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‘Increasingly absurd expenditures’: Newly-released audit questions $94 million in DHS spending

Anna Wolfe

Families First for Mississippi’s former west Jackson office, inside a now shuttered grocery store and run by Mississippi Community Education Center, sat empty one morning in October of 2018. The office was decorated with cobwebs and orange tape for Halloween.

John Davis worked his way up to executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services after nearly thirty years with the welfare agency and had begun publicly crafting a new vision for how the state helps the poor.

But by the time he took the helm of an agency that administers over $1 billion in public assistance program in 2016, “he saw it as an opportunity to build a kingdom over there,” State Auditor Shad White said Monday just before releasing a 104-page letter outlining the ways the agency misspent millions.

MDHS Twitter

John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, was arrested in February within the largest alleged public embezzlement case in state history.

Under the Davis administration, federal funds intended to serve the poor instead enriched his family and friends and paid for lobbyists, luxury vehicles, religious concerts, expensive getaways, publicity events with famous athletes and even a speeding ticket, the state audit published on Monday reveals.

“Once you talk yourself into ignoring the laws and the regs around how to spend the money, it’s easy to talk yourself into increasingly absurd expenditures over time,” White said.

The new report covering fiscal year 2019 officially questions $94 million in Human Services spending, some from previous years. The state auditor’s single audit, conducted every year on behalf of the federal government, sheds new light on the misspending that led to six arrests in early February.

Human Services recently announced it has revised its internal policies and will require welfare subgrantees to submit more comprehensive financial records moving forward. The new executive director Bob Anderson — whom Gov. Tate Reeves appointed earlier this year to replace interim director Jacob Black, Davis’ former deputy — is overseeing an internal investigation to determine if any current employees were involved in the alleged scheme and make any necessary personnel changes. The agency also plans to hire an accounting firm to conduct a forensic audit of the department.

But the agency could still face consequences from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has the option to cut the state’s grant funding in future years, impose hefty fines or require the state to increase its match to make up for the misspent funds.

When Davis, who is now awaiting trial in the largest public embezzlement case in state history, became director in 2016, the agency was serving a record low number of families through the cash assistance program. The welfare caseload continued to plummet as the state reported spending more money on programming, such as parenting classes and skills training, than on direct payments to poor families. But the department didn’t keep track of who these programs served, and in many cases did not require that the recipients meet income requirements.

“No one ever took the time to see if any of the people were actually eligible or needed the money,” said Stephanie Palmertree, financial and compliance audit director for the state auditor’s office. “And that’s the biggest concern here is, when you’re funding things like baseball fields for select softball teams, obviously that money is going to people who don’t need the money and individuals who actually need that assistance … they’re missing out because you’re choosing to fund services for people who aren’t eligible.”

After taking charge, Davis first dismantled the agency’s competitive bid process for contracts, the auditor said. He directed the agency to make upfront, multi-million dollar payments to Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi to run a program they called Families First of Mississippi.

Over less than four years, the Human Services gave the nonprofits about $65 million and $45 million, respectively, according to a review of state expenditures.

Typically, subgrantees for the welfare program submit claims for reimbursement as opposed to receiving upfront payments, several subgrantees told Mississippi Today, making the arrangement with the two nonprofits all the more unusual.

Davis encouraged the nonprofits to pay large sums to retired professional wrestlers Ted Dibiase, Ted Dibiase, Jr., and Brett Dibiase for work they didn’t do or that didn’t help the needy, the auditor said.

Davis was close to the DiBiase family; his agency awarded more than $2 millions in grants to Heart of David Ministry owned by the patriarch, Ted DiBiase Sr., dubbed the “Million Dollar Man.” The director heavily involved both DiBiase brothers Brett and Ted in official department matters and taxpayer funded, out-of-state trips.

“Fear is INEVITABLE,” reads screenshot from a power point former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis and wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. used during their leadership training program called Law of 16.

Emails suggest Davis and Ted DiBiase Jr. had gone into business together, developing a motivational training program called Law of 16 that they delivered to public agencies on the nonprofit’s dime. Ted DiBiase Jr.’s companies Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem received more than $3 million from the nonprofits between 2017 and 2019, but the audit does not show that Davis financially benefited. Davis was even trying to help the wrestler with an autobiography.

A Hinds County grand jury indicted Davis and Brett DiBiase in February for allegedly using welfare funds to pay for Brett’s drug treatment at a Malibu facility. They’ve pleaded not guilty. Davis’ attorney Merrida Coxwell did not return calls to Mississippi Today Monday.

The grand jury also indicted Mississippi Community Education Center’s founder Nancy New and her son Zach New for allegedly embezzling over $4 million for their personal use. They’ve pleaded not guilty. The New nonprofit represents the most egregious misspending, according to the audit: It transferred over $6 million to private schools owned by Nancy New, such as New Summit School, bought luxury vehicles for New family members and paid expensive rents on property owned by the News, only for them to sit empty. Zach New used welfare funds to pay back a loan on his retirement account, the audit says.

The auditor discovered many millions in misspent funds, but he did not specify a dollar amount out of the $94 million that rose to the level of misspending. Many more questioned costs resulted from a lack of documentation showing where the money went.

The money in question came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal block grant that states have wide latitude to use to help lower income families, including through cash assistance for very poor families formerly known as the “welfare check.”

Mississippi receives about $86.5 million in TANF from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services each year and must match the grant with state funds. But in any given year, the state is usually also spending federal grant money from previous years, complicating the accounting. The agency had caught heat for failing to spend millions in TANF funds, carrying over a large unobligated balance from year to year, and it began spending down the fund in 2017.

In 2018, the most recent year in which federal reports are available, Mississippi spent about 5 percent of $135 million TANF dollars on direct assistance for families. The state reported spending most of the rest on programming categorized as education and training, supportive services, child welfare and “Fatherhood and Two Parent Family Formation,” on which it spent about $40 million.

While the federal government requires states to provide documentation about the families that receive cash assistance — such as the number of families that meet work requirements — it does not require states to report what it buys with the rest of the money, only how much it used on vague categories.

The department was often cited in previous audits for failing to properly monitor the spending of federal funds. In the single audit released last year, shortly after the auditor’s office began its investigation into Human Services’ TANF spending, the agency was among the most cited, responsible for 10 of the 63 total findings identified in fiscal year 2018. They found management errors associated with $30 million in human services spending, but identified within TANF just over $3,100 in actual questioned costs, which were payments to low-income families that may not have met all requirements to receive benefits.

These annual audits, which focus on an agency’s internal controls, are not effective at identifying fraud, White explained Monday; that kind of revelation usually requires a tip from the inside. The auditor’s office said it began investigating the TANF scheme in June of 2019 after agency employees took information about misspending to then-Gov. Phil Bryant, who turned the information over to White.

When auditor agents arrested the six defendants in early February before the investigation had concluded, White explained that his office moved forward in obtaining the initial indictments in order to prevent any more misspending or theft.

Anna Wolfe

Mississippi Community Education Center’s downtown Jackson office, branded as Families First, was funded with millions of welfare dollars but filled its food pantry with donated food and on the day of the nonprofit founder’s arrest, the shelves were lined almost exclusively with canned corn and green beans.

Mississippi Today first reported that the New nonprofit paid $5 million for the construction of a new volleyball stadium at University of Southern Mississippi; covered the $9,500-a-month mortgage on former football star Marcus Dupree’s ranch in a gated Flora community; and funded a high-profile boot camp-style fitness program offered by former linebacker Paul Lacoste. The audit included each of these purchases as a finding.

The nonprofit paid for the volleyball center through a lease agreement that it utilized one time for a Healthy Teens Rally in 2018. The auditor found that in substance, the payment was a donation, not a lease.

Dupree, who declined to talk to Mississippi Today when visited at the ranch in March, was on payroll at both Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, where he earned hundreds of thousands to travel the state and lecture school children.

The nonprofit funded the Lacoste boot camp with TANF money through a contract with his company Victory Sports Foundation, but the program was not geared toward the poor, the audit says; many professionals and state lawmakers participated free of charge. While Lacoste did not return several phone calls from Mississippi Today, and publicly threatened the publication with legal action, he told Clarion Ledger he did not know he had been paid with welfare funds. The nonprofit paid Victory Sports $1.3 million of its $1.4 million contract and Clarion Ledger reported some of the money paid for expensive dinners at steakhouses.

While the volleyball center, the Dupree ranch and the Lacoste boot camp are questioned in the audit, none of these expenditures are the subject of criminal charges.

The largest fraudulent purchase outlined in the indictments is a $2.15 personal investment the News allegedly made using welfare funds into a medical device company called Prevacus, which is developing a treatment for concussions.

The audit explains that the New nonprofit entered a $1.7 million contract with Prevacus in 2019. Mississippi Today also first reported that football legend Brett Favre had promoted, and discussed with then-Gov. Bryant, according to emails Mississippi Today obtained, two of the projects funded by welfare money: the investment in Prevacus, a company the athlete endorsed, and the new center at Southern Miss where his daughter played volleyball.

The audit reveals more about Favre’s relationship with the News: The nonprofit also paid Favre Enterprises, his business, $1.1 million between 2017 and 2018 “to appear at several events, record promotions, and provide autographs for marketing materials.”

“MCEC provided a list of dates and events that fulfilled the contract terms; however, upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events,” the audit said.

Favre did not return calls or text messages Monday afternoon.

Mississippi Community Education Center also paid Davis’ brother-in-law $150,000 to serve as the department’s “Leadership Outreach Coordinator” and $365,050 through a business lease on a piece of property in Brookhaven. It paid Davis’ nephew $140,809 to develop a coding academy and website design program and $67,769 in salary. Family Resource Center also paid the Davis family members.

Meanwhile, the Families First for Mississippi nonprofits, which received over $100 million since 2017, would not provide any cash assistance to people living in poverty.

“As an agency head, it’s not like I’m sitting back saying, ‘Oh, I don’t want to help these people,’” Davis told Mississippi Today in 2019 just a few months before the investigation began. “My job is to help people. I don’t get paid any more not to help people.”

The post ‘Increasingly absurd expenditures’: Newly-released audit questions $94 million in DHS spending appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Reeves further reopens state economy, including restaurant dine-in service

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Gov. Tate Reeves answers questions during a press conference concerning the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite two of the last four days showing the highest daily COVID-19 case counts to date, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Monday he is further reopening the Mississippi economy.

Restaurants can begin Thursday serving in-house meals under strict guidelines, Reeves announced Monday afternoon during his daily news conference. The governor also is re-opening state and local parks.

The governor said Friday that he had planned to announce further reopenings that day, but opted not to after the Department of Health reported 397 coronavirus cases and 20 deaths on Friday. Those numbers represent the most cases on a single day since the coronavirus arrived in the state.

Then on Saturday and Sunday the number of new cases reported were significantly lower. On Monday, though, the Department of Health reported  327 new cases – the second most ever on a single day – and seven deaths.

Just before the Reeves news conference on Monday, on social media LouAnn Wodward, vice chancellor for the University of Mississippi and head of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said, “The number of COVID-19 positive patients, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing. We have not hit our peak. We are not on the other side of this. Stay safe Mississippi.”

State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs, who participated in the news conference with Reeves, said looking at data over a period of time it appears the state’s cases and hospitalization rates are no longer increasing and that a plateau had been reached. The daily reports are impacted in part by the number of tests performed and when those test results are reported, Reeves said.

But while some metrics, like ICU and ventilator use have been stable, overall hospitalizations have been steadily growing, both daily and when looked at it on a rolling weekly average.

Dobbs and Reeves stressed that Mississippians still must practice social distancing, wear a mask in public, stay six feet apart and avoid groups of more than 10.

Reeves said he is trying to balance the safety of the state’s citizens with the state’s economy. He said the closure of businesses also is having a devastating impact on the state.

“I don’t want to wait if there are steps that we believe we can safely take now to ease the burden on Mississippians fighting this virus,” Reeves said. “There are thousands around the state that are set to close their doors for good. They cannot hold on much longer. I hope that this will not only be some much-needed relief for those restaurant employees but also provide for some joy for the people of Mississippi.”

Under the new order, which goes into effect Thursday, Reeves said he unfortunately could not reopen barbershops and hair salons because he said health care experts could not find a safe way to do so. While Reeves did not address the issue at the news conference, it appears the order also does not allow for the reopening of gyms, theaters, other entertainment venues and some other activities like nail salons.

The order Reeves announced Monday amends an April 24 “safer-at-home order” that opened most retail establishments within the restraints of social distancing and other limitations, but did not reopen in-house dining at restaurants. Under the amendment Reeves announced Monday, restaurant capacity will be limited to 50 percent of maximum capacity and employees must wear masks and undergo safety training.

The safer-at-home order is set to expire at 8 a.m. Monday. Prior to the safer- at-home order, the state was under a much stricter shelter-in-place order for three weeks.

The post Reeves further reopens state economy, including restaurant dine-in service appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Delta families without running water get funding, but new well construction stalls over property issues

Aallyah Wright, Mississippi Today

Minerva Clemon, 70, lives on the outskirts of Schlater, where she has been without running water since July.

SCHLATER — In November, reports of Minerva Clemon’s struggle to get safe drinking water awakened Mississippians to a water crisis that many communities around the state share: the lack of access to clean, running water.

“At this time in life, I’m too old to be trying to repair a pump every six months and I feel like we should be entitled to water like everyone else,” the 70-year-old Schlater resident told Mississippi Today in November.

Once news coverage of the families’ plight spread, government officials local, state, and federal worked in tandem to fix the problem, and families can finally get what they’ve been waiting nearly a year for: a new water well system.

Late last week, the Mississippi Department of Human Services announced receipt of a $63,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to build a new well.

“It’s hard to imagine communities being without basic necessities, especially during the (coronavirus) pandemic we’re facing,” said Robert G. “Bob” Anderson, executive director of the state Department of Human Services in the release. “Hygiene is critical for the health and welfare of everyone right now.”

Mississippi Today reached out to Clemon after the news of well funding was released. What was once Clemon’s biggest concern — funding — is now trumped by a new obstacle: an ownership issue with the land. Clemon’s home is considered heirs’ property, or property passed down without a will.

“The problem is the land needs to be in my name,” Clemon told Mississippi Today. “The property was my grandfather’s and went to my mother. Basically, all of her siblings are gone and all of their children have a piece in this land. Black people don’t do wills and end up with heirs’ property.”

Joyce Chiles, of Mississippi Delta-based Chiles Law Firm PLLC,  said to move the process forward on a case like this, the court would need to partition the land. This means notifying all parties who may be property owners.

“Let’s assume you have five siblings and your parents leave without doing a will. According to the law of intestate and distribution, each sibling will take an equal share but will own the whole thing together,” Chiles said. “The property has not been divided. It means you and your siblings own the home. No one person owns one particular portion.” 

So far, 17 states have passed the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which “helps preserve family wealth in the form of real property.” Mississippi is one of the states that has not passed this legislation. However, Senate Bill 2553, which would establish procedures to partition heirs’ property, was passed by the Senate in the 2020 legislative session before it recessed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Schlater residents have been living without clean, running water since July as a result of broken water well pumps. After Mississippi Today’s initial report, Brandon Presley, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District, called to inquire about how his office could be of help. 

He conducted follow-up discussions with federal and local water agencies and local lawmakers to see what could be done to assist the families and established a two-phase plan.

Central Mississippi, Inc., a community action agency in Leflore County along with the Greenwood Fire Department provided thousands of gallons of water by a water tank and bottled water to residents, said Pam Gary, director of Central Mississippi. They also went to the state Department of Human Services to apply for the grant.

The cost of the water pump is between $45,000 and $50,000. The rest of the funds will be used to make residents “more sustainable in the future,” by assisting with utility bills, rent and mortgage, Gary said. 

“I’m just glad we were able to get this (grant),” Gary said. “… I’ll feel better once the property rights are resolved, get the grant completed and running water in homes.”

This effort in Leflore County served as a catalyst to spearhead similar efforts in other rural communities across the state, Presley said. In Tishomingo County, for instance, three families have been without water, but the Northeast Mississippi Community Action Agency, in conjunction with Presley’s office and other officials were able to solidify nearly $6,000 for those residents.

We had folks who were 70-plus-years-old toting water (to their homes),” Presley told Mississippi Today in a phone call. “I think this is a great example of where the press highlighted this need and state government, federal government, local government, and nonprofits responded.”

Nailing down which communities are without water remains a challenge, but Presley said his office is working with the Mississippi Rural Water Association to do so. The PSC created an ongoing database to ask residents if they’re lacking water.

“We’re taking the playbook we used in this Leflore County case to meet a need more widespread. This particular case has given us the opportunity to put everyone in the room,” Presley added. “That is exactly what we did in Tishomingo County with your reporting, in a very short period.”

With the coronavirus still spreading across the county and throughout the state, construction and completion dates for the water well projects are up in the air. In spite of continuous roadblocks to get basic necessities like water, rural Mississippians like Clemon remain hopeful.

“Right now, I’m still saying my prayers and waiting because at this point it’s a waiting game to see,” Clemon said. 

The post Delta families without running water get funding, but new well construction stalls over property issues appeared first on Mississippi Today.

‘Cheap theatrics and false personal insults’: Speaker Gunn blisters Gov. Reeves over CARES Act spending authority

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn speaks during the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019.

Speaker of the House Philip Gunn blistered Gov. Tate Reeves in a seven-page letter sent on Monday, disputing statements Reeves has made concerning legislation passed last week that prevents the governor from spending $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.

For weeks, Reeves had insisted he had sole spending authority over the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. But on Friday, the Legislature convened weeks ahead of schedule to pass a bill that would strip the governor of sole spending authority of the coronavirus stimulus funds.

Reeves has since criticized lawmakers in press conferences and in national television interviews, accusing legislators of engaging “in petty political difference” and saying under “the worse case scenario (because of the legislative action), people will die.”

Those comments from Reeves prompted Gunn, the third-term Republican speaker from Clinton, to send the Monday letter, which was obtained by Mississippi Today.

“Since the passage of Senate Bill 2772, you have made statements that are completely incorrect and/or misleading, and you have attacked my House members and the legislative process,” Gunn wrote to Reeves. “In your comments Friday, you portrayed legislators as thieves and killers. You said we ‘stole the money’ and people would die. Such cheap theatrics and false personal insults were beneath the dignity of your office. They were out of character for you personally.”


Speaker Letter to Gov 5 4 20 (Text)

The letter is the latest in a back-and-forth between Republican leaders over who should have the federal spending authority. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who worked alongside Gunn to pass the legislation last week, defended the Legislature’s stance in a weekend op-ed.

In his letter, Gunn, the Republican from Clinton serving in his third term as speaker, details 12 separate points he disagrees with the governor on, ranging from the handling of unemployment benefits, who has the authority to spend these funds and whether the governor needs access to these dollars to address any emergencies that may arise.

Reeves has said the Legislature’s actions could cause people hired to handle unemployment claims to be laid off because they were going to be paid with federal funds, and the Legislature’s authority over those monies might mean there would not be enough money to pay unemployment claims. However, money meant to be used for unemployment claims is in a separate pot of money not impacted by the Legislature’s actions.

Gunn’s letter also rebuffed the notion that the Legislature’s actions were part of a political battle and encouraged Reeves to work with legislative leaders.

“We request that you stop attempting to sensationalize this situation and work with the Legislature to solve the issues before us,” Gunn wrote. “This is the spirit in which our government has worked since 1817 and it shouldn’t stop today. We invite you to put aside an all out media war with the legislative branch and to work with us to provide the checks and balances that the spending of $1.25 billion should require.”

When asked if he had a response to the letter during a Monday afternoon press conference, Reeves said: “I honestly don’t have any idea what you’re talking about… I haven’t read any letter from the Speaker or otherwise.”

The governor suggested he would veto the bill, but did not say that outright when asked whether he planned to.

“Wouldn’t you veto the bill?” Reeves said. “Wouldn’t you fight for the people of Mississippi to get them money not on May 18, but now?”

The governor has five days to veto a bill after it is passed when the Legislature is in session, but members can still override a veto with a two-thirds vote. 

“I’ve been around the legislative process long enough to know that the first vote doesn’t guarantee the second vote,” he said.

Reeves also suggested that a court battle was possible if the legislators voted to override his veto.

“I can’t tell you with certainty what we’re going to do…but we certainly feel like if (legislators) were successful at maintaining that this continues, then I would think that it’s possible that at some point the courts would weigh in and … break the tie.”

The post ‘Cheap theatrics and false personal insults’: Speaker Gunn blisters Gov. Reeves over CARES Act spending authority appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mayor’s Music Series: Caleb Walker

Join us every day as we enjoy some great music from local musicians!

Posted by Caleb Walker on Monday, May 4, 2020

Mississippi EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1478

OurTupelo presents a read and searchable copy of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves’s Executive Order 1478. This order pertains to when and how dining facilities can reopen.


WHEREAS, on March 14, 2020, pursuant to the Constitution of the State of Mississippi and Miss. Code
Ann. § 33-15-11(b)(17), I issued a Proclamation declaring that a State of Emergency exists in the State of
Mississippi as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on January 31, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary
Alex Azar declared a public health emergency for COVID-19 beginning on January 27, 2020, on March
11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020,
the President of the United States declared a nationwide state of emergency due to the coronavirus
COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 and the effects of its extreme risk of person-to-person
transmission throughout the United States and Mississippi significantly impacts the life and health of our
people, as well as the economy of Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, on March 26, 2020, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced new and
expanded measures to increase testing and data analysis to identify regions and localities that are at higher
risk for transmission of COVID-19 and to provide more location-specific restrictions and limitation of
movement and social interaction to combat the virus in those regions and localities; and
WHEREAS, on April 1, 2020, in order to minimize the risk of possible further transmission of COVID19 and related measures, I issued Executive Order No. 1466 instituting a statewide Shelter in Place
effective at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020, and remaining in full force and effect until 8:00 a.m. on
Monday, April 20, 2020; and
WHEREAS, on April 17, 2020, I issued Executive Order 1473 extending the statewide Shelter in Place,
with certain additional exceptions, until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, April 27, 2020; and
WHEREAS, consistent with the guidance provided by the White House for beginning the process of reopening the economy while minimizing the risk of a resurgence of COVID-19, the incidences of infection
in Mississippi have stabilized; there is decreased utilization of hospital resources; a robust testing system
is in place capable of promptly detecting any increase in the rate of infection; the healthcare system is
capable of treating persons with the COVID-19 and has the capacity to promptly react to any increase in
incidences; and the State has in place a plan to rapidly scale up healthcare capacity in the event of an
increase in the rate of infection; and
WHEREAS, Mississippi must protect lives while restoring livelihoods, both of which can be achieved
with the expert advice of medical professionals and business leaders; and
WHEREAS, on April 24, 2020, I issued Executive Order 1477 establishing the statewide Safer at Home
allowing certain businesses to open and operate under certain conditions, until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May
11, 2020; and
WHEREAS, a continued measured and strategic plan to reopen the economy is essential to the health,
safety and well-being of Mississippi residents, and in consultation with the State Health Officer, there are
certain additional business operations and other activities that can safely resume under the limitations set
forth herein.


NOW, THEREFORE, I, Tate Reeves, Governor of the State of Mississippi, by the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi, do hereby order and direct as follows:
I. The statewide Safer at Home instituted in Executive Order 1477 shall remain in full force and
effect until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2020, except as follows:
a. From and after 8:00 a.m. on May 7, 2020, Paragraph I(h)(vii) of Executive Order 1477 is
amended to allow restaurants and bars to resume in-house (indoor or outdoor) dining
subject to the following limitations:
i. Prior to resuming in-house dinning, the entire restaurant and bar, including areas
not open to the public, shall be deep cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized.
ii. Restaurants and bars shall set hours of operations to close to the public no later than
10:00 p.m.
iii. Pursuant to Paragraph I(h)(ii) of Executive Order 1477, restaurants shall take all
reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the Mississippi State Department of
Health’s and CDC’s regulations, orders and guidance to prevent the spread of
COVID-19, including, but not limited to: social distancing; sending sick employees
home; actively encouraging sick employees to stay home; separating and sending
home employees who appear to have respiratory illness symptoms; adopting and
enforcing regular and proper hand-washing and personal hygiene protocols; and
daily screening of employees for COVID-19 related symptoms before beginning
their shifts.
iv. Restaurants and bars shall conduct a daily screening of all employees at the
beginning of their shifts. Such daily screening shall include the following
questions, and any employee answering any question in the affirmative shall be sent
home:


  1. Have you been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the
    past 14 days?
  2. Are you experiencing a cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat?
  3. Have you had a fever in the last 48 hours?
  4. Have you had new loss of taste or smell?
  5. Have you had vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours?

All employees shall be required to report any symptoms of COVID-19 to their
supervisor, and any employee who exhibits any of the symptoms of COVID-19
during their shift shall be sent home immediately and advised to consult with their
physician.


vi. Appropriate PPE shall be worn by all employees based on their duties and
responsibilities and in adherence to state and local regulations and guidelines.
Every employee who comes into direct contact with customers shall be provided a
cloth mask and required to wear that mask while on duty.
vii. All employees shall be provided training regarding minimizing the spread of
COVID-19, including the importance of frequent hand washing and personal
hygiene, proper sanitation, cough and sneeze etiquette, use of PPE, and safe foodhandling procedures.
viii. Where possible, workstations should be staggered so employees can avoid standing
next to each other. Where separation of workstations is not possible, the frequency
of surface cleaning and sanitizing should be increased.
ix. Break rooms shall be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, and the number of
employees in the break room shall be limited to allow for strict social distancing (a
minimum of six feet between employees and no gathering of more than ten
employees).
x. The number of customers in the restaurant or bar shall be no greater than 50% of
seating capacity.
xi. Floor plans shall be updated to ensure at least six feet of separation between each
party/group whether dining indoor or outdoor. Party sizes shall be limited to a
maximum of six customers per table.
xii. Bars or bar areas that do not offer food services shall remain closed, and live music
shall not be permitted.
xiii. The use of technology solutions to minimize person-to-person contact is
encouraged, including mobile reservations systems, text upon arrival, mobile
ordering, and contactless payment options.
xiv. Signage shall be posted at each entrance stating no customer with a fever or other
symptom of COVID-19 is permitted in the restaurant or bar.
xv. Customers shall be screened for illness upon their entry into the restaurant or bar.
xvi. Customers shall not be allowed to congregate in the waiting area or bar area. The
restaurant shall adopt a process to ensure that a minimum of six feet separation is
maintained between customers while waiting to be seated or in the bar area.

xvii. All front-of-house high contact surfaces shall be sanitized, at a minimum, every
two hours.
xviii. The use of disposable menus is encouraged. All non-disposable menus shall be
sanitized between each use.
xix. Tables, chairs, and tabletop items shall be sanitized after each table turns.


xx. Buffet Service:
Self-service buffets, food stations, and drink stations are prohibited.
Cafeteria style (worker served) buffets and food stations are permitted with
appropriate barriers in place.



xxi. Hand sanitizer shall be placed at all points of entry and exit, the hostess station, in
or near the bathrooms, and at the cashier station.
xxii. All food service areas shall be deep cleaned daily.


From and after 8:00 a.m. on May 7, 2020, Paragraph I(h)(viii) of Executive Order 1477 is
amended to allow parks to open subject to the following limitations:
i. State parks may open to the public between the hours of 9:00 a.m. through 7:00
p.m. for recreational outdoor activities, subject to the rules and guidance
promulgated by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Pursuant to Paragraph I(b)(iii) of Executive Order 1477, individuals using state
parks shall maintain social distancing of a minimum of six feet separation between
each individual. Group gatherings/activities shall be limited to a maximum of 10
participants indoor and a maximum of 20 participants outdoor.
ii. Municipal parks and private parks may open to the public between the hours of
9:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. for recreational outdoor activities as determined by
local authority and under such limitations and restrictions as may be imposed by
local authority. Such restrictions at a minimum must require maintaining a
minimum of six feet distance between each individual and limiting group
gatherings/activities to a maximum of 10 participants indoor and a maximum of 20
participants outdoor.



iii. Outdoor recreational activities, including swimming in pools, shall be permitted
between the hours of 9:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. Individuals shall maintain social
distancing of a minimum of six feet separation between each individual. Group
gatherings/activities shall be limited to a maximum of 10 participants (including
coaches, lifeguards and parents) indoor and a maximum of 20 participants outdoor.


This Executive Order shall remain in effect and in full force from 8:00 a.m. on May 7, 2020, until
8:00 a.m. on Monday May 11, 2020, unless it is modified, amended, rescinded, or superseded.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of
Mississippi to be affixed.
DONE in the City of Jackson, on the _ day of
May, in the year of our Lord, two thousand and
twenty, and of the Independence of the United States
of America, the two hundred and forty-fourth.
TATE REEVES
GOVERNOR
BY THE GOVERNOR
MICHAEL WATSON
SECRETARY OF STATE

Monday Weather Outlook

8:15 a.m. – Good morning everyone! It is not a bad way to start our Monday! At 5 am temperatures are in the upper 60s under partly cloudy skies across North Mississippi. We will see cloudy skies throughout the day. Temperatures this morning will climb into the low 70s before 9 am and reaching the lower 80s this afternoon with a 40% chance of showers. Tonight, clouds will increase with a low near 67…Have a safe and pleasant Monday, friends!

Mississippi is fighting an uphill battle with jobless claims. A decades-long shift in employment strategy didn’t help.


Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

During a job fair at the Jackson WIN Job Center, one of several centers run by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, last August, dozens stood in line for their chance to speak with recruiters from Continental Tire.

Mississippi is fighting an uphill battle with jobless claims. A decades-long shift in employment strategy didn’t help.

BY ANNA WOLFE | May 3, 2020

After Laura Flint got laid off in late March, she spent hours each day walking around with her cellphone on speakerphone in her pocket.

She was on hold with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security’s call center, which she was instructed to contact after the online application system flagged her unemployment claim.

More than a month ago, after a record number of Americans began losing their jobs as the coronavirus spread, Congress passed a $600 increase to weekly unemployment benefits until July 31 and allowed states to ease some restrictions on eligibility.

But many Mississippians who qualify have yet to receive a dime because they can’t get through to the state office.

“I think a lot of people did what I did, they just went into panic mode,” Flint said.

Flint, who lives in Jackson, was one of thousands of frustrated Mississippians attempting to reach an agency inundated with people seeking its services. The department usually handles around 1,000 new unemployment claims each week, but after COVID-19 closures and cancellations, the department began receiving as many as 46,000 claims a week.

“There are X number of phone lines and X number of people,” said Flint, who eventually got hold of someone in the department after about three weeks and received her first payment on Monday. “But what I realized is those people are working really hard. The odds are insurmountable.”

The state estimates more than 35,000 Mississippians applied for unemployment just last week for a total of more than 203,000 claimants from March 15 to April 25. The number is likely an under-count.

The unprecedented hike would overwhelm any system and these issues — long wait times and crashed websites — have impacted states across the country.

But a former agency employee and state leader say the problems are exacerbated by leadership changes at Mississippi’s employment agency and a loss of institutional knowledge surrounding the complex program in the last two decades. Because of a shift in priorities away from unemployment, the state was at a further disadvantage to handle the crisis, according to interviews with people close to the agency.

“If we had more offices and more people working, we would be more capable to handle this extra load,” said former lawmaker Harvey Moss, who chaired the former Labor Committee in the House in the early 2000s.

The state’s unemployment office was at one time under the control of a commission that “had a lot of institutional knowledge that came up through the ranks,” Moss said, but the Legislature dismantled that body in 2004 in favor of an agency with an executive director appointed by the governor.

Moss said he remembers finding it disturbing that they did away with the commission and since then, politically appointed agency leaders have not come from an unemployment background.

The agency has also lost longtime unemployment insurance employees, said Amy Vetter, a former Employment Security business systems analyst who left the agency in 2019, and “there’s not many people left that have the knowledge base.”

The department has also closed and consolidated many of the WIN Job Centers, Moss said, where jobless workers could visit with employment specialists in person.

“We’re paying for it now,” Moss said. “Not saying we wouldn’t have been stretched out, but I think we’d be better off.”

Today, WIN Job Centers provide very little unemployment services — beyond claims intake — and are mostly focused on helping people find employment using the Mississippi Works website or other online jobs boards. Just before the pandemic, even when a person physically applied for unemployment inside the WIN Job Center, they had to call the same state office call center if they experienced an issue with their claim.

In 2005, just before the last record-breaking unemployment rush following Hurricane Katrina, the Legislature reduced the percentage of taxes employers must pay into the unemployment insurance trust fund, which supplies benefits to people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. People who quit or refuse to work do not qualify.

The shift in priorities came during the administration of Gov. Haley Barbour, who, in the 2009 aftermath of the Great Recession, also rejected more than $50 million in federal stimulus money slotted for the unemployment program. To use it, he would have had to do something he opposed: expand eligibility and offer benefits to part time workers.

“Haley Barbour was not a fan of unemployment,” said Cecil Brown, longtime former lawmaker and financial advisor who previously served as the director of the Department of Finance and Administration.

Mississippi Department of Employment Security spokesperson Dianne Bell said agency officials were not available to conduct an interview for this story. A current lawmaker and longtime Mississippi businessman says he’s witnessed no change in the agency’s functions and chalks up the current issues to an inevitable system overload as a result of the pandemic.

“I have not seen any difference in how the agency has run since I’ve been in business 40 years,” said Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, who owns a family meat business.

Mississippi lawmakers have often rejected raises to weekly unemployment benefits — which at a max of $235 are the lowest in the nation — arguing that doing so could negatively impact the economy.

“I get the feeling sometimes we are incentivizing people not to work,” former Gov. Phil Bryant said in opposition to raising benefits in 2008 while serving as lieutenant governor.

Mississippi also has among the most stringent eligibility requirements: Even if they want to work, a person may not qualify for benefits if they lack child care or transportation. The state’s benefits reach just one-tenth of these jobless workers, one reason why the unemployment insurance trust fund, which also funds job training at community colleges, soared to over $710 million in 2019. By contrast, $60.6 million in benefits were paid to the unemployed that year.

Within one week of his first executive order sending nonessential state employees home, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Mississippi would suspend work search requirements for unemployment and the one-week waiting period for which a person is normally not paid. By March 27, Congress had passed the CARES Act that increased benefit amounts and expanded eligibility to people normally disqualified for benefits — such as self-employed workers or people who quit working as a direct result of COVID-19.

The department couldn’t do much until the U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance on implementing the changes on April 4th, 5th and 10th and even then, the software the state uses to automatically review claims online proved tough to manipulate. The system continued to notify people they must conduct work searches weeks after the state waived the requirement, for instance.

Still, the state was among the first to begin issuing the additional $600 to folks approved for unemployment on April 10 and it formally updated the system to accept the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims for the people who qualify under expanded eligibility, such as 1099 workers, on April 21.

Other states are facing deeper challenges than Mississippi because of their archaic unemployment application systems, some of which are still using COBOL programming, characterized by a black screen with lime green lettering. Mississippi was one of the first states to modernize it’s unemployment claims technology beginning with contracting Tata Consultancy Services to build the new software in 2004. The state entered the latest five-year, $72.7 million contract with the company in 2018.

“The tech in Mississippi is sound,” Vetter said. “There isn’t a capacity issue.”

Most hiccups with the online application, which require a person to contact the overloaded call center, arise from two scenarios: the system’s tight security triggers the account to lock so a claimant must request a password reset, or a claimant selects an option that flags their account within the questionnaire.

For example, Flint initially said she was on a leave of absence when she submitted her claim, which disqualified her, but she should have selected that she was laid off. The website asks claimants to answer an exhaustive series of questions, which can be interpreted differently from user to user. But Vetter said the process is crucial to root out fraudulent filings. It also means more people will need a human’s help to successfully file their claim.

Vetter’s job was to communicate the agency’s needs and interpretation of federal law to the tech developers, who would make changes within the system. Today, Mississippi’s deficiencies lie less with technology than staff coordination, according to interviews.

In light of the pandemic, the agency has nearly tripled the staff at its call centers — many of them temporary workers brought on through an emergency contract with accounting firm Horne LLP — but delays persist. The agency will issue backpay to people struggling to get their claim through the system and officials have asked applicants for patience.

“I don’t think we can totally bash the department because in doing, so we’re bashing a lot of good people who are risking their health to go out and try to fix our problem,” Flint said. “I’m at home obsessively dialing their number but they’re up there trying to actually solve our problem.”

“When I finally got through, with persistence, no magic wands or anything like that, it was a very well-trained person who knew what they were doing, took care of business, reassured me and came through for me,” she added. “It can work.”

The post Mississippi is fighting an uphill battle with jobless claims. A decades-long shift in employment strategy didn’t help. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Why Republican legislators might be tougher on Reeves than on recent past governors

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour attends Gov. Tate Reeves’ inauguration ceremony inside the House chamber at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.

In 2006, the story goes then-Republican Gov. Haley Barbour was meeting with legislative staff about the extra federal funds the state received to respond to Hurricane Katrina that ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast when someone innocently proclaimed the Legislature will need to appropriate the funds.

Barbour, according to reports, said calmly in his deep, slow Southern drawl, that was not going to happen.

It did not. Such is the legend of Haley Barbour in the annals of the Mississippi Legislature.

Bobby Harrison

There were legislators, especially in the then Democratic-controlled House, who wanted the Legislature to have more oversight and more authority over the funds the state received in the aftermath of Katrina. They also wanted more control of the more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funds the state received to help plug budget holes caused by a dramatic drop in revenue after the Great Recession in 2008-09.

In each instance Barbour remained in firm control. And Phil Bryant, who followed Barbour, controlled most of the money the state received as a result of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But now Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn are trying to take away the authority of fellow Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to have the authority over $1.25 billion in federal funds the state is receiving to deal with costs and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This episode is the most significant split of Republican leaders since the party garnered control of nearly every aspect of state government in 2012.

Why are legislative Republicans not willing to grant Reeves the same spending authority over federal funds that Barbour, and to a lesser extent, Bryant had before him?

The answers are varied. One is that Barbour exerted an influence, especially over the Senate where first Amy Tuck presided and then Bryant presided, that was in many ways greater than the influence of those presiding officers.

During the budget negotiations it was not unusual for an agreement to be reached between House and Senate leaders only for the Senate to renege after discovering Barbour did not like the deal.

It was unthinkable before Barbour to think legislative leaders would alter their decisions based on the wishes of the governor.

For decades, legislators routinely overrode the vetoes of governors and essentially ignored their wishes. There were noticeable exceptions, but Barbour took the governor’s authority to a new level.

Part of that was the force of his personality and his communication skills. In addition, Republicans were finally gaining a foothold in the state and they were in unison. Legislative Republican were reluctant to fight with their fellow Republican governor.

Reeves has the misfortune of serving as governor at a time that the party has matured and it could be argued that the Legislature is more interested in reclaiming its traditional power than protecting the governor.

And the fact cannot be lost that Reeves served two terms as lieutenant governor where he presided over the Senate as a vocal and aggressive advocate. He clashed routinely with key members of the House – such as Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, and Pro Tem Jason White, R-West, over how to deal with infrastructure woes and what bonds to pass to finance long-term construction projects

It also is rumored that he and Hosemann do not have the best relationship. Recently Reeves argued that he is working with the Legislature in the disbursement of the funds, saying he has talked with the speaker, Black Caucus members and others. He did not mention specifically talking with the lieutenant governor.

Perhaps that was an innocent oversight. When asked later he said he had talked with Hosemann multiple times. But the oversight – if it was – fits the narrative that two of the three most powerful politicians in the state do not have the best relationship.

In short, Reeves has made enemies. Both Hosemann and Gunn say the issue is not personal, but about upholding the constitutional mandate that the Legislature controls the purse strings and is in a better position to appropriate the money in a more transparent manner.

Both praised Reeves’ work in dealing with the pandemic and multiple other crises that have developed since he took office in January.

Reeves concedes that the Legislature has “the prerogative” to force the funds to go through its appropriations process.

“I don’t really give a damn who is in charge of this money,” Reeves said recently. “What I care about is the people who need it and they need it now….We can’t allow politics, bureaucracy to cost them the money they so badly need.”

Legislative leaders say they have the same goals as Reeves, but that they have the constitutional mandate.

The post Why Republican legislators might be tougher on Reeves than on recent past governors appeared first on Mississippi Today.