Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #MSleg
Most recents (24)
NEW: Mississippi lawmakers could prohibit voters from changing the state's abortion laws with ballot initiatives—if they decide to restore voters' ability to put issues on the ballot at all.
Polls show most Mississippians oppose the Dobbs ruling. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/31631/alive-at…
Polls show most Mississippians oppose the Dobbs ruling. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/31631/alive-at…
After voters approved medical-marijuana by ballot initiative in 2020, the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down the ballot initiative process on a technicality in 2021, which killed efforts to use it to expand Medicaid and implement an early voting system. mississippifreepress.org/12703/democrac…
The new ballot initiative system would be much more limited. Voters could only use it to change general state laws, not the state constitution.
And unlike the old system, which required about 106,000 verified signatures, the new one would require 240,000.
mississippifreepress.org/31631/alive-at…
And unlike the old system, which required about 106,000 verified signatures, the new one would require 240,000.
mississippifreepress.org/31631/alive-at…
I'm in the Governor's office today as Tate Reeves prepares to sign HB 1125 into law. It will ban gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
Reeves is going on about side effects of gender transition drugs, which are well documented and known about in the trans community. He says conservatives are under attack from the left for trying to question trans rights by being called transphobic.
NEWS: The Mississippi Senate just sent a bill banning care for trans minors—like puberty blockers and hormones—to Gov. Tate Reeves' desk.
He's expected to sign it after telling the #MSLeg "to counter those who want to push their experiments on our kids.”mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
He's expected to sign it after telling the #MSLeg "to counter those who want to push their experiments on our kids.”mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
The bill would also ban gender confirmation surgeries, but lawmakers admitted they are not aware of any trans minors receiving such surgeries.
Co-sponsor Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth, admitted that he is “not a doctor”or “a professional in this regard.”
mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
Co-sponsor Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth, admitted that he is “not a doctor”or “a professional in this regard.”
mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
In January, Gov. Reeves called on lawmakers to fight against “the cruel forces of modern progressivism which seek to use them as guinea pigs in their sick social experiments.”
He signed a bill in 2021 banning trans students from schools sports teams.
mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
He signed a bill in 2021 banning trans students from schools sports teams.
mississippifreepress.org/31342/ban-on-c…
NEW: In the midst of a worsening hospital crisis, Mississippi no longer has a burn center.
Serious burn victims could be forced to travel as far as 200 miles away for life-saving treatment.
Things could have been different. @nickjudin reports. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
Serious burn victims could be forced to travel as far as 200 miles away for life-saving treatment.
Things could have been different. @nickjudin reports. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
“Since I moved here in 1999, we have twice given private practice the chance to provide consistent burn care to the state of Mississippi,” said Dr. Lineaweaver. “Having seen it fail completely twice, I think the responsibility must come back to the state.”
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
When a burn patient comes to Neshoba General Hospital in Mississippi, "first, we hope there’s a bed available at Augusta, (Ga.). Then we have to figure out how we get the patient there."
A trip by ambulance could be too long; flying comes with high costs.
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
A trip by ambulance could be too long; flying comes with high costs.
mississippifreepress.org/30243/with-no-…
NEW: With 54% of Mississippi's hospitals in danger of closing, medical leaders warned state lawmakers of a "looming disaster" unless they expand Medicaid.
Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Gunn have long opposed what Reeves calls "Obamacare expansion."
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Gunn have long opposed what Reeves calls "Obamacare expansion."
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
“The lack of access to healthcare for many Mississippians is currently a crisis, not a new crisis, but one that has been fermenting... As hospitals close across Mississippi, access to life-saving medical care becomes a real threat to all Mississippi."
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
MSMA: “There is a sizable gap that exists for working Mississippians who cannot afford private insurance, yet whose income is too much to qualify for Mississippi Medicaid. ... [H]ospitals are required to treat them regardless of their inability to pay."
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
mississippifreepress.org/30094/mississi…
NEW: The Mississippi Ethics Commission declared that the State Legislature is NOT a public body and is NOT subject to the Open Meetings Act.
But the Mississippi Free Press and @justice4ms are going to court to fight that determination. @nickjudin reports:
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…
But the Mississippi Free Press and @justice4ms are going to court to fight that determination. @nickjudin reports:
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…
“The public and the press have a right to know, and there is no reason the Legislature should be held to a lesser standard than every city council and board of supervisors throughout the state," says @MSFreePress Editor and CEO Donna Ladd.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…
"Any notion that a Legislature full of elected officials is not a public body is a strike against public transparency,” @DonnerKay said in today's statement after the Mississippi Ethics Commission finalized its determination that #MSLeg isn't a public body.mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…
🧵 Declaring that democracy either is or is not on the ballot is too simplistic.
We are at risk of democratic backsliding, and many of today's elections will either increase or decrease our risk. I'll thread some thoughts. 1/
We are at risk of democratic backsliding, and many of today's elections will either increase or decrease our risk. I'll thread some thoughts. 1/
MSians overwhelmingly adopted Initiative 65, yet three of MS's four Congressional reps still oppose:
➡️ Decriminalizing marijuana under federal law
➡️ Allowing banks to serve cannabis businesses operating lawfully under state law
➡️ Allowing even medical marijuana *research* 2/
➡️ Decriminalizing marijuana under federal law
➡️ Allowing banks to serve cannabis businesses operating lawfully under state law
➡️ Allowing even medical marijuana *research* 2/
Moreover, the votes Palazzo, Kelly, and Guest cast against their voters on marijuana policy also run against their own purported view of government—they each claim to value deregulation, a limited federal role, states' rights, and individual liberty. 3/
🧵 ICYM me talking back to latest round of attacks. See my previous Horhn tweet and note what said publicly to me when he was running against Lumumba for mayor and I suggested he might serve Jackson better by remaining in #msleg. I’m only editor in Jackson who has seen long game.
Or only one who’s not complicit and part of it. (Looks north.) It’s one reason they’ve tried to discredit me over the years. I don’t fool easily, connect dots.
Make no mistake: they see Jackson water crisis as chance to “take the city back.” It’s on their social media and blogs.
Make no mistake: they see Jackson water crisis as chance to “take the city back.” It’s on their social media and blogs.
Mayor Lumumba opened door with (in)actions for bipartisan old guard and who they anoint to flood through and reap the spoils and not in a collaborative way. Plus, many of them want to see cap city’s Dem voting base disrupted and far rougher policing.
Bookmark these tweets.
Bookmark these tweets.
1. Whoa. I hadn't seen this state-funded Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Q&A stating its members' views. Thanks, @mulejail. Here's quick thread of my annotated highlights. First:
Uh huh. Everybody knew who lynched Mack Charles Parker down in Bilbo-land, you lying sacks o' shit
Uh huh. Everybody knew who lynched Mack Charles Parker down in Bilbo-land, you lying sacks o' shit
2. Not sure of the date of this doc, but Bryant and Milam confessed to Emmett Till's torture and murder in Look Magazine in January 1956. #msleg formed this racist/terrorist Sovereignty Commission in March 1956.
So.
So.
3. Just saw you know how much "Negro blood" (not a thing) it took to be considered inferior to white people. It used to be one drop; these dumbasses probably thought 1/8 was downright humane and progressive. 🖕
State leaders wigged out when I did this NBC column in 2021 about State treatment of Jackson (“but we took state flag down,” one legislator whined to me.)
But we have @JxnFreePress archives. From 2011, watch @tatereeves campaign on not helping cap city:
m.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2011/jun/…
But we have @JxnFreePress archives. From 2011, watch @tatereeves campaign on not helping cap city:
m.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2011/jun/…
Listen to @tatereeves talk to Esteemed Paul Gallo about #msleg not getting to consider infrastructure help for Jackson. H/T @jallen1985:
Please understand that *campaigning* against “scary, incompetent, Black, so on” Jackson is top political strategy here. What I call “scary mailers” to white voters is big part of that. Here’s a @JxnFreePress piece from 2003:
m.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2003/nov/…
m.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2003/nov/…
THREAD: If you are a Mississippi taxpayer, then the #MSleg and DA Doug Evans lit $300,000 of your hard-earned money on fire.
Here's how. 🧵👇
Here's how. 🧵👇
Christopher Blount was born in 1981 and is clearly a meth addict.
Blount was charged with meth possession twice when he was about 20. Blount was sentenced to 5 years on the Grenada County charge in 2002—then, he was sentenced to 8 years on the Carroll County charge in 2003. 2/
Blount was charged with meth possession twice when he was about 20. Blount was sentenced to 5 years on the Grenada County charge in 2002—then, he was sentenced to 8 years on the Carroll County charge in 2003. 2/
Blount was not incarcerated in October 2018, when the Winona police chief found Blount in a parked car and arrested him for possession of meth. courts.ms.gov/appellatecourt…
According to the state, Blount possessed 5.96 grams of meth. courts.ms.gov/appellatecourt… 3/
According to the state, Blount possessed 5.96 grams of meth. courts.ms.gov/appellatecourt… 3/
Both houses of the #msleg have passed SB 2113 the “anti-CRT” bill, I’m going to have to teach all of my undergraduate and law students the main points of #CRT so that they understand what the bill is about and how what I teach them does not in fact run afoul of the bill. A🧵
I will not be calling it the “anti-CRT” bill, but instead, SB 2113. Why? Because it doesn’t actually prohibit Critical Race Theory. We should all know that by now.
“But,” you might ask, “isn’t the title of the bill” ‘Critical Race Theory; prohibited’? Does the fact that the title of the bill says that CRT is prohibited mean that CRT is prohibited?” Not according to the case law.
THREAD: Not only did the Senate pass SB2120 unanimously to raise starting pay @MSHwyPatrol to $45,950, but every member signed on to cosponsor—it's so popular, @DelbertHosemann joked @SenDTSimmons about it.
But the House wants to amend SB2120 with a lower payscale instead. 👎 1/
But the House wants to amend SB2120 with a lower payscale instead. 👎 1/
To start, a bit of history...MHP's payscale was originally enacted in SB2500 (2015), sponsored by then-Sen. @TindellSean @DavidParkerSen and a few other senators.
SB2500 provided a starting salary of $38,000 when it took effect in January 2016. billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2015/pdf/histo… 2/
SB2500 provided a starting salary of $38,000 when it took effect in January 2016. billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2015/pdf/histo… 2/
All bills to raise officer pay in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 died in committee, so it was good news for our troopers when the #MSleg passed HB264 in 2020: billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2020/pdf/histo… 3/
THREAD: Why didn't Mississippi get a contract with Sea-Land Shipping? The Port of Gulfport supports 16% of Mississippi's GSP—sounds like something we should invest in!
But losing shipping contracts like this is a policy decision that we made on our own here in Mississippi. 1/
But losing shipping contracts like this is a policy decision that we made on our own here in Mississippi. 1/
Until 2016, ships crossing the Panama Canal had to meet Panamax specs, and the maximum draft was ~39 feet. (The draft is the depth below waterline of the ship's hull.)
But now, the canal can service "post-Panamax" ships with drafts up to ~50 feet. 2/
But now, the canal can service "post-Panamax" ships with drafts up to ~50 feet. 2/
That's why the Port of Gulfport wanted to deepen the port from 36 feet to 45 feet as of 2015.
However, we voluntarily abandoned plans to obtain federal assistance to deepen Gulfport's harbor. 2/
wlox.com/story/30562511…
However, we voluntarily abandoned plans to obtain federal assistance to deepen Gulfport's harbor. 2/
wlox.com/story/30562511…
NEW: Lilly Ledbetter and the Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable are warning that two equal pay bills advancing in the Mississippi Legislature risk actually widening wage disparities for women if they become law. 1/ #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable State Lead Cassandra Welchlin says the House's Equal Pay Act would codify into law a systemic form of wage discrimination by allowing employers to pay women less than men based on their salary history from past jobs. 2/mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
Welchlin: “The other thing in her bill is that it is based on the ‘continuity of employment history.’That means it would be OK to pay a woman less than a man for the same job because she took time off work to care for her baby or a sick family member." 3/
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
mississippifreepress.org/20598/equal-pa…
1. I'm digging into racist muck of Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files for their take on violence in Jackson/Hinds County for #MSRaceViolence piece. A 1967 Mississippi Crime Commission report, and it's full of gems. This one is full US "history" many would like taught, eh?
2. Judge Tom P. Brady, the vicious Citizens Council leader who compared Black people to apes and helped stoke white terrorism against Black people and traveled the whole nation to speak about supposed white superiority, was one of the key members of the 1967 Miss Crime Commission
3. And erudite Gov. Paul Johnson who created the commission? During his campaign he said NAACP should for n_____s, apes, alligators, coons and possum. He also helped white parents get state tax $ to send kids to new whites-only segregation academies that openly taught racism.
1. I sure wish the internet existed back when Stephen D. Lee, first president of my alma mater @msstate, led textbook censorship and targeted educators to ensure historic lies. Here, @11_mcgee and I explained what #SDLee did to and from Mississippi. mississippifreepress.org/4650/mississip…
So a state senator 17 years my junior told me to "go to bed" rather than answering my question about the source of his CRT graphic, and that tells you so much of what you need to know about #msleg right there in one tweet.
Best part, folks? It was 7:30pm. I still had an evening of Todd’s yummy dinner, catching up with Boba Fett and reading ahead of me. It was such a … provincial … attempt to silence me. I don’t go to Red Lobster at 5 p.m., then drown myself with cheap bourbon and pass out by 7.
BTW, I appreciate all the outrage over this, but it is nothing new. For 20 years now as a woman editor in Mississippi, I’ve been the target of insults, lies and continual misogyny, from all along political spectrum. I have a receipt cabinet like you wouldn’t believe.
1. Again: CRT does not do this. Opposite, in fact. Interesting that #msleg never once got around to doing this to ensure white-superiority garbage wasn't taught. I am white, not inferior or superior to a damn person and have brains to understand perils of systemic "whiteness."
2. Meantime, Mississippi segregation academies and council schools long taught white superiority including that Black kids were born inferior, IQ garbage, etc.
I'm very curious what schools all the people who just voted for this mess attended and how integrated. #msleg
I'm very curious what schools all the people who just voted for this mess attended and how integrated. #msleg
3. Here's a column I did at my last publication for a taste, but it didn't stop there, I assure you. #msleg
jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/nov/…
jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/nov/…
A new abortion bill filed in the #MSleg would expand Mississippi's prohibitions on abortion to ban all abortions including abortions necessary to preserve the life of the mother.
See: billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2022/pdf/histo…
See: billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2022/pdf/histo…
The bill would amend several a number of code sections, but I'll use the first section the bill would amend as an example.
The current text* of MS Code § 97-3-3 appears on the left, and the text as HB 580 would amend it appears on the right.
*casetext.com/statute/missis…
The current text* of MS Code § 97-3-3 appears on the left, and the text as HB 580 would amend it appears on the right.
*casetext.com/statute/missis…
Rep. Dan Eubanks, the bill's sponsor, has extensive opinions about vaccines in addition to his opinions about abortion.
THREAD: @LynnFitchAG says overturning Roe would empower women because they would "get a chance to redirect their lives."
Fitch's remarks evoke fairytale language in her SCOTUS brief that turns a blind eye to burdens working women and families face throughout Mississippi. 1/
Fitch's remarks evoke fairytale language in her SCOTUS brief that turns a blind eye to burdens working women and families face throughout Mississippi. 1/
Fitch's brief argues that legal protections, social programs, and public benefits extended to women and families since Roe render parenthood unburdensome. supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
But how do Fitch's references to, for example, family leave and subsidized childcare hold up? 2/
But how do Fitch's references to, for example, family leave and subsidized childcare hold up? 2/
154 economists filed a brief noting, among other things, that the United States is one of only two countries LACKING paid maternity leave, and that childcare remains unaffordable: supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
These points ring true in Mississippi. 3/
These points ring true in Mississippi. 3/
MS-03 @RepMichaelGuest encourages #COVID19 vaccination that resulted from #OperationWarpSpeed.
#VaxUpYall
#VaxUpYall
Lt. Governor @DelbertHosemann talks about the stress our medical service providers are under and the need to get vaccinated.
#VaxUpYall
#VaxUpYall
THREAD: I have devastating news for Mississippi parents who don't want health mandates on their schoolchildren.
I that describes you, please sit down and have tissues ready before I tell you about MS Code § 37-13-134. 1/
I that describes you, please sit down and have tissues ready before I tell you about MS Code § 37-13-134. 1/
MS Code § 37-13-134 is the so-called "Comprehensive School Health Education Program."
But even if you thought it was really based on "health," it's not just "health education. Nope, it's not enough or the #MSleg to make your child listen to their propaganda. 2/
But even if you thought it was really based on "health," it's not just "health education. Nope, it's not enough or the #MSleg to make your child listen to their propaganda. 2/
No, the state demands ACTIVITY.
That's strict authoritarianism right out o the gate. Right there in Section 1. I mean, if this isn't communism—what is? 3/
That's strict authoritarianism right out o the gate. Right there in Section 1. I mean, if this isn't communism—what is? 3/
"Burnout" is one way to put it, but there's no ignoring that the pandemic helped Mississippi's nurses learn they can make more money doing the same work in other states.
So, Mississippi's nursing shortage continues to grow.
So, Mississippi's nursing shortage continues to grow.
Mississippi used to have financial aid programs for nursing students and nursing teachers that kept nurses in-state due to in-state service requirements for loan forgiveness.
However, MS stopped funding those programs several years ago.
However, MS stopped funding those programs several years ago.
IHL requested funding for nursing financial aid programs at a Senate health committee hearing late last year to address our nursing shortage and nursing teacher shortage.
Sen. @McMahanMS suggested that IHL cut the cost of nursing programs in half instead.
Sen. @McMahanMS suggested that IHL cut the cost of nursing programs in half instead.
