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If nothing else, the tone from The White House will definitely be different. And after four exhausting years, boring might be a nice break.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Up Next appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission says charter school board members are subject to state ethics laws, which prohibit conflicts of interest that could lead to the misspending of public dollars.

But several operators and advocates of Mississippi charter schools, which receive taxpayer funding, say they should be exempt from those laws.

The conflict was brought to light by Ethics Commission opinions filed in 2020 after two charter schools were discovered to be spending their public funding with board members’ employers.

The revelations highlight long-standing tension between charter school and traditional public school advocates, who say charter schools need to be held to the same standards as other public governing bodies.

“The state ethics laws are not overly burdensome; they simply say that members of state agency governing boards cannot profit off of state funds by directing contracts to their own businesses or employer,” said Nancy Loome, executive director of the public education advocacy group The Parents’ Campaign. “All public school board members must abide by those rules, and charter school board members should, as well.”

Charter schools are, by law, public schools funded by local and state tax dollars. They do not charge students tuition and are held to the same academic and accountability standards as traditional public schools. These schools are often the subject of scrutiny because they are allowed more flexibility than public schools in how they operate. 

Mississippi’s charter school law, adopted by lawmakers in 2013, is the only one in the nation that does not have a specific conflict of interest provision in it, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Charters are required by state law to operate as nonprofit organizations and must adhere to IRS regulations that require conflict of interest disclosures. However, those nonprofit regulations are much less strict than several key ethics laws that public schools are subject to, including the banning all business between the organizations and board members’ companies.

Traditional public schools, meanwhile, are subject to the more stringent state ethics laws, including that school boards cannot do business with individual board members’ companies.

“All we’re saying is members of public charter school boards have to live by the same rules as members of every other type of school board,” Tom Hood, the executive director of the Ethics Commission, told Mississippi Today. “They’re not getting treated any worse or any better.”

The ethics questions arose after Ambition Prep, a K-8 charter school in Jackson, used federal funding in 2018 to contract with an insurance company owned by one of the school’s board members. Ambition Prep officials told Mississippi Today they followed their own conflict of interest laws and were not aware they had to adhere to the state ethics laws.

“Nobody knew or stated (at that time) that charter schools had to follow the ethics laws,” said DeArchie Scott, the school’s founder and executive director.

A separate charter school also attempted to enter into a contract with a board member’s professional development company but stopped at the request of the Mississippi Charter Authorizer Board, the board that oversees charter schools in the state.

The Ethics Commission responded in a 2020 ruling that all of the state’s charter school governing board members are subject to all the restrictions of the state ethics law, just as traditional public school board members, lawmakers and other public officials are.

The commission reasoned that because charter schools receive public dollars and their boards are subject to other laws such as those that require open meetings and the Public Records Act, “members of charter school governing boards are ‘public servants’ as defined (in the law), and are subject to all the applicable provisions of the Ethics in Government Law.” 

Several charter school operators disagreed with both Ethics Commission rulings. 

On Dec. 14, 2020, a lawyer for Ambition Prep wrote a letter to the commission, asking it to reconsider whether charter school board members are subject to state ethics laws. The commission declined.

Members of the charter school community argue the Ethics Commission’s take on their role goes against the intention of the charter school law that was passed in 2013, and that the law does not explicitly state board members are subject to ethics laws. 

Some also say there may be unintended consequences as a result of the opinions. 

Rachel Canter, executive director of the nonprofit education group Mississippi First, was involved in the creation of the charter school law prior to its passage in 2013. 

“It’s a big legal shift from the understanding that everybody had about charter schools for the seven years prior to (the Ethics Commission opinions), which was that charter schools are overseen and held accountable, according to the charter school law, in their contract by the authorizer board and not by any other government agency or entity,” Canter said.

She said charter schools have already operated under nonprofit rules — the looser IRS regulations — that aim to prevent conflicts of interest.

“We in the nonprofit world have something called arm’s length negotiation, which says if you’re a board member and something comes before the board in which you have a financial interest, you have to recuse yourself and leave the room,” Canter said. “But if it’s in the best interest of the organization, the decision can still be made (to approve the arrangement).” 

Canter also noted that charter schools’ finances are audited annually by the Charter School Authorizer Board. She said the effect of the opinions is essentially stating to charter schools that they now must operate under a different set of rules. 

“Charter schools are saying you’re trying to make us governmental organizations and we are not government organizations,” she said.

Jon Rybka, the CEO of RePublic Schools, a Nashville-based charter operator with three schools in Jackson, said charter schools are unique and face different challenges than other governmental entities. Rybka pointed out that in Mississippi, charter schools are “both governmental entities and nonprofits” and believes that they should be governed by regulations that are tailored to their unique situations. 

“If I had to guess, every mission-driven school, church or nonprofit has board members that are involved because they care about the mission, so they’re probably involved in the mission in other areas as well,” Rybka said. “I just don’t want to see this ruling getting in the way of good people bringing their resources to the mission.”

Amanda Johnson, executive director of Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School in Clarksdale, said she is concerned about the opinions’ impact on charter schools’ flexibility and autonomy.

“When I think about why I do this work and why I believe in charters, part of it is because they are set up to be different and be provided with some additional flexibility, appropriate flexibility, that allows the schools to operate in a different way than a traditional district,” Johnson said. “It’s not that we are above ethics laws or behaving ethically, but we should not be under the same rules and regulations that a governmental agency would be under.”

Johnson, along with others, also says that restrictions like these are part of the reason charter schools have not expanded in Mississippi as they have in other areas. Since 2013, when the charter school law was passed, only eight charter schools have opened in the state, six of which are in Jackson.

“There are charter schools, CMOs (charter management organizations), that operate in other states that the Authorizer Board has tried to attract, legislators have tried to attract (to Mississippi) and haven’t been able to,” said Johnson. “Making this work more restrictive is going against what charter schools were designed to be. It makes it less attractive (to CMOs) and more difficult (for schools) to recruit board members as well.” 

But others disagree with the sentiments of the state’s charter operators and say it’s important for charter schools to be held to the same standards as traditional public schools.

“There have been many unfortunate stories from other states of charter school laws leading to scandals involving misuse of taxpayer funds,” Loome, with The Parents’ Campaign, said. “Thankfully, Mississippi law protects children and taxpayers from that sort of unscrupulous activity.”

The post Charter schools receive taxpayer dollars. Should their board members follow state ethics laws? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

President Donald Trump, in his final hours in office, granted pardons and commutations to dozens of people, including a campaign staffer of Gov. Tate Reeves who now works for the state, and others convicted of crimes in Mississippi.

“I am very humbled by the president thinking enough of me to do this,” said David Clanton, who served as political director on Reeves’ gubernatorial campaign and is now employed as director of surplus property for the state Department of Finance and Administration. “… A lot of people were involved in this — many people, I’m not going to say names.”

Trump fully pardoned Clanton for his conviction in the early 1990s of “false statements and related charges.” Clanton’s charges stem from farm subsidies fraud when Clanton served on the USDA’s Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service in Mississippi. Clanton’s case was involved in a federal investigation into then-U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, for which Espy was indicted but later acquitted. A federal investigative report said that Clanton participated in a “Mississippi Christmas tree scheme” to allow farmers to fraudulently receive hundreds of thousands in crop subsidies.

A White House release on the pardons said that U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, Wesson Mayor Alton Shaw and others supported Clanton’s pardon, but made no mention of Reeves, who is a staunch supporter of Trump. Wicker’s office declined to comment on the pardon.

Clanton also declined comment on the case, other than, “It was a long time ago, and I don’t really remember much about it … it did have to deal with farm subsidies.” Reeves’ office did not immediately respond to request for comment on Wednesday, including a question of whether he had any qualms about Clanton serving at DFA after a conviction involving government fraud.

The Trump release said that, “Mr. Clanton’s supporters testify to his contributions to the community, especially with respect to issues surrounding rural healthcare. Mr. Clanton has been active with 4-H Clubs and other organizations in his community.”

Trump’s other pardons for Mississippi crimes are:

Dr. Robert S. Corkern – Batesville physician Corkern pleaded guilty to bribery in 2012 in a federal case alleging multi-million dollar health care fraud in North Mississippi. Trump said the pardon is supported by Sens. Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, former Gov. Phil Bryant and others.

“This pardon will help Dr. Corkern practice medicine in his community, which is in dire need of more doctors as it has struggled to keep up with demand for emergency services,” the Trump release said. “Dr. Corkern served in the Mississippi Army National Guard and has generously provided his services to low-income patients.”

Joey Hancock – Hancock was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Trump’s release said: “Senator Roger Wicker, and Mr. Hancock’s employer, pastor, and other members of his community all support this pardon … Following his release from prison, Mr. Hancock has been a hard-working employee and active in his church and community.”

Steven Benjamin Floyd – Floyd, who joined the Marine Corps at age 17 and saw combat in Iraq, pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery by extortion. Trump’s release said: “Since his release from prison in 2009, Mr. Floyd has exemplified the power of second chances, and is raising a family and owns a successful car repair business. Mr. Floyd’s dedication to service includes helping extinguish fires set during the recent unrest and repairing widows and disabled veterans’ cars free of charge. President Trump thanks Mr. Floyd for his past military service and for his commitment to his community.”

Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations in his final hours in office — as presidents traditionally do. His pardons included one of his former campaign fundraisers, a former political strategist and two well-known Hip Hop artists.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Jackson State University head football coach Deion Sanders wrote a letter of support for rapper Lil Wayne, who was also pardoned by the president.

The post Trump pardons Gov. Reeves campaign staffer, other Mississippians appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippian Sarah Thomas on Sunday, Feb. 7, will become the first woman to officiate the Super Bowl. She will serve as the down judge, a position she has held in the NFL since 2015, when she became pro football’s first female official.

You should know that serving as an official in football’s grandest game represents a reward for a job well done. “They are the best of the best,” said Troy Vincent Sr., NFL executive vice president for operations, in announcing the seven-person officiating crew for the 55th Super Bowl, which will be played in Tampa.

While many will be surprised to see a woman on the field at the Super Bowl, anyone who has followed Thomas’s career should not be. This writer surely is not. Thomas, 47, has been a trailblazer throughout her career.

She was first pointed out to me in 2007 when I was covering a Southern Miss football game in Hattiesburg. The late Jack Vaughn, a former NFL official who called three Super Bowls, was serving as the replay official in the press box. We both had our binoculars and he pointed Thomas out to me at about midfield. “She’s good, really good,” he told me. “I believe she’ll be officiating in the NFL one day. She’s that good.”

Thomas, who lives in the Reservoir area in Rankin County, was the first woman to officiate in Conference USA. Later, she became the first woman to officiate a college bowl game. Before that, she was the first to officiate a Mississippi high school playoff game. In 2015, she became the first female official in the NFL. In 2019, she became the first to officiate an NFL playoff game. There has been a definite trend at work here.

Funny story: In the summer of 2011, I was in New Orleans walking the sidelines at a Saints scrimmage in their indoor practice facility. I literally bumped into a little boy on the sidelines, playing with a tackling dummy. He looked to be four or five years old, and I figured he was the son of a coach or player.

“Where’s your daddy?” I asked him.

“He’s at home,” the boy answered.

“Then where’s your mommy?” I asked.

The little guy turned and pointed out on the field. “She’s out there,” he said. “See her? She’s wearing the striped shirt.”

And there was Sarah Thomas, blowing her whistle, waving her arms and signaling a timeout. Turns out, she was then in a training program to become an NFL official, just as Jack Vaughn had predicted.

So, you ask, how does a woman become a football official? Well, if you are Sarah Thomas, you grow up in Pascagoula playing all sports with your two brothers. In high school, you play softball and basketball. You continue to play at Mobile College, where you become an academic All-American in basketball. You graduate and there’s no sport left for you to play and an older brother asks you if you’d like to try officiating. So you attend an organizational meeting of high school officials, you study the rules, you take the test and you join the group.

And then you work your way up the ladder, rung by rung, until you reach the top. Last Sunday night, Thomas called Tampa Bay’s victory over the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. TV cameras showed her several times in her duties as down judge, lined up at the line of scrimmage on the sideline opposite of the line judge on the other side of the field. She was shown making several calls, none of which she missed. She officiates with a confident and business-like air about her.

Said the NFL’s Vincent of Thomas in Tuesday’s announcement, “Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl.”

Hers is simply one more advancement for her gender in sports. I’ve seen so many in my years of covering games. The first Mississippi high school girls basketball games I covered were three-on-three on each end of the court because the old men who made the rules thought girls too dainty to run the full floor. They didn’t have a women’s marathon in the Olympics until 1972. Again, 26.2 miles was considered far too strenuous for females. Now, the women’s world record for marathons is two hours, 14 minutes, four seconds. That would have won men’s Olympic gold in 1968.

The Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball recently hired a female general manager. Several college athletic conferences have female commissioners. And we could go on and on.

Sarah Thomas is not the first female to possess the ability, personality and know-how to successfully officiate professional football. She is the first to have the opportunity.

And she has made good on it. There are 121 NFL officials, one woman: Sarah Thomas.

NFL officials assigned to the Super Bowl are not allowed to do media interviews until after the game.

I texted Thomas a congratulatory note Tuesday.

Her response: “Thank you, I want to make Mississippi proud.”

She already has.

The post Another first for NFL referee Sarah Thomas: She’s headed to the Super Bowl. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi leans heavily on federal money. It takes in a larger share than most other states. 

But when it comes to accepting around $1 billion per year in health care assistance from the feds, Mississippi steadfastly refuses. Leaders say they are trying to fix the state’s health woes, from a last-ranked health care system and the highest percentage of residents with past-due medical debt. Yet they reject a free-flowing federal money spigot that experts say would quickly improve those rankings. 

This federal money is tied to extending Medicaid insurance coverage to a larger share of Mississippi’s population. It’s a step Republican officials have long been hesitant to take, but a growing number of advocates say the state has waited long enough, especially as Mississippi seeks to recover from the pandemic. 

They are exploring several options to expand coverage and accept the federal money, from ballot initiatives to a proposal where hospitals would help the state pay for its share of the costs. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted existing health disparities and a lack of access to healthcare for many Mississippians,” said Linda Dixon, health law director for the Mississippi Center for Justice. “Now is the time we can expand Medicaid to ensure coverage for all Mississippians.”

Mississippians in the gap

For decades Medicaid was intended for pregnant women, low-income seniors, people with disabilities and poor children. But the 2010 Affordable Care Act allowed states to expand access to low-income adults. 

There are approximately 170,000 Mississippians who could qualify, according to one estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation. These are mostly working folks who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line, or about $17,600 for one person.

Without Medicaid expansion, they fall into a coverage gap. They make too much money to qualify for traditional Medicaid coverage, yet not enough to qualify for cheaper plans in the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace. 

If it extended coverage to these people, Mississippi would be on the hook for 10% of the program’s costs. The feds would pay the rest of the tab. Some estimates suggest this could run the state $75 million to $100 million annually. 

State leaders, especially Republicans, have often questioned how Mississippi could possibly come up with those funds in its notoriously lean budget.  

The Mississippi Hospital Association’s plan

But the Mississippi Hospital Association has suggested this money doesn’t actually need to come from state coffers. 

Instead, the group proposes paying the state’s share from a combination of taxes paid by hospitals themselves, as well as fees paid by the program’s enrollees — $20 per month per person, plus copayments. It calls the plan Mississippi Cares.

Hospitals are willing to pay a tax for Medicaid expansion because it would cost them less money than constantly treating patients who don’t have insurance and can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket, said Tim Moore, the association’s CEO. In 2019, he said, Mississippi’s hospitals gave out $616 million worth of this free care. 

That’s up by about $100 million over the past decade. The high price tag is no surprise: Mississippi has one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation, according to Kaiser.

An analysis commissioned by the Hospital Association in 2019 found the Mississippi Cares plan could generate thousands of jobs as well as $200 million more in state revenue per year. And it estimated it could reduce the hospitals’ uncompensated care price tag by $250 million. 

“This is basically an insurance policy that is paid for by hospitals that are already seeing these patients anyway,” Moore has said of the proposal. 

Because the hospital plan would be customized for Mississippi, the state would need to request approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS has approved such waivers in other states, including in Indiana when Vice President Mike Pence was governor, a fact Moore brings up frequently.

He said the Hospital Association plans to be “more aggressive” about promoting their expansion plan during the 2021 legislative session, which began this month. In a presentation to lawmakers late last year, he saved his Medicaid expansion pitch for last, saying leaders need to make a “simple choice.” 

“Are we going to continue to turn our backs on a plan which would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in straight revenue, would help hundreds of thousands of Mississippians of low income — working adults — and the Mississippi hospitals and healthcare providers who serve all of us?”

Polling and murky politics

Public support has only grown for Medicaid expansion in recent years. A Millsaps College and Chism Strategies poll from a year ago found 60% supported expansion, up from 52% two years prior. 

Recent polls — including a January survey from Millsaps and Chism — shows Mississippians are more worried about health costs and access than any other state issue. Those concerns have prompted Medicaid expansion to be popular campaign trail issues for Democrat and Republican candidates alike. 

But the political path to expansion in Mississippi remains rocky because Republican Gov. Tate Reeves continues to strongly oppose the idea and would almost surely veto an expansion bill. To force it through, two-thirds of the GOP-controlled Legislature would need to vote to override Reeves. 

“I remain adamantly opposed to Medicaid expansion in Mississippi. I firmly believe that it is not good public policy to place 300,000 additional Mississippians on government-funded health care,” Reeves wrote in his recent budget recommendation, adding the state money for such a program would be better spent elsewhere, including on raising teacher pay. 

His statement, which cited a high-end estimate for how many people might benefit from the program, didn’t mention the Hospital Association’s plan, which would cover the state’s costs. 

“We can’t even discuss it” with the governor, Moore said of the hospital plan. 

Still, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann — a Republican who advocated for expansion when he ran for the office in 2019 — recently told reporters he remains open to expansion even though it was not among his top list of priorities for this session. He said the Hospital Association’s plan is worth considering.  

And he said he will allow Senate Public Health and Welfare Chairman Hob Bryan, a Democrat, to choose whether to advance expansion legislation. 

“In my conversations with him, I didn’t sense he was going to bring up an expansion of health care this year,” Hosemann said of Bryan. “But I did sense that was on his radar.” 

Bryan is an avid supporter of Medicaid expansion. But in an interview, the Democrat said such a bill would more likely be considered by the Senate’s Medicaid committee, and even if it was assigned to his committee, it is destined for eventual failure given Reeves’ adamant opposition. 

“Elections have consequences,” Bryan said of Reeves’ victory in 2019. “That’s a mighty important factor.” 

Medicaid expansion generally remains a topic many legislative Republicans avoid, even as Democrats have introduced dozens of bills in recent years. 

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, did not answer questions about where he stands on the Hospital Association’s proposal or similar Medicaid expansion ideas before the session. The Republican leaders of both the House and Senate Medicaid committees also declined to weigh in.   

What the research says

Bryan said that the economic and health benefits of expansion are clear. 

Indeed, a Kaiser literature review of 404 studies found generally positive outcomes for states that expanded. Expansion reduces how many people in a state are uninsured, especially helpful in rural areas. It helps increase access to care, which some studies suggest translate into more diseases and conditions caught earlier. 

And in terms of state economics, the studies find state revenues and overall economic growth increase following expansion. “Multiple studies suggest that expansion can result in state savings by offsetting state costs in other areas,” the review says. 

Meanwhile, the authors write, a “growing number of studies show an association between expansion and gains in employment as well as growth in the labor market.” 

Lingering Republican opposition, Bryan argued, is due to only one factor: Medicaid expansion was made possible thanks to the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare. 

Bryan said it’s the biggest policy failure he’s seen in his legislative career, which dates to 1984.

Will a ballot initiative get traction?

Advocates say the pandemic is the time to press the issue. Roy Mitchell, executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, noted the coronavirus reinforces how critical Medicaid coverage is for people who lost their jobs and need testing and treatment. 

Mitchell’s program has joined several other policy and health experts in the state who are exploring a possible Medicaid expansion ballot initiative.  

The next step in that process, he said, is to commission a fiscal analysis of expansion in the state, including the potential larger economic benefits. These figures are needed to make a more robust pitch to voters, he said. 

Moore said the Hospital Association’s board of directors has also discussed the possibility of a Medicaid expansion ballot initiative. 

Ballot initiatives have been a winning strategy in other states, including conservative ones such as Oklahoma and Missouri, where voters recently approved expansion programs. Mississippi is one of 12 states not to expand.  

“Obviously there’s shifting attitudes towards expansion in the South, and in general,” Mitchell said. 

Advocates acknowledge they will likely need more broad support from state medical organizations and doctors for a successful initiative effort. 

A Mississippi State Medical Association spokeswoman did not respond to messages seeking an interview about expansion. The group has largely stayed quiet about the debate; its political arm endorsed Reeves for governor in 2019. 

However, the group’s president recently told lawmakers they have waited far too long to approve expansion.

“Inexcusably, we have forgone billions in federal assistance that would’ve helped our most vulnerable citizens,” Dr. Mark Horne said. “We ask the legislature to act on expanding coverage in the upcoming session.”

This report was produced in partnership with the Community Foundation for Mississippi’s local news collaborative, which is independently funded in part by Microsoft Corp. The collaborative includes the Clarion Ledger, the Jackson Advocate, Jackson State University, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Mississippi Today.

The post Mississippi hospitals renew fight for Medicaid expansion amid the pandemic appeared first on Mississippi Today.

READ MORE: Two legislators test positive for COVID-19, lawmakers begin receiving vaccines

The post Marshall Ramsey: Under Threat appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday appointed John Rounsaville as permanent Mississippi Development Authority director after Rounsaville served as interim since May.

Rounsaville joked that he first thought Reeves named him interim director of the state’s economic development agency during the COVID-19 pandemic so he could blame Rounsaville if the state economy “flopped.”

“2020 was not a flop,” Rounsaville said. “We had $1.6 billion in new capital investment, 30% above 2019’s capital investment … and more than 5,000 new jobs were committed to Mississippi … We are definitely moving the needle forward despite the challenges.”

MDA is the state’s lead economic and community development agency, and employs about 300 people. It works to recruit new businesses to the state and retain and expand existing industry and manages the state’s energy programs. MDA also promotes Mississippi as a tourism destination.

Rounsaville replaces Glenn McCullough Jr., who served as MDA director under former Gov. Phil Bryant from 2015 through January of last year.

“(Rounsaville) has done an excellent job in his interim capacity,” Reeves said Tuesday. “He’s earned the respect of Mississippi business leaders across the state.”

Rounsaville most recently served as state director for USDA Rural Development for the President Trump administration, a post he also held from 2006 to 2008 under President George W. Bush. Rounsaville served as deputy chief of staff and other roles for former U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering and as policy adviser to former Gov. Haley Barbour.

Rounsaville is a decorated military veteran and currently serves as a JAG and major at the 186th in the Mississippi Air Force National Guard. He is a master’s graduate of Mississippi State University and received a law degree from the University of Mississippi. Rounsavilee and his wife, Laura, live in Madison with their two sons.

Reeves and Rounsaville said Mississippi has economically fared better than most states amid the pandemic, and the governor noted that the state ranks third-best in the nation for job recovery from the pandemic.

“We opened up our economy more quickly and more fully than most other states,” Reeves said.

The post Gov. Reeves names permanent head of state’s economic development agency appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A Mississippi state senator and a state representative have tested positive for COVID-19, Mississippi Today confirmed on Tuesday, prompting concerns that another Capitol virus outbreak could occur.

“We immediately contacted Dr. (Thomas) Dobbs (the state health officer) and are following protocol,” Leah Rupp Smith, a spokesperson for Senate leader Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, said Tuesday.

House Pro Tem Rep. Jason White told Mississippi Today on Tuesday that a member of the House of Representatives also tested positive. White said the members sitting near the infected member are not participating in proceedings this week to try to prevent the spread.

He said the House got advice from Dobbs before opting not to recess the legislative session.

“We are following his lead and are in constant communications with him,” White said.

Additional details about the positive tests were not immediately available. It is unclear which lawmakers tested positive.

On the same day the positive tests were confirmed, lawmakers and legislative staffers stood in line inside the Capitol to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

Officials said the Department of Health initially planned to administer vaccines to lawmakers over 65 and their spouses, but they had extra doses and opened it up to all lawmakers and legislative staffers. The state has been slow to administer vaccines to the greater public, and the few vaccine appointments available across the state are currently open to anyone over the age of 65 or those with pre-existing health conditions.

It is not clear whether the positive tests resulted in the Department of Health opting to provide the vaccine to legislators on Tuesday.

A COVID-19 outbreak occurred at the Capitol while lawmakers met during the summer of 2019. Hosemann, who presides over the Senate and contracted the virus last year, proposed starting the 2021 session in early January and taking a break until later in the year over concerns of an additional outbreak. House leadership, including Speaker Philip Gunn, who also contracted the virus last year, rejected that proposal, forcing lawmakers to conduct business as usual in Jackson this month.

“I’m concerned about my legislators going back to different parts of the state and spreading it to places that didn’t previously have it,” Hosemann said in late December. “And I’m worried about the people who work here (at the Capitol). We have several hundred people who work here every day.”

READ MORE: Hosemann wants to delay 2021 session as COVID-19 spikes. House leaders remain hesitant.

During the summer outbreak, at least 49 of the 175 members (including the lieutenant governor) had contracted the coronavirus, resulting in some members being hospitalized. In addition more than 10 staff members and legislative lobbyists also contracted the disease in the summer. Health officials attributed at least one death to the outbreak — a family member of someone who contracted the virus at the Capitol.

The Legislature has attempted to follow strict guidelines this session with most members and staff wearing masks. Committee meetings, for the most part, have been limited to the larger rooms in the state Capitol to allow for social distancing. But some lawmakers have been seen without masks, and others have held maskless meetings in small spaces.

READ MORE: Frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines in Mississippi.

As lawmakers contend with virus concerns, Gov. Tate Reeves and the legislative leaders have been trying to determine when and if the governor would hold a State of the State address this year. There will likely be no State of the State in a joint session in a crowded House chamber as usual, though there has been talk of holding a State of the State address outside the Capitol.

There is no requirement that a speech be provided. The state Constitution simply says “the governor shall, from time to time, give the Legislature information of the State of the State and recommend for consideration such measurers as may be deemed necessary and expedient.”

The post Two legislators test positive for COVID-19, lawmakers begin receiving vaccines appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday said that more than 100,000 Mississippians have received COVID-19 vaccinations, and the state has improved from 50th in the nation to the mid- to high 30s in getting “shots into arms.”

Reeves said that the state had administered 114,947 doses as of Friday — practically all its allotment through then — including 9,719 fully inoculated with a second dose. He said the state hopes this week to administer up to 67,800 doses.

As of Monday, appointments will be available for next week for those 65 and older and health care workers, Reeves said, and he hopes the inoculations can soon begin for first responders and teachers. Reeves said the state expects to have about 30,000 doses available for next week.

The state website and call center were overwhelmed in first weeks of the state providing inoculation appointments for senior citizens and health care providers. Reeves, at a press conference Monday with health department, emergency management and military officials, said the website and call center have been improved and “bulked up” to better meet demand.

“We will do everything in our power to remove every roadblock and provide access to as many people as possible,” Reeves said. “There is no higher priority.”

READ MORE: Frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines in Mississippi.

The state is providing vaccinations by appointment only at 19 drive through sites, and 144 private hospitals and clinics are also administering the shots. Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are providing vaccinations through a federally run program in partnership with private pharmacies.

Reeves said the state will begin resupplying only those private providers that have administered at least 65% of their allotments. He also said he is working to shift doses from nursing homes to the general population because he believes nursing homes were “over allocated.” Vaccinations in long-term care facilities have been going slower than state officials had expected, but Reeves said he’s been given assurance that will improve.

The post Mississippi ramps up COVID-19 vaccinations after early hiccups appeared first on Mississippi Today.

You’ve probably heard this said many different ways by many different football players, coaches and announcers. To me, Archie Manning said it best long ago after he won NFC Offensive Player of the Year and he told me, “Just remember, the quarterback always gets too much credit and too much blame.”

If it’s not written in stone somewhere, it should be.

Those words kept coming back to me Sunday night as we watched what is surely the final chapter of the compelling story that has been Drew Brees’ 15-year run with the New Orleans Saints and his 20-year NFL career.

Brees was pedestrian, at best, in the 30-20 defeat to the Tampa Bay Bucs. His numbers were telling: 19 for 34, 134 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The interceptions were all converted into Tampa Bay scores. Still, Manning’s words rang true. There was plenty blame to go around. Brees’ receivers created very little space between themselves and Bucs defenders. Brees’ protection often broke down. The Saints running game sputtered. Key players were hurt. The Bucs won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They were the better team.

But here’s the deal: In similar situations over the past 15 years, we have seen Brees find a way. We have seen him zip passes into the smallest of windows to lift the Saints to unlikely victories. We have seen him somehow maneuver away from a daunting pass rush and throw a dart between defenders to a well-covered receiver at the most bleak of moments. Indeed, we have seen it so many times that it almost seems inconceivable these days when Brees’ passes arrive a nanosecond too late or miss the mark. That happened time after time Sunday night. Even a couple of his completed passes seemed to stay in the air forever.

Afterward, Brees said he had not decided whether or not to retire from the field to the NBC broadcast booth. He has already signed a post-retirement offer with the network.

Now surely is the time. His 42-year-old muscles and bones, many of the latter still mending, have pretty much made the decision for him.

But, oh, what memories he leaves us. He is a first-ballot, should-be-unanimous Hall of Famer. He would retire as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yardage.

Let’s think back to 2006 when the Saints signed him. Remember? Hurricane Katrina had devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf South region. The Saints had finished 3-13 the year before, playing home games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio because of Katrina.

Furthermore, the Saints had achieved only five winning seasons in their previous 39. The Saints came to Jackson and Millsaps College to train that summer of 2006. Sean Payton was the brand new coach, coming over from the Dallas Cowboys. Brees was on the mend from a terrible injury to his throwing shoulder suffered the season before in San Diego. Many experts – among them, Nick Saban – believed the injury career-threatening.

There was every reason to expect abject failure from Brees and the Saints. The Saints offensive line was a patched-together group. Deuce McAllister was at the end of his marvelous career. The Saints defense, so porous the year before, was being overhauled, piece by piece.

And here came Brees to Millsaps, at first throwing passes that lacked zip, fluttered and often missed their target. Nevertheless, Brees kept telling us his shoulder was 90 percent back to normal and that training camp would provide the final 10 percent.

And it did. Those 2006 Saints finished 10 and 6. Brees was spectacular. He has been consistently spectacular since. He is the best player in New Orleans Saints franchise history: Saint Drew.

But again, we must remember the quarterback always gets too much blame, but also too much credit.

Payton deserves so much of the credit for the Saints’ success of the past 15 years. He could not have done it without Brees, but it’s also highly doubtful Brees could have done it without him. They have been a terrific team, and Payton has surrounded Brees for most of that time with a remarkable supporting cast.

The Saints will retain the nucleus of a playoff-calibre team if Payton can find or develop a quarterback to replace the legend. Make no mistake, that’s a must. The quarterback always gets too much blame or too much credit, but you cannot succeed in the NFL without a really, really good one. Saint Drew was one of the best of all.

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