County circuit clerks’ offices will be open from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 29, for the start of in-person absentee voting for the Nov. 8 general election.
The last day for in-person absentee voting is Saturday, Nov. 5, when clerk’s offices will also be open from 8 a.m. to noon.
All mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 8 and received by county circuit clerks’ offices within five business days after election day in order to be counted.
As of Sunday, Oct. 23, Secretary of State Michael Watson reported a total of 17,693 absentee ballots requested, 16,884 absentee ballots sent and 10,186 absentee ballots received for the 2022 general election.
For questions regarding absentee voting, contact the Mississippi secretary of state Elections Division at ElectionsAnswers@sos.ms.gov, call the Elections Hotline at 1-800-829-6786, or visit YallVote.ms.
On the ballot:
Congressional races:
1st District incumbent Republican Trent Kelly faces Democrat Dianne Dodson Black.
2nd District incumbent Democrat Bennie Thompson faces Republican Brian Flowers.
3rd District incumbent Republican Michael Guest faces Democrat Shuwaski Young.
Republican Mike Ezell, Democrat Johnny DuPree and Libertarian Alden Patrick Johnson face off in the 4th District.
The ballot also will include judicial races. Four Court of Appeals races are on the ballot. In the only contested Court of Appeals race, incumbent 4th District Judge Virginia Carlton is being challenged by Bruce Burton.
The largest medical marijuana grower licensed so far in Mississippi’s fledgling program had to destroy about $1 million worth of plants, halt some operations and make structural improvements at one of its sites, state Health Department officials said Thursday.
But largely, the department said it is working with new marijuana businesses — all of which have some “compliance” issues — as the program gets going and not dropping the regulatory hammer laid out in state rules or calling law enforcement on them.
A Mississippi Today article and photos in early October showed that Mockingbird Cannabis LLC did not follow state growing and security regulations. The department’s response at that time — to write Mockingbird a letter listing “corrective actions” and to not answer any questions — had competitor growers crying foul. They said Mockingbird was allowed to grow and harvest a crop improperly and on the cheap in plastic- and cloth-covered greenhouses with lax security that would allow them to beat others to market as the program gets rolling.
Mockingbird had been growing plants without listing them in the state’s “seed to sale” tracking system, at a secondary site 12 miles from its main operations on Springridge Road near Raymond. Other cultivators said they were told they had to limit cultivation to one site and that they were not allowed to use greenhouses.
But at a Thursday online press conference, Kris Jones Adcock, Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program director for the Health Department, said Mockingbird has since faced more repercussions.
“There is an order in place where they have some halt on operations and some impact on their operations and some capital improvements they have to do to satisfy that corrective action,” Adcock said. “They also had to destroy a number of plants in their inventory … I don’t know the exact number, there was upwards of $1 million of inventory destroyed — right at about 5,000 plants.”
A Mockingbird official had said earlier this month there were about 20,000 plants growing at the site.
Mockingbird co-founder Marcy Croft declined to answer questions about the department’s actions on Thursday, but sent a written statement that it pledges to “continue to fully cooperate with the Mississippi Department of Health, our fellow growers, dispensaries owners and healthcare providers to ensure a robust and effective market in our state.”
Despite having 47 cultivators licensed and already growing tens of thousands of plants, the Health Department has reported it has only three staffers and no investigators and that the program is in a “provisional” phase. Nevertheless, State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney on Thursday said he’s reasonably sure little marijuana is being diverted to the black market from the state medical program and that preventing diversion is a top priority.
“We are doing that to the best of our ability,” Edney said. “We are not going to be able to get that to zero, but we are doing as best we can under the regulatory authority given to us … and as we are bringing on more staff next month it will be easier.”
In this photo submitted to Mississippi Today, taken outside a Mockingbird Cannabis site near Raymond, marijuana plants are seen growing in a plastic-covered ‘hoop house.’ Credit: Submitted photo
The department, which didn’t want the task of overseeing the state’s medical marijuana program to start with, has struggled with hiring cannabis program workers, Edney reported to the Board of Health recently. On Thursday, officials said they expect to have nine more staffers hired by the end of November and to be contracting private companies to help with compliance. The state Legislature, when it created the medical marijuana program, put the Health Department and Department of Revenue on a tight, 120-day schedule to get the program up and running. DOR is licensing and regulating dispensaries and sales.
Adcock estimated marijuana products could be for sale to patients by early in the new year.
Adcock said that as of Thursday the department had “provisionally” licensed:
47 cultivators
138 dispensaries
8 processors
2 testing facilities
117 practitioners (prescribing doctors and nurses)
491 cannabis industry workers
406 patients
Edney said the Health Department has done “yeoman’s work” in standing up a new program in such a short amount of time. He said the “key tenets” of the program will be ensuring the safety of the public and “that we reduce any opportunity of diversion that we possibly can.”
“Make no mistake the agency has been regulating this industry from day one and will continue to do so as we go forward,” Edney said.
“Only positive Mississippi spoken here,” a phrase coined by former Gov. Kirk Fordice, was the theme for the most part of the politicians at the annual Hobnob event sponsored by the state’s Economic Council.
But two politicians – Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney – devoted much of their speech at the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob to the state’s troubled health care system and the financial difficulties that many of the state’s hospitals are facing.
“Would you locate (a business) in a state that you don’t have health care?” Chaney asked of the crowd of about 1,000 primarily business leaders gathered at the Mississippi Coliseum to hear from the state’s political leadership. “I don’t think you would.”
Hosemann said the Senate would be looking at health care issues during the upcoming session. He also said the legislative leadership should not be scared away from efforts to improve health care by “that X word.”
Hosemann was presumably referring to Medicaid expansion where, through primarily federal funds, the state could provide health care for about 200,000 poor Mississippians, mostly people who work in jobs that do not offer health insurance. Hospitals have argued that expanding Medicaid like 38 other states have done would help them financially.
At the very least, the lieutenant governor said the state should extend Medicaid coverage for mothers from 60 days after giving birth to one year.
“How can we not be pro-life and pro-child at the same time?” asked Hosemann. “That does not make sense to me.”
While not definitively endorsing Medicaid expansion, Hosemann has said the state should look for the most efficient and inexpensive way to improve health care access in the state. Many argue that expanding Medicaid with the federal government paying most of the costs would be the best way to do that.
Chaney told reporters after the speech he supported Medicaid expansion and that he believes Hosemann does, too. But passing Medicaid expansion will be difficult with both Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn in opposition.
Reeves kept his speech positive, not mentioning health care at all.
But after the speech, he reiterated to reporters his opposition to Medicaid expansion.
“I remain opposed to expanding Obamacare in Mississippi …” Reeves said. “No doubt we’ve seen certain health care institutions in our state and across the country struggling, due to leadership decisions that were made in those specific instances. The pandemic certainly didn’t make it any easier.”
Reeves said a solution to Mississippi’s dire health care issues is doing away with the state’s certificate of need (CON) requirements. CON laws regulate approval of major projects or expansions for health care facilities, aiming to control health care costs by reducing duplicative services and restricting where new facilities can be built and operated. Mississippi and 34 other states have varying CON laws.
Reeves said this thwarts competition, and “competition tends to drive down costs.”
“For instance, the University of Mississippi Medical Center doesn’t have to adhere to CON rules, but everyone else does,” Reeves said. “That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
Opponents of removing the CON process say they fear it would result in even fewer hospitals and other health care facilities in poor and underpopulated areas.
On other topics, Reeves said Mississippi is in historically great financial shape and vowed to continue to push to eliminate the state’s personal income tax.
“You have my word that as long as I’m governor I will never stop fighting to fully eliminate the income tax in Mississippi,” Reeves said. He said this will make the state more competitive for economic development with Texas, Florida and Tennessee – states that have no personal income tax.
“Mississippi in virtually every category is climbing the national ladder,” Reeves said. He said the state has seen a record $3.5 billion in capital investment so far this year with “more capital investment in 2022 than we saw in the five years previous to me becoming governor.” He said the state has made great gains in K-12 education, including increasing the graduation rate from 72% to 88.5% during his time in office, now above the national average of 86.5%.
Reeves vowed to push for “good jobs with above-average wages,” and quoted from his first state-of-the-state address: “At the end of my time as governor, we will measure our success in the wages of our workers.”
According to a recent U.S. Census report, Mississippi has the nation’s lowest median household income at $46,511, compared to $67,521 nationally. Mississippi also has the highest poverty rate, with 18.8% of people living at or below the poverty level.
Chaney spent much of his speech criticizing both the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi for their inability to settle their contract dispute, which is impacting tens of thousands of Mississippians. People insured through Blue Cross have been out of network with UMMC since April 1.
“Both parties in this dispute are wrong,” Chaney said. “UMMC is asking for too much, and Blue Cross can give more.”
Chaney later told reporters that he believes the dispute could be settled, though, in the coming days.
Chaney said UMMC is “using (patients) as pawns for a money grab … On the other side Blue Cross is not right, either.”
The Republican insurance commissioner also told the crowd that UMMC has written a letter to a Medicaid managed care company demanding a higher reimbursement rate. If UMMC is not included in the network for the managed care company, this could impact health care for many of the Mississippians covered through Medicaid.
There are three companies – Magnolia, United and Molina – that have managed care contracts with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. Under the contracts, the companies provide health care services for the Medicaid patients at a set rate paid to them by the state. Under that process, the companies reimburse the health care providers for the services provided to Medicaid recipients.
In response to Chaney’s comments, Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for Clinical Affairs told Mississippi Today: “In the course of normal business operations, all health care institutions enter discussions with payor partners about new or current contracts, sometimes several months before the end of a current agreement. These routine engagements are necessary to ensure contracts meet the needs of our patients who are their health plan members.
He added, “Currently, we are in normal contract-related discussions with Magnolia Health Plan on the agreement that covers UMMC care provided to their managed Medicaid health plan members. Our intent is that these standardized discussions will soon yield a new agreement and we will continue our strong partnership with Magnolia and health care relationship with their members.”
Chaney also predicted that efforts to negotiate a lease agreement between the Greenwood LeFlore Hospital and UMMC would be unsuccessful and that the financially troubled hospital would close, negatively impacting health care throughout the Delta.
Chaney said the state’s health care issues must be solved if the state is to prosper.
Also speaking were Auditor Shad White, Secretary of State Michael Watson, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, House Speaker Philip Gunn, Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson and Treasurer David McRae.
Gipson, wearing his cowboy hat, sang a portion of the song “A Country Boy Can Survive” before praising the work of Mississippi farmers.
Watson, who has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate at some point – perhaps even against Reeves in the 2023 Republican primary – said, of next year’s election, “We need leaders who care more about Mississippi than their careers. I hope you help me elect those folks.”
While not being specific, Watson referenced some “tough times” possibly ahead for the state in terms of health care.
White said that as auditor, he gets to “look under the hood of Mississippi government,” and see what works and what doesn’t. He said the state’s workforce is the biggest issue he sees, and he offered four ideas to improve it.
“First, an earned income tax credit,” White said. “If you go from unemployed to employed, you get a tax cut … 29 other states have this … It’s one of the best things to get people off the couch and off the sidelines and working … There are some folks who want to just hand a bunch of money to poor people. That is not going to juice our economy.”
White said the state should use its federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money – the source of a major fraud and misspending case White’s office uncovered – to fund the tax credits, as 20 other states do.
“Second, we’ve got to address brain drain,” White said. “From 2015-2019 we spent $1.5 to $2 billion on higher education, and we only kept 50% of the graduates in Mississippi.”
White said his office has a fellowship program that helps cover tuition for future auditors, provided they stay with his office for two years. He said this could be replicated for other professions statewide.
“Third, fatherlessness,” White said. He said too many children are growing up in broken homes and are not prepared to succeed when they become adults. He said, “There are all sorts of social maladies from not having engaged fathers in the home.” White said the Junior ROTC program in Jackson Public Schools is an example of a program that helps with this issue – with retired military people mentoring youth. He said the program at JPS has a “100% graduation rate.”
Fourth, White said, “is the city of Jackson.”
“Jackson is our number-one talent magnet in this state,” White said, “with 30% of our graduates coming to work in Hinds County.”
He said, “Jackson’s magnet is going to turn off unless we learn how to collect the garbage, keep the water clean and not be the per-capita homicide leader in the country.”
The Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility for Mississippi (BEAM) and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi have partnered to present the state’s first broadband community engagement event.
The free event — held Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lyric Hotel in Cleveland — will serve as an informational overview of how residents can get involved in shaping broadband plans for their communities and even how to utilize available credits to lower their internet bills.
Many counties and cities in the Mississippi Delta, like other rural areas of the state, have been slow to gain access to high-speed internet access.
“A person’s zip code should not determine their access to the full range of benefits that high speed broadband access has to offer,” said BEAM director Sally Doty. “The BEAM office is committed to overcoming geographical barriers and leveling the playing field by providing technological opportunity for Mississippians across all corners of our state.”
The Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility for Mississippi was created by state lawmakers in 2022 to serve as the state’s single point of contact for broadband issues and to serve as the clearinghouse for federal grant funds for broadband expansion.
Speakers at the Thursday event include: BEAM director Sally Doty; Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons; state Director for Digital Skills and Accessibility Angelique Lee; community leaders from Quitman County; Vermont-based Center On Rural Innovation’s southeast director Brandon Campbell; and Microsoft representatives.
A public library representative will also detail how all Delta residents can gain free broadband access and education in their communities, according to a press release for the event.
“We are inviting everyone who may want to shape the state’s Broadband plan, see how to develop a plan for their community, or learn how to gain free or reduced cost to access Broadband,” said Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi President Keith Fulcher.
A Mississippi man serving life for murder will not be paroled, the Parole Board decided Wednesday, reversing a previous decision to free him after more than 30 years in prison.
Frederick Bell was convicted of capital murder for the May 1991 shooting of death 21-year-old Robert “Bert” Bell (no relation) during a store robbery in Grenada County.
Gene Bell, Bert’s younger brother, told Mississippi Today that Frederick Bell won’t be reconsidered for parole for two years. Frederick Bell had been set to be released at the end of September.
He had originally received a death sentence, but several court rulings in the past decade paved the way for him to be resentenced and become eligible for parole. Frederick Bell was resentenced to life without parole when the Mississippi Supreme Court found he was mentally disabled and then life with possibility of parole.
One reason Bell was denied parole is because of how his pending release was advertised to the public. Sen. Angela Burks Hill, R-Picayune, had questioned whether the Parole Board followed state law, which says notification must go in a newspaper published or circulated in the county where the crime was committed.
In a Monday interview with Supertalk Radio, Gene Bell said the notice of Frederick Bell’s release was advertised in the Clarion Ledger rather than the local paper, the Grenada Star.
In July, the Parole Board sent a letter to Gene Bell about its decision to parole Frederick Bell because members found he had been rehabilitated.
In response to the board’s actions, Bert Bell’s family members, Grenada community members, state lawmakers and law enforcement groups around the state signed a petition and wrote letters to the Parole Board and Gov. Tate Reeves to ask that Frederick Bell’s parole be denied.
Bell remains at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, according to prison records.
Criminal justice groups in Mississippi say pardoning people for simple marijuana possession could help remove barriers when applying for jobs or securing housing.
Following President Joe Biden’s announcement to pardon all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, the Mississippi Center for Justice is figuring out how that action could be applied locally, who it could affect and what kind of impact that action could have, said Charity Bruce, deputy director of consumer protection and public benefits.
“Pardons of a nonviolent offense such as possession in the state of Mississippi should be done,” she said.
A pardon is a way to legally forgive someone of a crime and restore civil rights lost during conviction such as voting. However, a pardon doesn’t remove the offense from a person’s criminal record. That would need to be done through expungement.
Earlier this month, when Biden announced he will pardon all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, he encouraged governors to do the same with state offenses.
A spokesperson for Gov. Tate Reeves did not respond to a request for comment. But at an Oct. 10 event, he called Biden’s action “a political stunt” and “a pretty naive request.”
Biden also directed the secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to review how marijuana is scheduled under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana currently is Schedule 1, which is a designation for the most dangerous substances such as heroin and LSD, but a higher classification than fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said in a statement. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”
Black and brown people have been disproportionately arrested, prosecuted and convicted for marijuana possession, he said, noting that a criminal record can put up barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities.
Six people have been convicted of at least one count of simple marijuana in the federal district courts in Mississippi, according to an analysis from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. This is out of thousands of people, most of whom were convicted in district courts in California and Arizona near the border with Mexico.
As of January, tno one convicted of simple marijuana possession is in federal prison, according to the commission.
People may be eligible for a federal pardon if their simple marijuana possession offense happened on or before Oct. 6, 2022, even if a conviction hasn’t been made by that date, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
During his three years in the governor’s office, Reeves said he hasn’t issued any pardons because it is an authority he takes seriously and would only do if convinced it is necessary.
Reeves said he recognizes the justice system isn’t perfect and that there have been people in state prison convicted of marijuana charges, even as Mississippi has legalized medical marijuana.
About 18 percent, or nearly 3,500 people, who are in state prison have a drug charge as their primary offense, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections in its 2021 annual report. A breakdown of drug charges is not listed.
“(The system) is certainly not perfect and there are mistakes made, and when there are mistakes there is a (pardon) process through the executive branch to deal with it,” Reeves said.
Through its expungement clinics around the state, the Mississippi Center for Justice has worked with people with drug possession charges and have seen how having a criminal record has impacted them.
Employers and landlords often run background checks on applicants and can see if someone has a criminal record. Even if the offense on a person’s record is nonviolent and the person is a first-time offender, a record can still be a barrier, Bruce said.
“Being in the community and seeing how that affects people in their lives and how one mistake can derail a person or cause a person to be in a cycle of constantly finding ways to pay the fines and fees,” she said. “It can do a lot to a person mentally, physically and financially.”
Most misdemeanors except traffic violations can be expunged. For most felonies, a person can petition to have one criminal conviction removed from their criminal record five years after completing all terms and conditions of release.
Beyond pardons and expungement, Bruce said other states are introducing efforts that could help people who have a criminal record. Some states are introducing legislation to seal a person’s record, which could give some the opportunity to apply for jobs and housing and not have their record be the first thing the person reading their application sees.
“It can help the person get a foot in the door before they are placed in the box,” she said.
Younger Jackson State fans won’t remember it, but there was a time when the Jackson State Tigers dominated the SWAC every bit as much as Deion Sanders’ Tigers are dominating now. Lewis Tillman, a hard-running halfback from Hazlehurst, was a huge part of that era, breaking many of Walter Payton’s JSU records. Last week, Tillman was front and center as the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2023. This week, undefeated Jackson State plays Southern University as ESPN’s GameDay comes to town. Seemed a perfect time for Lewis Tillman to join the podcast.
La solicitud de la administración de Biden para la condonación de préstamos estudiantiles está oficialmente abierta. La fecha límite para presentar la solicitud es el 31 de diciembre de 2022.
Los prestatarios elegibles, entre ellos cientos de miles de habitantes de Mississippi, podrían ver borrados sus saldos dentro de cuatro a seis semanas si presentan la solicitud hoy, según el Departamento de Educación de EE. UU., la agencia federal que supervisa el plan.
Los prestatarios que deseen ver reducidos sus saldos antes de que se reanuden los pagos en enero deben completar el formulario antes del 15 de noviembre. El pago del préstamo ha estado en pausa debido a la pandemia desde marzo de 2020.
Aunque el plan enfrenta una serie de desafíos legales, el presidente Joe Biden ha dicho que cree que prevalecerá en los tribunales. Las demandas ya han resultado en que el Departamento de Educación de EE. UU. realice una serie de ajustes al programa, incluida la eliminación de la elegibilidad de unos 800,000 prestatarios cuyos préstamos están respaldados por el gobierno federal pero en manos de bancos comerciales.
Esa demanda fue desestimada, aunque no está claro cómo Mississippi llevará a cabo su plan para gravar el alivio de la deuda estudiantil como ingreso porque el gobierno federal ha ordenado a los administradores que no proporcionen 1099-C, el formulario de impuestos necesario para presentar la cancelación de la deuda.
El Departamento de Educación ha dicho que notificará a unos 8 millones de prestatarios que califican automáticamente para el alivio. Los prestatarios de este grupo que deseen optar por no participar deben comunicarse con su administrador antes del 14 de noviembre, según el Washington Post.
El formulario, disponible en español o inglés, tarda menos de un minuto en completarse: solicita el nombre, la fecha de nacimiento, el número de teléfono, la dirección de correo electrónico y el número de seguro social. El formulario pedirá a los prestatarios que certifiquen que cumplen con los límites de ingresos. , hasta $125,000 al año.
Es posible que algunos prestatarios necesiten verificar sus ingresos después de enviar la solicitud, pero el Departamento de Educación ha dicho que se lo hará saber. The Washington Post informó que a los prestatarios “que presentan una mayor probabilidad de exceder el umbral del límite de ingresos” probablemente se les pedirá que presenten documentación.
El alivio tiene un tope de $10,000 para muchos prestatarios y de $20,000 para los prestatarios que recibieron Becas Pell en la universidad. El formulario señala que los ingresos se calculan “en función de su ingreso bruto ajustado (AGI), que tiende a ser más bajo que su ingreso total”.
Para calificar, los prestatarios deben haber obtenido préstamos estudiantiles antes de julio de 2022. Los estudiantes universitarios actuales son elegibles para el alivio si sus padres ganan menos de $125,000. Los prestatarios con préstamos privados no son elegibles.
Hasta 40 millones de estadounidenses califican para el alivio de la deuda estudiantil, incluidas 439,000 personas en Mississippi. Para casi la mitad de los habitantes de Mississippi, el plan eliminará la deuda estudiantil, según un análisis de Education Data Initiative. El prestatario promedio de Mississippi con préstamos estudiantiles federales debe alrededor de $37,000, una de las deudas promedio más altas del país.
La administración Biden ha presentado el plan como una forma de mejorar la brecha de riqueza racial del país. En Mississippi, los prestatarios negros asumen montos más altos de deuda de estudiantes de pregrado que los de otras razas, según datos de un estudio reciente de National Postsecundary Aid.
Los estudiantes afroamericanos en Mississippi pidieron prestado un promedio de $10,800 en deuda estudiantil de pregrado durante el año escolar 2017-18, mientras que los prestatarios de otras razas sacaron un promedio de $7,400. Los prestatarios negros en Mississippi también obtuvieron más préstamos durante el año escolar que el prestatario negro promedio en todo el país, mientras que los prestatarios de otras razas se endeudaron menos que el promedio.
Un desafío legal que afirmaba que la Administración Biden violó la Cláusula de Igualdad de Protección porque “creó intencionalmente el programa para beneficiar a los prestatarios de color” fue desestimado dos días después de su presentación, informó USA Today.
Andrés Fuentes
Andrés Fuentes es periodista de FOX8-TV en Nueva Orleans y traductor de Mississippi Today. Antes de que el nativo de Nueva Orleans regresara, era periodista para WLOX-TV en Biloxi, Mississippi.
Greenwood Leflore Hospital could close by the end of November as negotiations between the hospital and the University of Mississippi Medical Center stall, interim CEO Gary Marchand told staff in a memo Tuesday.
After waves of layoffs and service reductions over the last few months, hospital administrators had hoped to stay afloat until the end of next month and then transition operations to UMMC by early December. They are now looking at further cuts “that might allow certain services to continue into 2023,” Marchand wrote.
“In the absence of this plan, the closure of the hospital remains a possibility,” the memo said.
The two parties had been negotiating a lease agreement with an eye toward Nov. 17, the date of the last scheduled meeting for the Institutions of Higher Learning, which would need to approve any lease agreement.
The Greenwood Commonwealth reported that Marchand said UMMC told him Tuesday they had run out of time to finalize documents ahead of that meeting.
Federal and state regulations and questions around the hospital’s outstanding debts remain stumbling blocks in the negotiations. The Commonwealth reported that Greenwood Leflore owes Medicare $5.6 million for advance payments it got when the COVID-19 pandemic started. UMMC does not want to take on that debt, and the Delta hospital is hoping its owners – the city of Greenwood and Leflore County – will step in.
Marchand and hospital spokeswoman Christine Hemphill were not available for interviews on Wednesday, but on Wednesday afternoon Hemphill provided written answers to questions sent by Mississippi Today.
Marchand met with the Greenwood city council at 9 a.m. Wednesday to discuss whether the city can help pay the hospital’s debts. Hemphill said the city council “acted to fund a letter of credit to resolve their share of the funding gap,” and that the county will meet Friday to discuss the same topic.
She added that the hospital plans to make decisions next week as to what lines of service to cut.
UMMC and Greenwood Leflore have been working on the agreement since the summer. But State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney seemed to allude to the ongoing threat to the hospital’s existence during the state board of health meeting earlier this month, when he described health care infrastructure in the Delta as “very fragile” and said at least six hospitals in the region are facing dire financial challenges.
“Despite what’s been reported in the media, currently there are no solutions for those hospitals,” he said. “No one’s coming to the rescue.”
Mississippi Today has reported on the financial struggles at Greenwood Leflore, Sharkey Issaquena Community Hospital, and Delta Health System. Liz Sharlot, the health department’s communications director, said she could not name the other hospitals Edney was alluding to because that information came from “private conversations.”
IHL could hold a special meeting later than Nov. 17. But UMMC told Mississippi Today on Wednesday they are not aware of any plans for that.
The hospital declined to answer other questions about the negotiations.
Gov. Tate Reeves could call a special session of the Legislature to craft a package to keep Greenwood Leflore open, but has given no indication that he will. His office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Dr. Roderick Givens, a radiation oncologist at the hospital, attended a meeting for physician staff where Marchand gave updates at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He said Marchand reassured employees that UMMC still intends to pursue the lease agreement.
“That at least satisfied everyone that hey, no one’s walking away from the table,” Givens said.
Givens said the closure of the hospital would further reduce access to health care for Delta communities that are disproportionately low-income.
“It essentially becomes a death sentence to a number of people,” he said.
The 208-bed hospital is also one of the largest employers in the area, so its closure would hurt the local economy as well. According to Hemphill, Greenwood Leflore directly employs 589 people full- and part-time, and the food provider Aramark employs an additional 70 people full-time.
Givens said he didn’t understand why state leadership has not stepped in to help hospitals around the state that are struggling to stay open. Mississippi has one of the country’s highest rates of people without insurance, due to the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid to low-income working adults.
That means that hospitals face a higher burden of providing care for which they will never get paid. Hemphill said that costs Greenwood Leflore about $550,000 every month, around 6 to 7% of the hospital’s total costs.
“It’s kind of baffling why there’s not at the state level, at least meaningful conversations that say hey, how can we help?” Givens said. “What is it that the government can do with regards to assistance to keep these hospitals open? It’s kind of a deafening silence.”
The 3rd District, like three of the four Mississippi congressional districts, is a Republican stronghold.
In 2008, Democratic Pickens Mayor Joel Gill garnered 37.5% of the vote in the 3rd District congressional race against Republican attorney Gregg Harper of Rankin County. In 2018, Democratic state Rep. Michael Ted Evans captured 36.7% of the vote against Republican District Attorney Michael Guest.
Those two elections, both for open seats, were the best Democrats could do in the 3rd District since congressional redistricting following the 2000 U.S. Census.
There are contested races on Nov. 8 in all four of the state’s U.S. House seats. In the 2nd District, Democratic incumbent Bennie Thompson is a favorite to win re-election. In the other three, including the 3rd, the Republicans are the heavy favorites.
Still, Democrat Shuwaski Young, grandson of a civil rights leader in his native Neshoba County, says he believes he can be victorious on Nov. 8 against the incumbent Guest.
“I’m actually running in this race because I honestly believe … I’m the best person to lead the 3rd Congressional District, not only from an economic standpoint in bringing new business into our state, but also can bring a new politics, one of which respects compassion and love for everyone,” Young said on Mississippi Today’s “The Other Side” podcast. Guest has also been invited to appear on the podcast but has not accepted.
On first blush, Guest does appear to have some vulnerabilities. He barely won the Republican primary earlier this year against 2020 election denier Michael Cassidy. Cassidy was the top vote-getter in the primary and was a little more than 2,400 votes short of gaining the majority needed to win the election outright and avoid a runoff against Guest. But after surviving that first primary, the incumbent Guest, with a mammoth campaign cash advantage, easily defeated Cassidy in the runoff election.
Cassidy hit Guest for being one of the few Republicans in Congress to vote for the formation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters who were intent on overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. But when Senate Republicans blocked efforts to form the commission, Guest voted against the House optional plan to create a committee solely of House members to investigate the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.
But Guest has his own election denial bona fides. He voted to block the certification of the November 2020 election result citing voter irregularities, though more than 50 court challenges of the election results — and many before judges appointed by Trump — were denied.
“If we don’t act now, there is nothing to stop these violations from undermining future elections,” Guest said at the time of a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general trying to throw out millions of votes. The lawsuit, which was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court said Democrat Joe Biden “had less than one in a quadrillion to the fourth power” chance of winning the election in four key swing states.
Of the effort to overturn the election by throwing out millions of votes that the courts repeatedly said were valid, Young said, “What we saw in our congressman was someone who failed to recognize and respect and serve democracy as it should have been served on Jan. 6. Michael Guest voted to decertify the 2020 presidential election.”
Guest has a huge financial advantage over Young. According to Federal Elections Commission reports, Guest has spent $1.4 million since July 2021, and boasts a cash on hand total of $149.152. Young, meanwhile, has spent $67,711 and has cash on hand of $837.
Young worked in the office of the Mississippi Secretary of State during the tenure of Eric Clark and among other duties conducted training for local election commissioners. Young also worked in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security overseeing a domestic terrorism awareness program.
Guest, age 52, served as district attorney for Rankin and Madison counties in suburban Jackson from 2008 until 2019 when he was elected to his current position. Guest ran for and won the open 3rd District seat when the incumbent Harper opted not to seek re-election.
Guest, according to his campaign website, is committed to “conservative values and support for free market economic policies of lower taxes, few regulations, and promoting our constitutional freedoms and liberties, including the right to life of the unborn and our 2nd Amendment rights.” He also stresses the need for tight control of U.S. borders to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
Guest has sent mixed messages of the issue of abortion. He supported the successful effort to overturn Roe v. Wade that provided a national right to an abortion. He said the issue of abortion should be left up to the states to decide. But soon after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, he signed on as a co-sponsor of federal legislation that would ban most abortions after six weeks and would not provide an exception for rape.
Guest did not respond to Mississippi Today’s effort to glean clarification on the abortion issue.
Young has said he supports Congress passing a law essentially reinstating the Roe v. Wade abortion parameters that granted a right to an abortion in the first trimester.
For the most part, Guest has been a solid vote for the Republican leadership. He recently voted against the bipartisan infrastructure legislation that was opposed by all Republican members of the Mississippi congressional delegation except U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.
“Roads, bridges, broadband, ports, rail, and clean water are the building blocks of a healthy economy. This legislation focuses on those core priorities, and I am happy to see it finally signed into law,” Wicker said at the time.
“Mississippi will soon see major investments in our state’s hard infrastructure, including $3.3 billion for roads and highways, $225 million for bridge replacement and repairs, a minimum of $100 million for broadband infrastructure, $283 million for water infrastructure, and significant funding for Army Corps of Engineers projects and port and rail improvements.”
In contrast, Guest said on WJTV of his vote against the infrastructure bill: “I believe that we need to balance investment and infrastructure with being fiscally responsible, and so while there were parts of the infrastructure bill that I supported, the money that was going to roads and bridges, water and sewage, money to expand rural broadband, there were also other parts of the bill that Mississippi will not benefit from.”
Guest also opposed the continuing resolution funding the U.S. government even though the legislation had $20 million for the work on the beleaguered Jackson water system. Guest has said he supports providing federal funds to help improve the system, but said the continuing resolution contained many other items he opposed.
Young said he has challenged Guest to debate, but the incumbent will not respond.
“He can’t answer why he voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill. He can’t answer why he voted against the Freedom to Vote Act,” said Young, pointing out other “no” votes by Guest including on the Violence Against Women Act.
Young said he supports tax breaks for small businesses and protecting Social Security.
He said a Mississippi congressman “can’t be too far right. They can’t be too far left. I think that is what I can do.”
In the other three congressional races:
1st District incumbent Republican Trent Kelly faces Democrat Dianne Dodson Black, an Olive Branch small business owner. She is the first African American woman to serve as a major party nominee in the district in the modern era.
2nd District incumbent Democrat Bennie Thompson faces Republican Brian Flowers of Clinton. Flowers, a Navy veteran, works in mechanical planning at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant near Port Gibson.
Republican Mike Ezell faces off against Democrat Johnny DuPree in the 4th District. Libertarian Alden Patrick Johnson also is on the ballot. Ezell, the sheriff of Jackson County, defeated incumbent Steven Palazzo earlier this year in the Republican primary, DuPree, former mayor of Hattiesburg, also has run unsuccessfully for governor and secretary of state. In 2011, DuPree became the first African American major party nominee for governor.
The ballot also will include judicial races. Four Court of Appeals races are on the ballot. In the only contested Court of Appeals race, incumbent 4th District Judge Virginia Carlton is being challenged by Bruce Burton.
