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Department of Education officials announced annual average ACT scores on Thursday, which indicate that the majority of high school juniors in the state are not college ready. 

While average ACT scores rose slightly for juniors across the state from 17.6 in 2019 to 17.7 in 2020, 90% of students are not hitting all four ACT benchmarks, which are used to gauge whether a student is likely to pass college courses that correspond to these test sections such as Algebra, Biology or Social Sciences. This is a 1% improvement from 2019, when 91% of students missed benchmarks for the ACT. 

“As we look at [these benchmarks] we see a close connection to college readiness for students,” said Nathan Oakley, Mississippi Department of Education Chief Academic Officer. 

Where ACT recommends that students score at least an 18 on English, 22 on Math, 22 on Reading and 23 on Science, Mississippi students on average scored 16.8 on English, 17.5 on Math, 17.9 on Reading and 18.2 on Science. 

Teachers and school administrators have said that lack of resources and fatigue from state testing often contributes to lower ACT scores. Because students’ state test scores account for so much of a school district’s accountability grade, school resources prioritize preparing students to perform well on the state tests, not the ACT. 

This means that a significant amount of classroom time is put toward preparing students for the state tests, which have no bearing on whether a student can get into college, rather than ACT prep, which has everything to do with college access.     

All schools and school districts are given an accountability score that rates A through F. These scores are of tremendous importance to the school district. Businesses evaluate these ratings when considering setting up shop in a community, potential homeowners are typically drawn to regions with higher ratings because it indicates a better school district. 

Also, if a school district scores an F on the accountability ratings two years in a row, the State Board of Education “may abolish the school district and assume control and administration of the schools,” according to MDE. This means the local school board would be dissolved and the superintendent would be removed from their position. 

All of this can trickle down — especially in resource strapped, underperforming schools — to intense pressure on students to perform well on state tests because those scores make up the majority of the accountability grade. 

Out of the 1,000 point system that schools with 12th grade classes are graded on for the accountability rating, 665 are based on how students perform on state tests. The ACT accounts for 47.5 points of that grade with 23.75 points depending on ACT Math performance and 23.75 points for ACT reading or english points. 

Teachers and education advocates have argued that this grading system disincentivizes underperforming, underfunded school districts from prioritizing ACT prep because so much of the accountability grade rides on the state tests results. 

They also say that this grading model does not benefit students; state tests results do not impact whether a student can get into college, while a student’s ACT score directly impacts whether they’ll be eligible for college enrollment, scholarships and other opportunities that are crucial for college access. 

The post ACT scores rise, but Mississippi students still fall short of national benchmarks appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Ashley Durval, mother of Harper Grace Durval, says it’s “truly sick” that the state Senate is using her daughter’s namesake bill to “undermine” the medical marijuana program Ashley helped get voters to put into the state Constitution.

In 2014, the Mississippi Legislature passed “Harper Grace’s Law,” named after the then 2-year-old girl who suffered a rare form of epilepsy. The measure allowed physicians at the University of Mississippi Medical Center to conduct clinical research on the medical use of cannabidiol, or CBD, and related compounds. But ironically, because of state regulations, Harper Grace was not allowed to use the medicine produced for the clinical trial named after her.

Ashley Durval filed the original paperwork that resulted in Initiative 65 — to create a medical marijuana program and enshrine it in the state Constitution — being placed on the ballot last year. Voters in November 2020 overwhelmingly approved it, although it is now being challenged in the state Supreme Court.

Mississippi lawmakers, who for years balked at creating a state medical marijuana program even as a public groundswell for it grew, have this session been trying to pass an alternative program to Initiative 65. Proponents say it would only be a backstop if the high court strikes down Initiative 65. But many supporters of the initiative suspect it’s a power and tax revenue grab by the Legislature and have opposed it.

On Wednesday, the state House killed the much-debated Senate Bill 2765. But the Senate on Wednesday evening revived the dead legislation, by inserting it as an amendment into the Harper Grace’s Law bill, which is up for reauthorization this year.

“As the mother of Harper Grace Durval, I am appalled that the Legislature would use my daughter’s own bill to undermine Initiative 65,” Durval said in a statement. “Initiative 65 is the only medical marijuana program that will ever benefit my daughter, and the Legislature is trying to kill it using my daughter’s own bill. That is truly sick.”

READ MORE: House kills medical marijuana bill. Senate tries a hail Mary

State Rep. Joel Bomgar, R-Madison, an ardent supporter of Initiative 65 who spent more than $2 million of his own money on the campaign for it, showed House colleagues and media Durval’s statement on Thursday and said, “It’s just sick. We’ve got to kill (the new Senate measure).”

“So the Senate is using the bill named for her daughter, who couldn’t get the medicine she needed from her own program, to undermine the ballot initiative her mother pushed,” Bomgar said. “We are using her daughter’s bill to screw over her mother’s initiative she filed to help her daughter get treatment she needs.

“It reminds me of the biblical passage about not boiling a baby goat in its mother’s milk,” Bomgar said. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Senate proponents of the legislative measure, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, said it would only serve as a backup if the high court kills initiative 65. However, the Senate bill as originally drafted would have created a program that would run separately regardless of whether Initiative 65 is upheld. It was amended after debate to be effective only if the court strikes down the voter initiative.

A key difference between Initiative 65 and the Senate’s proposal is that under the voter-passed initiative, the Legislature cannot tax marijuana sales, nor spend any money the program generates. The Senate proposal would levy taxes and fees on cultivators, dispensaries and patients that some lawmakers estimated could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into state coffers.

Initiative 65, which opponents still claim was drafted to favor the marijuana industry and is just short of legalized recreational use, puts the Mississippi State Department of Health in charge of the program, with no oversight by elected officials. It also prevents standard taxation of the marijuana, and any fees collected by the health department can only be used to run and expand the marijuana program, not go into state taxpayer coffers. The measure allows little regulation by local governments, no limits on the number of dispensaries and otherwise leaves many specifics unspecified.

READ MORE: Mississippi’s medical marijuana mess

Hosemann on Wednesday evening said he doesn’t understand why many supporters of Initiative 65 are opposing the Senate efforts. He said if the high court strikes down Initiative 65, and the Senate backup is not passed, there will not be a state medical marijuana program anytime soon. He vowed “100 percent” that the Senate plans to keep the “trigger” language in the bill, that the legislative marijuana program would be enacted only if the court strikes down the voter-approved one.

“Our senators believe that the people in Mississippi voted on medical marijuana and they deserve to have that … a backup plan,” Hosemann said. He called opposition saying lawmakers are trying to usurp the will of the voters or greatly alter what they passed, “subterfuge.”

The post Mother is ‘appalled’ that lawmakers drag Harper Grace’s bill into medical marijuana fight appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Thursday designed to prevent transgender girls and women from competing against female athletes in public schools and colleges, though he could not cite any instance of that occurring in the state.

Reeves, a first-term Republican, said the bill was needed because Democratic President Joe Biden early in his tenure signed an executive order making it easier for transgender athletes to compete in female sports.

At no point during the legislative process this year could a supporter of the bill pinpoint a time in which this issue has come up at any educational institution in Mississippi. On Thursday, Reeves said the legislation was needed to protect Mississippi girls — such as his three daughters.

“It sends a clear message to my daughters and all of Mississippi daughters that their rights are worth fighting for,” Reeves said during a bill signing ceremony on the second floor of the state Capitol. The governor was joined by Sen. Angela Burks Hill, R-Picayune, the author of the legislation, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, House Speaker Pro Tem Jason White, R-West, and other legislators.

The Biden executive order does strive to prevent discrimination of transgender people and has been one of the focuses of Republican criticism of the new president. But in reality, the issues surrounding transgender sports participation pre-dates the Biden administration.

READ MORE: Bill barring transgender competition in women’s sports heads to governor

There is a lawsuit pending in Idaho centered around a bill similar to the legislation Reeves signed into law Thursday. That bill has been blocked as of now in the federal courts. Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, said he is not sure if his group would file a similar lawsuit in Mississippi or become affiliated with the Idaho case.

Dortch said it might be difficult to file a lawsuit in Mississippi since no one has been harmed, as of yet, by the law since there are no known instances of transgender athletes competing in female sports.

“But if a Mississippi plaintiff comes our way, we will take the case,” he said.

In a statement, the ACLU of Mississippi said, “What makes SB 2536 so much worse than the routine fear-mongering is that it targets children. That cannot be lost in this discussion. Whatever your politics, we should all agree that ostracizing middle and high school kids is not something to celebrate.”

The bill would prevent transgender students from participating in both varsity and intramural sports designated for the gender in which they identify. The legislation states: “Athletic teams or sports designated for ‘females,’ ‘women’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex.”

If there was any question about a person’s gender, that person could go to a doctor to have the issue clarified based on genetics and other factors.

“Mississippians are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. This law does nothing to help the tens of thousands still out of work or the nearly 300,000 who have contracted the virus in the state,” said Human Rights Campaign Mississippi Director Rob Hill. “What it does is further discriminate against transgender kids who are simply trying to navigate their adolescence. Every kid deserves the opportunity to learn the values of participation, team work, and work ethic that come with youth sports.”

On Thursday, Reeves seemed to imply that the Biden executive order was encouraging children to become transgender.

“It’s crazy we have to address it, but the Biden E.O. forced the issue. Adults? That’s on them. But the push for kids to adopt transgenderism is just wrong,” Reeves said on social media.

The Idaho law was passed last year. Mississippi is the second state to pass a similar law, but it is currently being considered it other states.

“Gov. Reeves knows this is not a problem in Mississippi and yet he insists on enthusiastically signing this bill to sow fear and division,” Hill said. “By making this harmful bill the law in Mississippi, Reeves is openly welcoming discrimination and putting the lives of transgender kids in danger.”

The post Gov. Tate Reeves signs bill barring trans competition in women’s sports, but cites no examples appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Dak Prescott has signed a breathtaking new contract to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Actually, it takes your breath away. Somehow, the former Mississippi State Bulldog will have to scrape by on $160 million over the next four years.

That’s an average of $40 million a year and, among NFL salaries, is second only to what Patrick Mahomes makes for playing quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Today’s column will try to put Prescott’s contract in perspective. Let’s start with this: He will make more money next season than he has made in the previous five seasons combined — not bad for starters.

Prescott will make far, far more money than New Orleans originally paid to build the Superdome. Even accounting for inflation, that’s a staggering thought.

Here’s a sampling of Dak’s buying power:

• The most expensive home listed on the Dallas market currently is one under construction. It is an exquisite 23,688-square foot Palm Beach Mediterranean-styled manse, replete with six bedroom suites, eight full bathrooms, three-half bathrooms, a two-story great room, a cinema, a spa, an exercise room, a yoga studio, a commercial grade elevator to three different levels, a basement with seven car bays, an adjoining office, a safe room and a catering kitchen.

Now, you or I could buy this house for $37.5 million, presuming we could come up with the $740,000 down payment and make the monthly $125,000 note. Dak could pay cash out of his $67 million signing bonus and have millions left over.

• Of course, Dak already has a mansion with his own football field in the backyard, so he could, if he wanted, purchase a fleet of eight top-of-the-line, brand new Lear jets instead.

• The most expensive car in the world reportedly is the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300 priced at $3.9 million. Over the next four years, Dak could buy 41 of those.

• Quarterbacks are almost always outstanding golfers. Dak could buy his own course. No, he could buy several of his own courses. Fort Worth’s Woodhaven Country Club, an 18-hole championship course replete with clubhouse, pro shop, Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts and a dining area that can accommodate 500 at a time, is available for $5 million. For Dak: chump change.

• Reportedly, Dak prefers fishing to golfing. He grew up fishing off the bank with his grandmother in south Louisiana. He need not fish off the bank anymore. No, he can buy an elaborate, $400,000 Boston Whaler. Matter of fact, over the next four years, he could buy 400 of them.

• When Mississippi State spent $68 million for the elaborate redo of Dudy Noble, people raised their eyebrows. Dak almost could pay for it with his signing bonus alone. Think about: $67 million for signing his name. For a guy named Dak Prescott, that’s $6.7 million per letter.

Now then, we could argue forever whether any quarterback, any athlete, is worth $40 million a year. I mean, $40 million will pay the annual salaries more than 11,000 Mississippi public school teachers. Think about that: 11,000 teacher salaries.

Dak’s entire new contract wouldn’t pay to fix Jackson’s plumbing problems, but it would be a decent down payment.

But when you really get right down to it, there is no argument to be had. The NFL is a money-making machine. Clearly, Dak’s salary is what the market will bear. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ net worth is reportedly $8.9 billion. That’s with a B.

Here’s another way to look at it: At $40 million a year, Dak Prescott would have to quarterback the Cowboys 225 more years to make what Jones is worth.

And Jerry Jones isn’t risking life and limb every Sunday in the fall.

The post Dak Prescott’s new contract pays about $80,000 per pass he throws appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Exactly one year ago today, Mississippi confirmed its first case of COVID-19. In that time the virus has infected 299,124 people across the state and killed 6,864. 

COVID-19 has killed more Mississippians than diabetes, Alzheimer’s, chronic liver disease, influenza, accidents, suicide and homicide killed — combined — in 2019.

And the virus is not done with us yet. In January, Mississippi set new single-day records for new COVID-19 cases and deaths and a monthly record of 1,240 deaths. 

But as many reflect on the year filled with loss and fear, some say there is room for optimism. The number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and COVID-related hospital admissions in Mississippi have been trending sharply downward since the January spike. The caseload for the first week of March was more than 83% lower than the January peak, and nearly 75% lower for hospitalizations.

“We’re not done with the COVID pandemic. COVID is real. And we’re really winning,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a Monday press conference. 

Still, MSDH officials acknowledge that any ground Mississippi has gained in combating the virus is fragile and at the mercy of how the public behaves going forward. 

January’s peak was attributed to holiday travel and gatherings, and the upcoming Spring Break is a prime candidate for causing another such spike.

That vulnerability will also be tested in the coming weeks as we see the impact of Gov. Tate Reeves’ removal of all state-imposed mask mandates and most COVID-related restrictions on business operations. Dobbs has warned people against responding to decreasing infection numbers by abandoning the preventative measures that limit virus spread.

“If you’re up a run or two in the sixth or seventh inning, you don’t just lay down and let the other team just go at it on offense,” Dobbs said. 

Dobbs said that he’s seen most people wearing masks in public, but that is not an experience shared by many Mississippians. One of them is Carol Lang, a 33-year-old grocery store employee in DeSoto County. Though she’s had to deal with plenty of unmasked customers over the past year, that number ballooned as soon as the mask mandate was removed.

“It felt like we were opening the floodgates a little bit,” Lang said. “Believe me, I understand the COVID-fatigue, but it’s not much to ask of someone.”

Though federal guidelines classify certain retail employees like Lang as essential workers, she is still not eligible for a COVID-19 in vaccine in Mississippi. Now she’s just waiting for her turn and praying she doesn’t bring the virus home in the meantime. 

While reflecting on the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this week, Dobbs held up a keepsake, the vial that once contained the first vaccine doses given in Mississippi. On Dec. 14, he and other health officials received their shots on camera to show its safety as the state’s first shipment was distributed.

Since those first shots were given, a total of 517,156 Mississippians — just over 17% of the state population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. More than half of Mississippians over the age of 75 and about half of those over the age of 65 are vaccinated.

MAP: Where Mississippians can get the COVID-19 vaccine

More than 1,000,000 vaccine doses have been distributed statewide, and they’re being administered as fast as the state can get them. For the most part, MSDH’s drive-thru vaccination sites run like clockwork thanks to local health departments and the Mississippi National Guard. 

Over 132,000 shots were given last week, several thousand more than the state received in the same period. This is due in part to eligibility requirements that are broader than most states and currently include a massive chunk of the population.

Mississippi joined most other states in abandoning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding which groups to include in phases of the vaccine rollout following healthcare workers and residents of long-term-care facilities. Last week, Mississippi also became the first state to open up vaccine eligibility to people ages 50 and up. 

Currently, people 16 to 49 years old are also eligible for a vaccine if they have one of 12 chronic health conditions. Mississippi is one of at least 16 states that doesn’t require proof of a qualifying health condition, meaning anyone in that age group who wants a vaccine can get one if they’re willing to lie about it.

Getting shots in arms isn’t a problem, but making that process equitable has been difficult for MSDH. 

“We are always trying to fine tune availability with eligibility,” Dobbs said. 

Barriers to vaccine access are varied in who they affect and how difficult they are to remedy. Older, more vulnerable populations might be less tech savvy than younger people typically are, unable to book an appointment for themselves online without help. MSDH reserves a percentage of its drive-thru appointments for scheduling through their phone line for this reason. 

Rural counties receive fewer doses and have fewer vaccine providers in their area, necessitating lengthy commutes for those lucky enough to secure appointments. MSDH has tried to mitigate this challenge by placing several of its 23 drive-thru locations in each of the state’s nine public health districts.

Addressing the racial inequities of the state’s immunization efforts has been especially difficult. The access problem is also combined with a trust problem for many Black Mississippians due the racism and abuse Black people have been subjugated to by U.S. governments and healthcare systems. While accounting for 38% of the state’s population, Black Mississippians were accounting for only 15% of the vaccines given in the state early in the distribution effort. That share has grown to 26%, and the gap is closing.

Dobbs credited this improvement to the work of Black community leaders in churches and healthcare settings, who continue advocating for vaccination. 

“I’m proud of Mississippi. I’m proud of what we’re doing,” Dobbs said. “Let’s keep our foot on the accelerator, pushing COVID down so that we can get back to full normal before too long.”

The post One year into COVID-19 pandemic, there’s reason for optimism appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has made his case to legislative leaders for state funding to help solve the city’s water crisis. They now have about three weeks to decide whether to step up and how.

A historic winter storm in mid-February froze water plant equipment and burst many pipes in the capital city, and at least 40,000 residents — mostly Black — were without water for nearly three weeks. Today, city officials say “most” residents have had water service restored. City leaders, who have neglected funding the system for decades, say they need major investment from the state to repair system, which is estimated to cost at least $1 billion.

Lawmakers are in the final three weeks of the 2021 legislative session, which is scheduled to end on April 4 — though leaders are suggesting they could finish business sooner.

With the clock ticking, Lumumba met with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning. He made two main asks that mirrored a March 5 meeting with Speaker of the House Philip Gunn:

• Support a bill that would allow Jackson to raise its sales tax by 1 cent. If lawmakers and Jackson voters sign off on that proposal, the city would use that new revenue — an estimated $14 million per year — to back large bonds for water and sewer system repairs.

• Send the city $47 million in emergency funding for immediate necessary repairs on water treatment facilities following the 2021 winter storm.

Hosemann, a Jackson resident who told Mississippi Today on Monday “all options are on the table” regarding funding for the Jackson water crisis, took notes as the mayor and others in the meeting spoke, several of the meeting’s attendees told Mississippi Today. Hosemann asked several questions of Charles Williams, the city’s public works director, who gave a detailed accounting of the city’s funding needs — including both the $47 million emergency ask and long-term system replacement.

State Rep. Chris Bell, a Democrat from Jackson, explained a bill he filed Monday that seeks legislative sign-off on the 1-cent sales tax increase. Hosemann said that if the House passes Bell’s bill, the Senate would consider moving it through their chamber.

The city officials left Hosemann’s office after about 50 minutes with no promises, but Lumumba told Thao Ta at WJTV after the meeting that he was encouraged by the conversation. Sources close to Hosemann said he will meet with every state senator representing the city of Jackson on Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the crisis and funding options.

Here are the options and variables being considered at the Capitol moving forward, according to several legislative sources in both the House and Senate:

1) The 1-cent sales tax increase

Rep. Bell’s bill, which is modeled after a bill lawmakers passed for the city of Tupelo in 1988, would acquire legislative approval for Jackson to raise its sales tax on certain retail items within city limits. If lawmakers pass the bill, the city’s residents would have to approve the tax hike in a summer vote.

Lumumba believes the increase in the sales tax is critical to securing large-scale funding in the short term. But by Tuesday, House leaders were privately and publicly questioning whether they should sign off. “It creates a precedent, if you will, that may be a dangerous area to go to as far as other cities around the state wanting to do the same thing,” Gunn told Scott Simmons at WAPT on Tuesday. “And we may get in a situation where the tax burden is just too great.”

In the Tuesday meeting with the mayor, Hosemann said the Senate would consider Bell’s bill if it passes the House. One consideration is how Jackson’s Senate delegation feels about the proposal. Last week, state Sen. John Horhn, a Democrat from Jackson who is close with Hosemann and ran unsuccessfully against Lumumba in the 2017 mayor’s race, told Mississippi Today he did not support the new 1-cent sales tax increase, saying it could drive businesses and people out of Jackson.

2) $47 million in state bonds

There is appetite on both sides of the Capitol to come up with the $47 million the city has requested. In the grand scheme of the Legislature’s annual bond process, $47 million is not too heavy a lift. City leaders have thoroughly and specifically explained to legislative leaders what they would use that money for, appeasing a general concern among lawmakers — Republican and Democrat — that the city has not always spent its money productively in years past.

But Gunn’s comments to WAPT on Tuesday and recent comments from Hosemann suggest that lawmakers representing the entire state will want to request their share of funds for aging infrastructure in other parts of the state. Jackson leaders will argue, however, that no other water systems in the state are failing to the point of leaving 40,000 residents without water for three weeks.

3) Appropriating federal stimulus package funding to the city

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said he personally spent hours the past week reading the $1.9 trillion stimulus package Congress passed on Wednesday. The Legislature will receive a substantial amount of federal money — early estimates suggest more than $1.5 billion — to appropriate.

But Congress just passed the package on Wednesday, and states won’t receive most of the federal funds for around 60 days. After they finish the session on April 4, state lawmakers are not scheduled to meet in Jackson again until January 2022. Because of the timing of the new stimulus package, however, many inside the building expect the Legislature will pass rules to allow them to convene in Jackson any time in 2021 to determine how to spend the stimulus funds. The bottom line: The timing of federal funding might not work well with the city’s needs for immediate funding, depending on what else lawmakers can come up between now and April 4.

READ MORE: As Jackson residents suffer during historic water crisis, state leaders keep their distance

Join our text line for updates on the water situation:

The post Lawmakers consider Jackson water crisis options as end of session nears appeared first on Mississippi Today.

After bitter debate — and accusations of lawmakers lying and profiteering — the state House killed a Senate bill aimed at creating a legislative alternative to the Mississippi medical marijuana program voters overwhelmingly added to the state Constitution in November.

But the Senate on Wednesday evening tried a hail Mary on the marijuana bill. Lawmakers inserted the Senate measure’s language into a House bill dealing with research on cannabidiol, or CBD oil, for patients with seizures or other illness, known as “Harper Grace’s Law.” The amended bill — which could revive the Senate’s medical marijuana proposal — passed 29-19, with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann overruling objections that the amendment improperly altered an unrelated bill.

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, author of the medical marijuana bill, offered the amendment as a chance to “give (the House) a second bite at the apple.”

If the House doesn’t go for the last-ditch effort, the question of whether Mississippi will have a medical marijuana program anytime soon rests with the Supreme Court, which is set to hear next month a challenge to the voter-passed Initiative 65 marijuana program.

After multiple parliamentary challenges to Senate Bill 2765 ground business to a halt in the House on Wednesday — the deadline for its passage by that chamber — Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, motioned the bill to be “laid on the table.” With the House later adjourning for the day, this killed the measure. Many lawmakers applauded when Lamar made the motion. The bill had brought hours of heated debate in the Senate, and its passage in the House, facing bipartisan opposition, was in doubt even after House amendments.

Before the bill was killed, Rep. Joel Bomgar, R-Madison, an ardent supporter and financial backer of Initiative 65, accused Lamar of running “a ruse” and said the bill was aimed at “screwing over everybody who voted for Initiative 65.” Bomgar in committee last week had successfully gutted the Senate bill with an amendment to substitute the language voters passed with Initiative 65. But he claimed this week that his amendment was improperly altered before the bill came to the floor and on Wednesday claimed Lamar planned to revert back to the Senate version all along after Lamar tried to offer a new amendment.

“The people have spoken on this,” Bomgar said. “… The Supreme Court will rule in a month. There’s no reason for this (bill) … Nobody believes this will turn into anything approaching Initiative 65.”

Lamar responded: “The gentleman just lied to everybody in this body.” He said he was trying to match the bill’s language as close as possible to Initiative 65 and keep the measure alive to have further negotiations with the Senate.

“This baby has fallen in my lap, and I’m just rocking it,” Lamar said. After multiple parliamentary challenges on the bill and amendments, Lamar made the motion that killed the measure.

Rep. Jill Ford, R-Madison, a vocal opponent of Initiative 65, during floor debate called for an Ethics Committee investigation into whether any House members have improper financial interests in the potential medical marijuana industry. She was told she would have to file such a request in writing, which she later did, citing legislative rules and a provision in the state Constitution that elected officials cannot personally benefit from their official actions. Ford would not say at whom her claims were aimed.

“I’d rather not say,” Ford said after the House action. “There are possibly people in here who could financially benefit, and I was to make sure we as a body are following the rules and law when we’re voting on bills and amendments.”

Bomgar declined comment or interview this week, as he has done for about a year.

READ MORE: Mississippi’s medical marijuana mess

Senate Bill 2765 was originally a legislative alternative to the medical marijuana program voters overwhelmingly approved in November with Ballot Initiative 65, which is now being challenged in the state Supreme Court. The bill passed the Senate only after much wrangling and a “do-over” vote in the wee hours of the morning in mid-February. It was initially drafted to create its own medical marijuana program, regardless of whether the court upholds the voter-passed program. But it was amended during heated Senate debate to take effect only if the courts strike down the voter-passed program.

The legislative move had many Initiative 65 supporters crying foul, claiming the Legislature was trying to usurp the will of the voters. After lawmakers failed for years to approve use of medical marijuana despite a groundswell of public support, voters took matters in hand in November with Initiative 65.

A key difference between Initiative 65 and the Senate’s proposal is that under the voter-passed initiative, the Legislature cannot tax marijuana sales, nor spend any money the program generates. The Senate proposal would levy taxes and fees on cultivators, dispensaries and patients that some lawmakers estimated could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into state coffers.

Hosemann on Wednesday evening said he doesn’t understand why many proponents of Initiative 65 are opposing the Senate efforts. He said if the high court strikes down Initiative 65, and the Senate backup is not passed, there will not be a state medical marijuana program in the short run. He vowed “100 percent” that the Senate plans to keep the “trigger” language in the bill, that the legislative marijuana program would be enacted only if the court strikes down the voter-approved one.

“Our senators believe that the people in Mississippi voted on medical marijuana and they deserve to have that … a backup plan,” Hosemann said. He called opposition saying lawmakers are trying to usurp the will of the voters or greatly alter what they passed, “subterfuge.”

The post Mississippi House kills medical marijuana bill. Senate tries a hail Mary appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill that allows residents to buy medicines like Sudafed and Claritin-D that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine without a prescription. 

If signed by Gov. Tate Reeves, the law would go into effect on January 1, 2022.

Mississippi is currently one of only two states still requiring a prescription for medicines containing pseudoephedrine. The Legislature passed a bill adding the prescription requirement in 2010.

One of the main factors in federal and state-level restrictions on the sale of both ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is their use for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Their use is less prevalent in that process now than they were when restrictions like this were introduced, as alternatives have become cheaper and more widely available. 

Ephedrine is also banned by the NCAA, MLB, NFL, and PGA as a performance enhancing drug. 

Though the bill would somewhat open up the sale of these substances in Mississippi, it still comes with substantive regulations. A person purchasing a medication containing these substances without a prescription has to be at least eighteen years old, sign a record for each purchase and provide a copy of their Mississippi ID.

Pharmacies selling products authorized under the bill also have to use the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEX) system, which tracks the sale of both substances in the United States, for each purchase.

The bill also prevents “pharmacy hopping” to stockpile these stimulants by limiting an individual’s purchase of medications containing them to 3.6 grams in one day and 7.2 grams per month.

The post Mississippi lawmakers allow for purchase of Sudafed, Claritin-D without prescription appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey talks with Jackson native and nationally known comedian Rita Brent about success, meditation, creativity, talent and what it’s like when your career is sideswiped by a pandemic. Brent discusses her journey from National Guard drummer to stand-up comedian — and beyond. A great episode for anyone who has a dream.

This is Episode 5 of Mississippi Stories.

The post Mississippi Stories: Comedian Rita Brent appeared first on Mississippi Today.