In this week’s episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Mississippi Public Broadcasting Executive Director Ronnie Agnew.
Agnew, a native of Saltillo and graduate of Ole Miss, joined Mississippi Public Broadcasting in August 2011 as the agency’s executive director after a career in the newspaper industry spanning nearly three decades. At MPB, a state licensee, Agnew has oversight of radio and television programming and the agency’s legislative, education and digital initiatives.
During his time at MPB, Agnew has successfully overseen the launch of new shows that further the agency’s mission of delivering strong content across all platforms, focusing on issues affecting Mississippi, with an emphasis on early-childhood education, job skills training, healthcare and Mississippi politics. Before joining MPB, Agnew served as executive editor of the Clarion-Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper. Under his leadership, the Clarion-Ledger won dozens of awards for investigative reporting and was among the Gannett Co., Inc.’s most decorated newspapers nationally for coverage of civil rights issues. During his long newspaper career, Agnew worked in the Delta, in Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast, in Dothan, Ala., and Cincinnati, Ohio. He has served on numerous boards and judged the Pulitzer Prize four times.
Ramsey and Agnew talk about mentorship, resilience and surviving in a changing world.
The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 641 new COVID-19 cases on July 14, further documenting the hold the Delta variant has on the state. Just one week ago, MSDH reported 427 new cases, which was the largest single-day caseload seen since March.
Over the past three weeks, the number of confirmed Delta cases in Mississippi has increased nearly sevenfold, up from 29 to 231. Those 231 cases only represent a small surveillance sample, so it is undoubtedly a small fraction of the Delta infections in the state.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has repeatedly stressed that Mississippians have the choice of getting vaccinated or contracting COVID-19, and that in every scenario a vaccinated person is going to have a better outcome.
“At this pace, and given the sort of external dynamics that are in play here, we’re going to remain vulnerable for a long time,” Dobbs said. “I don’t think that we’re going to have some miraculous increase in our vaccination rate over the next few weeks, so people are going to die needlessly.
The vaccines are nearly as effective against the Delta variant as the original strain, greatly minimizing the chance of infection and nearly eliminating the risks of developing a serious illness. Studies suggest, however, that being fully vaccinated is the only adequate protection against the Delta variant, as a single shot of either of the two-dose mRNA vaccines provides only weak protection against infection. The Delta variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60% more contagious than the Alpha variant and up to twice as contagious as the original strain of COVID-19.
Delta is now also the dominant variant across the United States. Nationally, the average number of new cases has started to trend upwards due to localized Delta outbreaks in places such as Mississippi with low vaccination rates.
The Delta variant has considerably increased the already high risks posed by the virus to unvaccinated people. Between June 3 and July 1, 95% of all COVID infections in Mississippi were among the unvaccinated. During that period, the same group also accounted for 90% of hospitalizations and 89% of deaths.
Despite the wide availability of vaccines and the risks posed by variants, Mississippi continues to rank last in the nation in the share of its population that has been vaccinated. With over 2 million shots administered, only 31% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated.
One of the main hurdles the state faces in getting more people vaccinated is combating the troves of vaccine misinformation that regularly circulate online. The problem is so bad that on Tuesday, MSDH removed the ability to comment on COVID-related posts on its Facebook page.
The department has said that allowing misinformation to spread on its own page is “directly contrary” to the state’s public health mission and the ability to comment will be restored when the department develops an effective plan to moderate them.
While MSDH has made new recommendations in response to the Delta spread to protect the most vulnerable, they are just that. Mississippi has had next to no COVID-related restrictions at the state level since Gov. Tate Reeves repealed most of them in March.
As he tours the state selling his plan to eliminate Mississippi’s individual income tax and increase sales taxes, House Speaker Philip Gunn utters a common refrain: “No one has really been able to tell me why from a policy standpoint it’s a bad idea … From a policy standpoint, no one’s been able to poke a hole in it.”
But leaders and groups across the political spectrum have poked holes in or raised concerns about his plan. And those holes and concerns have been based primarily on policy — the particulars of Gunn’s proposal, not politics.
Advocates for poor and moderate income Mississippians say the plan would unfairly shift more of the state’s tax burden onto them. Ditto for retirees.
Big business interests such as manufacturers fear the sales tax increases in the plan would increase their “input” costs drastically down their supply chains. Small businesses fear this, too.
Some of Gunn’s fellow Republican lawmakers fear the sea change in tax structure would tank the state budget. Democratic lawmakers fear this, too.
Farmers, teachers, business leaders, conservatives, progressives, the lieutenant governor and Senate, the governor — who himself advocates eliminating the income tax but opposes corresponding sales tax increases — have expressed skepticism, if not outright opposition, to Gunn’s proposal. Analyses by state economics experts have been mixed, and even the conservative think tank Gunn credits with the impetus for his proposal has panned some particulars of the plan.
So far, no Mississippi statewide elected leader or major business or policy group has fully endorsed Gunn’s plan, and even those who support the concept do so with caveats, reservations and concerns about its particulars and unintended consequences.
Mississippi’s National Federation of Independent Businesses, which represents the state’s small businesses, briefly endorsed Gunn’s plan when he rolled it out in February. In a statement at the time, NFIB said: “Our members are behind this 100% … Eliminating the personal income tax would provide much-needed financial relief to small business owners struggling to recover from the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pademic.”
But within a couple weeks, NFIB walked back its endorsement, saying in a new statement: “While our members support the idea of eliminating the state individual income tax, the devil’s in the details, and (the plan) would end up helping some small business owners but raising taxes on specific industries … We will continue to work with legislators … on a final bill that doesn’t pick winners and losers but helps small businesses.”
Economist Art Laffer, an adviser to former President Ronald Reagan, in March endorsed Gunn’s tax plan. But in a subsequent interview with Supertalk Radio, Laffer admitted he had not read the particulars of the plan, and mainly just endorses the idea of personal income tax elimination.
But Gunn says his plan is based upon good “economics 101” principles — “more sound and better tax structure is one based on consumption rather than income tax.” He said the nine U.S. states with no income tax, including Florida, Tennessee and Texas, are economically thriving and attracting more people unlike Mississippi, one of just three states to lose population since 2010.
No state has ever phased out an individual income tax. Alaska, the only state to eliminate an existing income tax, did so in one fell swoop. For Mississippi, the shift would be seismic: Individual income taxes generate about $1.8 billion a year, or 32% of the state’s revenue.
“Those states that don’t have an income tax, they seem to be prospering very well,” Gunn said. “I know other factors come into play — don’t get me wrong, Florida has got Disney World and they’ve got beaches — but it is a factor. You see retirees and young millennials going to those states.”
Gunn’s proposal, the “Mississippi Tax Freedom Act,” would exempt most Mississippians from individual income taxes in its first year, and totally phase out the tax over 10 years or more depending on growth “triggers” being met.
Gunn says that for individuals under his plan, “$1,500 stays in your pocket right off the bat, and for a married couple that is $3,000 that stays in your pocket.”
“In five to seven years, we raise that exemption to $100,000 per taxpayer, $200,000 per couple, and that would be $9,000 that stays in their pockets,” Gunn said. “That’s real tax relief. That will help attract young people, help make them stay or at least give them a reason to stay in Mississippi.”
It would phase out the income tax through exemptions. In the first year, the personal income exemption would increase to $47,700 for individuals, $95,400 for joint filers. This, Gunn said, would mean that 60% of Mississippians would pay no income taxes starting in the first year.
For each year after, exemption increases would be funded by any revenue growth over 1.5%. Gunn said that given historic growth data, this should totally exempt all taxpayers within 10 to 12 years.
“Growth in Mississippi over the last 10 years has averaged 3.2%,” Gunn said.
To offset the revenue lost from the income tax exemptions, Gunn’s plan would increase the state sales tax from 7% to 9.5% on most retail purchases.
Purchases of many big-ticket items currently at less than 7% would also see an increase of 2.5 cents on the dollar. For instance, automobiles, now subject to a 5% sales tax, would see that increase to 7.5%.
The proposal also would raise excise taxes on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack.
But Gunn’s plan would also phase in a cut on sales taxes on groceries from 7% to 3.5% over five years. This is one of Gunn’s major selling points of the plan, and a way to combat complaints of more regressive taxation hurting people with low incomes or retirees who are already exempt from income taxes. Since some cities, particularly small towns, rely heavily on grocery sales tax revenues, Gunn proposes increasing the state sales tax “diversion” to cities to make up for any grocery tax losses.
While the income tax and grocery tax breaks would be phased in over years, the increase in sales and other taxes would begin immediately. The breaks would cost about $269 million the first year, but some estimate the increased sales taxes would bring in about $1 billion. This imbalance, which could last for years, has raised some concerns. But Gunn proposes about $500 million from this initial windfall be placed into a budget stabilization fund in case of shortfalls.
Gunn has been touring the state for months now, promoting his plan to various local leaders and civic groups. He’s also been countering arguments and concerns.
“In every scenario, we’ve calculated and determined most people end up with more money in their pocket,” Gunn said. “Putting more money, disposable income, in the pockets of our citizens is a good thing.
“I don’t know who could argue that.”
One analysis of Gunn’s tax proposal, by the progressive Washington-based Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, said the bottom 60% of Mississippi wage earners would end up paying more taxes while the top 40% would pay less.
The study said that lower and middle-income Mississippians already have a greater tax burden than the state’s wealthiest, and the new plan would exacerbate that. The study reported those earning less than $49,100 would see a net increase from the consumption tax increases, in a state where the median household income is $45,792. A person making $23,000 a year, the study said, would see an overall tax increase of $270 a year, while a person making $924,000 a year (the top 1%) would see a tax decrease of $28,610.
Gunn says such projections are wrong, and his plan “provides relief to the poorest of the poor first, and that’s unusual — it’s usually a top-down thing.”
Gunn and other proponents of the plan note that the poorest people in Mississippi — those receiving food benefits — already don’t pay taxes on most groceries, and that the companion grocery tax cuts will help others of modest means.
“Most of what you spend your money on is not subject to the sales tax,” Gunn said. “In Mississippi, we don’t tax gasoline via the sales tax — we put an excise on that. We don’t tax medicines, your mortgage and your insurance are not, so many things are not subject to a sales tax … This puts the power in the hands of the taxpayer … Here, to a degree, you decide how much tax you pay. You control that by deciding what your tolerance is for taxes, or you don’t buy the things that cost you taxes.”
But advocates for the poor say sales tax increases result in a higher burden for poor people, who are forced to spend more of their income for basic needs. Currently, with Mississippi’s already relatively high sales tax rate, those earning less than $16,100 a year pay more than 10% of their income in state and local taxes. Those making more than $162,000 pay 6.5% of their income on state and local taxes. Advocates say the new plan would exacerbate disparities.
And as he sells his plan to various civic leaders across the state, Gunn has made comments that would appear anathema to helping the poorest of the poor.
“We all benefit from all the stuff that government provides,” Gunn said. “It only makes sense that everybody share in that. Right now, not everybody pays income tax. You’re broadening the pool of taxpayers, so the burden is less on everyone. Secondly, you’re bringing in out-of-staters, people traveling through the state, using the roads and services.”
House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, is one of a handful of Democrats who voted for Gunn’s plan in the House in the 2021 session. He said the Democratic Caucus hasn’t endorsed it, and he’s still got concerns about the plan and believes it needs more work. But he believes Gunn is making an effort to create an egalitarian tax structure. He said he was impressed that Gunn was willing to raise taxes on “people who have had tax breaks for years” to balance out income tax elimination — although he noted that Gunn is already backtracking on sales tax increases on manufacturing and farm equipment after an outcry from their lobbies.
“The fact that he would even entertain that is promising,” Johnson said. “He didn’t just say, ‘I’m going to cut taxes and eat it and cut a bunch of agencies budgets to do it’ … The people that elect us and work and pay taxes, the working man and woman out there, would see an immediate benefit, and the grocery tax cuts … I think this will take more work. But I’m confident there will be input, and we’d like to be more involved.”
One group that doesn’t pay Mississippi income taxes is retirees, and Gunn has had to fend off criticism that his plan would hurt them financially with increased sales taxes.
“A lot of retirees say, ‘I don’t pay income taxes, but you’re raising my sales tax,’” Gunn said. “I have walked through the scenario with those folks who are willing to share their financial situation with us, and in no situation is anyone being cast into poverty.
“You sit retirees down and ask what do you spend your money on,” Gunn said. “Medicine, gasoline, grandkids — most of it is not subject to sales tax. What you’re generally left with is groceries and grandkids, and this is cutting the grocery tax. Take that couple living on $40,000 a year fixed income, and they usually spend about 1/4 on stuff subject to sales taxes, about $10,000 a year. That means their increase in tax is about $250 a year, around $12 a month, so you ask them could they absorb $12 a month, and the answer is usually yes.
“But wait a minute, we’re not done,” Gunn said, “because we are cutting the grocery tax in half … Do the math on that, and it’s about $364 a year they are paying in taxes on that, and we are cutting that in half. So on the one hand they’re going up $250, but we’re giving them back $182, for a net loss of less than 70 bucks a year, less than $10 a month. They say they can absorb that — but wait a minute, what better to give your grandkids than to eliminate the income tax for them?
“Imagine how much money any of us would have if when we started our careers we didn’t have to pay income tax to the state of Mississippi,” Gunn said. “If I had that money back in a mutual fund somewhere, no telling how much that would be …. Every one of them I’ve talked with say, ‘Absolutely, I’m willing to do that.’”
Gov. Tate Reeves has also proposed eliminating the state’s personal income tax. But he says it should be eliminated without any offsetting increases in sales or other taxes. He says economic growth would cover the cuts, and has otherwise not presented a very detailed proposal.
Reeves has said he appreciates fellow Republican Gunn bringing income tax elimination to the fore in the Legislature, but has criticized the speaker’s plan for its consumption tax increases.
“I wouldn’t want to be a Republican that votes to increase taxes substantially for certain segments of the public,” Reeves said. “… I personally support tax cuts, not tax swaps or tax transfers or tax increases … I don’t think we ought to sit here and pick and choose who to take money from. I think we ought to take less from everybody.”
Gunn says simply eliminating the personal income tax without replacing the revenue will not work.
“We have a $6 billion budget,” Gunn said. “By the time you eliminate the income tax and cut the grocery tax in half, that’s $1.9 billion. You can’t just cut a third of your home budget, or your business budget or your church budget and survive. You just can’t do it, and government can’t either. That’s what they tried in Kansas, and ended up raising taxes a couple of years later by $400 million.”
Led by Gunn and then Lt. Gov. Reeves, the Legislature next year is wrapping up a multi-year phase-out of the lowest, 3% personal income tax bracket on the first $5,000 of people’s income. This leaves a 4% tax on income from $5,000 to $10,000 and a 5% rate on income exceeding $10,000.
Reeves says the phase out of the bottom bracket shows Mississippi could eliminate the rest of the income taxes over time through growth without raising other taxes. Gunn disagrees.
“Some have said just phase it out like we did the 3%, half a percent a year or so,” Gunn said. “If we did that, it would take until 2051 to get rid of the income tax, and that’s assuming 3% growth. If we had 2.5% growth, it would take until 2085. We’d all be dead.
“We are trying to get some immediate tax relief,” Gunn continued. “We are trying to retain our young people, to stop what we call brain drain … Young people would not be sitting there saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to move to Mississippi because 30 years from now they are not going to have an income tax.’”
Analyses of Gunn’s plan from economists, tax think-tanks and business groups have been mixed as to the net results for the state and particular interests.
The conservative Tax Foundation, which generally supports cutting taxes and shifting from income to consumption taxes, has served as Gunn’s spirit animal in his push for the tax change. But the foundation’s analysis of Gunn’s plan has been somewhat critical of particulars.
For starters, it says phasing out the tax through expansion of exemptions “is inferior to an approach which gradually lowers rates.” And, in direct opposition of the Institute of Taxation analysis, the Tax Foundation says the cut in grocery taxes would benefit middle and higher income people more than lower income people.
“I would suggest reducing rates over time instead of dramatically increasing the personal exemption — which would immediately eliminate taxes for 60% of taxpayers, but would still leave many on the hook for years,” said Katherine E. Loughead, senior policy analyst with the Tax Foundation. “I think that would create some complications in terms of filing, making it difficult for people to know whether they’re still being taxed — just create complexities for those at or near that threshold and a choppier process. The better approach is to phase out the rates, so people are still filing and still owe some, but the amount is reduced until it’s gone.”
Loughead said that while cutting the grocery tax may be “pretty popular politically on both sides of the aisle,” it likely wouldn’t help the people it’s intended to help the most.
“The middle and higher income people spend more on groceries,” Loughead said. “It’s great in theory, but it would be better for lower income people to pay as low a rate as possible overall on all consumption.”
Loughead said broadening the sales tax base overall would be better than picking and choosing certain areas to increase or exempt, although she said the plan should try to avoid sales taxes on “inputs,” such as equipment and supplies for manufacturing. This results in “tax pyramiding” that ends up hitting consumers with multiple taxes, some of which they don’t clearly see when they happen down the supply chain.
“I know it’s not popular, but currently motor fuels are subject to an excise, for roads, but not sales taxes,” Loughead said, “and including motor fuels in the sales tax base would generate a lot of revenue. Applying sales tax to fuels and to consumer services, things like hair salons and other personal services, would broaden that base.”
House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, one of the architects of Gunn’s tax plan, said he understands the Tax Foundation’s principles, but realpolitik means some of those have to be compromised to pass a tax plan through the Legislature.
“We’ve had some of those conversations, and I wouldn’t say (a gas sales tax) is totally off the table, but you also have to get your votes, and from a political standpoint, so far our plan doesn’t tax anything new that’s not taxed,” Lamar said. “Taxing haircuts — if you really want to tick people off, tell every hairdresser in the state there’s going to be a tax on haircuts … I understand how things should be in a perfect world, and the Tax Foundation lives in a perfect tax world. Other factors come into play — not saying they are wrong — it’s just also what can you actually get the votes to do.”
So far, no major business groups are joining Gunn in his push for the tax plan, and some, like NFIB, have raised concerns. The Business and Industry Political Education Committee, a group that scores lawmakers each year with its “Business and Jobs Report Card,” gave House lawmakers who voted for Gunn’s tax plan lower scores, deeming a vote for it as anti-business.
“(Gunn’s plan) would have increased taxes on the following industries: manufacturing, farming, timber, dairy and automobile dealers,” BIPEC said in a statement. “Electric power associations would have also faced increased costs that would likely be passed on to consumers, including business customers … While (an amendment) removed tax increases on some industries, many still faced significant tax increases on business inputs.”
The conservative Empower Mississippi group supports lowering or eliminating the state income tax and has said Gunn’s plan has some merits, but has not fully endorsed it.
“Empower believes there is a path to eliminate the income tax that leads to more jobs, higher wages and greater economic and population growth, but the mechanics matter,” the group said in a statement. “The bill that emerged from the House was a good starting point for an important discussion, but we believe there is an opportunity for more stakeholders to come together and improve upon it.”
The major long-term effects of the plan have been the subject of debate since it was unveiled this year. One study, by two economics professors at the University of Mississippi, found the proposal would increase the state’s gross domestic product by $371 million a year and make the tax structure more efficient. Another study by the state economist and others with IHL’s University Research Center, commissioned by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, found the plan would produce only minuscule growth in GDP, jobs and population through the year 2035.
Gunn’s plan got no hearing or vote in the Senate during the 2021 legislative session, and Lt. Gov. Hosemann and his leadership team have been lukewarm on it at best. But the Senate is planning to have hearings on the issue this summer, likely in August.
Asked for comment from Hosemann recently, his Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Rupp Smith in a statement said: “Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins will hold hearings on tax reform in August. These hearings will likely inform legislation introduced in the 2021 session.”
Otherwise, Hosemann and Senate leaders have said they favor reducing taxes, but urge caution and said any major change in tax structure should be thoroughly vetted.
“We are working to put hearings together for the Senate members to really go over this, and look at all phases of our fiscal policy, income, our revenue, our tax exemptions, diversions — everything that has to to with fiscal policy,” said Harkins, R-Flowood. “For instance, people would be amazed at how much of what we collect is taken off the top in diversions … Texas is booming, with no income tax, but let’s take a close look at Texas — they have 90 something different business services they tax. South Dakota has over 100. Mississippi has only 76, like we don’t pay a sales tax when we get a hair cut for instance. They’ve expanded their base and draw sales tax from more than we do … I want to make sure everybody understands where everything is coming from and where it’s going.”
Harkins said the Senate hearings will likely include numerous economic and tax experts.
“This is a major policy decision,” Harkins said. “… This is a third of our budget, so it’s important to get it right. I just want to make sure we don’t get out over our skis on this. We will investigate it and make sure whatever we do is prudent and responsible and going to work.”
Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, said vetting of any plan would include ensuring it doesn’t result in cuts to already underfunded services, and that it doesn’t disproportionately benefit wealthy people.
“Any proposal to overhaul our already regressive tax code would need extensive study,” Simmons said. “Many policymakers are concerned about how we continue to fund vital functions of government such as education, healthcare, infrastructure and how we reward and retain state employees.”
Gunn said, “We are going to make sure the functions of government are not compromised,” and said any talk that his plan would gut education or other spending “is a red herring.”
Gunn continues to sell his plan across the state.
“The only way this will happen is if the people decide they want this — you, the people, will have to get behind this,” Gunn said at a recent forum arranged by Empower Mississippi.
“We’ve got to get the Legislature on board,” Gunn said. “I can’t go down there and do that, the people in the Legislature have got to hear from their constituents, the grassroots. I’m here to preach the gospel of income tax elimination, make converts and then make disciples. That’s why I’m here today. I hope I made some converts in this room, and now we need to go out as disciples and spread the word. Everything in the Legislature operates on votes, and we can’t pass Mother’s Day if we don’t have the votes.”
The latest surge of COVID-19 cases in Mississippi, caused by the Delta variant, is also hitting the state’s younger population, increasing concerns over the return to schools next month.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Tuesday that 7 minors have been hospitalized due to Delta infections in Mississippi, and 2 of them are now on ventilators. The earlier strains of COVID-19 were much less transmissible and did not infect children to the extent seen with the Delta variant.
Over the past three weeks, the number of confirmed Delta cases in Mississippi has increased nearly sevenfold, up from 29 to 231. Those 231 cases only represent a small surveillance sample though, so it is undoubtedly only a small fraction of the Delta infections in the state.
With great and personal apologies – MS with 7 children in ICU with 2 on the ventilator (life support). A hospital has corrected it’s report to us from last evening. And yes – 7 children with COVID.
Please be safe and if you are 12 or older – please protect yourself
During an interview on SuperTalk Radio’s Gallo Show on Monday, Dobbs predicted that infections in younger people will cause a large wave of infections and negatively impact school district plans to reopen fully with in-person instruction.
“It’s going to be disruptive,” Dobbs said. “I think Delta’s going to take its toll on having a successful, vibrant school year because kids are going to have to be quarantined, they’re going to have to be isolated. We’re going to have outbreaks and all that kind of stuff.”
What those outbreaks look like will be dependent on virus circulation in a school district’s surrounding community and individual districts’ policies on mask wearing and social distancing, since no requirements will be coming at the state level.
“Governor Reeves has no intention of requiring students or staff to wear masks when they’re in school this Fall,” Reeves’ press secretary, Bailey Martin, said in an email to WLBT this week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance on Friday, urging schools to fully reopen in the fall, naming safe in-person instruction as a priority. The agency said all people who are not fully vaccinated should wear masks while inside school buildings, and classrooms should maintain a physical distance between students of at least three feet. However, they also said that schools should forgo the distance recommendation if it would prevent them from reopening fully and instead rely on other prevention strategies.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said on July 9 that MSDH will release Mississippi-specific components to back to school guidance, which will include recommended mask wearing for unvaccinated teachers and students.
The differences between individual school districts’ approaches to limiting virus spread can already be seen in their back to school plans. Masks will be required in all Jackson Public Schools, for example, but Clinton and Madison County schools will start the fall semester off with masks being optional.
The vast majority of minors in Mississippi are not currently vaccinated. According to MSDH, only 6% of 12-15 year-olds are fully vaccinated, and only 13% of 16-17 year-olds are. Despite the wide availability of vaccines and the risks posed by variants, Mississippi continues to rank last in the nation in the share of its population that has been vaccinated. With over 2 million shots administered, only 31% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated.
A component of MSDH’s plan to increase the number of inoculated minors is making vaccinations available in schools. Every Mississippi school district has the option to partner with a vaccine provider to give shots on-site, though it is unclear how many will utilize the opportunity.
“We hope that they all take advantage of it,” Dobbs said.
New recommendations released by MSDH last week in response to the Delta surge urge all people 12 and older to get vaccinated. Dobbs has said that the risk for severe outcomes among infected minors is small, but is still present, and there is a much larger risk that they will spread the virus to someone more vulnerable.
“Most (infected minors) are not going to be hospitalized. There will be some severe illnesses, and we’ll probably sadly see some more deaths in young folks, but it’s not that common,” Dobbs said.
The surge of Delta infections Mississippi is experiencing is already hitting hospitals and ICUs. While hospitalizations are nowhere near their February peak, the increase in recent weeks has been sharp. Between June 26 and July 10, hospitalizations increased 128%, from 97 to 222. The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs has increased 155% over the past week, from 33 to 84.
Dobbs said that the increase in hospital and ICU admissions is straining the hospital systems in parts of the state, like Jackson and Hattiesburg, that have seen non-COVID procedures fill up their ICUs.
“There’s not a lot of slack in the system,” Dobbs said.
School board members for the Holmes County Consolidated School District promoted the daughter of the new superintendent from a $47,000-a-year position in the district to the director of technology, a district-level position with an annual salary of $82,920.
At a special called board meeting last month, the board voted to approve the hire of Superintendent Debra Powell’s daughter with only one member opposing, according to the meeting minutes.
The board first approved Powell’s recommendation of Shimelle Mayers as assistant superintendent of the district. Shortly after, Mayers presented the job description for the technology director position and recommended Powell’s daughter for the position.
The district came under fire for similar practices under former superintendent James Henderson. A report by the state auditor’s office revealed “widespread problems” in the district, including that the district paid $14,000 to businesses owned by relatives of Henderson, and that the relationships were not disclosed to the board.
In May, the Mississippi Department of Education launched an investigation of the embattled district and appointed a financial adviser to oversee the district’s finances. Holmes County schools have received a failing grade for six consecutive years.
State law has a general nepotism statute that says “no public servant shall use his official position to obtain, or attempt to obtain … pecuniary benefit for any relative or any business with which he is associated.” The Mississippi Ethics Commission, the body that issues advisory opinions regarding the state’s conflict-of-interest and ethics laws, has also sounded off on a similar situation.
“If a superintendent recommends his or her relative to the school board for employment or renewal, then the superintendent will violate” the law, a 2017 opinion states. It continues to outline what it calls a “step aside” provision in the law which allows a superintendent’s designee to recommend the superintendent’s relatives to no more than two positions at a school.
“The Office of the Attorney General has opined that Section 37-9-17 is applicable only to employees of schools and is not applicable to employees of the district office,” the opinion continues.
An organizational chart for the Holmes County district shows the technology director position is a district-level position that reports to the assistant superintendent.
Questions submitted to Powell and Winters, including whether they sought the advice of the Ethics Commission before the school board approved Powell’s daughter, were not returned.
Shimelle Mayers, the newly appointed assistant superintendent in the district, said in a statement that Karmeen Powell-Childress, Powell’s daughter, “was selected because of her knowledge and experience in technology and business.”
“As it relates to the position of Director of Technology, there were three internal candidates and two external candidates. The interview committee scored the applicants and sent them to me; we did not discuss our selection with each other … Dr. Powell was not on the interview committee, nor was she present on the campus during the interviews.”
At the same meeting, the board also hired the son of Board President Louise Winters as a teacher in the district. The minutes show Winters recused herself from the vote. A 2006 opinion by the Mississippi Ethics Commission says this is allowed as long as the child and parent are financially independent and the parent recuses him or herself from the vote.
Shella Head, president of the P-16, a council made up of public members that is legally required in failing schools, said she believes more qualified candidates were overlooked for the position.
“The fact that this woman (Debra Powell) was hired by the board May 10 (as superintendent), and the first thing she did as superintendent was to put her daughter in an $82,000 job and overlook qualified people is very concerning,” said Head. “As president of the P-16 council, my concern is with the children of Holmes County and their education and their future.”
Head also said she does not believe Powell and the board are leading the district in the right direction. Since May, the P-16, a council with the goal of engaging members of the public in the happenings of the school district, has been inexplicably removed from the board agenda and told it must pay a $400 fee to hold its meeting in one of the district schools, according to emails between district officials and council members. It has also still not received data it requested from the district in May, according to Head.
“The problem (in the district) is not the staff, it’s not that the kids cannot learn. The problem we have is in the district office with the superintendent and the board of education,” said Head.
The school board hired Powell, a Holmes County native, in May of this year. She was a former principal in Missouri. This is her first district level position in her career.
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In April we launched NextGen Mississippi, our longterm reporting project focused on the realities of why Mississippians stay or leave. Dozens of creatives responded to our survey and shared why they took their talents to other states.
Some shared experiences of “belonging” when they left the state to pursue their crafts while others highlighted “lack of opportunities and support” in Mississippi.
We want to hear from more creatives for an episode of MT Speaks, our new video series. If you are willing to be featured in this episode by speaking with a Mississippi Today reporter about your experience as a creative in Mississippi, please fill out the form below.
The joint committee tasked with developing a plan to redraw the four U.S. House seats and the 174 state legislative seats have scheduled nine public hearings across the state to garner public input.
The hearings will be live-streamed on the Mississippi Legislature’s YouTube channel available at the Legislature’s website.
The issue of live-streaming the meetings first came up in June during the first meeting of the joint committee, which consists of members of the state House and Senate. At the meeting, Lt. Gov Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, was insistent that the meetings be live-streamed and that locations be found for the meetings that could accommodate internet access. He said the live-streaming is important to allow people who cannot attend the meetings because of work commitments and other conflicts an opportunity to gather information on the redistricting process.
“We want full access to be made available so that people will be available to see in real time their neighbors offer their opinions on redistricting,” Hosemann said at the time.
Rep. Jim Beckett, R-Bruce, sent out an announcement of the meeting locations Monday and also announced that they would be live streamed.
Legislators are tasked with redrawing their districts (52 Senate and 122 House districts) and the four congressional districts every 10 years based on population changes found by the U.S. Census.
Preliminary census data was released in April indicating that Mississippi was one of three states to actually lose population during the past 10 years. The state is not expected to receive from the Census Bureau the specific data needed to complete redistricting until September.
But the joint committee believes it can begin the task of holding public hearings before the specific data is available. The first hearing will be held Aug. 5 at Meridian Community College.
Senate Pro Tem Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, who is the co-chair of the redistricting committee, has said the plan is for the committee to have a recommendation to make to the full Legislature early in the 2022 session on congressional redistricting. The Legislature will be on a tight time frame to complete congressional redistricting since the deadline to qualify to run for U.S. House seats in 2022 is March 1.
The next elections for the legislative seats will not occur until 2023.
The statewide meetings, all slated to start at 6 p.m., are scheduled:
Aug. 5: Meridian, at Meridian Community College in the McCain Theater.
Aug. 6: Tupelo, Itawamba Community College Belden Center.
Aug. 9: Senatobia, Northwest Community College Haraway Center.
Aug. 11: Itta Bena, Mississippi Valley State University William A. Butts Social Science Building.
Aug. 12: Starkville, Mississippi State University Hunter Henry Center.
Aug. 16: Natchez, Alcorn State University Business School Auditorium.
Aug. 18: Gulfport, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Harrison County campus Fine Arts Auditorium.
Aug. 19: Hattiesburg, University of Southern Mississippi Joe Paul Theater in the Thad Cochran Center.
First thing first: This is not going to be the definitive essay on the name, image and likeness issue facing the big business of college athletics these days. It doesn’t claim to be.
That essay does not yet exist. There are too many unknowns, too much still to be decided.
The only thing we know is this: College athletes are about to get paid — and not under the table. We have long been headed in this direction. And now we are here.
Rick Cleveland
The NCAA fought it — indeed, fought it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. There, the NCAA lost 9-0, which is the courtroom version of just how badly Millsaps football would lose to Alabama. Of course, Millsaps would never fight that battle. The NCAA was stupid enough to do so.
And that 9-0 decision begs these questions: Who thought it would be otherwise? Do you know how wrong you have to be for all nine justices on this court to agree you were wrong? These judges can’t agree on anything and yet they agree on this point: The NCAA is not above the law. The highest court in the land essentially has ruled, unanimously, that the NCAA has long been in violation of antitrust laws.
The NCAA makes millions. The universities make millions. The coaches make millions. The TV networks make millions. Yet players, for decades, have been limited — at least above the table — to tuition, room and board in the name of “amateurism.”
It makes no sense. It never made sense. It’s about to change.
And so, you ask, how will this affect the college sports world as we know it? Will there be big winners and big losers? Will the landscape change, competition-wise?
My guess, based on half a century of following college athletics: No. Not much at all. Alabama will still be Alabama in football. Ohio State will still be Ohio State. Basketball-wise, Kentucky will still be Kentucky. Duke will be Duke and so on.
If anything, the rich will get richer, and the poor, well, for the poor the struggle continues.
As mentioned before, there is so much to be determined. And there are so many potential rough patches that must be smoothed. Number one, you know this going to enter into the recruitment process for athletes. If there’s one thing we know about college athletics dating back to the 1930s and ‘40s, every coach and every school looks for the competitive edge in recruiting. Endorsement deals, arranged during the recruiting process, presumably would be an NCAA violation. How to police that?
Numbers wise, one of the biggest issues is this: For athletes, all this above-the-table earning will be taxable income. The government will get its share. These are 18- and 19-year-olds and 20-somethings, most of whom will have had little experience balancing a checkbook, much less dealing with taxable income. And most of those who have worked at paying jobs have had their taxes deducted from their paychecks. The universities are going to have to educate their athletes — either that, or many college athletes are going to leave with delinquent tax bills and no way to pay.
Some of these athletes are going to be paid with items other than cash — for instance, clothes, shoes, gym memberships, country club memberships, transportation, etc. All that is taxable income. The government will get its share. Someone must do the accounting.
The other huge issue I see is potential jealousies that could arise. Let’s say the star quarterback gets a huge endorsement contract, while the left tackle, who protects his blind side, gets little or nothing. How will that work out?
It’s not like coaching hasn’t gotten more complicated recently with the transfer portal. The NIL issues will complicate a coach’s job that much more.
But big-time college coaches are paid beyond handsomely to deal with these problems. Now, the players will get paid, too. If there is a bottom line, a definitive statement about NIL at this time, it is this: It’s about time.
