Meridian residents were encouraged to get involved in their communities by making sure to vote and help others vote during a legislative update meeting Monday at Old Mount Barton School.
Sponsored by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, the town hall meeting organized by Sen. Rod Hickman and Rep. Charles Young Jr., who represent Meridian in the state Legislature, was an opportunity for residents to learn about ongoing legislative efforts, ask questions and share concerns with their state and local officials.
This past year, Hickman said, the Legislature passed a total of 486 bills, and 406 of those were signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves. Among those bills was one rewriting the funding formula for public K-12 education, he said.
Young, who has been in the Legislature since 2011, said the new funding formula replaces The Mississippi Adequate Education Program, or MAEP formula, that was instituted in 1997. Over its 27 years as the governing formula determining the amount of money needed for public schools, the Legislature fully funded MAEP twice, he said.
This year’s change in formula resulted in about a $240 million increase in education spending for the fiscal year, Young said.
Meridian, with both Meridian Community College and Mississippi State University, has some great educational opportunities, Young said, especially in medical fields. Both institutions’ medical programs are set to produce workers for in-demand jobs with good salaries, he said, and Meridian will benefit from that through economic development.
One area of education that doesn’t bode well is the growing momentum behind school voucher programs, Hickman said. Such programs, he said, take the best and brightest from poorer, inner city school districts and leave underperforming students to struggle.
“The people pushing this have literally said, ‘We want to end public education,’” he said.
On the healthcare front, the state House and Senate were unable to come to an agreement on the issue of Medicaid expansion this past session, Hickman said. Both chambers passed individual bills, he said, but the issues of work requirements and the ceiling of what a person could make and still be eligible for Medicaid proved insurmountable in the final days of the session.
The issue, however, is not dead, and the Legislature looks primed to try again in 2025, Hickman said.
Mississippi hospitals are required to treat patients that come to their emergency rooms regardless of insurance or ability to pay. Often times, the bill is written off as uncompensated care, costs which hospitals throughout the state eat at a tune of $600 million per year. Opponents of Medicaid expansion point to low reimbursement rates for hospitals as one reason not to expand the program, Hickman said, but he believes recouping some of the money spent on uncompensated care is better than nothing, which is what hospitals receive now.
The Legislature has taken action to help the state’s hospitals stay afloat, Young said, but it’s just a temporary solution. Hospitals need fixes that will help them longterm, he said.
From an economic side, Hickman said Medicaid expansion is a necessary component in the state’s overall growth. Mississippi prides itself on being business friendly, he said, but part of being business friendly is having a pool of healthy workers ready to take on the jobs being brought in. Failure to address the healthcare gap is not good for the state or for businesses looking to come here, he said.
Also factoring into economic development are the public officials voters choose to elect. Responding to a question about why economic development projects are scarce in east Mississippi, Hickman pointed to the Mississippi Development Authority, which is responsible for attracting economic development in the state, and the governing officials who appoint MDA’s leadership.
The current executive director of MDA is Bill Cork, who was appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves in December 2023.
New industries are locating in north Mississippi around Tupelo and in the central part of the state around Jackson because that is where MDA steers them, Hickman said. Changing that, he said, begins at the ballot box.
Lauderdale County Supervisor Joe Norwood Sr. encouraged residents to know who represents them at the city, county, state and federal levels and to know where their hard-earned tax dollars are being appropriated. Additionally, he said, contact elected officials and tell them if there is an issue they need to revisit.
Supervisor Craig Houston echoed Norwood’s advice adding that the public needs to “get involved and hold elected officials accountable.”
'; var element = document.getElementById("sub_message"); element.appendChild(subMessage); console.log("Code Loaded!"); } else { var subMessage = document.createElement('div'); subMessage.id = 'sub-message-top'; subMessage.class = 'panel panel-default'; subMessage.style.backgroundColor = '#eee'; subMessage.style.borderRadius = '5px'; subMessage.style.padding = '10px'; subMessage.style.marginTop = '25px'; subMessage.style.marginBottom = '25px'; subMessage.innerHTML = '
Support local journalism.
Subscribe Today'; var element = document.getElementById("sub_message"); element.appendChild(subMessage); console.log("Code Loaded!"); }}
