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Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Tuesday that he’s lifting all state-imposed mask mandates across Mississippi and removing COVID-19 related restrictions on business operations. 

“The governor’s office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do,” Reeves said at a press conference.

The executive order, which will go into effect on March 3, replaces mask mandates and business restrictions with nonbinding recommendations that they continue to follow CDC guidelines. Reeves encouraged Mississippians to continue listening to the advice of public health officials like State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, who continues to recommend people wear masks in public and avoid social gatherings.

Shortly before Reeves’ announcement, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas announced similar moves and declared his state would be “100%” open by March 10. Both governors attributed their decisions to declining COVID hospitalizations and the rollout of vaccines. 

Under Reeves’ new order, restrictions will remain on venues hosting collegiate sporting events. The maximum capacity for indoor arenas has been doubled to 50%.

Restrictions will also remain in place for both public and private K-12 schools, though they have been weakened. Masks will still be required where social distancing is not possible. Seating for K-12 extracurricular activities is now set at 50% maximum capacity outdoors and 25% indoors. 

Mask mandates are currently in effect in 75 of Mississippi’s 82 counties. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original statewide mandate issued by the governor on Aug. 4 with helping cases improve after a sharp summer spike. Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate on Sept. 30, but subsequently issued orders for individual counties.

Reeves said vaccines are a “new, better tool to combat COVID” than executive orders and expressed his distaste for signing them in the first place.

“The risk of overwhelming our hospitals with severe COVID cases is coming to a close. It gets less and less every single day we see more and more of our people, particularly those most vulnerable, vaccinated,” Reeves said. 

Reeves has drawn heavy criticism from multiple sides of the political spectrum over his handling of COVID-19 in Mississippi, with some decrying any COVID-related executive order as “tyrannical” and others criticizing his patchwork approach to mask mandates.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Monday that 407,647 people in Mississippi — about 14% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. About 219,000 people have received both doses since the state began distributing vaccines in December.

Thousands of vaccination appointments are currently available on the MSDH website. First responders and employees of K-12 schools, preschools and daycares became eligible for vaccination on Monday.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Monday that 407,647 people in Mississippi — about 14% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. About 219,000 people have received both doses since the state began distributing vaccines in December.

“There will still be COVID in our communities, perhaps for a significant amount of time in our state as well as across the country,” Reeves said. “We will all need to assess for ourselves and our families to handle the risks and rewards of every and every activity we choose to pursue.”

January saw the most coronavirus-related deaths in a single month in Mississippi, with 1,240 confirmed. The state also set new single day records for new cases: 3,255 cases on Jan. 7, and 98 deaths on Jan. 12.

Additionally, the number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-related hospital admissions and clinic visits for COVID-19 like illnesses in Mississippi have been trending sharply downward in 2021.

MSDH reported 301 new COVID-19 cases of COVID-19 and 44 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday. This brings Mississippi to a total of 295,295 coronavirus cases and 6,724 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The post Gov. Tate Reeves ditches mask mandates, COVID-related business restrictions appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A congressional ethics report made public this week claims that U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo misspent campaign and congressional funds, and says it found evidence he used his office to help his brother and used staff for personal errands and services.

Palazzo is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee after a report was forwarded from the Office of Congressional Ethics in the summer. The OCE on Monday released its full report, which included allegations that had not yet been made public in the months-long probe.

Allegations have previously been reported that Palazzo used campaign funds to pay himself and his erstwhile wife nearly $200,000 through companies they own — including thousands to cover the mortgage, maintenance and upgrades to a riverfront home Palazzo owned and wanted to sell. A Mississippi Today report also questioned thousands in Palazzo campaign spending on swanky restaurants, sporting events, resort hotels, golfing and gifts.

The newly released report says it found “substantial” evidence that Palazzo used his position and office to help his brother, Kyle Palazzo. Kyle Palazzo, the report said, was prohibited from re-enlisting in the Navy for “affecting a fraudulent enlistment.” The report said Rep. Palazzo may have used his official office and resources to contact the assistant secretary of the Navy to help his brother’s efforts to re-enlist.

The report also questions Palazzo’s campaign paying his brother nearly $24,000 over 10 months as a “political coordinator” and letting Kyle Palazzo use the campaign’s credit card for food, gas, hotel rooms and other goods and services.

The report also says OCE found evidence that Palazzo used congressional staffers for personal errands and campaign work. It said that former staffers it interviewed “portrayed a district office that failed to separate official work from campaign and personal activities,” including shopping for his kids. For instance, one unidentified staffer said she and another spent an entire workday looking for iron-on clothing labels for Palazzo’s children’s clothes before they departed for summer camp. In 2011, during his first term in office, Palazzo faced allegations that he and his wife used congressional staffers for babysitting, chauffeuring kids around and moving.

READ MORE: Is Congressman Steven Palazzo’s campaign account a slush fund?

Palazzo has through spokespeople denied any wrongdoing and has hired former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, a former House Ethics Committee member, as his lawyer in the matter. The OCE is a referral agency, with House Ethics deciding whether a member be further investigated, punished or the case handed off for criminal investigation.

“We look forward to the opportunity to go before the committee to present our case and our facts that we believe will clarify many of the inaccuracies in the OCE report,” Harper said Tuesday. “The House Committee on Ethics is very unique, in that it is the only committee that has an even number of Republicans and Democrats, regardless of which party is in power. They have a professional staff, and these members are all handpicked either by the speaker or the minority leader, and we look forward to this opportunity. And of course we will cooperate with them fully to provide them with any information that they may need.”

The OCE report released Monday said that Palazzo, his campaign treasurer and five current and former staffers refused to talk with the OCE for its investigation and that the congressman and his campaign failed to provide many requested documents. It suggested House Ethics subpoena witnesses and records.

Federal law and U.S. House rules prohibit conversion of campaign money to personal use. Violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act can carry felony criminal penalties.

The House Ethics Committee has made little comment on Palazzo’s case other than to confirm it is still investigating the matter. It could dismiss the allegations, offer its own rebuke of Palazzo, or pass the matter off for criminal investigation to the Department of Justice.

The probe into Palazzo’s campaign finances and related issues began after a challenger in last year’s GOP primary for the 4th District seat saw what he believed were irregularities in Palazzo’s campaign finance records and hired a private investigator. He then turned his findings over to the watchdog group the Campaign Legal Center, which filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

In a statement, Palazzo spokeswoman Colleen Kennedy said: “This matter is the direct result of false allegations made by a primary opponent and the Campaign Legal Center claiming that the Congressman’s campaign paid him for rent of a farm in Perkinston, Mississippi. Simple investigation shows that the payments were actually made for a property in D’Iberville, Mississippi owned by the Congressman, appropriately and legally used for a campaign office and rented at fair market value.

“Congressman Palazzo will continue to serve his constituents with honor and integrity, and he looks forward to having this matter concluded as soon as possible.”

The post Ethics report: ‘Substantial’ evidence of Rep. Palazzo wrongdoing appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi will receive 24,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, days after the federal government authorized use of the third vaccine.

The J&J vaccine only requires a single shot, unlike the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, which require two doses. In addition to being able to rapidly increase the rate at which Americans are fully vaccinated, the J&J vaccine is cheaper to produce and easier to store. It can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures for up to three months, 18 times longer than the Pfizer vaccine and three times longer than Moderna’s.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the new vaccine emergency use authorization. Mississippi’s allotment makes up just over half a percent (0.61%) of the 3.9 million doses that will be distributed to states this week. 

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine comes with a lower efficacy rate than the earlier approved COVID-19 vaccines. Documents published by the FDA last Wednesday showed that the new vaccine had an overall efficacy rate of 72% and an 86% efficacy rate against severe forms of COVID-19 in the United States. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have an overall efficacy rate of about 95%.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Monday that 407,647 people in Mississippi — about 14% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. About 219,000 people have received both doses since the state began distributing vaccines in December.

Thousands of vaccination appointments are currently available on the MSDH website. First responders and employees of K-12 schools, preschools and daycares became eligible for vaccination on Monday.

As vaccine eligibility increases, COVID-19 cases and deaths continue their dramatic decline in Mississippi — an encouraging sign after a brutal winter spike that set new records for both statistics.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 301 new COVID-19 cases of COVID-19 and 44 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday. This brings Mississippi to a total of 295,295 coronavirus cases and 6,724 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020.

January saw the most coronavirus-related deaths in a single month in Mississippi, with 1,240 confirmed. The state also set new single-day records for new cases: 3,255 cases on Jan. 7, and 98 deaths on Jan. 12.

Additionally, the number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-related hospital admissions and clinic visits for COVID-19 like illnesses in Mississippi have been trending sharply downward in 2021.

Mask mandates are currently in effect in 75 of Mississippi’s 82 counties. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original statewide mandate issued by Gov. Tate Reeves on Aug. 4 with helping cases improve after a sharp summer spike. Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate on Sept. 30, but has since issued orders for the individual counties.

The post Mississippi will receive shipments of newly approved COVID-19 vaccine this week appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Protection appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The conservative Tax Foundation has been House Speaker Philip Gunn’s spirit animal in his ongoing push to eliminate the state’s income tax and shift to “consumer taxes” such as a higher state sales tax.

But on Monday, even the Tax Foundation panned Gunn’s proposal to overhaul the state’s tax base by phasing out the income tax and cutting taxes on groceries while increasing sales, use and “sin” taxes. This after Gunn said the Tax Foundation’s teachings — notably at a series of hearings Gunn hosted in 2016 — that “consumer taxes” are better and fairer than income taxes were an impetus for his proposal.

A week after Gunn rolled out his sea-change tax bill with little heads up even to much of his own GOP House caucus, he appears to be on an island politically.

Farmers, teachers, business leaders, conservatives, progressives, the lieutenant governor and Senate, the governor — who himself advocates eliminating the income tax — have expressed skepticism, if not outright opposition, to Gunn’s proposal. They have differing reasons, but there appears to be some consensus that the proposal should have been more thoroughly vetted, had more people’s input and more transparency before it was rolled out and passed by the House in less than 24 hours.

“Policymakers and taxpayers alike should be able to see a public fiscal note for the plan to ensure it meets lawmakers’ goals,” The Tax Foundation wrote in its new report. “… Broadly speaking, taxes on consumption are more economically efficient than taxes on income … When it comes to making major changes to the tax code, however, details matter.”

PODCAST: House Speaker Philip Gunn discusses his proposal to cut income tax, raise sales tax

The Tax Foundation surmised that Gov. Reeves’ proposal — reducing the income tax rate without the personal tax exemptions and offsetting tax increases Gunn proposes — “would provide a more stable path to phaseout.” Reeves said that while he appreciates Gunn promoting a phaseout of the income tax, he opposes the commensurate increases in other taxes.

The Tax Foundation noted that the plan so far failed to provide “reliable revenue projections and a detailed accounting of how much revenue is projected to come from each offsetting change.”

The Tax Foundation warned that some of Gunn’s sales tax increases to offset the income tax phaseout — particularly on manufacturing machinery, farm equipment and other “intermediate transactions”— could cause “tax pyramiding.” Tax pyramiding is where the same good or service is taxed multiple times through the chain of production. The foundation said this would put some Mississippi businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and these tax costs would be passed on to consumers.

The foundation also warned that Gunn’s proposal to raise income exemptions until all taxpayers are exempted, as opposed to Reeves’ proposal to reduce tax rates, would increase the chance that the phase-out efforts would stall down the road, “with there being less political will to continue putting revenue growth toward further reductions.” It also “would affect the marginal rates at which investment decisions are made,” the foundation said, with small business owners who pay primarily individual, not corporate, income taxes, facing the same rate on marginal income, “initially limiting the impact on encouraging additional investment.”

One of Gunn’s selling points on his plan — and a way to combat complaints of more regressive taxation hurting people with low incomes — is the companion cut to grocery taxes, from 7% to 3.5% within five years.

The foundation said there is “empirical research suggesting that the higher general (sales tax) rates necessary to offset a reduced or zero rate on groceries have more of an impact on lower-income consumers than does the inclusion of groceries at the ordinary rate.” This is, in part, the foundation said, because groceries purchased with welfare dollars are already exempted from sales taxes.

“Above that threshold, grocery purchases tend to scale well with income,” the report said, and an ideal sales tax structure is one that “applies to a broad base of final consumer purchases at a single rate, while exempting business inputs to prevent tax pyramiding.”

Gunn has said he believes his proposal “is based on sound tax policy.” And as for folks opposed to it because their industries would see increases in their specific sales taxes, such as farm equipment, he said they’ve had low rates and have not been paying their fair share.

Both statements may be true. But the realpolitik is that Gunn created instant opposition from some powerful interests, such as the farm lobby and manufacturers, who would see sales taxes on their machinery increase from 1.5% to 4%.

Gunn and his top lieutenants included a teacher pay raise — that had been proposed in separate bills — in the tax overhaul. This would appear to be a sweetener to draw support for the measure and to show that many teachers would have thousands of dollars more in their pockets each year from tax cuts instead of just the $1,000-a-year raise.

But despite — or actually because of — this inclusion, many teachers have been angered, saying they’re again being used as political pawns. Public education advocates and lobbies have voiced opposition because they fear the long-range shakeout of income tax cuts will mean less spending on public education.

Gunn’s rapid rollout of the tax plan was apparently a hurry-up offense to avoid some early opposition. But that appears to have had an opposite effect in many corners, particularly with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and the Senate, whom Gunn needs onboard to pass the proposal.

Hosemann on Monday said he still hasn’t finished going through the bill, has many unanswered questions and, “The Senate is not Nancy Pelosi, we don’t adopt it and figure out how it will work after we pass it.” He said he is asking the state economist to run modeling on the plan and others to scrutinize it. He said he is unsure whether that could be completed by the end of this year’s legislative session.

READ MORE: Hosemann cites problems with House tax bill, but won’t rule out action on it this session

The Tax Foundation, like Reeves, Hosemann and other fellow Republicans and fiscal conservatives, praised Gunn for broaching the state tax structure issue, even if they have reservations about or issues with his proposal.

“Make no mistake: This is a bold plan from state lawmakers,” the foundation said. “A change worth doing is worth doing right … With the bill now headed to the Senate, lawmakers should take the time that remains to ensure that the final legislation is sustainable and will enable Mississippi to meet its goals.”

The post Is Gunn on a political island with tax overhaul plan? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Water Crisis appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann did not rule out passing a version of the massive tax restructuring bill approved last week by the Mississippi House even though he cited what he said were multiple problems with the legislation.

Still, Hosemann, speaking publicly about the bill for the first time, left the impression that if the bill makes it out of the Senate before the March 16 deadline it will be dramatically different than the proposal that passed the House. And, based on Hosemann’s comments, it is far from a certainty that the bill will survive the deadline.

“I have not had one senator come to me and tell me he wants to pass this bill,” said Hosemann, speaking Monday during a video conference to Mississippi State University’s Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol Press Corps. “…The Senate is not Nancy Pelosi. We don’t adopt it and find out how it will work after we pass it.”

Later, responding to a question, Hosemann said he was not belittling the approach of Speaker Philip Gunn who introduced and passed his Mississippi Tax Freedom Act in less than 24 hours. When asked why there was not more communication between House and Senate leaders before the bill was taken up, he said, “You will have to ask the speaker that.”

But he said, “I don’t think it any secret the speaker and I are personal friends. He has a tremendous heart and tremendous love for Mississippi, but that doesn’t make him right all the time.”

Hosemann praised the speaker for bringing forth legislation aimed at providing tax relief and reducing government spending.

“I am receptive to that idea,” he said. But “This bill is extremely long and has several unintended consequences.”

He said such unintended consequences could lead to an economic slowdown and a reduction in state revenue that might impact vital state services.

The bill, authored by Gunn, would phase out the state’s personal income tax over a 10-year period, reduce the sales tax on groceries by one-half to 3.5% and increase the sales tax on most other retail items by 2.5 cents on each dollar spent. The state’s current sales tax is 7% on most general sales tax items with lesser amounts such as 1% to 3% on primarily “big ticket” items, such as farming equipment, airplanes, vehicles and manufacturing equipment.

The bill would provide a near immediate substantial tax cut, exempting in 2022 the first $50,000 in income for a single person and the first $100,000 for a married couple.

Hosemann said the bill could negatively impact farmers, manufacturers and others. He cited retirees who generally do not pay a state income tax as a group that could be negatively impacted by the sales tax increase. He did not take into account the fact they would be paying less in grocery taxes under the legislation.

Despite citing issues with the bill, Hosemann did not rule out passing a version of the legislation this session.

He said he has asked the state economist “to model out” what could be the consequences of the legislation. Hosemann also did not rule out the issue being studied during the summer, presumably with the purpose of tackling similar legislation in the 2022 session.

Gov. Tate Reeves has proposed phasing out the state income tax, which provides about one-third of the state general fund revenue, without raising other taxes to make up for the loss revenue.  Reeves said the tax cut will spur economic growth, leading to new revenue for the state.

Gunn has said his proposal would “broaden” the tax base by levying taxes on consumption rather than income. He has argued that if the bill becomes law, an average Mississippian earning $50,000 per year would have to spend about $82,000 in a year to pay as much in sales taxes as the taxpayer would save from the income tax cut.

The post Hosemann cites problems with House tax bill, but won’t rule out action on it this session appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Thousands of residents in Jackson are still without water service two weeks after a historic winter storm slammed the state, freezing and bursting many water pipes in the capital city.

Officials cannot estimate how many residents are without water in Jackson, the state’s largest city that is at least 80% Black, and they cannot say definitively when water service will be restored. Pockets of west Jackson and a majority of south Jackson are the areas hit hardest by service disruptions — a reality officials attribute to the distance between these neighborhoods and the city’s water treatment plants.

Over the course of the water crisis, 80 water main breaks and leaks have been reported across the city. As of Sunday night, the city’s water maintenance department had completed 51 repairs. Crews completing the repairs have described city pipes, some over 100 years old, as brittle, underscoring the need for a vast overhaul of the city’s aging infrastructure.

“We are glad to see that the process is working. While it isn’t working to the speed we would like to see, we are glad to know that we are on the right track,” Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said during a Sunday press conference. “We’re not happy until we can restore water service to every single last person in this city.”

Meaningful infrastructure repairs have been put off for decades by city leaders, who have had to craft budgets in recent years with a diminished tax revenue base. Lumumba has estimated that updating Jackson’s water system to prevent future crises would cost around $2 billion, which is more than six times the city’s annual budget.

“If Jackson don’t do something to fix all of its aging pipes here, I’m afraid we just might be the next Flint, MI,” one resident said on the city’s Facebook page.

City crews traveled around areas of south and west Jackson yesterday, opening up fire hydrants to release trapped air out of the water system that had built up after water reserves were depleted during the winter storm. 

Charles Williams, Jackson’s public works director, said on Sunday that the city had restored water pressure to its targeted 90 pounds per square inch (PSI) at the OB Curtis water treatment plant. Along with maintaining that pressure, recovery now depends on their ability to distribute water throughout the system.

Many residents have complained on the city’s Facebook page and support lines that car washes near their homes are still operating while their neighborhoods are still without water. 

“Stop saying conserve and do something. Stop the car washes. We have lived with inadequate water for years,” a resident wrote on the city’s Facebook page. 

Citizens who have experienced significant leaks due to burst pipes are asked to keep copies of the plumbing statements for their repairs so they can apply for a leak adjustment to their bills from the Water Sewer Business Administration (WSBA).

The entire city is still under a boil water notice, and residents with water services are being asked to lower their consumption as much as possible to speed up the restoration of city reserves.

“Ultimately what we need from the state and federal government is long-term support so we can weatherize these facilities,” Lumumba said.

READ MORE: Winter storm prompts review of Mississippi’s electric, gas, water infrastructure

No update has been given on when or if the state will request federal disaster relief to aid state and local relief efforts. On Feb. 23, Gov. Tate Reeves said that county and municipal agencies were working on damage reports and that he would request federal aid when those were completed. As of Monday afternoon, damage reports were still coming in to the Governor’s office. For Reeve’s to request a federal emergency declaration, a cumulative threshold of $4.5 million in reported damages has to be reached.

Last week, the state secured more tanker trucks of non-potable water for Jackson, and Reeves deployed the Mississippi National Guard to assist with Jackson relief efforts. 

Non-potable (flushing) water will be available on Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the following locations:

• Forest Hill High School – 2607 Raymond Road, Jackson, MS 39212
• Raines Elementary School – 156 N. Flag Chapel Road, Jackson, MS 39209
• Callaway High School – 601 Beasley Rd, Jackson, MS 39206
• Provine High School – 2400 Robinson St, Jackson, MS 39209
• New Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Church – 140 Maple St, Jackson, MS 39203
• Davis Road Park – 5901 Terry Road Byram, MS 39272
• Walton Elementary School – 3200 Bailey Avenue, Jackson, MS 39213

The post Thousands of Jackson residents enter third week without running water appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Speaker of the House Philip Gunn sits down with Mississippi Today Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau to discuss his massive tax proposal, which would eliminate the state’s personal income tax, cut the highest-in-the-nation grocery tax, and raise the sales tax and several other taxes.

Listen here:

The post Podcast: House Speaker Philip Gunn discusses his proposal to cut income tax, raise sales tax appeared first on Mississippi Today.