housing, you face a dual problem, because public housing in Section 8 usually has rent limits as to what the federal government will let an owner of public housing charge, and it doesn’t accommodate any increase in insurance every year,” said Mike Chaney, Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance. 

After Hurricane Katrina, the state Legislature formed the Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program, which provides grant funding to make properties, particularly those of lower-income individuals, less vulnerable to storm damage in the six coastal counties: Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. 

Mississippi state law requires insurance companies to give discounts for homes mitigated to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety FORTIFIED standard, which includes reinforced roofs and windows. 

“If you mitigate a home or public housing or storm damage, you reduce the insurance rates anywhere from 30 to 40%, and that’s been our proactive choice,” Chaney said. 

The program was unfunded until last year, when it received $5 million to provide $10,000 to each selected recipient to fortify buildings and to measure public interest in such a program. 

House Bill 959, currently in the hands of the Senate, would extend the program. While Chaney hopes to see more funding appropriated to the program, he has not seen much interest in the state legislature. 

Chaney also said the federal government is unlikely to help curb the impact of insurance rates on public housing anytime soon. 

“I don’t see the government putting any money out at all to try to raise any of the rent subsidies that they give out for the cost of living, or the cost of insurance,” Chaney said. 

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, chair for the upper house’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee, did not respond to our request for comment on developments at the federal level.     

As Mississippi housing authorities balance these increasing financial strains, Brooks said policy responses will have to be made at the state and federal levels to keep the state’s public housing at the status quo. 

“This isn’t a Mississippi problem. It’s certainly not a Poplarville problem. It is a nationwide challenge that I would say is starting to get to crisis level,” Brooks said. “There are millions of units of public housing that are that are in this situation.”

The post Mississippi public housing struggles as federal funding falls short appeared first on Mississippi Today.

As far as Mary Alex Thigpen knew, the truckloads of mulch she’d just had delivered would sit at Belhaven’s Laurel Street Park until she could find enough volunteers to spread it.

Thigpen, the executive director of the Greater Belhaven Foundation, then got a call from a neighborhood resident. Employees with the city’s parks and recreation department were putting down the mulch with shovels and rakes.

“It just kind of made me laugh because I didn’t tell anybody at parks and rec about the mulch,” Thigpen said. “But I guess they saw it and thought it was theirs?” 

Thigpen’s story illustrates a widespread issue facing citywide efforts to rid Jackson of litter, blight, dilapidated housing and overgrown weeds: No matter how many resources are available, many stakeholders are not on the same page. And not everyone knows who — between the mayor, his departments, the council, local nonprofits or individual citizens — is responsible for what.

“People are tired of waiting for someone else to do it, and they’re starting to do it on their own,” said Ashlee Kelly, a Belhaven resident who has been involved in volunteer clean-up efforts across Ward 7. 

That’s the case across the city, but in Ward 7, most of the seven candidates running for council believe that Jacksonians need to get better coordinated when it comes to pursuing quality of life improvements in the city. The 14-mile ward encompassing Fondren, Belhaven and downtown Jackson is one of two council areas this election season where the incumbent has chosen not to run again. 

During a voter forum last month at Millsaps College, five of the seven candidates agreed that city clean-up is important for economic development and crime reduction.

Some of their ideas were ambitious. Democratic candidate Quint Withers, an accountant and Realtor, said he wants to switch the city’s street lights to LED so they last longer.

Bruce Burton, an attorney also running in the Democratic primary, thinks the city should install cameras across the ward to catch illegal trash dumpers. 

And independent candidate Ron Aldridge, a government-relations attorney and current chair of Fondren’s Business Improvement District, said the city needs to be working more with its neighborhood associations. 

But what will these candidates be able to realistically accomplish if they win? Aldridge told Mississippi Today he knows his ideas do not technically fall under the purview of the city council.

“It doesn’t matter,” Aldridge said. “That’s what I’m gonna do. I’m just telling you. I’m not someone that waits.” 

As a voter, Kelly looks to see if candidates have an accurate understanding of these roles and responsibilities. In Jackson, city council candidates often do not realize the statutory division of power between the city and the mayor. 

“People make a lot of promises, and they don’t realize there’s really basic functions,” she said. “If you do anything out of the scope, it’s great, but it’s also a part-time job. You have to be realistic about what you can do.” 

Under state statute, the mayor of Jackson is the city’s full-time chief executive office, overseeing city departments, appointing department heads and drafting the city budget. 

The council, on the other hand, works part time and essentially functions as the legislative branch of the city government. Working together, the council has the ability to write and pass ordinances, subject to the mayor’s veto. Likewise, the council can vote down the mayor’s budget. 

For the newcomer, outgoing Ward 7 councilperson Virgi Lindsay’s advice is, “You have to get in there and do it. It is the consummate of on-the-job training.” 

For instance, Lindsay said she is frequently calling the city about abandoned houses in the southern part of Ward 7. But as a council person, she has no power to order any city department to tear down the houses. 

What Lindsay can do, however, is ensure the city is funding the right departments, which she said the council worked to do by increasing solid waste’s budget. 

But in the past, council members have disagreed over the extent of their powers, causing a breakdown in the city’s ability to function. This happened most notably when, during a years-long dispute over entering a new garbage contract, the council and the mayor sued each other, hiring separate attorneys, something a specially appointed judge said should not have happened.  

“So, in effect, we have City of Jackson vs. City of Jackson,” Judge H. David Clark said in 2023. “That raises a few problems in itself. George cannot sue George.” 

Since the council approved the long-term contract with the mayor’s vendor in 2024, city spokesperson Melissa Payne said there’s been “way less contention between the council and the mayor, and I think he appreciates that and wants to keep it that way.”

Inspired in part by the disagreement, Working Together Jackson, a nonprofit, held a “candidate school” last month about the council’s roles and responsibilities. Two candidates in Ward 7 – Withers and Kevin Parkinson – attended.

Chevon Chatman, a WTJ organizer, said she encourages candidates who win to attend the city’s free legal training on the council’s statutory obligations. 

“People don’t know the council is a legislative body and does not have control over the pothole on your street,” she said. 

When candidates have an accurate understanding of their roles, Kelly said they can provide more detailed campaign goals to voters. 

“When they say education and economic development, I want to squint a little bit because it’s like, where are you going with this,” she asked. “What do you mean by economic development? That’s such a broad term.” 

Mississippi Today was able to interview four candidates for Ward 7 by press time: Democrats Parkinson, Withers and Turner Martin, as well as independent Aldridge.

Corinthian Sanders, another Democrat, was unable to speak by press time due to a personal matter. Neither Taylor Turcotte, a Republican, nor Burton, a Democrat, returned multiple calls. 

Martin, an employee in the city’s Department of Human and Cultural Services, said his experience writing resolutions helped him understand how power is divided between the mayor and the council. 

Specifically, Martin authored a resolution related to the maintenance of the Arts Center of Mississippi, a building downtown that he manages. Based on his experience at the Arts Center, Martin said he thinks the city needs to fill some gaps in its services, especially when it comes to maintenance on its property. 

“There’s literally no one I can call,” he said. 

When trash builds up outside the Arts Center, Martin said it is not technically the responsibility of anyone in the city to pick it up. The custodians work inside the building, while parks and recreation maintains and trims the landscaping. 

“Regardless of how these departments are supposed to work, if it’s not being enforced by the executive branch, there’s very little the council can do,” he said.

Downtown Jackson Partners receives funds through the area’s business improvement district to provide landscaping and other services, but Martin said he does not think they should have to conduct upkeep of city properties. In areas with established improvement districts, property owners pay an extra fee on top of taxes for services aimed at promoting business. The fee is collected by the county and distributed through the city to the district designees, such as Downtown Jackson Partners.

“We have a balcony at Thalia Mara, so if an unhoused individual sleeps on that balcony for weeks because we can’t afford to have full-time security, who’s responsible for that,” he asked. “There’s no one to call except for an organization that already wears so many hats in terms of keeping our downtown beautiful.” 

At the same time, Martin said he would like to see the city doing a better job of advertising the services it does provide, such as its monthly “Roll-Off Dumpster Day” at the Metrocenter Mall. Aldridge mentioned this, too. 

Parkinson, a former principal of Midtown Public Charter School, said people misunderstand the role of the city council in one of two ways.

“They think that the city councilor is the king or queen of their ward and that by some form of strong authoritarianism or maybe a magic wand, whatever the city council person says for their ward will automatically be done, and that is not how that works,” Parkinson said. “The other way that people mess it up, though, is they say, ‘Well, we have a strong mayor system, so as a city council person, there is nothing that I can do.’” 

What the council should do, Parkinson said, is focus on building relationships with each other and with the mayor. But that doesn’t mean going along to get along. 

“Unified doesn’t always mean rubber stamped,” he added.

Withers had a similar opinion. He said the city council needs to compromise for the common good, but he doesn’t see that happening right now.

“The council can probably advocate with the administration and help hold hands with the right people,” Withers said. “That role can exist as long as you can talk to those department heads, but my best understanding now is that they’re siloed.” 

For example, while code enforcement falls under planning and development, the Jackson Police Department has started a neighborhood enhancement team to help tackle some of the city’s blight. 

Parkinson said that it’s great so many Jacksonians are working to fix the blight, but on the bureaucratic side, these efforts are made more complicated by the number of entities involved. 

“Even for something as simple as a house we could all agree needs to be demolished … there’s so many partners,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of the blighted property is actually owned by the state through tax forfeiture.”

All four candidates said they had canvassed the ward’s 18 neighborhoods, though Aldridge said he has done that primarily through an outreach ministry, not his campaign, that he’s been involved with over the last two and a half years. 

They’ve seen the blight with their own eyes, and all concur the issues in the southern part of the ward are greater — and more forgotten about, due in part to population loss. 

“There’s an inverse graph of less resources to tackle these things while the issue itself is growing,” Martin said. 

Parkinson identified the Savanna Street neighborhood as an area of particular need. The street has burned-out houses, and last year, a tree fell on a man, killing him in his home. 

“Two things can be true,” Parkinson said. “There’s a lot of people working really hard and trying their absolute best and are making some of an impact. … And it is woefully insufficient. It needs to be accelerated. We all need to get on the same page. It has to be a priority of the mayor. That’s just a reality. The city council has to support, and we need the state to step up.” 

Years ago, Aldridge said he was involved with efforts by nonprofit Keep Mississippi Beautiful and local affiliate Keep Jackson Beautiful to clean the green spaces at the High Street and Pearl Street entrances off I-55, which he said are vital to the city as the first things people see when they drive into downtown — home, he said, to some of the state’s greatest museums. 

It was a “total effort,” Aldridge said. The litter was picked up, the weeds were mowed, and the oak tree canopy, which was coming down into the road, was trimmed.

But now, Aldridge said the street looks as if that work never happened. 

The post ‘Be realistic’: Concerned about blight, Jackson’s Ward 7 council candidates learn who’s responsible appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s House counterparts took advantage of typos in a bill his Senate approved — bringing forth the most sweeping tax overhaul in modern Mississippi history.

But after a day’s silence on the issue, Hosemann on Friday acted as though he knew little about the snafu.

Hosemann outlined what he said were victories in the bill headed to Gov. Tate Reeves with the Senate’s typos unfixed. Then he attempted to end a press conference after taking, but not really answering, one question from Mississippi Today about the errors. As statehouse reporters kept pressing, Hosemann said he hadn’t “focused” on the typos and didn’t know whether the House had intentionally passed the bill to back the Senate into a corner.

“I don’t know whether they knew it had a flaw,” Hosemann said. “Nobody told me that.”

Hosemann said his team spent “hundreds of hours” drafting its tax overhaul legislation and “an untold amount of allocations and computations” went into the process. But the thoroughness Hosemann described did not prevent a few errant decimal points from making it into the legislation the Senate ultimately approved by mistake.

The upshot is that a bill eliminating the income tax at a much faster clip than Hosemann and many senators wanted, a position they stuck to for months, is set to be signed into law thanks to a clerical error. The law that will be headed to the governor’s desk would dramatically alter Mississippi’s tax structure.

As confusion swirled throughout the Capitol late Thursday and early Friday, many lawmakers said they were unclear how quickly the income tax elimination would happen. The Senate when it voted on its plan intended it to take many years and hinge on economic growth “triggers” being met. But decimal point typos essentially removed the triggers, meaning hundreds of millions of dollars in income tax revenue will have to be cut even if there is growth of just a few million dollars.

At most, the Senate plan would eliminate the income tax over a little more than a decade — roughly the same timetable as House leaders had proposed. Senate leaders had called that approach unwise, and thought the counteroffer they sent to the House would have taken 20 years or more, dependent on growth.

The House, which along with Gov. Reeves has favored eliminating the income tax at a faster rate, ran with the Senate’s mistake. They approved the bill on Thursday and on Friday disposed of a procedural motion that will send it to the governor’s desk.

Opponents of the changes say the poorest state in the union can’t afford to slash a third of its budget and still provide services to citizens, and that a shift to “regressive” taxation with an increased gasoline tax will hit poor people and those of modest means the hardest. Proponents say the bill will bolster Mississippi’s “consumption-based economy” by drawing corporate investment and letting workers keep more of their money.

House Speaker Jason White on Friday afternoon issued a brief statement but did not address the typos in the Senate bill or the bizarre way his chamber found a way to send the tax plan to the governor.

“As of today, we are Building Up Mississippi by eliminating the income tax to further our state’s competitive advantage and award our workforce! HB 1 has crossed a historic hurdle and is heading to the Governor,” White wrote.

White thanked Reeves and House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar. He did not mention Hosemann.

But Hosemann indicated negotiations might not be over, pointing to another tax reform bill his chamber approved Friday morning. Other Senate leaders said little about the mistake and operated as if everything were normal. They voted to invite conference on a separate Senate tax cut bill that remains alive.

Hosemann said he hadn’t seen the House’s tax bill head to the governor’s office yet, and that he hoped the other Senate-approved bill would be the final product.

“There may be some clarifications needed and these issues have come up this morning. And so we’ve done SB 3095 and sent it back down to the House to take a look at it,” Hosemann said. “Hopefully the governor will sign the amended legislation the Senate sent back to the House.”

But it is doubtful the Senate has any leverage to force the House back to the negotiating table since much of the House’s plan is already headed to Reeves, who vowed on Friday to sign it into law.

White, in his Friday statement, suggested the Legislature could use the Senate’s tax bill as a vehicle for changing the structure of the Public Employees Retirement System, which had been a key wedge issue between the chambers in their negotiations over tax reform.

“I’m encouraged that the Senate has invited conference on SB 3095 to establish a dedicated stream of revenue to fund PERS going forward,” White wrote, referring to his chamber’s preferred approach to fixing the system.

Before taking questions at Friday’s press conference, Hosemann celebrated elements of the bill headed to Reeves, including lowering the sales tax on groceries from 7% to 5%, increasing infrastructure funding and cutting PERS benefits for future employees to help shore up the system financially.

“Today is about the biggest win we have had on these issues in the history of this state,” Hosemann said. “Now, if we need to clarify something, they’ll clarify it. But what’s happened today, both on the grocery tax, the income tax, and PERS … I think we’ve done so many positives. I don’t want to take any of the glow from the House or the Senate on the work that we did for a year.”

The events of the past few days were a “team effort,” Hosemann added.

The post Lt. Gov. Hosemann feigns ignorance on typo that led to tax overhaul passing by mistake, claims victory appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today is excited to announce that Molly Minta, who has been covering higher education for the newsroom since 2021, has moved full-time to the newly launched Jackson team.

In her new role, Minta’s reporting will take an expansive view of topics like public safety, such as community-level examinations of housing and code enforcement, public parks and blight, economic and mental health resources across the capital city, as well as policing.

“In building up this new beat, some of my favorite conversations about smart ways to tell Jackson’s untold stories have been with Molly,” said Jackson Editor Anna Wolfe. “In the last four days, she’s already attended four community forums, pounding pavement to meet Jacksonians and talk about the issues that matter most to them. It’s obvious how fired up she is to get to work covering our city.”

READ MORE: Mississippi Today announces new team of reporters to cover the city of Jackson

Since joining Mississippi Today, Minta has consistently published gripping reporting on higher education policy, governance and equity in Mississippi’s colleges and universities, twice placing in national education reporting awards. Her past work, in partnership with Open Campus, explored secrecy and unfairness in the state’s higher education system, from funding disparities to faculty-administration relationships.

Her investigative focus will continue on the Jackson team, where she will join Wolfe and reporter Maya Miller. The team plans to add another reporter this spring.

“I’ve lived in Jackson since moving to Mississippi four years ago, so I’m approaching this beat with questions you can only get from lived experience in this city,” Minta said. “There’s so much we don’t know about this city, and my goal will be to make information about the way Jackson works more accessible to everybody. Who has power in this city, how did they get it, and are they using it to help Jackson thrive?”

Before her time at Mississippi Today, Minta worked as a fact-checker for outlets like The Nation, The Intercept and Mother Jones. She also ran an alternative magazine in Gainesville, Fla., called The Fine Print. 

Though Minta’s focus has changed, Mississippi Today remains committed to covering higher education and will announce its plans for the role in coming days.

The post Higher ed reporter Molly Minta moves to Mississippi Today’s new Jackson team appeared first on Mississippi Today.