OurTupelo

Mississippi farmers are losing the catfish wars against their foreign competitors with the very weapon they saw as their salvation. 

The domestic catfish industry along with representatives like the late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi lobbied to move oversight of catfish processing from the Food and Drug Administration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture five years ago with the expectation the USDA’s stricter eye would limit the foreign imports that had decimated domestic production throughout the Mississippi Delta. 

Instead, imports of siluriformes – the larger category of catfish and catfish-like fish sometimes referred to by their family name “pangasius”– have only increased since the switch to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2016. Meanwhile, domestic prices and production, mainly in Mississippi and other Southern states, have continued to decline. 

Almost 65,000 additional tons of catfish were imported in 2019 than in 2015 before the FSIS took over according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce lists recent processing volumes at 5 million pounds per month less than in 2015 during FDA oversight. As domestic prices have declined, the average value of imports has grown with the added USDA label.  

Proponents who lobbied to move oversight to USDA had argued Vietnamese pangasius farms were packed gill-to-gill, tainted with excess antibiotics and dyes, and the FDA wasn’t testing enough. A 2011 peer-reviewed article in the journal Food Policy described Vietnamese swai as grown under “the single most intensive high volume commercial food production system on the planet.” A 2016 report by the environmental nonprofit Oceana listed pangasius as the most common substitute used in seafood fraud. The assumption was USDA’s tighter inspection protocols would lead to a safer product that would limit the lower quality imports flooding the market. 

Bill James, previously chief public health veterinarian with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the agency’s program is the superior inspection system, and the USDA label with its certification and accompanying legend of ingredients makes products much more attractive to consumers. 

Catfish is the only fish handled by FSIS, which otherwise handles processing of beef, pork and poultry, and the decision to have an exception just for catfish aquaculture was contentious. Yet, most of the concern stemmed from the duplication of efforts, bureaucratic waste, potential trade repercussions and the attempt to stifle imports. 

The Government Accountability Office released 10 reports against the move with one in 2012 simply titled “Responsibility for Inspecting Catfish Should Not Be Assigned to USDA.”

The 2012 GAO report noted the food-borne bacteria salmonella, a major concern that led to the switch, was rarely found in catfish. The report lists only one instance of a salmonella outbreak in the U.S. in 1991, and it may not have been related to catfish. 

In a World Trade Organization complaint, Vietnam contested the USDA move as not being based on scientific research or a risk assessment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, despite the extremely high farming density, large disease outbreaks among pangasius are rare. 

But the increased oversight and its accompanying costs have taken their toll domestically. A major Alabama processor and feed producer, SouthFresh, filed for bankruptcy in 2019, claiming stricter protocols, lower prices and increased imports hastened its demise. 

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who represents the Delta in Mississippi’s second district, said if imports are still eating away at the domestic industry, “then the move to USDA fails to meet the purpose of the congressional motion, which was to set a standard for health concerns and to protect U.S. industry.” 

Chad Causey, representative for the trade organization Catfish Farmers of America, said the move to USDA oversight was never about limiting imports and was solely about stopping unsafe products from entering the market. In his view, the industry is confident in these inspections, which is far and above FDA’s oversight. While he wouldn’t speak to how much imports are affecting the industry, he said the industry “is fine with competition.” 

In 2020, Catfish Farmers of America asked NOAA’s Seafood Trade Task Force to “require imported seafood to meet our standards” to level the playing field and help domestic industry compete with “unfair competition.” The group has been involved in numerous lawsuits over a U.S. trade enforcement investigation against Vietnamese importers that has resulted in millions in compensation and legal fees. 

Mississippi’s U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who holds Cochran’s previous seat, said the USDA program is working exactly as intended to ensure all catfish is “safe, wholesome, and unadulterated.” She pointed to numerous large rejections of imports from China because of chemical additives as evidence the program is working. 

While most of the domestic catfish industry supported the move, criticism has come from wild-caught producers like those trying to take advantage of the invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay. 

Often small operations, they rely on individual fishermen and smaller processing facilities and are unlikely to afford the USDA standards and inspections, despite fewer risks of added chemicals that compromise the food’s safety. While major processors in Vietnam can afford USDA inspections with the help of government capital, the small, wild-caught catfish operations in the U.S. cannot. 

Mike Mitchell of Acari Foods, producer of a jerky made from wild-caught catfish, said the switch to USDA has limited his own business and caused a detrimental effect almost across the board. “It’s not helping U.S. consumers, mom and pop operations, or most producers,” he said. “Only a few large operations are surviving.”

Origins Of The Import Flood 

The original concern for imported siluriformes goes back to 2000. Back then, domestic catfish producers dominated the market. But a flood of imports began to take over. The share of catfish consumption supplied by domestic producers went from 80% in 2002 to 24% in 2019. Imports from Vietnam grew more than five-fold. 

The increased competition from foreign markets decimated domestic producers. Production capacity was cut in half. The industry saw large declines in employment and hours worked. That trend continued through the USDA takeover as a glut of catfish on the market depressed prices into 2018. 

Early on, catfish farmers may have been hit the hardest. The flood of imports came as prices for catfish food peaked at the same time. Farmers saw steady declines in almost every metric: total sales, total inventories, net profits. 

Farmers may have been buffered by the price on catfish fry and fingerlings – small fish below 2 and 6 inches in size respectively – according to data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farmers saw an increase in price that offset the large collapse in sales volume. Prices in 2018 are more than double what they were in 2005. 

FDA vs. USDA Oversight 

The switch from FDA to USDA oversight was not a small move. The agencies have different systems for hazard analysis and critical control points, where imported food products are inspected and tested for safety. 

Since the move to USDA in 2016, there have been declines in average price, total acres of water in production and inventories of food-sized fish. 

Under FDA oversight, the agency tests a certain portion of imports as they come into the country – sometimes less than 2 percent. 

But USDA oversees all products and tests imports as they come into approved facilities from USDA-equivalent processing facilities in other countries. Both the foreign processing facilities and the U.S. import facilities undergo an approval process that can be revoked. 

According to Acari’s Mitchell, funding that oversight falls to the processor, a huge capital investment. “We would need a new, bigger plant, to hire our own inspector, and be able to coordinate a schedule with the inspector. That’s not so easy for fishermen who make their catch based on the weather,” he said. 

Despite, or potentially because of, the increased scrutiny, import refusals of siluriformes because of chemical additives have dropped by half since the move to the USDA. From 2012-2016, the FDA rejected 106 imports for “adulterants,” while 45 were rejected by the USDA from 2016-2020 based on laboratory analysis of residual chemicals. 

Most USDA rejections were over torn packaging, defects or invalid labels. Of those rejected for laboratory tests, few were from Vietnam, with others coming from the U.S. or countries without establishments eligible to export to the U.S., like Brazil. 

Bill James, previously with Food Safety and Inspection Service, believes fewer rejections from chemical testing are a result of exporters needing to send their best product to get it past the rigors of USDA inspection.

Following a rejection of a 20-ton shipment in 2016, Vietnam’s Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry Quality Center required exported pangasius be certified free of salmonella and dyes. 

While less is being rejected under USDA, the agency tests substantially more for chemical additives. In 2020, it tested 649 samples — more than what FDA tested over the course of five years between 2010 and 2015. 

While the standards for catfish processing under the Food Safety and Inspection Service is robust, there may still be some outlying discrepancies. 

FSIS has not made Vietnamese farm visits routine. Without farm visits they may not know if they are testing for the right antibiotics and if there are other issues with how the fish are raised. 

There are also ongoing discrepancies between what the FDA tests for in all types of finfish, what the FSIS tests for, and what other countries test for. The list of potential additives regularly changes. 

In 2019, the USDA listed returning siluriformes oversight back to the FDA in its 2019 budget proposal based on a request from Congress, but that recommendation disappeared in the following year’s budget. 

The catfish industry is mum about the increased imports of Vietnamese pangasius. None of the major processors or farms contacted for this story would comment about the trend. 

Catfish Farmers of America, the only industry group willing to speak, wasn’t fazed by the continuing flood of Vietnamese pangasius that inspired federal action. According to CFA’s Causey, catfish farmers are more concerned about the effects of the pandemic. 

Because of its restrictions, farms and processors have struggled to find workers to keep up with demand and some are turning to temporary visas for migrant workers to fill in the gap. 

In their view, he said, the demand for catfish is there whether imports are growing or not, “it’s just a matter of finding enough employees to provide it.” 

This story was produced by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. Email Llewellyn Jones at llewellyn.h.jones@gmail.com. 

The post Mississippi is losing the catfish wars appeared first on Mississippi Today.

First Lady Jill Biden will visit COVID-19 vaccination sites in Jackson on Tuesday as part of the Biden Administration’s nationwide tour to reach Americans who haven’t been vaccinated and promote vaccine education.

The visit comes as Mississippi continues to rank last in the nation in the share of its population that has been vaccinated. Only 32% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated despite significant gains made in recent months in vaccinating the most vulnerable and making vaccine access more equitable.

Mississippi is also the state furthest behind in reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into the arms of 70% of adults by July 4. Just over 36% of Mississippians are currently vaccinated, providing no hope the state will reach even 50% by Independence Day. If vaccination rates don’t improve significantly, the state wouldn’t reach that 70% threshold for well over a year.

No significant improvement is on the horizon as the state’s vaccination rate continues to tank. The 15,073 shots given last week represent a decrease of over 87% from February’s peak.

As the state’s vaccine rate continues to sputter, Gov. Tate Reeves announced last week that the last remnants of COVID-related government policy in Mississippi — the state’s COVID-19 emergency orders — will expire on Aug. 15, more than a year after the orders were first enacted. 

“While a State of Emergency should no longer be necessary after August 15, all Mississippians should remain vigilant, get vaccinated, and follow public health guidance,” Reeves said in a statement.

Even though Mississippi has remained under a state of emergency order due to the pandemic, there have been virtually no safety protocols in effect for months. 

Reeves also announced that emergency COVID-19 operations with the Mississippi National Guard will end on July 15. The guard’s involvement has been an essential component of the state’s vaccine rollout, assisting the Mississippi State Department of Health with the logistical challenges of operating vaccination sites and putting shots in the arms of thousands of Mississippians.

“The governor’s timeline to lift Mississippi’s State of Emergency declaration on August 15, 2021, ensures our over 1,500 service members complete all necessary out-processing requirements and receive the benefits and entitlements they have earned during their dedicated service to our state,” Maj. Gen. Janson Boyles, the adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, said in a written statement.

The Mississippi Department of Health reported on Friday that 1,071,623 people in Mississippi — about 36% of the state’s population — have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 953,00 people have been fully inoculated since the state began distributing vaccines in December.

The post Jill Biden to visit Mississippi as COVID-19 vaccination rate sputters appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A neighbor has been charged with arson for burning the trailer where former state Rep. Ashley Henley’s sister-in-law’s body was found around Christmas — the same property where authorities say Henley was gunned down on June 13.

READ MORE: Former Rep. Ashley Henley shot, killed outside home where sister-in-law’s body had been found

Assistant District Attorney Steven Jubera said that Billy Brooks, 42, who lived across the road from the burned trailer, was arrested Friday on an arson charge from the Dec. 26 fire. He has not been charged in the death of Kristina Michelle Jones, whose body was found inside the burned mobile home.

Jubera said investigation into the deaths of Jones and Henley is continuing and no further details are currently being released.

Henley, who along with her husband had said Jones was murdered and publicly criticized what they said was lack of investigation by the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department, was herself shot and killed while cutting the grass at the property where the burned trailer was at 12 Patricia Drive in Water Valley. Henley and her husband had vowed to continue to push for justice in Jones’ case.

Henley, 40, a former school teacher and community college professor, served as representative of District 40 in DeSoto County from 2016-2020 and was vice chair of the House Military Affairs Committee and a member of the Education, Tourism, Workforce Development and Youth and Family Affairs committees. She lost her reelection bid in 2019 by 14 votes.

Jubera said Henley’s homicide is being investigated by the Yalobusha Sheriff’s Department, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, District 17 District Attorney’s office and other agencies.

The post Following Rep. Ashley Henley’s murder, arson arrest made in fire that killed her sister-in-law appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi State’s 2021 College World Series experience began Sunday night with a pitching performance for the ages in a thrilling 2-1 victory over Texas. First Will Bednar and then Landon Sims mowed down Texas batters as if the Longhorns were swinging with holes in their bats.

It was astonishing. That’s what it was. Astonishing.

Bednar threw 108 pitches but plate umpire Steve Mattingly might be the guy who wakes up Monday morning with a sore right arm from punching out Texas batters with his animated “strike three” calls. Bednar struck out 15 of the 18 batters he retired, and then Sims came on to fan six of nine. That’s 21 total strikeouts, a record for a nine-inning CWS game.

Making the stellar pitching all the more amazing was the fact that the wind was blowing straight out to center field at Ameritrade Park. Of course you have to hit the ball for the wind to become a factor, and Texas so rarely touched either Bednar or Sims.

Bednar’s stuff was nothing short of electric. He utilized a 95 mph fastball that he located on both sides of the plate and up and down in the strike zone. His slider was evil, breaking sharply and downward. A fourth inning slider broke all the way across the plate and actually hit a Texas batter Eric Kennedy, a left-handed batter, on his left leg. It was as if Bednar was throwing a Wiffle ball.

If a Longhorn batter tried to key on Bednar’s fastball, he was helpless against Bednar’s slider. If the Longhorn looked for slider, he was tardy on the fastball. Bednar, 21-year-old draft-eligible sophomore, surely made himself some money this night. He dominated Texas, a red-hot team, and he did it before an announced crowd of 23,885 fans in college baseball’s Valhalla, Omaha. When Bednar left the game in the seventh inning, seemingly all those fans stood and applauded.

Yes, Bednar said, “It was probably my best ever” performance, “especially on this big a stage.”

Had to be. He allowed only one hit, a fourth inning single up the middle. That was one of only four fair balls the Longhorns managed off Bednar. The others were an infield pop up and two routine fly ball outs.

Meanwhile, Texas starter Ty Madden, a sure-fire first-round draft pick, pitched heroically in a losing effort. He went seven innings, allowing only four hits while striking out 10 and walking two. State got to him for two runs — all the Bulldogs would need — in the fourth inning. Kamren James walked to lead off the inning and then took third on Luke Hancock’s sharp single to right field. James later scored on Scotty Dubrule’s sacrifice fly. And then Hancock scored on Brad Cumbest’s wind-blown triple down the right field line.

Texas did not score until the ninth, but that’s when things got really hairy for State. Sims had retired all six Longhorns he faced in the seventh and eighth innings — five on strikeouts, one on an infield popup. In other words, he had been dominant. And then up stepped Mike Antico to lead off the ninth and he slammed a Sims fastball well over the fence in right centerfield. After Sims retired the next two batters, Ivan Melendez and Cam Williams both singled, putting runners at first and third. That’s when Sims used a slider to get the last out on a grounder to second base. Appropriately, Bednar led the charge out of the State dugout to congratulate Sims.

And so, on their third straight visit to Omaha, the Bulldogs won their CWS opener for the third straight time. That wasn’t lost on State centerfielder Rowdey Jordan, who has been a key member of all three of those Bulldog teams.

“That’s going to be something we talk about,” Jordan said afterward. “We’ve come up short the other times. So I think you celebrate a little bit, but then you put it behind you and that’s what we’re going to tell younger guys: look, guys, we’ve been here, we didn’t get it done, so let’s keep playing good.”

State next plays Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Virginia, which defeated Tennessee 6-0 earlier Sunday. The winner of that game will be in the driver’s seat to advance to the best-two-of-three championship series.

The post Historic pitching performance keys Mississippi State victory over Texas appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In the parlance of Mississippi Supreme Court justices, the word “shall” means maybe when it comes to fully funding public school districts. But when justices are talking about giving themselves a pay raise, “shall” means shall — or got to get ‘er done.

Earlier this year, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph ordered pay raises of roughly $15,000 annually for Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges and trial judges based on action taken by the Legislature in 2012. That 2012 bill said the judges “shall” have their salaries “fixed at a level… recommended by the state Personnel Board.”

Juxtapose Randolph’s actions with a unanimous 2017 decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court saying that the Legislature did not have to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program even though state law says concisely “effective with fiscal year 2007, the Legislature shall fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Program.”

The Supreme Court justices, including Randolph, ruled then that the Legislature could just ignore the word “shall.” The Supreme Court did not rule, as many believed it would, that if legislators were not going to follow the law, they should change it so it no longer said the Adequate Education Program “shall” be fully funded. It seems that it would be simple enough to remove the word shall and incorporate, for instance, “it is the intent of the Legislature to fully fund the MAEP.”

MAEP, of course, is the mechanism used to provide the state’s share of funding to pay for the basic operation of local school districts, ranging from teacher salaries to utilities to janitorial services. It provides funding based on a district’s wealth, with poorer districts receiving more state funding than more affluent school systems. The Adequate Education Program has been fully funded only twice since its full enactment in 2003 and has been underfunded a cumulative $2.8 billion since 2008, according to data compiled by The Parents’ Campaign.

READ MORE: Supreme Court chief quietly gave pay raise to himself and other judges without legislative approval

The similarities are striking when examining what happened when the current language saying MAEP “shall” be fully funded was passed in the 2006 legislative session and when the bill saying judges “shall” get a raise based on Personnel Board recommendations was enacted in the 2012 session.

In 2006, then-Gov. Haley Barbour signed into law the bill saying full funding for MAEP “shall” be phased in over a three-year period unless funds were available to fully fund it sooner. A big press conference was held.

In 2012, after an intensive lobbying campaign to provide judges a pay raise, a bill was passed to phase in salary increases for judges over a three-year period. Another section of the same bill said after 2019, judges “shall” get a pay raise based on Personnel Board recommendations.

The stark difference in what happened in 2012 and 2006 is that in 2006 legislators and Barbour bragged about the fact that a compromise had been reached where MAEP would be fully funded henceforth. The compromise came after years of legislative wrangling over the MAEP funding level.

In his 2007 State of the State speech after the 2006 legislation was passed, Barbour proudly proclaimed, “I am confident that in March, you will send me and I will sign an appropriation that fully funds the MAEP formula for next year. I expect that formula to be funded consistently at 100% in the years to come.”

On the other hand, the section of the 2012 legislation allowing the judiciary to bypass the constitutionally created legislative appropriations process was done with little or no discussion or fanfare. Various legislators have said they did not know the section was in the bill when it was passed.

The 2012 bill marks perhaps the only time legislators have given state elected officials the authority to bypass the Legislature and give themselves a pay raise.

No doubt, a strong case can be made that Mississippi judges are underpaid in comparison to the salaries of the judiciary in other states — more importantly surrounding states. According to the National Center for State Courts, most Mississippi judges earn less than their counterparts in surrounding states.

But that should not be surprising. After all, Mississippi school teachers, university and community college staff, indeed most all state employees, are near the bottom nationally in pay and also earn less than their counterparts in surrounding states. Mississippi also is near the bottom in terms of expenditures per pupil, health care access and multiple other areas.

Many groups also would like to be able to bypass the Legislature and get pay raises “to the extent sufficient funds are available” based on Personnel Board recommendations.

Of course, the judges have the added advantage in ensuring their raises since they have the constitutional mandate to interpret the law. But the word “shall,” the justices have decided, means shall for themselves.

The post Supreme Court justices get pay raise because law said they “shall” appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Perian Conerly’s eyes always sparkled when she told stories, as she so often did. She was a beautiful woman, inside and out, and a natural storyteller possessing plenty of material to tell. She also could write, and write well, and we will get to that.

One of my favorites was her story about the 1958 NFL Championship Game, the one that football historians credit with putting professional football on America’s center stage. The New York Giants played the Baltimore Colts. Charlie Conerly, Perian’s husband, was the Giants quarterback. Johnny Unitas quarterbacked the Colts. The two had a shootout that became NFL legend that day.

“Charlie threw a touchdown pass to Frank Gifford that put the Giants ahead by three points late in the game,” Perian told me. “There wasn’t much time left and they took a vote for MVP, and Charlie won.”

Then, in the last two minutes, Unitas passed the Colts down the field to set up a field goal and send the game into overtime. The Colts scored first in overtime to win the game. Another vote was taken for MVP. Unitas won and was presented a shiny new Corvette. Unitas gave the car to his wife.

Said Perian back in 2002, “I always said Dorothy Jean Unitas was driving around Baltimore in my car.”

Perian Conerly died Thursday in her hometown of Clarksdale. She was 94 and had out-lived her beloved Charlie by 25 years. Perian remained very much a part of Mississippi’s sports scene in her later years, usually presenting the C Spire Conerly Trophy to the state’s top college football player at the annual Conerly Trophy Banquet. On occasion, one of Charlie’s old Giants teammates, Gifford, Pat Summerall or Kyle Rote — all dead now — would emcee the event as a favor to Perian and a tribute to their pal, Charlie.

In the 1950s, Charlie and Perian were the toast of New York — he the ruggedly handsome quarterback and the original Marlboro man, she the Southern belle with movie star glamour, a naturally warm personality and all that charm and wit.

From all accounts, she was the first female sports writer, who wrote columns for the New York Times, among other publications. She was the first female member of the Football Writers of American Association (FWAA). Once, she appeared on the old “What’s My Line” TV show and dazzled both the panel and audience and was joined late in the show by her husband.

Back in 2001, long after Perian had ceased writing, I called to tell her that Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post had been judged the best sports columnist in American newspapers. Perian was pleased. “I don’t know her, but I do know her daddy, Dan Jenkins,” Perian said. “He’s a wonderful writer. It must run in their blood.”

Perian could write. Consider this paragraph from her book “Backseat Quarterback” first published by Doubleday in 1963. Perian was writing about meeting Charlie at a swimming pool in 1947: “I was immediately taken with his dark good looks and engaging shyness. And he had lean, low-slung lines peculiar to athletes and Cadillacs. I have always been partial to both.”

In her columns and her book, she wrote intelligently and with much wit. She took a complicated sport and broke it down in the simplest of terms. She wrote cleverly in terms even a novice fan could easily digest. And she had great sources, people named Gifford, Rote, Summerall and Chunkin’ Charlie Conerly.

She had been the editor of her college newspaper, “The Spectator,” at what is now Mississippi University for Women. After marriage, Perian approached the editor of the Clarksdale paper with the idea of writing a weekly column about life in New York during the football season. The column was instantly a hit, so she approached The Clarion Ledger about also publishing the column. Suddenly, she was syndicated. The North American Newspaper Alliance learned of the column and sought to publish on a much wider scale. The New York Times was among the subscribers.

Perian once told me she thought many of the newspaper editors “were intrigued by the idea of a woman sports writer. I mean, back then it was just unheard of.”

All that happened decades before the controversy of women writers being barred from — or allowed into — the supposed sanctity of men’s locker rooms.

“Heavens no,” she answered once when asked her if she had ever considered entering a post-game locker room.

There was no need to, really. She already had trusted inside sources. And she slept with the star quarterback.

The post Perian Conerly, who dazzled with her warmth, looks and words, dies at 94 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In our NextGen Mississippi survey, we asked Mississippians why they left the state. Here’s a sampling of what they said.

“I left Mississippi because there is a lack of opportunity, of diversity, of experience. I grew up in Mississippi and went to college in Mississippi, but as soon as I could leave, I did. It’s home and it’s beautiful, but it’s a state that is hurting — deeply, bitterly divided at the core. I believe in Mississippi, but I’m constantly let down.”

“I left immediately post-graduation because there are no real job opportunities within my profession; at least of the caliber that I desire to work in.”

“I left for better more diverse job opportunities and better support of women.”

“I left for better-ranked schools, and I’ve stayed away because there are no job opportunities in Mississippi that could come close to competing with what I can find on the coasts. I wish coming home was a better option for me.”

View more responses and take the NextGen Mississippi survey here.

The post Jobs, education, politics: Mississippians share why they left the state appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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

The U.S. Supreme Court this week eliminated one of the reasons cited by Mississippi Republican leaders for not expanding Medicaid.

The nation’s highest court rejected, in a 7-2 decision, a lawsuit asking that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — better known as Obamacare — be struck down. It was the third such lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court in recent months. The lawsuit was filed by Texas and joined by 17 other Republican-led states, including by former Gov. Phil Bryant on behalf of Mississippi.

A key provision in the Affordable Care Act is the expansion of Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor. The lawsuit rejected Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court asked that the entire law, including the expansion of Medicaid, be tossed out.

One of the reasons state leaders, such as Gov. Tate Reeves, has used for not expanding Medicaid is that there was no assurance, they claimed because of the lawsuits, that the program would remain in place. They argued that if they expanded Medicaid in Mississippi and the program was dropped by the federal government, the state would be left responsible for providing health insurance to up to 300,000 Mississippians or dropping their coverage.

Twelve states, including Mississippi, have not expanded Medicaid. While state leaders have cited the possibility of the federal government or the courts eliminating a program that 38 states participate in, the primary reason Mississippi leaders said they do not want to expand Medicaid is because it will mean additional costs to the state.

“I am not open to Medicaid expansion,” Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said at the end of the 2021 session in April. “… I don’t see Medicaid expansion as something that is beneficial to the state of Mississippi. I just don’t think the taxpayers can afford it. That is what it boils down to is the taxpayers. It is their money. I just don’t have taxpayers calling saying we want you to raise taxes so we can expand Medicaid.”

The federal government pays 90% of the costs for Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion proponents have argued that in addition to the 90% match, the influx of federal money — estimated at $1 billion per year — would be an economic boon to the state.

Plus, the American Rescue Plan, approved by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Joe Biden, offers additional financial incentive for the holdout states to expand Medicaid. It has been estimated that the incentive would be more than $600 million for Mississippi over a two-year period.

The lawsuit was essentially rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court this week because the majority said the states could not prove any harm from the Affordable Care Act.

If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Texas lawsuit, that could have placed health care coverage in jeopardy for 31 million Americans and could have placed in jeopardy coverage of pre-existing conditions for millions more.

The Texas lawsuit said among the reasons the law should be rejected is that in recent years under former President Donald Trump, the mandate that people had to purchase insurance was dropped. They claimed in earlier Supreme Court rulings the individual mandate was cited as a tax and with that tax removed the law was unconstitutional.

The post Supreme Court upholds ACA, turns focus back to Medicaid expansion appeared first on Mississippi Today.