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State revenue collections through the first two months of the fiscal year are $258.7 million or 34.8% above what was collected during the same time last year.

The revenue report for the month of August, recently released by the staff of the Legislative Budget Committee, details unprecedented growth in state tax collections which some say was boosted in part by federal stimulus funds.

The strong revenue collections could play a factor as legislative leaders on the Legislative Budget Committee meet later this month to begin the months-long process of developing a budget for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Earlier this year, state leaders and economists feared a $1.2 billion decrease in tax revenue during the latter part of the past fiscal year and current fiscal year of because of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a downturn would result in major cuts in state services and the elimination of a significant number of state jobs.

But unless a dramatic downturn occurs in the coming months, such cuts are not likely to happen.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

Gov. Tate Reeves

Gov. Tate Reeves has touted what he says is an improving state economy. In early August, he cited a national report placing Mississippi at seventh nationally in terms of regaining jobs lost in March and April as the nation and state shut down because of the pandemic.

“We’re not in love at all with our economic results, but we are certainly doing better than a lot of other states,” he said in August.

In fact, revenue collections for the first two months of the fiscal year would indicate that the state is experiencing unprecedented economic growth. Generally, state revenue collections, such as from the sales tax, personal and corporate income tax and to a lesser extent from other sources, are viewed as an indicator of economic strength.

But in this instance, some other issues might be contributing to the large increase in tax collections. For instance, state leaders opted to push back the deadline for people to pay their tax liability from April 15 to July 15. That resulted in income tax liabilities that normally were paid to the state in the last fiscal year being collected in the new fiscal year. As a result, personal income tax collections for July, the first month in the new fiscal year, increased $119.5 million or 94.2 percent. That delay in filing and paying tax returns, no doubt skewed revenue collections in a favorable way for the current fiscal year.

Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory

And more importantly, said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, is that the state economy, and thus the revenue collections, was buoyed by the income Mississippians received earlier this year from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The $2 trillion plus program approved by Congress provided most adults in the nation earning less than $99,000 a federal payment of $1,200, or a maximum of $3,400 for a family of four earning less than $198,000.

Bryan said the federal payments had a greater impact “in a poor state like Mississippi” because low income people are more apt to quickly spend such payments to address their needs.

“I don’t think there is any question that when you drop that amount of money in the Mississippi economy, it will get spent and have an impact,” Bryan said.

In addition, people who lost their jobs (about 200,000 Mississippians, according to state data) were receiving an additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits through July thanks to the CARES Act. Some of the state’s political leadership complained that the extra payment resulted in many Mississippians who lost their jobs opting not to go back to work because they were earning more not working as a result of the federal supplement.

When legislative leaders complained to then-state Economist Darrin Webb about people not returning to their jobs because of the enhanced unemployment benefits, he said, “They do want to work, but they also respond to market forces.”

The enhanced unemployment benefits in the CARES Act ended on July 31, but Reeves has opted to accept an additional $300 per week for many unemployed Mississippians on a short-term basis thanks to an executive order enacted by President Donald Trump.

Bryan said the issue is not that people were not working because they could receive more in unemployment benefits in the short term, but that wages were so low in Mississippi that people would make that choice. He said the key to Mississippi getting off the bottom economically is not by reducing the unemployment rate, but by increasing the average pay of its workers.

As legislative leaders begin work in the coming weeks on developing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1, they will have to try to ascertain whether the growth in tax collections will continue or fall off as the impact of the CARES Act evaporates.

The post CARES Act cited as a factor in soaring revenue collections early in fiscal year appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Gov. Tate Reeves walks out of the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson on Thursday, March 26, 2020, as he prepares to speak to media about the coronavirus during a press conference.

Gov. Tate Reeves’ approval rating for his handling of COVID-19 dropped from 56% in late April to 34% in late August in an ongoing survey that shows a decline nationwide in approval of governors’ management of the pandemic.

But approval in Mississippi of President Trump’s handling of the pandemic has remained relatively stable, at 46% in late April and 45% in late August.

The 50-state survey is a joint project of Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers and Northwestern universities. The latest survey, conducted from Aug. 7-26, is the ninth wave of the project. The project took an online survey of 21,196 people across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error for Mississippi’s results is +/- 7.

Reeves is among 12 governors with “notably low” approval ratings below 40%, the project reported, including those in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas.

Overall, governors saw their average approval drop 3 points over the previous month, and from 63% in late April to 48% in late August. Trump’s approval for the same period went from 42% to 34%, but he has seen an uptick from his lowest approval of 32% in late July.

Republican governors, like Reeves, have on average dropped 12 points among Republicans surveyed and 19 points among Democrats. Democratic governors on average have dropped 8 points among Democrats and and 16 points among Republicans.

Reeves has, in turns, faced criticism in Mississippi for moving too slowly or not being strict enough with shutdowns and mandates such as mask wearing, and for being too strict. He has also faced some criticism for not himself wearing a mask in large public gatherings even as he urged or mandated that others do.

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves extends statewide mask mandate

In a written statement last week, Reeves said he’s “done everything possible to balance freedom and responsibility” as Mississippi has dealt with the pandemic and that it has been successful.

“The state is open for business,” Reeves said. “And our coronavirus cases are plummeting. Our hospitals have the capacity they need today. Why? Because we’ve got limited, targeted interventions in place the people can realistically work within.”

The post Survey: Gov. Tate Reeves’ COVID-19 approval rating plummets while Trump’s holds steady appeared first on Mississippi Today.

First of all, my heart goes out to our brothers and sisters in Alabama and Florida. Hurricane Sally, a slow moving storm, intensified right as it approached Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, sending in storm surge, winds and up to two feet of rain into Baldwin County and the Florida panhandle. Sally was originally forecast to hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast — and once again, national media outlets struggled with what to call us. Some of the examples are in the cartoon. It’s a minor problem in the scheme of 2020, but it’s annoying.

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

Auditor Shad White says his alma mater, the University of Mississippi, should fire an outspoken professor.

State Auditor Shad White said this week the University of Mississippi should fire JT Thomas, a sociology professor who participated in a two-day “work stoppage” last week.

Thomas, an outspoken professor who has regularly drawn the public scorn of top statewide Republican elected officials, participated in a national walkout on Sept. 8-9 called the “Scholar Strike,” in which hundreds of faculty at universities across the nation protested police brutality and other racial inequities. Thomas called it a “work stoppage” on Twitter.

White, a Republican and noted alumnus of the University of Mississippi, wrote a Monday letter to university leaders arguing that Thomas had broken the state law — state employees are explicitly barred in state law from striking — and that the university should pursue termination. The letter was first reported by The Clarion Ledger.

In addition to firing Thomas, White said that the university should recoup Thomas’ salary for the two days he did not work. Agents from the auditor’s office visited Thomas’ home last week to ask about the strike.

“It is my responsibility as auditor to ensure that no public money is illegally spent,” White told Mississippi Today. “Strikes and concerted work stoppages are illegal in Mississippi. Mr. Thomas cannot be paid for the days he did not work. Also, the penalty for striking is termination. The law is the law. He cannot act as if he is above the law.”

Shad White letter about JT Thomas (Text)

Thomas did not offer comment for this article. University leaders had not publicly commented by Wednesday mid-morning.

Professor JT Thomas

Thomas has been the subject of public scrutiny in the past. After conservatives called into question a tweet of Thomas’ last year, the state’s college board took the unprecedented step of considering whether to grant Thomas tenure in a closed-door meeting. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant weighed in, suggesting Thomas shouldn’t receive tenure. The board ultimately granted Thomas tenure, but conservatives made Thomas the poster of progressive ideals at the university.

PODCAST: UM professor JT Thomas discusses controversial tenure decision.

Attorneys and professors on Wednesday morning are publicly raising questions about whether Thomas’ two day “work stoppage” would even qualify as a violation of state law. In a tweet, Thomas suggested he hadn’t completely skipped work on Sept. 8-9.

“100 percent of my job requires time spent thinking. Thinking before writing. Thinking while writing. Thinking before teaching. Thinking while teaching. If I’m thinking I’m working,” Thomas tweeted on Sept. 13.

Mississippi state law specifically forbids teachers from striking. A strike is defined in statute as “a concerted failure to report for duty, a willful absence from one’s position, the stoppage of work, a deliberate slowing down of work, or the withholding, in whole or in part, of the full, faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of inducing, influencing or coercing a change in the conditions, compensation, rights, privileges or obligations of public employment.”

READ MORE: Background of Mississippi’s strict law that forbids educators from striking.

Mississippi teachers went on strike for the first and only time in 1985 during Democrat Gov. William Allain’s tenure. Teachers participated in walkouts and picketing to advocate for a $3,500 raise, the New York Times reported at the time. The wildcat strike, which ended with more than 9,000 teachers walking off the job in March 1985, resulted in a $4,400 pay raise granted by the state Legislature, according to Education Week.

Though the strike yielded results, it came with harsh consequences — threats of fines and jail time. The labor law currently on the books came as a direct result of those demonstrations.

The post A UM professor skipped work to protest racial inequality. State auditor says he should be fired. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Chiquikta Fountain is the Director of Delta Hands for Hope, a non-profit in Shaw.

Chiquikta Fountain, a Mississippi Delta native, is the executive director for Delta Hands for Hope in Shaw, Mississippi which is also in the Mississippi Delta. Fountain has spearheaded the organization’s pivot from offering youth after school and summer programming to also becoming a designated emergency food pantry once the pandemic hit. 

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length.

Mississippi Today: What do you do as director for Delta Hands for Hope?

Chiquikta Fountain: Our organization is focused on youth. We do a lot around education. We do after school programming, we also offer summer camps. We also focus on health and nutrition. An example of that would be our summer feeding program. Right now we’re actually operating as an emergency food pantry because of COVID. So we’re using our background in working with kids in that area to ensure that they’re still getting access to meals until school starts. So pretty much whatever the community needs, we try to serve in that capacity, but our main focus is youth.

Mississippi Today: Do you see yourself as an advocate as well as a community leader?

Fountain: I do. My background was in advocacy, particularly in education advocacy before I took this job last year. So one of the things that I really wanted to do when I came into this position was find ways to use that skill set as a director. And I just think it worked hand-in-hand. We have access to so many resources and we need to be using those resources to empower our youth and how they see themselves. I want to help give them the tools that they need to learn how to navigate the world whether they choose to leave Shaw or to live here in Shaw, to show them that they can still make change. They can still bring impact and also help their families. There’s no way that we can focus all of our efforts on supporting youth and just disregard the family unit. So whatever it is that we can do to bridge that gap, we’re looking to do that as well.

Mississippi Today: How have you seen your role as a community leader and advocate evolved through this pandemic and social reckoning that we’re happening? 

Fountain: Even — There’s still optimism. I want to use my position and my point of view to show that yes, these things are happening in our area. We were dealing with these things far before we even knew what coronavirus and COVID-19 was. But I want to use these opportunities to talk about the great people that we have in our community. One of the things that I have seen since we’ve been doing this, particularly around food security in this area and operating as a food pantry, is people coming to help. These young people are coming every day. Every day that we have something going on they are here and they are committed from the time they showed up until the last box of food was gone and the last gallon of milk was gone. They give so selflessly so I am just so happy to see that. 

A lot of those seeds were sown in this community and into these children long before I got here. So I can’t take credit for that, but what I do feel like I bring to the table is giving them a space to show them how not only will this be something great for them to put on their resumé, but this is an act of kindness that we need to exercise more of. We never know a person’s situation and what they’re going through when they get home. But if we can do something in our actions to make someone else’s day brighter or to give them something to eat that they didn’t have earlier, let’s do that. And this is also an opportunity for you to be the type of person that you want to be. So we don’t want to just talk about what leadership should look like. We need to be setting those examples, providing spaces for them to actually see that in motion. 

Mississippi Today: It sounds like the example that you want to provide for the youth is really shaping the way you’re thinking about yourself as a leader.

Fountain: Absolutely. When I first came into this position, I didn’t think that I was ready, even with having a teenager for a child myself. I really didn’t know what to expect or how I should go about trying to connect with these young people. It was like the more I started to settle into the job I just realized, ‘You’re really overthinking this.’ Because what I’ve been able to see in the past is a lot of older people who were neglected, who didn’t have someone to pull them aside instill love and support and understanding and confidence into them. So now I have an opportunity to not take the place of these children’s parents by any means, but I’m an extension of that home and I have a chance to forge those things.

There are so many kids who I see that people just disregard because of their last name, because of where they’re from because they’ve got behavior issues but you never know why. And just because they have that last name, that’s not a predictor of who they are. It doesn’t mean they can’t be great. So I’m really trying to see this new phase of leadership as a way for me to not make them be what I think that they should be, but help them to see what they can’t see. It could be an opportunity to say, ‘You don’t have to leave Shaw to be great. There are things you can do right here as a young person.’

I also think it’s important that people see the face of the so-called leader and not this person that is delegating responsibilities to volunteers. Because I could easily just say, ‘OK volunteers you guys handle all of this and I’m going to be up at the office.’ No, they need to see me out there dirty, dusty, sweating. They need to see that because that means that I’m invested. I’m not out here because I want a pat on the back but because I need you all to see that I’m a part of this. 

The post ‘In the midst of crisis and struggle…there’s still hope’ — Q&A with Delta nonprofit director Chiquikta Shaw appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

Downtown Clarksdale.

CLARKSDALE — A battle is brewing between a local nonprofit owner hoping to help the town’s homeless community and residents who don’t have an issue with that, as long as it happens in another neighborhood.

Clarksdale resident and business owner Brenda Fields purchased a building in the downtown area about three months ago to open a homeless shelter. Recently, the City of Clarksdale voted to give $10,000 to assist in the effort, making the dream she’s had for two years closer to a reality, she said. No money has been disbursed yet.

Aallyah Wright, Mississippi Today

Brenda Fields of The Change Place and supporters address the board of mayor and commissioners at a September 14 board meeting

After she bought the building, Fields received backlash from community members who created a petition that garnered 145 signatures in opposition of the shelter for fear of panhandling and safety, a community representative said at a mayor and commissioners board meeting on Monday.

Fields, owner of The Change Place, said she didn’t get a chance to speak directly with community members before the petition circulated. The Change Place is a nonprofit focused on rehabilitation and helping homeless people, she said.

“The petition came and we just stopped everything until we get everything resolved,” she said.

The petition won’t stop the city from gifting The Change Place with funds for the facility, but it could cause commissioners to sway their vote on the location of the shelter.

City of Clarksdale

Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphy

Commissioner Ken Murphy, who oversees the ward where the potential shelter would be, said he would be in support of what his constituents want.

“Personally I think another location is what I’m supporting with my constituents but (I) also understand the need for a homeless shelter in this city,” Murphy said. “These are things we don’t like to have to vote on … we don’t want to vote on this in a negative way.”

Once the building was purchased, Brandon Thomas, the community representative for Ward 2, told Mississippi Today the downtown residents immediately created a petition to move the shelter elsewhere.

Fields purchased the building before going to the city commissioners with her plans to open a shelter.

City of Clarksdale

Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk

“The idea is great,” said Bo Plunk, Ward 1 commissioner. “Before you spent $1, you should’ve done your homework or went to the mayor or anyone in city council to say here’s my idea … you already put yourself behind the eight ball buying the building.”

In January 2019, the most recent data available, 1,184 people in Mississippi were experiencing homelessness on any given day and nearly 10,000 students were homeless at some point in the school year, according to data from the Continuums of Care to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The average renter in Coahoma County is estimated to earn $10.25-an-hour, but a person living there would have to earn $12.63-an-hour to afford the average two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2020 Out of Reach report. Coahoma County is covered by Mississippi United to End Homelessness, which received several million in CARES funding to operate a rental assistance program for people impacted by the virus.

Over a decade ago, Clarksdale tried to establish a homeless shelter in a different neighborhood, and residents fought against the decision then, too, said Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals. On Monday, the commissioners agreed there is a need for a homeless shelter in the area, but insisted Fields and the residents resolve the issue amongst themselves.

Clarksdale city attorney Melvin Miller said if the process moves forward with the same location, the nonprofit must publicly post a sign outside of the location notifying residents the planning commission will consider a conditional use or rezoning per city law. The planning commission will make a recommendation and then the board of mayor and commissioners will vote for or against the proposed recommendation. There must be a hearing on the matter.

Anna Wolfe contributed to this story.

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