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Former House Speaker Tim Ford, a northeast Mississippi Democrat, used to say legislative sessions with large revenue surpluses were much more difficult than sessions where the state had revenue shortfalls.

When the state had surpluses, Ford would say, legislators were faced with difficult choices on how to divvy up the funds.

If that is true, the 2022 session of the Mississippi Legislature, beginning Jan. 4, will be one of the most difficult in state history.

State coffers are flush — perhaps an unprecedented flushness.

It gets complicated, but the bottom line is the state has the potential, if revenue collections hit the projections of the state’s financial experts, of having about $2 billion more for the 2022 session than the $6.6 billion that legislators appropriated during the 2021 session. A large portion of those funds are considered one-time revenue, meaning they should not be spent on recurring expenses. But there are infrastructure projects and other options for the use of the non-recurring revenue.

That $2 billion is derived from three years of surpluses and projected surpluses.

For starters, the Legislative Budget Committee and Gov. Tate Reeves recently approved a general fund revenue estimate for the upcoming fiscal year that is 9.6% or $566 million above the projection the Legislature used in the 2021 session earlier this year to budget for the current fiscal year. That in essence provides legislators in 2022 with about one-half billion more in funds to spend than they did in the 2021 session.

But wait, that’s not all. Stashed away in state coffers is $1.05 billion in revenue from the past fiscal year that ended on June 30. The $1.05 billion is the amount collected above what was appropriated by the 2020 Legislature.

And to top it off, collections for the current fiscal year are now projected to be $525.7 million or 8.8% above the estimate used by the 2021 Legislature to budget for the current fiscal year. If that projection holds, legislators will have another $500 million at their fingertips.

Totaling the surplus from the past fiscal year and projected surpluses for the current and next fiscal year gives legislators a cool $2 billion. Even if those official projections are not met, the state still has a surplus of at least $1 billion in the bank.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, perhaps afraid to acknowledge the full scope of the state’s revenue bounty, recently said, “We have $1 billion in excess (state) revenue we have to figure out how to spend. We need to be talking about tax reform … I’ve got a list of about 99 differing things, and they are all really important.”

Besides those aforementioned state funds, the Legislature also has $1.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funds awarded to the state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that must be appropriated by the end of 2024. Presumably during the 2022 session, legislators will begin figuring out how to spend those funds.

The deadly pandemic and the influx of federal funds have established unique circumstances resulting in the revenue surge. State leaders would like to point to their policies as the reason for the extra revenue.

Perhaps they deserve some credit. But the impact of COVID-19 and the federal funds cannot be neglected.

“Much of that growth was due to transfers from the federal government through the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act) and other measures,” state Economist Corey Miller recently said.

Former Speaker Ford knew a little about dealing with the enviable problem of surging revenue. For much of the 1990s, the state experienced unprecedented growth as the casino industry boomed. The state benefited first from the casino construction as massive structures rose up on the Gulf Coast and in the flat cotton fields of the Delta. And then the state benefitted from a whole new source of revenue — taxes on casinos.

The Legislature also in the 1990s raised more revenue by increasing the sales tax on retail items from 6 cents to 7 cents.

With the surging revenue in the 1990s the state was able to among other things:

Provide what is still a record pay raise for teachers.

Air-condition classrooms.

Place teachers on the state health insurance plan.

Provide a $6,000 annual supplement for master teachers.

Enact a new school funding formula.

Invest heavily in a long-neglected state mental health system.

And yes, pass the largest, at the time, tax cut in the state’s history, which among other things eliminated the so-called marriage penalty where a married couple paid more in taxes than an unmarried couple.

In many ways the 1990s were historic in terms of actions taken by the Legislature.

Based on the available revenue, the 2022 session also could be historic.

The post Legislators face ‘tough’ chore of spending up to $2 billion in surplus state funds appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In a wave of backlash against President Joe Biden’s recent COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Mississippi joins at least 26 other states in suing in opposition of the mandate, with Gov. Tate Reeves successfully winning an injunction on the mandate from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals just days ago.

Mostly composed of Republican-leaning states with vaccination rates on the lower end of the spectrum, this coalition includes Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

As the White House lists on its website, Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 action plan has several conditions, some of which have inspired the aforementioned backlash:

• Companies with 100 employees or more must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or submit to weekly testing.
• Healthcare workers, federal workers and contractors who work with the federal government must be fully vaccinated and do not have the option of weekly testing, but federal workers only have until Nov. 22.
• Large concert halls, sports arenas and the like must require proof of vaccination or testing.
• Employers must provide paid time off for vaccination and any post-vaccination side effects.

View the data on those states opposing Biden’s business vaccine mandate, including their vaccine rate and partisan lean:

READ MORE:

• Gov. Reeves wins first round in challenge to Biden’s vaccine mandate

• Mississippi joins other states suing over Biden vaccine mandate

The post Data Dive: Mississippi is among at least 27 states suing over Biden business vaccine mandate appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In 2022, state lawmakers might consider revamping Mississippi’s state financial aid programs in a way that will change how thousands of students pay for college — and whether they even go. 

Under the proposed “Mississippi One Grant,” the state’s three current financial aid grants will be consolidated into a single program that will award aid using a formula of need plus merit. 

This policy would have wide-ranging implications for college students and their families, but understanding the ins-and-outs of this proposal can, at first glance, seem confusing and complicated. 

In an effort to help readers understand what’s going on here, we’ve created several data visualizations that show how the “One Grant” will affect students’ bottom line. As we walk you through the graphics, we’re also going to answer some key questions you might have about this proposal: 

• Why is this change happening? 
• How will the One Grant work? 
• What’s at stake? 
• How will this affect me? 

Let’s start with why lawmakers are considering this proposal. It’s mainly due to cost. 

Currently, Mississippi has three main financial aid programs:

• The Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant (MTAG): This grant is intended to help middle-class students who aren’t eligible for federal financial aid. It awards between $500 and $1,000 a year. 
• The Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant (MESG): This is the state’s merit-based grant for students who score at least a 29 on the ACT. It awards $2,500 a year. 
• The Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students (HELP) grant: This is the state’s only need-based grant. It covers all four years of college for students with at least a 20 on the ACT who come from families that make less than $39,500 a year. 

All three programs were created in the late 1990s and, in recent years, have come under criticism for different reasons. MTAG and MESG no longer seem to accomplish the policy goals the state created them to meet. 

For some policymakers, the bigger problem lies with the HELP grant. While HELP is an effective program, it has ballooned in cost over the last 10 years as Mississippi universities increase tuition and more and more students apply and receive the grant. 

Rather than increase the amount of money it allocates to these programs, the Legislature has funded state financial aid at a deficit in recent years. This has led to worries that the Office of Student Financial aid might have to prorate student’s financial aid awards, so the Post-Secondary Board proposed and unanimously recommended that lawmakers pass the One Grant redesign as a way to stay in budget. 

To keep the One Grant on budget, the Post-Secondary Board is proposing capping the maximum award at $4,500. That will go only to the poorest students with the highest ACT scores. 

Now compare that to the cost of tuition at University of Mississippi: $8,934. That’s how much a UM student who gets the HELP grant currently receives in state aid: $8,934. The significant gap between those two awards are why advocates for college access in Mississippi are concerned about the One Grant. 

This brings us to what’s at stake: For many students in Mississippi, state financial aid programs are the difference between going to college and, well, not. The state’s high poverty levels mean we have some of the lowest college-going rates in the country, and that, in turn, affects the kinds of jobs Mississippians can get. State financial aid is one way many low-income students and their families can break that cycle of poverty.

This proposal, however, won’t help low-income students. Low-income students will receive significantly less aid under the One Grant than they do under the state’s current programs. Middle-class families on the other hand, who often can already afford to pay for college, will receive more aid. You can see this shift in dollars in the following chart: 

Because the One Grant will substantially cut aid for the poorest students in Mississippi, it also means Black and minority students will be getting much less. White students, on the other hand, will see their average aid slightly increase.

Why does the program have this effect? We already talked about the gap between the aid low-income students currently under the HELP grant and what they would receive from the One Grant. 

Another significant reason for this disparate impact is how the One Grant awards “merit.” To get any aid under the One Grant, a student has to score a minimum of 18 on the ACT. That minimum score is going to cut off many Black and low-income students who don’t have access to good test prep. 

More than half of Mississippi high school students do not score well enough on the ACT to get aid under this proposed program. 

When it proposed the One Grant, the Post-Secondary Board said it wanted to create a financial aid program that would give more aid to more students.

The One Grant will do that: About 1,700 more students will be eligible for aid under this new program. But the additional dollar amounts they will receive are negligible. The average student is going to gain just $87 in aid under this program. Meanwhile, low-income students are going to lose thousands.

Scott Smallwood, co-founder and editor-in-chief of our partner newsroom Open Campus, contributed to this report.

The post Data: The racial and economic impact of Mississippi’s proposed financial aid program appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A ribbon-cutting was held Friday morning in the Delta town of Marks to celebrate the improbable re-opening of the Quitman Community Hospital.

Multiple rural Mississippi hospitals have closed in recent years because of financial difficulties. The Quitman County medical center is one of the few to reopen.

“For the first time in five years, Quitman County residents will have access to critical care with the reopening of this rural hospital,” said state Sen. Robert Jackson, who represents Quitman County and the area the hospital will serve. “It’s nothing short of a miracle to see this come to fruition, especially in a time when we are going through a pandemic and our current political climate. I can’t think of anyone who is against this particular project.”

In September, the Quitman County Board of Supervisors voted to reopen the hospital in partnership with the Panola Medical Center in Batesville and with the Delta Medical Foundation, which provides clinical health care in the area.

“This means that 75-100 good paying jobs will return to the county, and it goes without saying, we need a hospital close by to provide medical services for our citizens,” said Manuel Killebrew, president of the Quitman County Board of Supervisors.

According to a news release, the hospital will offer both 24-hour emergency medical services and beds for those who need hospitalization.

Various statistics indicate the county, which has about 6,800 residents, according to the latest U.S. Census, is in dire need of medical help. According to the National Rural Accountable Care Commission, the county ranks 79th of the 82 counties in Mississippi in terms of health outcomes.

Quentin Whitwell, chief executive officer and chairman of the board for the Panola Medical Center, said reopening the hospital in nearby Quitman County will help improve health care outcomes for the region.

“Serving our patient populations in the North Delta region is our mission. Providing exceptional care for better health is our driven passion,” Whitwell said in a news release.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who represents Quitman County and who attended the ribbon-cutting, said, if the state would expand Medicaid as is allowed under federal law to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor, it would help ensure rural hospitals like the ones in Panola and Quitman counties do not close.

“The Quitman County Hospital closed because of Gov. Reeves’ unwillingness to expand Medicaid,” said Thompson, a Democrat. “The governor shouldn’t turn down federal dollars that will give Mississippians the same healthcare coverage that he also enjoys.” 

Reeves, along with other state leaders, have refused to expand Medicaid, saying the state cannot afford its share of the cost. Under the program, the bulk of the costs is paid by the federal government and there have been studies, including by the Mississippi University Research Center, indicating expanding Medicaid would result in additional funds to the state general fund. 

The Mississippi Hospital Association had joined other groups in trying to place on the ballot a citizen-sponsored initiative to expand Medicaid. But in May the entire initiative process was struck down by the Mississippi Supreme Court. 

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker also attended the ribbon-cutting on Friday.

The post ‘Nothing short of a miracle’: Quitman County Hospital reopens after closing five years ago appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID numbers are dropping. The governor has declared the emergency over. I pray he is right. We’ve lost 10,000 Mississippians already.

The post Marshall Ramsey: It’s Over? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Thursday his intent to allow the state of emergency he declared in early 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic to expire on Nov. 20. 

Reeves previously announced in June that he would let the emergency order expire on Aug. 15, but reversed course as the delta variant pushed the state’s hospital system to the verge of collapse. 

Issuing states of emergency — which provide a legal framework for extraordinary government actions to be carried out — is one of the governor’s most direct powers in Mississippi.

“With more than 3,000,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine having been administered in Mississippi and with COVID-19 infections and resulting hospitalizations being effectively managed, it is time to end the State of Emergency in Mississippi,” Reeves tweeted. 

Mississippi’s seven-day average for new COVID infections have decreased by more than 91% since the August peak. Hospitalization and death rates have followed this trend. Still, ending the state of emergency could severely limit hospitals’ ability to coordinate patient transfers if the state sees another winter surge of infections. 

Reeves’ announcement comes 11 days after 900 nurses the state funded to help keep hospitals afloat during the worst of the delta wave left dozens of hospitals across the state. It also comes as Reeves has refused to call a special session of the state Legislature to address the massive staffing crisis hospitals across the state are experiencing. 

On Nov. 5, chief nursing officers from 36 hospitals across Mississippi begged Reeves and other state leaders for help as they confront the need to close hundreds of hospital beds this winter due to the ongoing labor shortages.

The original state of emergency order allowed Reeves to issue dozens of executive orders related to the pandemic, ranging from imposing mask mandates to closing businesses and other activities to limiting crowd capacities at various venues.

Since March 4, 2020 — when the governor first issued a state of emergency — Reeves has issued at least 78 executive orders and supplements to executive orders related to the coronavirus — most of them legally allowable because of the state of emergency.

Under the state of emergency, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs was able to mandate that hospitals coordinate under MSDH’s COVID-19 System of Care Plan. In its current form, the System of Care Plan prioritizes all Mississippi hospitals’ inpatient hospital beds and other resources for COVID-19 patients who require admission.

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for University of Mississippi Medical Center, told Mississippi Today in August that she was concerned that the expiration of the emergency order would diminish the authority of Dobbs to mandate that coordination. 

“Without that in place, the transfer and the management of these patients at a statewide level would be not as organized, it would be more chaotic and more ad hoc,” Woodward said.

The state of emergency order also granted Dobbs the power to issue his own health-related orders, including requiring quarantine for infected or exposed Mississippians, requiring hospitals to participate in a state-run program that allows real-time tracking of hospital bed space, and requiring school districts to report their COVID-19 infection data the Mississippi State Department of Health.

A number of other actions related to Mississippi’s COVID-19 response could expire without the state of emergency order in place. These include:

• The authority for state agencies to provide paid administrative leave for public employees for various reasons related to COVID-19, such as an employee contracting the virus or being quarantined or caring for a loved one with the virus.
• The authority of counties, municipalities and local school districts to offer paid administrative leave to their employees related to COVID-19 absences.
• Dobbs’ authority to mandate that all the state’s hospitals coordinate with the state Department of Health to assess bed space in real time and provide adequate care for the state’s hospital patients.
• The activation of the Mississippi National Guard to assist with COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, among other duties.

The post Gov. Tate Reeves announces COVID-19 state of emergency will expire on Nov. 20 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Dr. Phil appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A federal judge has approved a $626 million settlement in a lawsuit filed against the state of Michigan, the city of Flint and others on behalf of thousands of children affected by the Flint water crisis.

The same lead attorney in the Michigan case recently helped file two federal lawsuits claiming hundreds of children in Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson have also been harmed by dangerous levels of lead and lack of access to clean drinking water.

Corey Stern, one of the architects of the Michigan settlement, said in a statement that it’s the largest such settlement in Michigan history, representing more than 4,000 children. He recently said that Flint was the “canary in the coal mine” for other water crises including in Jackson.

“This settlement would not have been possible without the children and families of Flint relentlessly taking a stand against those who failed to keep them safe,” Stern said in a statement Wednesday. “… Although this is a significant victory for Flint, we have a ways to go in stopping Americans from being systematically poisoned in their own homes, schools and place of work. The big banks that financed Flint’s water supply switch in 2014, and the water engineering companies that failed to ensure the switch was safe still have not been held accountable …

“And similar cycles of environmental injustice are playing out in Benton Harbor where yet another Michigan city has denied predominantly Black and brown communities their rights to clean drinking water, and in Jackson, Mississippi, where I recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of 600 children who have also been exposed to lead in city-provided water.”

READ MORE: ‘The next Flint’: City of Jackson, state leaders sued over lead in drinking water

The Mississippi lawsuits claim that children were exposed to dangerous levels of lead for years and that numerous Jackson and state officials attempted to cover it up.

The lawsuits allege that the city learned of its lead problem within its water well system in 2013 and was warned again in 2014 but instead of addressing the problem, the city attempted a quick fix that made it worse.

The litigation was filed against the city of Jackson, the state Department of Health, Trilogy Engineering Services and other current and former city and state officials including Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.

Jackson’s water system is crumbling after years of neglected maintenance and upgrades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said the system poses “imminent and substantial” danger to consumers.

READ MORE: Federal infrastructure bill won’t address Jackson water crisis without help of state leaders

The post Lawyer suing over Jackson water wins $626M settlement in Flint, Michigan appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Whether it’s tracking the bright pink eggs of invasive snails, hunting feral hogs, upgrading airport facilities, barricading against Gulf waves, or training estheticians, Mississippi leaders are continuing to leverage funds from the 2010 BP oil spill towards a wide-ranging and long-lasting restoration effort. 

On Tuesday the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality presented to Coast stakeholders about those projects and dozens of others during the agency’s annual Restoration Summit, which updates the public on how the state is spending the roughly $2 billion provided to it after the 2010 disaster. 

After last year’s 10th anniversary of the destructive oil spill, Mississippi Today reported that the state had remained in the early stages of addressing ecological priorities, while completing several expensive non-environmental projects. Local stakeholders also criticized the state for not having a cohesive plan for spending the funds.

READ MORE: Several years into BP settlement spending, the bulk of Mississippi’s restoration work remains undone

Since 2016, the state has spent just over $200 million for more than 90 projects that address either an ecological or economic need on the Coast, according to data from MDEQ. In total, the state has budgeted about $580 million in completed or ongoing projects; Mississippi will continue to receive the rest of the $2 billion over the next decade.

Over the last two years, the state has prioritized spending towards restoring its shoreline and coastal habitat; that includes nearly $11 million that went to the Hancock County Living Shoreline, helping to fund a new 46-acre marsh completed this summer. In total, the state has spent $40 million on that project, by far the most expensive one so far.

Several million in recent spending has also gone towards acquiring and managing property to conserve habitat and improve downstream water quality, such as the more than $5 million for land along the Pascagoula River.  

Non-environmental spending in the last couple years includes $7 million on a road in Jackson County to reduce traffic along I-10, and $3.6 million that went towards completing the Mississippi Aquarium.   

As for total spending so far, about $127 million, or 63%, has gone towards environmental projects versus non-environmental projects. Yet non-environmental projects still comprise about 70% of completed project spending.

As MDEQ Director Chris Wells told Mississippi Today last year, much of the scientific work is not visible and takes years of research, creating a frustrating contrast with the conspicuous economic and infrastructure projects. 

During Tuesday’s event, Wells showed a video with testimonials of those impacted by BP spending, including graduates from a work-ready program, oyster gardeners, and a land manager tracking down the invasive apple snail.

Also on Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves announced 16 new projects totaling $62 million funded through the RESTORE Act, which were recommended to him by his Gulf Coast Advisory Committee.

Below is a list of those, as well as an updated table of current and completed projects listed on MDEQ’s restoration site:

RESTORE Act Direct Component (aka Bucket 1) Funding:

• Water Quality Improvement Program ($1.1 million) — implementation of new, repaired, or upgraded stormwater and wastewater systems including septic to sewer conversions.
• Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center ($1.54 million) — funding for design, permitting, construction, and installation of parking lot and outer concourse safety and security features. A continuation of previously-funded improvements.
• Commercial Proving Grounds for Space to Sea Floor Environmental Monitoring ($1.65 million) — development of airborne and waterborne unmanned systems to test and calibrate new systems from private, educational, governmental, and military entities.
• City of Moss Point I-10 Commercial Corridor Improvements ($2.2 million) — improve access, connectivity, and safety of the Moss Point Interstate Commerce District to enhance the city’s economy and quality of life.
• Hancock County Tech Park at Stennis Airport ($2.2 million) — construct a building to house the Department of the Army’s Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX), which has outgrown its existing incubator space.
• Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Site Expansion and Facility Relocation ($3.19 million) — expand the airport’s 241-acre runway-adjacent Project Ready site to attract industrial aerospace investment. Also, demolish the antiquated vehicle fleet maintenance facility and build a new facility adjacent to the airport’s maintenance building. 
• Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Project Ready Site Mitigation and Prep ($4.18 million) — funding for the mitigating, clearing, and grubbing of an economic development site at the airport.
• Broadwater Marina Restoration Project ($5.5 million) — funding to return to public use 30 acres of state-owned lands that includes future tourism and economic development potential.
• Hancock County Fairgrounds Revitalization/Hancock County Multipurpose Arena ($6.05 million) — upgrades and improvements to the 80-acre fairgrounds and multipurpose arena including facilities and infrastructure to foster economic growth.
• Washington Street Avenue Gateway (Jackson County — $6.6 million) — construct pedestrian-friendly features including sidewalks, crosswalks, landscape the median, and install mast arm signals for safety for Washington Avenue in Ocean Springs. 

RESTORE Act Spill Impact Component (aka Bucket 3) Funding:

• Accelerate Mississippi Public/Private Workforce Training Partnership ($2.2 million) — develop and foster workforce development through Accelerate Mississippi in the three coastal counties.
• Coastal Habitat Management Fund ($3.3 million) — provide funding for management plans and management on existing and newly-acquired coastal preserves tracts.
• Beachfront Resilience ($4.95 million) — additional funding for enhancing and repairing Highway 90 boardwalks and sidewalks along with dune plantings and fencing to address sand migration onto Highway 90.
• Gulf Coast Center of Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) Fusion ($5.5 million) — project will focus on developing an Information Technology (IT) workforce for economic expansion, innovation, and societal growth.
• Improvement of wastewater quality and solid waste disposal from Shrimp Processing industry ($5.5 million) — funding for improvements to wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal from the shrimp processing industry.
• City of D’Iberville working waterfront and commercial seafood harbor ($6.6 million) — a project to build a mixed-use working waterfront and seafood harbor in D’Iberville.

Full project list:

The post Here’s how Mississippi is spending its BP oil spill settlement funds appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing hundreds of pages of White House records related to the riot at the U.S. Capitol, determining that the former president has no authority to overrule President Joe Biden’s decision to waive executive privilege and release the materials to Congress.

“Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President,” Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her 39-page ruling.

Trump immediately appealed the decision, but the National Archives, which houses Trump’s White House records, is still planning on turning over a number of documents on Friday unless a court intervenes. These documents include White House call logs, video logs and schedules related to the Jan. 6 riot and three pages of handwritten notes from Mark Meadows, who was Trump’s chief of staff at the time. 

Chutkan’s ruling is a major victory for the Jan. 6 committee in the House, which is led by Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson. The record will help the committee in its pursuit of more records or information from people who have been subpoenaed but haven’t testified in front of the committee. The House committee has subpoenaed multiple people close to former President Donald Trump, and added ten former administration officials to the list on Tuesday. 

Committee investigators are hopeful the White House records will provide insight into Trump’s months-long and ongoing campaign to portray the 2020 election as rigged, as well as his efforts to use the power of his administration to aid his attempt to overturn the election. 

READ MORE: Will Rep. Bennie Thompson’s Jan. 6 committee subpoena Trump? “Nobody’s off limits.”

Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee, has said the committee is open to subpoenaing former President Donald Trump “if the evidence” leads them there.

Thompson called the ruling a “big deal” as he learned of it live on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” program. Thompson said that he looks forward to investigators “going through (the documents) with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that our government was not weaponized against its citizens.”

In her ruling, Chutkin declined a request to look at Trump’s records document by document and wrote that the incumbent president is the person in the best position to protect the interests of the executive branch. She also noted that though the committee has made sweeping requests for requests, it does “not exceed” its legislative power.

“The court holds that the public interest lies in permitting — not enjoining — the combined will of the legislative and executive branches to study the events that led to and occurred on January 6, and to consider legislation to prevent such events from ever occurring again,” Chutkan wrote.

Thomson told Chris Cuomo in the Tuesday night interview that the former president should stop trying to block the release of White House records through court challenges.

“We are a nation of laws,” Thompson said. “So if you take your issue to court, and lose, then you need to man up, and deal with it and not be a spoiled brat.”

READ MORE: With insurrection investigation underway, the nation’s eyes turn toward Bennie Thompson

The post Judge rules Trump cannot keep records from Rep. Thompson’s Jan. 6 committee appeared first on Mississippi Today.