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The commission lawmakers charged with putting a new Mississippi flag design before voters held its first meeting Wednesday, minus three members Gov. Tate Reeves failed to appoint by last week’s deadline per a new law he signed.

Six members of what is supposed to be a nine-member commission unanimously moved up their deadline to have a new flag design from Sept. 14 to Sept. 2 to allow more time to put it on a Nov. 3 ballot.

Geoff Pender

House Speaker Philip Gunn opens the first meeting of commission to redesign Mississippi’s state flag.

The commission agreed to over the next few weeks review hundreds of designs the public has submitted — and likely to choose a final design from one of those. They agreed to meet next week with a vexillologist, or expert on flags. They also unanimously chose former state Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson as chairman of the commission.

Officials at the meeting had little comment on Reeves’ failure to make his three appointments to the commission, other than the commission has enough members for a quorum and will move forward regardless.

Reeves, who opposed the Legislature removing the state’s 1894 flag with its divisive Confederate battle emblem but signed the bill into law, has given little explanation for his delay in appointments other than he has been too busy.

On Wednesday, after the commission had met, Reeves said: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but we are dealing with serious hospital capacity issues (from COVID-19) and people are dying every day … We will make our appointments when we make those appointments.”

Although he had signed the flag commission legislation into law without raising such issues, on Wednesday he questioned whether lawmakers have the “constitutional authority to call a meeting of an executive branch entity” or to make appointments to such a commission.

House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann made their appointments to the commission last week.

Gunn, who led the legislative push to remove the 1894 state flag and authored the bill, thanked commission members and stressed the historic “weight” of their work as he opened Wednesday’s meeting.

“We are making history,” Gunn said. “Whatever banner we decide will represent this state, probably forever.

“When that thing goes up, you can say, ‘Hey, I did that,’ and your grandchildren will know you did it,” Gunn said. “… The children of Israel have a banner they unite behind … even pirates have a banner, skull and crossbones that says we rape and pillage, but they unite behind it … We need a design the entire state can be proud of that does in fact represent all our people.”

Gunn marveled that the Legislature voting to remove the flag with a Confederate emblem after decades of debate was “nothing short of a miracle” and said, “I want to be on the right side of history.”

Anderson, serving as the first African American justice of the state high court from 1985-1991, said he didn’t seek the role as chairman, but, “Now that I think about it, I’m probably uniquely qualified.”

“I went to law school at Ole Miss in 1965, and I think that every person on campus back then was carrying that flag,” Anderson said. “The marching band back then marched in Confederate uniforms. So I was not welcomed there.

“Every courtroom I walked into all those years, that flag told me I was not welcomed,” Anderson said. “I and thousands of Mississippians have been stiff-armed by that flag … We are the right group to take care of it.”

Four of the commission members attended Wednesday’s meeting at the Two Museums in person, with two there via video conference. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is providing clerical help and support for the commission.

The commission reviewed its charter set forth by the Legislature: select a new flag design —which must include the words “In God We Trust” and cannot have a Confederate battle emblem — present it to the Legislature, governor and secretary of state so it can go before voters on Nov. 3 for an up or down vote. If voters reject the proposal, the commission will go back to work on a new design for the ballot in 2021.

Archives and History Director Katie Blount told the commission on Wednesday that the secretary of state’s office and county circuit clerks had expressed concerns that the Sept. 14 deadline for choosing a new design would be cutting it close on getting the flag on the ballot. Commissioners moved up that deadline to Sept. 2. They set meetings for July 28, Aug. 19 and Sept. 2, and said they might schedule others.

The Department of Archives last week put out a call for the public to submit designs, and has received about 600 so far. The commission considered letting archives staff winnow these down to a short list for them to view.

But commissioner Mack Varner, a Vicksburg attorney, said he wanted to look at all the submitted designs, to which others agreed. They plan to have have a short list of 25 designs selected by Aug. 19.

The commission is not required to pick a public-submitted design and could come up with its own, but commissioners appeared unanimous in wanting to choose from public proposals.

“I think the public’s engagement is very important in this,” said Commissioner Sherri Carr Bevis of Gulfport, a marketing and communications executive.

Anderson told his colleagues that as a longtime jurist he believes “the phrase In God We Trust is a challenge, constitutionally.”

“But if there ever was a time that Mississippi and the country needed In God We Trust, it is now,” Anderson said. “I look forward to supporting that phrase.”

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

The Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

Legislative leaders say despite the pandemic, the state budget is in a good place and do not foresee state agencies needing to make any layoffs.

The budget approved by the Legislature in late June and early July provides state agencies $113.5 million, or 1.8% less funds for the current fiscal year than they received during the prior year. The new budget year began July 1.

At one point, legislative leaders were expecting much deeper cuts because of the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19. Officials believed the shutdown would result in large reductions in state tax collections. But thus far, the coronavirus shutdown has not resulted in those big reductions in state revenue collections.

“We’re looking at about 50% of agencies taking about a 5% cut, only about 1% that we didn’t cut and the rest had about a 3% cut,” House Appropriations Chair John Read, R-Gautier, said in an earlier interview. “I’m thankful we wound up in this position. It could have been a lot worse.”

Senate Appropriations Chair Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg, said “I am not aware of any agency that would actually be forced to lay off employees because of cuts.”

The total state support budget for the current 2021 fiscal year is $6.25 billion. The state support budget is built primarily on general taxes, such as on retail items and on income. It is the portion of the budget where legislators have the most discretion in how they spend the funds.

The entire state budget, including federal fund and special funds, is $21.8 billion. The Legislature usually has less discretion in spending those funds. The federal funds are designated for specific areas by the U.S. Congress, such as for Medicaid and Temporary Aid for Needy Families. Special funds are derived through fees or taxes to fund specific agencies. For instance, accountants pay a fee for the agency that regulates them. The largest special fund agency is the Department of Transportation that is funded primarily through the 18.4-cent per gallon tax on motor fuels.

In terms of state support agencies, the universities were cut $32.8 million or 4.6% while the 15 community colleges were cut $14.9 million or 6%.

In a statement, Kell Smith, a spokesperson for the community colleges said, “We do recognize the difficult decisions the Legislature had to make when it wrote the budget based on many unknowns at the time.  That said, we are grateful for the money appropriated to the community colleges.”

Smith continued, “At this time, we are optimistic about being able to provide affordable education and training opportunities to many thousands of Mississippians without a reduction in services.  Hopefully, we will not experience mid-year cuts which could force difficult decisions to be made at that time.”

Mid-year cuts would occur if revenue came in at a rate less than the projection used to construct the budget.

The state health department, which has been beset with dealing with the coronavirus, was cut $1.2 million or 2% in state funds. Much of the health department funding comes from federal and special funds.

State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said the agency for the most part has the funds, through federal appropriations, to deal with the coronavirus, but that other aspects of what the agency does could be impacted by the cuts.

Dobbs said the funds will make it “a challenge” to continue many of its core non-coronavirus functions, such as combatting sexually transmitted diseases and providing tuberculosis treatment.

“We understand it is a tough budget year..,” he said. “We really depend on that money for being in the community and taking care of gaps in the health care system for people who are most vulnerable…We will continue to try to meet our mission the best we can.”

Medicaid, another major expense for the state, was aided by an increase in federal funding, making it easier to reduce state funding $32.1 million or 3.4%.

Almost a month since the new budget year began, parts of state government remain unfunded by the Legislature. Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed large portions of the $2.5 billion education budget, which was cut $60.7 million. Reeves issued the partial veto because the Legislature did not fund a program to provide bonuses to teachers and faculty in top performing and improving school districts.

And the Legislature left without funding the Department of Marine Resources, which provides oversight and law enforcement services on the Gulf of Mexico. DMR was not funded because of a disagreement between House and Senate leaders over how much oversight authority the Legislature will have of federal money the agency receives. Marine Resources receives only about $1 million in state funding – also depending on federal and special funds for the bulk of its money.

Marine Resources is still providing core services, though, it is not clear how long that can continue. And Reeves said K-12 schools can continue to operate because they are a constitutional function that must receive state funding regardless of the action of the Legislature.

But is not clear whether the fact that no money is currently appropriated to the school districts, based on the governor’s veto, will impact the amount of the next round of state funding the schools receive in August.

Reeves has said he intends to call legislators back in special session to deal with those budgets. But he said he wants to wait because more than 30 legislators tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month soon after they left the Capitol on July 1.

He said he “most likely” would have already brought the Legislature back if not for the COVID-19 outbreak.

“If is just not safe to do that,” he said recently.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

The Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

The post ‘It could have been a lot worse’: Legislative leaders say budget leaves most state agencies on solid footing appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

Masks are worn as hand sanitizer is distributed at Corner Market on Fortification Street in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, April 8, 2020.

More than 1.4 million Mississippians are now under a mandate – imposed by Gov. Tate Reeves – to wear a mask in public and while shopping.

On Monday, the first-term Republican governor added 10 counties to the original 13 he had placed under a mandate on July 10 to wear a mask in public crowds in an effort to try to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The new executive order will remain in effect until Aug. 3.

State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said the state’s health care system is at the point of being overwhelmed.

“If we don’t see a decrease in transmissions immediately, it is pretty likely the health care system will be thoroughly overwhelmed,” Dobbs said Monday during the news conference he and Reeves had to provide an update on COVID-19. He said hospitals already are converting emergency rooms into intensive care unit beds.

Dobbs said statewide there are 293 cases of coronavirus being treated in intensive care units – representing 40 percent of all patients in intensive care. He said nine hospitals – mostly the state’s larger ones – have no intensive care beds and there is one ICU bed in the Jackson metro area.

The new counties covered by the mask mandate are Bolivar, Covington, Forrest, Humphreys, Panola, Sharkey, Simpson, Tallahatchie, Tate and Walthall. The original 13 counties still under the mask mandate are Claiborne, DeSoto, Grenada, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison, Quitman, Rankin, Sunflower, Washington and Wayne counties.

While covering only 23 of the state’s 82 counties, the mask mandate encompasses many of the state’s most populous counties, such as Hinds, Rankin, DeSoto, and Harrison. The state has a total population of just under three million residents, according to the latest census data.

Mississippi, which has seen a surge in both positive tests and coronavirus hospitalizations, is in a red zone where a statewide mask mandate and the closing or bars and gyms in hotspots are recommended, according to an internal document from the White House coronavirus task force. The report also recommends increasing testing and contact tracing.

The Mississippi State Medical Association, a physician group, has also called for a statewide mask mandate. Reeves has rejected a statewide mandate, saying it is more effective and will encourage community participation to target the state’s hot spots, though he and Dobbs stress that people statewide should wear masks and practice physical distancing of remaining six feet apart when possible.

The criteria for counties chosen for the mandate include having seen 200 new cases within the last 14 days or having had an average of 500 cases per 100,000 residents over that time.

Under the executive order, groups of more than 10 indoors and more than 20 outdoors are banned.

“COVID-19 is spreading and killing in our state. It is not a hypothetical. It is happening,” Reeves said.

On Monday, the Mississippi Department of Health reported a record of 1,251 new cases, three deaths, 943 hospitalizations for COVID-19. The previous single day  record of 1,230 new cases was set last week. The number of hospitalizations also was a record.

At the news conference, it was reported about 30 members of the Legislature have contracted the coronavirus with multiple members hospitalized – some in serious condition.

The post Nearly half of state’s population now under mask mandate appeared first on Mississippi Today.

I don’t know if the Edmund Pettus Bridge will be renamed after Rep. John Lewis; however, I know the one in the great beyond will. It took a lot of courage to get across the bridge on Earth. #GoodTrouble

The post Marshall Ramsey: Crossing the Final Bridge appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press

Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Moak (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Willie Simmons, a Mississippi transportation commissioner and one of the top Democratic elected officials in the state, blasted Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Moak in an email to the party’s 80-member executive committee last week and endorsed the man running to unseat Moak as party chairman.

Simmons laid out a long list of grievances to committee members, including that Moak and state party officials “did nothing to assist” during his 2019 campaign for central district transportation commissioner, and that the party has done little to support Black candidates running for office.

“The facts appear to suggest that we do not want real inclusion in the party, and discrimination practices are alive and well in the Mississippi Democratic Party,” Simmons wrote on July 18. “We are suffering from having the knees of members of our own party on our necks and we cannot breathe.”

Simmons continued: “If we are going to win elections going forward we have to overhaul the Party and revise our mission… Today, the Mississippi Democratic Party must have effective leadership that has a commitment to inclusion.”

The email began a back-and-forth exchange between Simmons and Moak, all copying the 80 members of the executive committee. The exchange, ahead of a contentious internal election to decide the next party leader, included direct and indirect character criticisms and a photo of Moak meeting with Simmons’ Democratic primary opponent at a Jackson restaurant.

Moak was elected party chairman in 2016 and is again running for the top leadership position this year. Tyree Irving, a former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge who is Black, is running against Moak. The 80 members of the party’s executive committee will elect the party’s chairman later this week. In his email last week, Simmons directly endorsed Irving in the chair race.

Willie Simmons-Bobby Moak Emails (Text)

Simmons also wrote in his initial email that party leadership “silenced” former party staffer Jacquie Amos, who was “made ineffective in assisting me and other Black candidates on the ticket.” Amos, a Black woman who was one of the party’s three paid staffers in 2019, resigned in December after working seven years for the party.

The day after Simmons sent the initial email, Moak fired off a 1,300-word reply and responded directly to many of Simmons’ points. Moak wrote that party officials remained in close contact with Simmons’ campaign in 2019.

“First of all, I understand and am sympathetic to the impulse to embellish, exaggerate and distort certain facts while campaigning,” Moak wrote in a July 19 email to Simmons, copying all 80 members of the party’s executive committee. “It’s something I’ve seen often in my dealings over the years with Republicans. In this setting… we must strive to keep an honest dialog and avoid the tendencies to mislead members of our own party. There is a known record here, we’ve saved the receipts and our records do not support a number of the claims you are making.”

Moak also refuted the notion that he “silenced” Amos, the former party staffer.

“Secondly, any insinuation that any member of our staff was silenced is false,” Moak wrote. “MDP provided tremendous flexibility to Ms. Amos when she made her departure known, and accommodated employment while she tried to join numerous campaigns. This accommodation is a far cry from silencing — it’s laying a path forward for a planned staff departure.”

Earlier this year, Mississippi Today chronicled how dysfunction within the state Democratic Party led to the historic 2019 losses, how the state party leaders established and pushed no clear identity, and how the party’s leadership has failed to support and devote resources to Black candidates and constituents.

In his lengthy email, Moak laid out his platform for the chair election, pointing to 22 specific items the party has accomplished during his four years as chairman.

Simmons replied to Moak, writing: “Please know that I never received a call from you during or after the 2019 election.” Simmons also attached a May 2019 photo of Moak meeting at a Jackson restaurant with Marcus Wallace, who ran against Simmons in the August 2019 Democratic primary.

“Today, I am like the late Fannie Lou Hamer, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Simmons wrote. “We must all work overtime to ensure that Vice President Biden is elected as our next President of these United States. In doing so, we must fix our Mississippi Democratic Party.”

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