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Mississippi Today’s political team breaks down what lawmakers accomplished and ignored during the historic 2022 legislative session. They spent a record amount of money, passed the largest tax cut and teacher pay raise in state history, and redrew congressional and legislative districts. They also let several key issues fall by the wayside. 

Listen to more episodes of The Other Side here.

The post Podcast: What happened — and didn’t — in the 2022 legislative session appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jared South was a model client of Mississippi’s welfare agency.

A photo of South and details about his life appear on the Mississippi Department of Human Services website on a page dedicated to the agency’s success stories. The department used South’s experience in its workforce program as an ideal example. 

Mississippi Today caught up with South in 2020 to learn how the state’s social safety net helped the young man improve his life, but discovered that within days of MDHS documenting South’s story, the agency cut him off from services because he lost the car he used to get to work.

Young childless men are particularly out of luck when it comes to assistance programs offered by the welfare agency – unless they’re related to someone with ties to the state government. Mississippi Today’s investigation, “The Backchannel,” sheds light on the depth of nepotism at MDHS during then-Gov. Phil Bryant’s administration, including preferential treatment offered to the governor’s wayward relative.

READ MORE: Gov. Phil Bryant turned to welfare officials to rescue troubled nephew

Bryant’s great-nephew and South, two young white men from Mississippi who didn’t finish traditional high school, share a lot in common — except for their connections. Bryant told Mississippi Today that he believed his great-nephew was just the kind of person MDHS exists to help.

“How come when he (Phil Bryant) helped his nephew, he didn’t quote-unquote visit the other people that were going through the program,” South told Mississippi Today recently. “You understand what I’m saying? He never made any visits to any of the students that were going through the program. Why? Where’s your heart? What are you really in this for? You want to help your nephew with this program, but at the same time, how much do you really care about these people in the program that are in your nephew’s situation also?”

“I feel like if you’re going to help your nephew, at least stick your neck out to see who else is out there, to get a better insight for your nephew. At the bare minimum,” he added.

South possessed a GED, had a spotty employment history, received food stamps and experienced homelessness for several years throughout his twenties. Several years ago, he entered a work training program through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

South demonstrated a strong work ethic in the EDGE program, an acronym for “ethics, discipline, goals, employment.” He worked his way up to “gold” status on the WorkKeys assessment, a test used nationwide to gauge a person’s career readiness. The program administrators even labeled him the “MVP” of his cohort.

Within a couple months, South finished the program’s academic portion, which consisted of classes and watching training videos at the local campus of Itawamba Community College. His job coordinator asked him to pick a future career, and South chose veterinarian technician – “the only career I could think of,” he said. 

He later told Mississippi Today he felt rushed to make a decision and pressured to pick one of just a few careers that had a clear educational path; South’s coordinator told him he could enroll in the veterinary program at Mississippi State University.

The EDGE program hooked South up with a volunteer position at the Humane Society’s local animal shelter. There, he worked for free washing kennels in exchange for on-the-job training in basic healthcare for the animals, such as learning how to administer vaccines, with the idea that he would eventually secure a paid job in the field. South had an arrangement that he would use his aunt’s car for transportation, but after a couple weeks on the job and a flat tire, she took the car back. He could no longer get to work. 

“They was like, ‘Well, basically you had one shot and you missed it. So, after all this, we have to let you go.’ It was like, ‘There’s nothing else we can do for you,’ and they released me. That was it,’” South told Mississippi Today in 2020.

“I lost the car, I lost the job, and that was the end of the program for me,” South said. “I know you wanted a not depressing story but I don’t have one for you. That’s what happened.”

At the time, the Mississippi Department of Human Services was outsourcing more and more of its services to two nonprofits to run a program called Families First for Mississippi, which was supposed to help people like South secure a job, as well as connect to basic resources. South visited the Families First office in north Mississippi when he was homeless to try to find affordable housing, but it never assisted him. 

When Bryant’s great-nephew left prison in 2019 after a car burglary conviction, the Families First program almost immediately began paying the young man, while the state’s top welfare officials looked after him intently.

South, on the other hand, said he lost all access to benefits from the department when it kicked him out of the EDGE program. “I was basically red flagged,” South said. 

A brochure for EDGE says that participation in the program will not affect a client’s SNAP benefits – but that wasn’t the case for South. He hasn’t had any interaction with the agency since, he said, “except for every now and then they call me for a survey.”

South, now 30, is between jobs today. After a recent eviction, he’s living in a hotel. But South’s smiling face still appears on the MDHS website. His story is actually the only entry on the “success” page.

“I’m still their little pin on the wall,” he said when he found out. “Oh my gosh, that is frustrating.”

During his time in the MDHS program, South penned an essay about his journey. The welfare agency published an excerpt and titled it “a story of struggle.” Mississippi Today is publishing the entire essay below:

I have to admit, I am in a pretty tough living situation. I have a trivial limitation to hygiene, food, and water utilities. I am currently enrolled in a government funded program through EBT that is assisting me with employment opportunities, through which I acquire limited transportation, incentive pay cards (through strict participation), work skills training courses, a temporary paid internship, and SNAP EBT benefits. 

At the moment, I am unemployed without a car, a sufficient place of dwelling, a smart phone, or any cash. I am pretty much the living definition of ample limitations.

I can’t say this is anyone’s fault but my own. I put myself in this situation. I cannot, am not, and will not blame anyone else for this outcome. Yes, maybe I was influenced to make some of my choices, good or bad, still overall I am the one that has made all my choices. Even through losing my mother at a young age, and also friends and family to car wrecks, overdose, and house fires, my choices of progression have surely been my own. 

I have seen demons haunt and destroy households, and angels heal with a slight touch of adoration. Basically, I have experienced a wide variety of life. As of recent weeks, I’ve come to realize where I’m now at in life, and how I got here. It could still be a lot worse because, if fact, if it wasn’t for my dad at the moment, I would be cold.

Through my times of struggle I have witnessed, and or experienced, some of the hardest heart-breaking situations. Homeless, hungry, weathered, drug involvement, prostitution, job loss, theft, and also death. Most of my friends and family are, for the most part, all living in prison, pain, and poverty. 

Still, I tell you, this is all me. I chose to smoke and drink and involve myself with bad choices, bad situations, and bad influences, as opposed to focusing my time on better possible possibilities. I lost my temper and quit my job(s). I am where I’m at because it’s honestly what I wanted. I chose this life completely by myself. I have had many friends, relatives, even co-workers and church organizations offer me positive help and I neglected it. I wanted what would make me happy right then, or at least get me by.

I can still see the silver lining shining. Through my last few months, with a great deal of principled help, I have opened my eyes to positive concrete possibility. I am now, meekly pursuing a solid career. Like I stated, I am currently enrolled in training courses for job certification. 

I have come to the full understanding that life is not necessarily about what I want to do, but more so about what I need to do, so I can achieve the opportunity, to accomplish my desires. So I have set certain obtainable goals by which to achieve my main purpose. I am currently prospecting enrollment into a manufacturing skills training course, to establish a concrete foundation and develop a modest income, to later indulge in my real passion as a certified pet trainer, and in due time, become a veterinarian technician assistant.

In closing, it is still an honor to be alive, although it’s still a struggle to live. I can only blame me for my success, as much as my failures. Thank you, everyone, for your involvement, that has assisted me. If through all this, I have indeed acquired a line of advice to give it would most certainly be, “If it’s not good, righteous, or worthy of grace, it’s not worth being a deciding part of your life. So make sure what you do, is also what you want to inform someone else about tomorrow night.” 

This is a supplement to Part 5 of Mississippi Today’s series “The Backchannel,” which examines former Gov. Phil Bryant’s role in the running of his welfare department during what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history.

The post What it’s like to navigate Mississippi’s welfare programs without political connections appeared first on Mississippi Today.

On this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-at-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with magician, entertainer and speaker Joe M. Turner. Turner is an American corporate magician, mentalist, and a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and other meetings.

A native of Mississippi, Mississippi State graduate and now Atlanta based, he is widely respected in the field of corporate magic, as well as customizing magic performances, keynotes, and seminars for trade shows, product launches, other marketing efforts, conferences, or corporate events. He frequently incorporates sleight-of-hand, escape magic and mentalism into keynote addresses as a motivational speaker for corporate and private groups, speaking on topics of customer experience, brand engagement, memory training, change management, and creativity.

He was one of only six performers selected to represent various aspects of the magic industry on the CNN Headline News feature “A Day of Magic,” and also appeared on network television programs in Europe and South America. Turner talks about growing up in Mississippi, overcoming challenges presented by the pandemic and how his many talents led to a magical career.

The post Mississippi Stories: Joe M. Turner appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Fort House appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi’s political leaders have talked for years about cutting the 7% tax on groceries, the highest statewide tax of its kind in the nation in its poorest state.

But those efforts never go anywhere.

Earlier this session, tax cut plans touted by the leadership of both the House and Senate included a cut to the grocery tax in addition to reductions or elimination of the personal income tax.

But the plan finally approved by legislators cuts only the income tax.

“We are not opposed to a grocery tax cut, but as we have said the income tax cut is the priority,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton.

Referencing the $525 million income tax cut that passed during the just-completed session and the negotiations with Senate leaders to develop the plan, Gunn added, “Even with this plan we insisted the $500 million tax break we passed this year be income tax. Some of the negotiations that took place early on had about $120 million of that being grocery tax and we said we are not looking at a $500 million tax cut, which includes $120 million of groceries. We want $500 million in income tax. If y’all want to throw a grocery tax (cut) on top of that, we are fine with that … But we are looking at income tax as the main objective.”

For some time, many have viewed it as a cruel irony that Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation with fewer safety nets in place for the poor, taxes food at the highest rate in the nation. Some states provide local options that place a higher tax on food in individual municipalities or other local governmental entities, but no state levies a higher tax on food statewide.

Most states, recognizing the tax on groceries as a regressive tax that places more of a burden on the poor, either do not tax food or tax it at a lower rate than what is levied on other items.

Through the years Mississippi politicians have talked about cutting or eliminating the tax on food. In the early 2000s, the Legislature, led by Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, made several efforts at eliminating or reducing the tax on food. Most of those efforts offset the lost revenue by increasing the tax on cigarettes.

Then-Gov. Haley Barbour, who previously served as a national tobacco lobbyist, vetoed those efforts. Barbour later acquiesced and signed legislation increasing the 18-cent per pack tax on cigarettes by 50 cents. But interestingly, the governor never agreed to reduce the tax on food. He said it was a fair tax that he supported.

In 2016, when the Legislature, led by then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who is now governor, and Gunn passed at the time what was the largest tax cut it history, nary a dime went for the elimination of the tax on groceries. Instead, there were tax cuts for businesses and on personal income. Research of state Department of Revenue data at the time revealed that most of the companies being aided by the cut were based out of state.

The north star under Barbour and now for many Republican leaders is cutting or eliminating the income tax, which accounts for about one-third of state general fund revenue. Another priority for Mississippi politicians also has been reducing the tax on businesses — primarily large out of state corporations.

It was interesting that the bulk of that tax cut went primarily to out of state corporations in light of an earlier 2013 study by the Department of Revenue that revealed 111 of the state’s 150 largest companies, in terms of employment, paid no income tax. While the companies were not named, the bulk of those companies not paying were likely large out of state retailers. 

In 2016, legislation was passed to phase out the franchise tax, which was the only tax many of those companies paid.

Despite the 2016 tax cut and the 2022 tax cut, both of which were billed at the time as the largest in state history, Gunn and Reeves, who also advocate for the elimination of the income tax, both made it clear they are not finished.

The 2022 legislation even includes language saying “it is the intent of the Legislature that before calendar year 2026, the Legislature will consider whether the revised (reduced) tax rates will be further decreased.”

But both Gunn and Reeves point out their intent is to take further steps as soon as possible to wipe from the state tax code the income tax.

“Elimination would be the ultimate goal and we pressed hard for that,” Gunn said.

But that is not the goal for the state’s tax on groceries that disproportionally impacts the poor.

The post Grocery tax cut considered, but never acted upon by state’s political leadership appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Lance Bass was just another freshman at Clinton High School in 1994 when he auditioned for Attaché, the school’s award-winning show choir. Barely a year later, he was a member of the “boy band” vocal group *NSYNC and well on his way to becoming a teen pop icon.

It’s no coincidence that he spent the intervening time learning how to use his voice and perform under the direction of David and Mary Fehr in what has become known as a showbiz bootcamp and de facto finishing school.

Nashville singer-songwriter Shelly Fairchild — who has three solo albums to her credit, has appeared on records by Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Terri Clark, and has carved a successful niche by placing songs in television shows — had a similar experience after joining Attaché as a shy teenager. So did Broadway star Heath Calvert, known for his roles in “Hair” and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.”

All three former Clinton High School and Attaché students, with the addition of fellow alums Brittany Wagner, the breakout star of Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” Drew Wardlaw and Max Lyall, appeared onstage at the Attaché Alumni Theater at Clinton High School on April 2.

The four-act performance celebrated the 42^nd anniversary of Attaché by bringing alums back to the stage to raise money to support the program, which has earned the title Grand Champion at 85 competitions since 1992. The group’s current run of 23 consecutive Grand Champion wins dates back to 2014, and their 2019 bid was captured in ‘Attaché,’ a PBS and Reel South documentary film.

Bass, in his first Attaché appearance since *NSYNC made their debut as opening act for the group in December 1995, served as host and emcee for the evening. After learning to sing in church choir and while receiving further guidance from Fehr through Attaché, Bass began vocal instruction with Bob Westbrook in Germantown, Tennessee—the same voice coach Justin Timberlake used, and the man who introduced him to Bass when *NSYNC was searching for a bass singer.

Although Bass’s time in Attaché was relatively brief, it opened his eyes to his own talents and changed the course of his life. But much of the inspiration he felt came from watching his classmates. “I got to do ‘West Side Story’ with Shelly Fairchild,” he says. “She was our Maria, and good Lord, we knew then she was going to do something. She was so talented. I was just a freshman then and it was so new to me; I just couldn’t believe that high school students could be so talented.”

Fairchild did find success when she moved to Nashville and signed a record deal with Sony in 2004. The label released her debut album, Ride, the following year, and sent Fairchild on a whirlwind of promotion including radio appearances and concert tours with country music stars Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts. But her journey began when she arrived at Attaché around the same time as the Fehrs, who took over after founder Winona Costello retired.

“The first year that I was there, Mr. David Fehr was our new director,” Fairchild says. “I’ll never forget him coming up to us as we were learning some of the songs and yelling at me in my face, like, ‘Open your mouth, Fairchild!’

“To this day,” she adds, “people will ask me, ‘How in the world do you sing from your toes all the way up through the top of your head?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, if you had David Fehr as a director, then you would understand why your whole body is involved in this.’ So, it really made a big difference in my life.”

Fairchild remembers when Fehr brought Heath Calvert, then a freshman, to the group — an unheard-of move, since membership was usually open to students beginning with the sophomore year. He had just moved to Clinton, and while his mannerisms weren’t disrespectful — he didn’t say “sir” or “ma’am” like most of his new peers, Fehr says — they were a hard sell with his teachers. He had racked up nine detentions for such minor infractions, and one more would suspend him from school and activities.

“I went ahead and gave him his 10th detention so that he could serve his one day or whatever. It was so that we wouldn’t miss the performances coming up,” Fehr laughs.

On April 2, alums performed solo, in pairs and in groups throughout the three-hour program. Calvert performed “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz and “Anthem” from the musical ‘Chess,’ while the current Attaché students performed their 2022 competition showcase, “Vacation!” Bass and Wagner joined the chorus for a number of songs.

The third act, though, was all about the Fehrs. Fairchild debuted “What We Leave,” a song she wrote specially for the event, as a duet with her sister, Lindsey Fairchild Lenoir. The performance was a surprise to the Fehrs, organizers and the audience, but the current students were in on it; Fairchild recruited the daughter of a friend to circulate the lyrics to them so they could join her on the song’s finale.

While Attaché provides the platform for students to explore their talents, they also learn life skills, Fehr stresses. Work ethic is crucial to the success of the students who perform and those who run the show after graduation; perseverance is another. Fehr recalls a competition in California where Wagner performed while in pain from a broken finger she suffered during warm-ups, a show of grit and determination the public would later see on “Last Chance U.” 

“We produce just good kids; the talent and desire comes from good families,” he adds. “Don’t credit that to Attaché. I can develop whatever is there and help them out, but those families and kids, they have goals and missions, and my job is to help them along. But the 90 percent that don’t go into the arts, they’re still getting the same thing.”

The post Attaché show choir known as a showbiz bootcamp appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: State Song appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today’s “The Backchannel” series, which examines former Gov. Phil Bryant’s involvement in what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history, is renewing calls for a federal investigation.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on April 7, three days after the beginning of Mississippi Today’s series, asking for him to prosecute the people responsible for stealing federal funds meant to serve the nation’s poorest residents.

READ MORE: Phil Bryant had his sights on a payout as welfare funds flowed to Brett Favre

“We decided to move forward to request the Department of Justice to do a thorough investigation after the investigative reporting from Mississippi Today,” Johnson said Friday. “It is obvious others were involved. This is perhaps the largest federal fraud situation that we have seen in the state of Mississippi and maybe one of the largest in the country. The fact that the former governor could be involved and others, it requires a thorough investigation by the federal authorities to ensure that taxpayers in the state of Mississippi and across the country are made whole.”

In 2020, the State Auditor’s Office released a report that questioned $94 million in federal grant spending from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. While the office arrested six people in February of 2020 related to the alleged theft of $4 million, no one else involved in the sprawling scheme has faced charges.

Mississippi Today’s series uncovered never-bef0re-published private conversations Bryant had with retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre and the owner of Prevacus, the company that received $2.15 million in allegedly stolen welfare funds from the state. Favre and Prevacus owner Jake Vanlandingham offered Bryant stock in the company in for exchange the help he gave them during his time in office. Bryant agreed in text messages to accept the offer two days after he left office — but the arrests by the state auditor, a Bryant appointee and former campaign manager, derailed the arrangement.

None of these men have been accused of wrongdoing related to the deal.

“What was most striking about the Mississippi Today article is the fact that the governor knew or should have known” that the company was receiving funding from the state, Johnson told Mississippi Today. “And it appears from firsthand accounts from his emails and text messages that he was steering decisions as it relates to TANF funds, which obviously raises a lot of questions and should require a federal investigation into his involvement.”

“If, in fact, that was the case,” Johnson added, “he and others should be held accountable for their involvement.”

Much more has yet to be revealed about the widespread misspending of at least $77 million in federal public assistance funds.

“The audit report noted that its findings and all related information had been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice,” Johnson wrote in his letter. “However, nearly two years later, despite the overwhelming documentary evidence of fraud, forgery, and abuse in this matter, DOJ has not yet launched a criminal investigation.”

At the time of the 2020 arrests, State Auditor Shad White said his office had turned over all information to federal investigators. White justified his office making the initial arrests — including the former Bryant-appointed welfare director John Davis and nonprofit founder Nancy New — in order to quickly stop the flow of funds from the welfare agency to the contractors who were allegedly misspending the money.

Then-U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst in Jackson said the local FBI and his office were not aware of the welfare agency investigation until the arrests, but that “we stand ready to put the substantial experience and expertise of our offices and the entire U.S. Department of Justice to work to help our colleagues bring fraudsters to justice and stamp out public corruption,” the Clarion Ledger reported.

“Not only is it imperative that DOJ take prompt and aggressive action to protect the Mississippi residents who were and continue to be harmed by the wrongful actions of state officials,” Johnson wrote, “failure to investigate may lead to the impression that DOJ is continuing the previous administration’s pattern of looking the other way when laws are broken by white state officials, especially when the wrongdoing disproportionately
harms minorities.”

READ MORE: Mississippi Today investigation exposes new evidence of Phil Bryant’s role in welfare scandal

The post NAACP asks U.S. Attorney General to investigate former Gov. Phil Bryant after Mississippi Today series appeared first on Mississippi Today.

More than 6 million African Americans in the South migrated north seeking better opportunities and a better way of life between 1916-1970. Those millions populated cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

That exodus was called “The Great Migration.”

An homage to that pilgrimage north opened this week at the Mississippi Museum of Art, where 12 artists from across the nation with ties to Mississippi will have their newly commissioned works showcased in the exhibit, “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration.”

The exhibit features work by acclaimed Black artists, including Akea Brionne, Mark Bradford, Zoë Charlton, Larry W. Cook, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates Jr., Allison Janae Hamilton, Leslie Hewitt, Steffani Jemison, Robert Pruitt, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, and Carrie Mae Weems. The works explore “profound impact of the Great Migration on the social and cultural life of the United States from historical and personal perspectives,” museum officials explained.

The museum hosted an April 8 weekend opening that featured discussions from most of the artists. The weekend guests included Ford Foundation president and author Darren Walker, who spoke to attendees about the lasting legacies of the Great Migration, and ABC anchor and Mississippi native Robin Roberts.

The exhibit will be open at the museum in downtown Jackson until Sept. 11, 2022.

Here are some photos from the exhibit’s opening weekend.

The post Photos: Mississippi Museum of Art opens homage exhibit to ‘The Great Migration’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.