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The Mississippi Department of Education on Thursday issued a letter to school administrators giving them the go-ahead on financial payouts to teachers and staff members who get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Some school districts were waiting on guidance from the state education department to move forward with plans to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to incentivize teachers and staff to be vaccinated with up to $1,000 payments.

“MDE hopes the vaccine incentive opportunity will help get more people vaccinated so students can continue in-person learning with fewer disruptions,” a statement from Jean Cook, the spokesperson for MDE, said. “Teacher and student absences due to COVID-19 exposure and infection interrupt teaching and learning.”

The letter from Judy Nelson, executive director of the Office of Federal Programs in MDE, says districts may incentivize vaccinations if they have local board approval prior to implementing the incentives. The district must also establish a written procedure for determining the allowability of costs and “to maintain effective internal control over the Federal award.”

The guidance also says the amount must be reasonable, which it characterizes as an amount ranging from $100 to $1,000.

“LEAs (local education agencies) shall be prepared to document what is considered reasonable,” it states.

School districts in Biloxi, Kosciusko and Bay St. Louis-Waveland all planned to use these funds for an incentive program. Their goal is to have a higher percentage of teachers and staff vaccinated to help continue in-person school and decrease absences.

“It will hopefully save me on substitute teacher costs and wasting instructional time and the time of assistant teachers — not to mention the loss of instruction,” Biloxi Superintendent Marcus Boudreaux said.  

Biloxi, like several other districts across the state, is facing a major shortage of available substitute teachers to cover classes for teachers who are out sick with COVID-19 or quarantined, in addition to non-pandemic related absences.

Districts are planning to use funds from the most recent federal coronavirus relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, to pay for the incentives. The U.S. Congress passed the bill in March, and it sent a total of around $1.6 billion to schools in Mississippi.

Biloxi received around $18.3 million of those funds, while Kosciusko got $7.3 million and Bay St. Louis-Waveland got around $6.6 million. The money can be used for an array of purposes, from purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean buildings to training and professional development for teachers and staff, in addition to purchasing educational technology and providing mental health supports for students.

ESSER funds may be used for vaccination outreach efforts, which “could include activities to create awareness and build confidence, facilitate clinics, and provide incentives … for staff to get vaccinated,” a U.S. Department of Education document states.

Natchez-Adams School District recently approved a plan that would offer incentives to employees who get vaccinated and require those who don’t to submit to twice-weekly testing. It is not clear what funds they are using to support that program.

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Abortion-rights activists in Mississippi are troubled by the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed a Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to go into effect last week, but they are not surprised.

Now, they’re preparing for an upcoming Mississippi case that could put the United States in a post Roe v. Wade world. 

“Mississippi, we are the testing grounds. I can’t believe Texas beat us to the punch on this one,” Derenda Hancock, co-founder of We Engage, a Jackson-based advocacy group that confronts anti-abortion protesters. 

The Texas law is the most restrictive pre-viability ban — a law that prohibits access to abortion based on the amount of time pregnant before the fetus is viable, or around 24 weeks when it is able to live outside the womb — that has been allowed to star in effect post-Roe. 

Mississippi’s fetal heartbeat law was blocked by an appellate court in 2019 due to it violating Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed pregnant people have a constitutional right to receive an abortion. 

The Texas law is novel in that there were no defendants for abortion-rights groups to sue in attempts to block the law, as all state officials were prohibited from enforcing it. Instead, Texas deputized private citizens to enforce the ban, enabling them to sue an abortion provider who violated the law, or anyone involved in aiding or abetting someone in obtaining the procedure. Any successful case under the new law will net the plaintiff a $10,000 bounty and attorneys fees. 

Though Texas groups hope to successfully challenge the law in state court, Mississippi groups are preparing for the law to be replicated here during the 2022 legislative session, where it would likely pass. 

“We know that what starts in Texas doesn’t stop there, just as what starts in Mississippi impacts the nation,” the Mississippi Abortion Access Coalition said in a statement. “Texas recycled this abortion ban from others and the individual enforcement mechanism here could easily spread to other states during future legislative sessions.”

Tyler Harden, Mississippi state director of Planned Parenthood Southeast, said that they’ve been preparing for this moment since Donald Trump was elected president, promising to appoint judges that would overturn Roe.

“We’re in a space where our legislature is just so hostile. We’re fighting abortion bans every year. And I think, because of that, we were able to be intuitive about where we’re headed,” Harden said. 

Mississippi’s Legislature has already passed six- and 15-week abortion bans that were struck down by appellate courts. A 20-week ban is currently enshrined in state law, as it has not been challenged in court. The case before the Supreme Court will consider Mississippi’s 15 week ban, passed in 2018.

Advocates say they’re getting ready to work in a Mississippi where women not only lack access to safe abortions, but are jailed for getting the procedure. 

“We anticipate that criminalization for people seeking out abortion will be something that we have to work with local prosecutors and local government to prevent to make sure that people are able to make the choices that they need from themselves,” Harden said. 

Hancock said that simply overturning Roe won’t be enough for a large swath of anti-abortion activists in Mississippi. One side of the movement wants to work within the system, and is happy with the extent of the Texas law, she said. Another believes that life starts at conception and want to see abortion banned completely and harshly prosecuted. 

The Mississippi case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear in the fall — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — centers on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, passed by state lawmakers in 2018 and immediately blocked by lower federal courts. The case will provide one of the first reproductive rights cases argued before the Supreme Court since Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in 2020. Many pundits believe that the 6-3 conservative majority will curtail access to abortion or overturn Roe entirely.

In the meantime, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state’s sole abortion clinic, is still providing abortions up to 16 weeks of pregnancy. Immediately after the Texas law went into effect, the clinic was inundated with calls from pregnant people in Texas, hoping to travel to the Magnolia State to seek an abortion. 

“I’m sure we’ll have an influx of people from there, not that we can handle any more patients,” Hancock said. “They (JWHO) are booked, pretty much two weeks ahead.”

While time and the courts do not appear to be on their side, activists like Hancock are dedicated to doing the work they can until the clock runs out.

“We’re gonna just keep doing what we’re doing,” Hancock said. “We’re gonna keep fighting the stigma. That’s about all we’re capable of doing right now… As long as our clinic has their doors open, we’re going to be there.”

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The 2021 season is off and running. Rick and Tyler discuss the opening weekend of college football and highlight some of the surprise teams making moves at the high school level. Plus two great teams scheduled a surprise high school game that has everyone excited.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: Tigers, Eagles, Dawgs and Rebs, oh my appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Fixing Education appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Several school districts in Mississippi have plans in place to use federal stimulus funds to offer up to $1,000 for teachers and staff members who get vaccinated against COVID-19, but the Mississippi Department of Education is advising them to press pause.

Although the U.S. Department of Education and the state auditor’s office agree that monies from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund can be used by schools to incentivize both students and employees to get vaccinated, the department has not yet given districts the go-ahead, MDE spokesperson Jean Cook said. 

Cook declined to say what further guidance or information the department needed. 

The Biloxi Public School District has rolled out a plan to pay $1,000 to staffers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 8. The plan is for the payments to go out in December, Biloxi Superintendent Marcus Boudreaux said. 

“We’ve felt confident it would be approved ultimately, so we’re just operating as if it will be,” Boudreaux said when asked if the hold-up from MDE has made implementing the plan more difficult. 

Boudreaux said he also sees vaccination as a cost-saving measure.

Current health guidelines dictate unvaccinated individuals must quarantine after coming in close contact with a person who has COVID. Vaccinated individuals, however, do not have to quarantine after being potentially exposed.

The district has held six drives since the vaccines were first available to the public, and at those drives, over 500 of Biloxi’s 850 employees have been vaccinated. 

“It will hopefully save me on substitute teacher costs and wasting instructional time and the time of assistant teachers — not to mention the loss of instruction,” he said.  

Biloxi, like several other districts across the state, is facing a major shortage of available substitute teachers to cover classes for teachers who are out sick with COVID-19 or quarantined, in addition to non-pandemic related absences.

“We’re using certified staff a lot on their planning time to cover other teachers’ classes. I’ve got principals and assistant principals sitting in classrooms,” said Boudreaux. “We’re having to cover for each other. We’re hoping with the incentive the more people that get vaccinated, the better off we’re going to be for fighting the virus.”

A Starkville teacher told Mississippi Today that due to a shortage of substitute teachers last week, entire classes were sitting in the bleachers in the gymnasium because no one was there to teach. 

In the Yazoo County School District, the board increased the pay for substitute teachers in an attempt to better attract and retain them. For teachers without a degree, the pay increased from $55 per day to $90 per day. For those with degrees, the pay went from $70 a day to $150 a day.

The Kosciusko School District is planning a similar program, according to its director of federal programs Corrie Ramage. Employees have until Oct. 15 to be fully vaccinated in order to receive a payment of anywhere from $750 to $1,000, said Ramage.

Ramage said the district is doing everything it can not to repeat what happened last year when several staff members died from the virus. There was also a student from the district in the intensive care unit with COVID-19, and the town has lost several community members over the past three months. 

“We’re hoping this will keep us in school longer,” she said. “We’re trying to be proactive.” 

The Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District is also considering such a program, but Superintendent Sandra Reed said the district is still waiting for guidance from the state.

Districts are planning to use funds from the most recent federal coronavirus relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, to pay for the incentives. The U.S. Congress passed the bill in March, and it sent a total of around $1.6 billion to schools in Mississippi.

Biloxi received around $18.3 million of those funds, while Kosciusko got $7.3 million and Bay St. Louis-Waveland got around $6.6 million. The money can be used for an array of purposes, from purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean buildings to training and professional development for teachers and staff, in addition to purchasing educational technology and providing mental health supports for students.

ESSER funds may be used for vaccination outreach efforts, which “could include activities to create awareness and build confidence, facilitate clinics, and provide incentives … for staff to get vaccinated,” a U.S. Department of Education document states.

Officials from the state auditor’s office and state education department met last week to discuss the issue, according to Logan Reeves, spokesperson for the state auditor’s office. 

“The office has been in communication with MDE,” said Reeves. “Our position is that these programs generally are legal. However, it is contingent upon individual school districts to make sure any incentive programs they enact do follow and stay within the bounds of the law.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the state education department had still not given districts the go-ahead to move forward.

“When we receive guidance from USED, it is not uncommon for us to conduct research to determine if there are any additional factors to consider under state law,” said Cook, the spokesperson for the state education department. “We have not issued guidance (to school districts) yet.”

As they remain in limbo, 2,869 students and 476 teachers and staff tested positive for COVID-19 during the week of Aug. 30, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Health. Around 15,000 students and 570 teachers and staff were quarantined during the same time period. The data is not a complete picture of actual infections and quarantines in schools as all school districts do not report. 

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The federal government announced on Tuesday that 75% of Americans had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine — a celebrated milestone that inspires hope that “normal” is on the horizon and the darkest days of the pandemic are behind us.

But there is no such joy in Mississippi.

Our state reports just 48% of residents have received at least one dose. That gives us the 47th lowest rank of any state in the nation — and the lowest of any Southern state. Just 40% of our population is fully vaccinated, which ranks 48th in the nation.

The COVID-19 shots, among the safest and most effective vaccines scientists have ever developed, are working wonders. In Mississippi last week, 99% of new cases were among the unvaccinated; 87% of COVID-related hospitalizations were among the unvaccinated; and 86% of deaths were among the unvaccinated.

Mississippi just experienced its darkest month of the pandemic. During the month of August alone, the virus accounted for one-fifth of the state’s total cases since the pandemic began and killed almost 1,000 of our neighbors.

By mid-August, Mississippi was the COVID capital of the world. At one point later in the month, four Mississippi counties claimed spots in the national top 10 list for highest caseload per capita, including the top spot.

The state’s healthcare system was so overwhelmed that experts warned the entire hospital network was within days of collapsing. To fend off that collapse, the state had to request that the federal government foot the $8 million-per-week bill for 1,100 contract healthcare workers.

As the virus worsened, more Mississippians felt led to get vaccinated. The last week of August, 86,000 Mississippians got inoculated — the most in a single week since mid-April, when the vaccine was first made widely available to most Mississippians.

But by the first week of September, the vaccine numbers had declined once again: just 75,000 Mississippians got the shot. If the history of the pandemic is any indication, this week’s vaccination numbers will be lower than that.

Dobbs has estimated that Mississippi needs around 85% of the population to be fully vaccinated to achieve low and steady transmission rates across the state because the delta variant is so highly contagious.

“Hopefully we’re not going to see the same sort of peak we’ve seen in the coming weeks. We’re starting to see some stabilization in numbers and hospitalizations, but again, time will tell,” Dobbs said. “And the better that we do at both preventing transmission and getting vaccinated is going to help us out of that.”

Mississippi Today reporter Will Stribling contributed to this report.

Visit our COVID-19 Vaccine Guide for more information and resources, read our continuing coverage of COVID-19 in Mississippi or view vaccine and case data.

The post America: 75% vaccinated. Mississippi: 48% vaccinated. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Traveling the twisting, two-lane blacktop pastoral roads of Jasper County brings the nonstop sight of cows, horses and chickens. Nestled into this farmland is the Stroka-Gene-Us Alpaca Farm in Stringer, where one can pet these animals and learn how to spin their fleece into yarn.

The 27-acre farm owned by Mary Ann Stroka is home to several alpacas where visitors can pet the docile animals during educational tours conducted by Stroka herself.

Stroka retired to Stringer from New York. After seeing her first alpaca, she fell in love. “They were so unbelievably soft,” said Stroka. “I just had to have a few.”

She and her family also needed a place to to keep the alpacas, which many confuse with their larger cousin, the llama. She settled on this location, which can be found through a left turn off MS 15 South onto County Road 155 in Stringer.

“Alpaca fleece is ten times softer and three times warmer than wool,” said Stroka. “It’s naturally water resistant and hypoallergenic. From separating fleece fibers using a carder machine to the spinning wheel making a skein of yarn is so relaxing. You get into a rhythm. The whole process takes about nine hours, so I do it because I love it, certainly not for the money,” she said.

The post Photo essay: Stringer alpaca farm appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In just one brutal month’s time, the delta variant of COVID-19 accounted for one-fifth of the state of Mississippi’s total cases since the pandemic began and killed nearly 1,000 Mississippians.

During the month of August, the virus decimated the state’s hospital system, demoralized already weary frontline workers, and disrupted school for nearly every student and parent in the state.

Mississippi, among the least vaccinated states in America, will remember August 2021 as one of the darkest months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By mid-August, Mississippi was the COVID capital of the world. At one point later in the month, four Mississippi counties claimed spots in the national top 10 list for highest caseload per capita, including the top spot.

The virus spread through the state so completely and violently that several tent hospitals were erected in parking garages during the hottest month of the Mississippi summer. By mid-August, there were no ICU beds available in the entire state, and COVID patients were waiting in full emergency rooms for critical care. To help alleviate the hospital staffing shortage, the Mississippi State Department of Health issued an order to allow EMTs and paramedics to offer care to COVID patients while they waited for bed space.

The state’s healthcare system was so overwhelmed that experts warned the entire hospital network was within days of collapsing. To fend off that collapse, the state had to request that the federal government foot the $8 million-per-week bill for 1,100 contract healthcare workers.

READ MORE: Mississippi’s hospital system could fail within 5-10 days. Gov. Tate Reeves says to “remain calm.“

Hospital administrators across the state reported the virus killed numerous pregnant women. Multiple pregnant women on ventilators died of COVID-19 in a Jackson hospital, requiring ICU c-section deliveries to save their babies. 

“The seasoned OB-GYNs and critical care specialists said this never happens — never,” said Mark Horne, president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, on Sept. 3.

Multiple Mississippians were hospitalized because they chose to take horse dewormer instead of a safe and effective vaccine, leading the health department to issue dire public pleas for humans to stop taking the animal medicine.

Thirteen-year-old Mkayla Robinson, an eighth grader in Smith County, died a couple days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. That tragedy spurred pleas from the state’s largest medical and education groups for a statewide mask mandate in schools, similar to one issued by Gov. Tate Reeves last school year.

Reeves, however, rebuffed those pleas, ensuring Mississippians the days of statewide mandates to stem the spread of the virus were over.

Meanwhile, the swift and uncontrollable outbreaks of the virus inside schools caused nearly 15% of Mississippi schoolchildren to quarantine in August — just days after they returned for the fall semester — due to infection or direct exposure. This stirred fear inside classrooms among teachers and students alike.

There was little relief from Reeves, the state’s chief executive and top manager of the state’s pandemic response efforts. The governor remained steadfast in his refusal to say, without equivocation, that every eligible Mississippian should get a vaccine despite the fact that Republican governors in neighboring states offered clear and concise encouragement for their residents to get the shot.

Reeves was blistered by hospital executives and school leaders for his inconsistent COVID policies. He directly countered advice from the state’s top doctors, he placated those who refused to get the vaccine, and he uttered jaw-dropping comments about the pandemic.

Reeves countered the medical advice of Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer, saying that there was not much reason for people who are vaccinated to wear masks. He said that a reporter who wore a mask inside a governor’s press conference was “virtue signaling,” and he falsely claimed that the press had fabricated reports of his response to the pandemic.

At a Republican fundraiser in Memphis in mid-August, Reeves said that Mississippians aren’t as scared of COVID as other Americans because they believe they’ll go to heaven when they die. 

“When you believe in eternal life, when you believe that living on this earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don’t have to be so scared of things,” Reeves said, neglecting to mention any of the Mississippians who had died from COVID in August — 984 by month’s end — or their families.

Now one week into September, there is reason for cautious optimism. Cases and hospitalizations are trending sharply downward.

Mississippi’s seven-day average of new COVID cases has dropped nearly one-third from August’s peak. Hospitalizations have seen a more modest decrease — just over 16% from their peak — but these trends are naturally out of sync. It takes time for trends in caseloads to be reflected in hospitalizations and then deaths.

Another promising sign is Mississippi’s declining prominence among the most infectious counties in America. Just two weeks ago, Mississippi claimed four spots on the national top 10 list for highest caseload per capita, including the top spot. Now it only has one — Wayne County — sitting at No. 10. During that same period, Mississippi went from having the highest infection rate per capita of any state to the fourth-highest.

While the downward trend is welcomed, medical professionals are urging Mississippians to get the vaccine and remain vigilant.

“We can’t let our guard down,” Dobbs said during a press conference last week. “We’ve got a lot more coronavirus to go through before we can get back to where we were previously.”

The post Inside Mississippi’s darkest month of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Some observations from the first big weekend of college football:

• The best team in Mississippi, clearly, is Ole Miss. In a 43-24 trouncing of Louisville — it really wasn’t that close — the Rebels won every phase of the game decisively. We knew Ole Miss would be an offensive juggernaut. What we learned Monday night is that the Rebels are remarkably improved on the defense. They played harder, stronger and faster than they have in recent seasons. Mostly, they tackled better, especially transfer linebacker Chance Campbell. We’ll get to him later.
• Mississippi State? The Bulldogs played for one quarter the way Ole Miss played for four. And that was enough for a 35-34 victory over Louisiana Tech. Down 31-10 entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs produced the largest comeback in MSU history, which is to say 126 years. It was a strange game. The Bulldogs led 14-0, fell behind 34-14 and then scored the game’s last 21 points. Postgame, Mike Leach was particularly candid, saying his offense was “shamelessly lethargic” at times and that the defense “played like a bunch of slugs” until rising up in the fourth quarter. Can’t argue that, but there is a bottom line: State won and defeated what the future will show was a really good Louisiana Tech team. State won despite losing the turnovers 6-2. Teams very rarely win when minus-4 in that department.
• Southern Miss? The Golden Eagles started the Will Hall era by taking an early 7-0 lead over South Alabama, then played poorly the rest of the game in a deflating 31-7 defeat. A veteran offensive line was supposed to be the USM’s strength but could do nothing with South Alabama’s defensive front. The Southern Miss defense was outstanding against the run, but for the second straight season South Alabama wide receiver Jalen Tolbert was by far the best player on the field. Remember that name. You’ll be watching Tolbert, a former two-star recruit, in the NFL for years. Even when double-covered, Tolbert got open and made big plays that Southern Miss could not answer.
• Jackson State? Deion Sanders’ team won its first fall football game 7-6 over Florida A&M at Miami on Sunday. Big picture: The Tigers were victorious in a hard-fought conference game nationally televised by ESPN2. The devil is in the details. There was no flow to the game, which was marred by 20 penalties, many of the pre-snap variety. That part was ugly. Both teams have much to fix. Despite all the penalties the game’s biggest mistake was made by ESPN2. How could you televise a Florida-A&M vs. Jackson State game and not show the two fabulous bands at halftime? Bad, bad mistake there. Inexcusable, really.
• So, let’s get back to Chance Campbell, the graduate transfer from Maryland, who appears to be a real difference-maker for the Ole Miss defense. Over the last three or four seasons of watching Ole Miss football, the most asked question has been: Where are the linebackers? Campbell was front and center on play after play Monday night. He’s big (6-2, 240), fast for that size and instinctive. Rebels defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin knew what he was getting in Campbell because he recruited him to Maryland, where Campbell was the second leading tackler in the Big Ten last year. He can play. So can Ashanti Cistrunk, the junior from Louisville (the Mississippi one).
• The only Rebel who might have hit harder that Campbell and Cistrunk was running back Snoop Conner, who trucked one unfortunate Louisville defender and ran through the grasps of several others. I’ve written this before, but I firmly believe Conner will play far beyond his Ole Miss days. His size/speed/strength combination is rare. Ole Miss has so many offensive weapons that Conner often gets lost in the shuffle. That won’t always be the case. It wasn’t Monday night.
• “The best way out of difficulty is through it.” Will Rogers, the famous American humorist/writer (not the State quarterback) said that. However, the wise saying applies nicely to Rogers, the quarterback, in Saturday’s comeback victory. Rogers threw a pick-six interception late in the third quarter that put State behind 31-14. He was sacked three times and hurried many others. Thing is, he persevered, fought through it, and threw three touchdowns, including the game-winner. He’s a tough kid, a winner. He fits nicely in Leach’s offense as his 39 completions in 47 attempts will attest.
• Best news for USM football fans from Saturday night’s disappointment? The school of Ray Guy and Jerrell Wilson appears to have a quality punter again. Gulf Coast Community College transfer Mason Hunt punted eight times for a 48-yard average with no return yardage. But even that comes with some bad news: If the Eagle offense doesn’t improve dramatically, he is going to be one of the busiest punters in the country.

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Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn wants a state tax overhaul, including elimination of the personal income tax and increases to sales and other taxes.

Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann wants lawmakers to consider a state health care fix, which — although he is loathe to even utter the term — would most assuredly include some form of Medicaid expansion with federal dollars.

Each appears disinterested in, if not outright opposed to, the other’s initiative.

Both proposals are subject of much fear and loathing among state lawmakers, other elected leaders and policy wonks. Both could be subject to Gov. Tate Reeves’ veto stamp — a high hurdle to overcome. And both have ardent supporters and detractors among the citizenry and industrial complex. Both could possibly be taken out of the hands of lawmakers by voters, should lawmakers ever get off their duffs and reinstate the ballot initiative process the Supreme Court laid waste to this year.

Could there be room for some good, old-fashioned political horse trading at the Capitol on these two supercharged issues?

Possibly. It depends on a lot of ifs, what-ifs and leadership. We should know more after some Senate hearings on “health care delivery” (don’t call it Medicaid expansion) allegedly planned for sometime in September.

READ MORE: State’s chamber of commerce mulling Mississippi Medicaid expansion

READ MORE: Business leaders oppose Gunn’s income tax elimination-sales tax increase

For starters, Hosemann would have to come out a lot stronger for health care reform (don’t call it Medicaid expansion). He’s said he’s open to it, wants to study it and “everything is on the table” and said that people shouldn’t get hung up on “monikers” such as Medicaid expansion (although he wouldn’t utter those words even when he said this). But he’s stopped short of outright publicly endorsing expansion.

His strongest verbiage to date perhaps came at this year’s Neshoba County Fair, when he said: “We are working on making healthcare more accessible and affordable in Mississippi. The time for simply saying ‘no’ to our options for working Mississippians has passed. When a cancer diagnosis can bankrupt a family, we have a responsibility to help. Further, no Mississippian should be further than 30 minutes from an emergency room. 

“This fall, the Senate will hold hearings and dig deeper into the delivery of healthcare in our state. From managed care, to scope of practice issues, to insurance options, everything is on the table.”

Hosemann would have to come out much stronger pushing what has been a Republican bugaboo in Mississippi. He would have the backing of hospitals and other groups. He might wind up with the backing of state business leaders through the Mississippi Economic Council. MEC has said it’s in the process of polling its membership on Medicaid expansion, but results are still pending. Another big what-if.

As for Gunn, he’s been pretty staunchly opposed to Medicaid expansion, and ostensibly has higher political ambitions for which such a measure could be an anvil necklace in a GOP primary.

All jesting aside, leaders would have to come up with a program that provides some political cover for rock-ribbed Republicans, and they would have to call it something other than Medicaid expansion.

Gunn really, really wants his tax reform plan. He’s called it the most important policy proposal of his career. Would he be willing to consider health care reform in exchange, particularly if the business community gets behind it? Of course, lawmakers are constitutionally not supposed to do such trading, but the realpolitik is it happens often.

Should the House and Senate leadership come to terms on tax and Medicaid proposals, then would come the heavy lift: Getting a veto-proof majority of two-thirds of lawmakers to sign on.

Gov. Reeves has again and again and again vowed opposition to any form of Medicaid expansion, which he calls “Obamacare expansion.” He’s also vowed opposition to any tax deal (he supports just getting rid of income taxes) that includes a “tax swap,” increasing any taxes to make up for cuts.

Reeves would likely not be a party to or facilitator of any legislative negotiations on such proposals. Negotiations and facilitating negotiations are not his thing, and his relationship with the Legislature cannot really be called a relationship. He’s either fer something or agin’ it, and he’s usually agin’ most things proposed by others.

The bottom line: As leaders ponder the many what-ifs, two of the most monumental policy issues before lawmakers in recent history hang in the balance.

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