1 00:00:14,095 --> 00:00:19,148 Hello, my name is David Owles and I'm your cohost for Mississippi Happenings. 2 00:00:19,169 --> 00:00:22,852 Joining me each week is my friend and cohost, Jim Newman. 3 00:00:22,852 --> 00:00:24,973 Jim, how are ya? 4 00:00:25,261 --> 00:00:27,757 Fine, it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. 5 00:00:27,989 --> 00:00:29,430 Yes, it is. 6 00:00:30,191 --> 00:00:44,161 As you know, most as most of you know, we focus a lot of attention on public education, health care, our prison system, the Department of Corrections, voting rights and 7 00:00:44,161 --> 00:00:46,702 Mississippi taxes. 8 00:00:47,283 --> 00:00:53,909 We are especially pleased to have with us one of our members of the House of Representatives. 9 00:00:53,909 --> 00:00:56,050 Representative Justice Gibbs. 10 00:00:56,050 --> 00:01:01,430 he serves as member of the House of Representatives for the 72nd District. 11 00:01:01,970 --> 00:01:08,590 And he has recently acquired this position in 2024. 12 00:01:08,850 --> 00:01:13,670 He is also a graduate of the Harvard University and the Mississippi 13 00:01:14,050 --> 00:01:16,012 School of Law. 14 00:01:16,634 --> 00:01:21,220 So Representative Gibbs, thank you so much for being with us today. 15 00:01:21,220 --> 00:01:29,452 We know that there's a lot of happenings in Jackson and we do appreciate your service to all Mississippians. 16 00:01:29,452 --> 00:01:35,956 David and Jim, I just am thrilled to be with you guys today and grateful for the invitation. 17 00:01:35,956 --> 00:01:42,669 is not my first time meeting you all, of getting acclimated with you guys, but my first time on the podcast. 18 00:01:42,669 --> 00:01:47,651 So I'm glad to be the next guest on Mississippi Happenings. 19 00:01:48,630 --> 00:01:51,530 We're glad to have you. 20 00:01:52,890 --> 00:02:08,470 Taxes seem to be a, I don't know, every year a fight over who's going to get taxed, how much they're going to get taxed, what's going to get taxed. 21 00:02:08,710 --> 00:02:13,950 I don't know what I'm leaving out, but I'm sure there's a couple of other adjectives that I've left out. 22 00:02:14,930 --> 00:02:18,638 But the one thing that keeps coming back to me is that 23 00:02:19,222 --> 00:02:26,450 the state of Kansas abolished their taxes and went bankrupt. 24 00:02:28,271 --> 00:02:37,453 and the following year had to reinstate a tax system to be able to fund their government. 25 00:02:39,176 --> 00:02:57,426 And it makes me wonder how much thought is really going into Governor Reeves wanting to eliminate the taxes entirely because it seems to me if he eliminates the taxes, what's 26 00:02:57,426 --> 00:03:08,562 going to happen is that the taxes are going to come back to the counties to raise or the cities to raise and it's not going to be equitable. 27 00:03:09,799 --> 00:03:21,092 throughout the state because we've got counties that have large tax bases and we got counties that got small tax bases just as like we got schools. 28 00:03:21,173 --> 00:03:29,041 So what is the justification for lowering the taxes and eliminating them entirely? 29 00:03:29,926 --> 00:03:36,843 Well, the justification, as you know, Jim, is coming from the party that holds the supermajority in the legislature. 30 00:03:36,843 --> 00:03:46,111 Their justification is that they are hopeful that it will lead to more corporate investment and more corporate entities from moving to the state of Mississippi. 31 00:03:46,291 --> 00:03:54,511 They have also campaigned and have formulated a narrative to their voter base about what 32 00:03:54,511 --> 00:04:03,076 great things will happen when they don't have to pay state income tax, i.e., not having to pay that out of their paycheck. 33 00:04:04,338 --> 00:04:12,343 The concerns that you have brought up are similar to the concerns that I have about the complete elimination of the state income tax. 34 00:04:12,523 --> 00:04:17,046 These are some of the conversations that we are having in the legislature. 35 00:04:17,046 --> 00:04:24,091 As a matter of fact, Jim, the minority leader, I just left a meeting where he talked about how 36 00:04:24,091 --> 00:04:33,271 a portion of the bill would generate $400 million to go to our Department of Transportation as a way of luring people to support the legislation. 37 00:04:33,271 --> 00:04:43,691 But we have seen in the history of this state where when we are in a shortfall, when we are constrained, money that is supposed to be allocated to help with roads and bridges or 38 00:04:43,691 --> 00:04:50,271 our Department of Transportation has been taken out because we need that money to stay afloat. 39 00:04:50,631 --> 00:04:53,915 So listen, we have 40 00:04:53,915 --> 00:04:57,995 We understand what the bill is intending to do. 41 00:04:58,695 --> 00:05:01,435 He has served in this legislature longer than I have. 42 00:05:01,435 --> 00:05:08,035 It's other members who have served longer who has been a part of negotiations with the previous speaker and previous tax policy. 43 00:05:08,715 --> 00:05:14,555 This is something that is definitely concerning to me in regard to what we've seen happen in other states. 44 00:05:14,555 --> 00:05:17,075 This is what you brought up in the state of Kansas. 45 00:05:17,955 --> 00:05:21,423 And as you can see, both chambers have 46 00:05:21,423 --> 00:05:28,065 come up with their own unique ways of trying to dampen the concern about this complete elimination. 47 00:05:28,065 --> 00:05:30,606 The House has a phase out plan. 48 00:05:31,206 --> 00:05:38,389 The Senate, I believe, has some sort of a phase out, which is not over the same period of time as the House's plan. 49 00:05:38,689 --> 00:05:45,291 But I am honestly in agreeance with some of the concerns that you've raised about that complete elimination. 50 00:05:47,516 --> 00:05:55,624 And I often wonder, and this goes back to the Democratic Party and not... 51 00:05:58,866 --> 00:06:00,995 any specific legislators. 52 00:06:03,742 --> 00:06:12,608 Why do the Democratic representatives and senators not raise holy hell? 53 00:06:12,608 --> 00:06:23,915 Democrats want to negotiate and get along with, as opposed to just saying, hell no, we're not going to do it. 54 00:06:23,915 --> 00:06:25,256 It's not fair. 55 00:06:25,256 --> 00:06:27,316 It's not the right thing to do. 56 00:06:27,477 --> 00:06:29,758 And we're not going to participate. 57 00:06:30,134 --> 00:06:32,083 If you wanna do it, do it yourself. 58 00:06:32,083 --> 00:06:35,676 And then when it comes election time, we know who to blame. 59 00:06:37,029 --> 00:06:42,102 Well, there's some disagreement with that, Jim, and within the caucus, I'll tell you. 60 00:06:42,102 --> 00:06:54,450 Because if you pull yourself out of the process, you're not attempting to maybe dampening some harmful legislation that would pass had you not been at the table or had you not 61 00:06:54,450 --> 00:07:00,534 tried to be at the table to have some sort of impact on what you may not agree with. 62 00:07:00,734 --> 00:07:07,098 But if you can make it a little bit better, if there's something that you can do to where it's not as harmful to 63 00:07:07,588 --> 00:07:18,687 Mississippians as a whole, knowing that we have a super majority, as you stated, knowing that it's going to eventually pass because we know how to do addition and we know that the 64 00:07:18,687 --> 00:07:21,599 governor is hell been on signing this. 65 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:27,344 I don't believe that my job is just to simply go up there and just to say, hell no. 66 00:07:27,344 --> 00:07:36,261 If I have relationships that I have tried to build to where people will actually take some of my concerns into consideration and 67 00:07:36,261 --> 00:07:40,673 hopefully amend parts of the bill that they will be amendable to. 68 00:07:40,673 --> 00:07:46,697 So there are some legislators who agree 100 % with what you're saying. 69 00:07:46,697 --> 00:07:55,502 Just say hell no, raise hell, speak out against the bill, trash it, and let it pass and move on. 70 00:07:55,502 --> 00:08:05,507 And then there are others who have opened partially a door with leadership and people on the other side of the aisle because they're not being as 71 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:17,899 angry or aggressive about how awful the bill is and that has provided a small opening for them to be able to, for the majority to consider some of the concerns that they have. 72 00:08:19,542 --> 00:08:30,770 It seems like what you're kind of having to do is pick your fights and you have to really go off on this one. 73 00:08:30,770 --> 00:08:34,813 No, we're not going to do it, but also you as a negotiator. 74 00:08:34,813 --> 00:08:41,398 And I feel like that's what basically what you and all representatives are and senators are. 75 00:08:41,410 --> 00:08:47,075 you know, your negotiators that you're trying to get the best deal for all Mississippians. 76 00:08:47,376 --> 00:08:58,205 We do know that Governor Reeves, he really is not happy with the state income tax plan. 77 00:08:58,506 --> 00:09:03,289 And he's a little bit more receptive to the House plan. 78 00:09:04,183 --> 00:09:12,809 Can you tell us what's the big difference between the Senate plan and your House plan that was passed? 79 00:09:13,531 --> 00:09:18,032 Well first, the House plan would eliminate the income tax entirely over a 10-year period. 80 00:09:18,032 --> 00:09:19,873 There will be no income tax. 81 00:09:19,873 --> 00:09:24,254 It will result in a $2.2 billion cut to our state's revenue. 82 00:09:24,294 --> 00:09:26,535 The Senate plan does not go that far. 83 00:09:26,535 --> 00:09:28,914 The Senate plan does not completely eliminate it. 84 00:09:28,914 --> 00:09:31,275 Governor Reeves wants a complete elimination. 85 00:09:31,535 --> 00:09:36,957 One of our main concerns is how is this going to affect our state agencies? 86 00:09:36,957 --> 00:09:40,878 How is this going to affect social services in the state? 87 00:09:41,118 --> 00:09:42,854 Are we thinking about that right now? 88 00:09:42,854 --> 00:09:53,322 Or are we just thinking about getting to the goal line of jumping up and down saying we were able to accomplish one of our major priorities, which is eliminating it entirely? 89 00:09:55,484 --> 00:10:02,137 So those are some of the big ticket differences between the legislation. 90 00:10:02,137 --> 00:10:13,981 He does not like the Senate plan, but we know that the Senate plan would be less harmful, less damaging to Mississippians, both conservative and Democrats in this state as a whole. 91 00:10:14,202 --> 00:10:21,995 And generally, think he wants to see, he doesn't believe in the negotiating. 92 00:10:21,995 --> 00:10:24,606 He wants the entire package. 93 00:10:24,606 --> 00:10:27,026 of what he envisioned prior to the session passing. 94 00:10:27,026 --> 00:10:29,046 Same thing with 1433. 95 00:10:29,186 --> 00:10:31,566 Same thing with INSPIRE, right? 96 00:10:31,566 --> 00:10:38,366 INSPIRE last year was something that he wanted to be passed in its complete form. 97 00:10:38,386 --> 00:10:41,406 Well, INSPIRE was not passing its complete form. 98 00:10:41,406 --> 00:10:50,226 What we have is Mississippi Student Funded Formula, which is because of the differences that were ironed out in conference between both chambers of government. 99 00:10:50,226 --> 00:10:51,930 So his strategy... 100 00:10:51,930 --> 00:11:01,306 which he hopes is going to be a successful one for this legislative session is throw cold water on the Senate's plan and let's run with the House's plan. 101 00:11:01,945 --> 00:11:05,577 All right, let's say you do away with all the taxes. 102 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,026 Who's going to pay for the services? 103 00:11:09,256 --> 00:11:10,346 There you go. 104 00:11:10,787 --> 00:11:13,618 I mean, that goes back to my initial point. 105 00:11:13,618 --> 00:11:15,469 We can all do addition. 106 00:11:15,469 --> 00:11:25,234 So if we don't have the money to fund those social services, then there won't be any social services being adequately funded. 107 00:11:25,595 --> 00:11:36,321 What I think that we need to focus more on is putting that in black and white on paper so that legislators who are having questions in regard to it can actually see it written out 108 00:11:36,321 --> 00:11:37,921 to understand how 109 00:11:39,105 --> 00:11:39,628 you 110 00:11:39,628 --> 00:11:49,623 be the percentage of each department that would be weakened because of passing this big piece of legislation. 111 00:11:50,064 --> 00:11:53,536 But there are also aspects of the tax bill that people like. 112 00:11:53,536 --> 00:11:56,988 There are aspects of the tax bill that people in my community like. 113 00:11:56,988 --> 00:12:06,873 So when I go to a homeowners meeting, Jim and David, people are talking about the fact that we promised, when we ran for office as Democrats, to help the PERS system. 114 00:12:07,053 --> 00:12:08,528 They talked about us. 115 00:12:08,528 --> 00:12:10,588 making sure that we will help public education. 116 00:12:10,588 --> 00:12:12,820 Well, there are aspects of this bill that would do that. 117 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:22,386 The local sales tax option that would go from 1.3 to 1.5, and it would add almost $45 million in tax revenue for the city of Jackson. 118 00:12:22,386 --> 00:12:31,231 Well, one of the main concerns that people have here is every time they call their city, the city tells them, well, we've documented the issues that you want us to come fix, 119 00:12:31,231 --> 00:12:37,852 whether it's a pothole or your street, but we don't have the revenue to be able to fix it efficiently and quickly. 120 00:12:37,852 --> 00:12:46,268 So there are aspects of the bill that folks in my community, District 72, a very educated community, they do their homework. 121 00:12:46,268 --> 00:12:51,252 When I go to a homeowners meeting, they come in with the bill printed out, and it's highlighted. 122 00:12:51,252 --> 00:12:54,815 And they say, Representative Gibbs, this is your mailer. 123 00:12:54,815 --> 00:12:58,898 And your mailer says that you are going to help the PERS system. 124 00:12:58,898 --> 00:13:05,148 This bill speaks about how it would invest $100 million on an annual basis into PERS. 125 00:13:05,148 --> 00:13:09,321 by utilizing the funds from the Mississippi State Lottery System. 126 00:13:09,441 --> 00:13:15,325 And we know that the EEF fund, the Education Enhancement Fund, has operated inefficiently. 127 00:13:15,325 --> 00:13:19,568 And so maybe this is a better way of trying to fix that problem. 128 00:13:19,568 --> 00:13:33,628 So what I'm saying is, as legislators, we have to identify the pieces that are going to be harmful, but we also have to explain to our constituencies, see our constituents. 129 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,912 and understand what their true concerns are and make sure that they're heard. 130 00:13:37,933 --> 00:13:47,699 My vote on this bill was a present vote and I stand behind my present vote because of the aspects of that bill that my homeowner, presidents and homeowners have brought to my 131 00:13:47,699 --> 00:13:48,459 attention. 132 00:13:48,459 --> 00:13:49,760 And they're right. 133 00:13:49,760 --> 00:14:00,156 But again, these are the strategies that the super majority will utilize so that they can have better numbers in terms of passage. 134 00:14:01,657 --> 00:14:02,183 Alright. 135 00:14:02,183 --> 00:14:05,356 up two interesting topics. 136 00:14:05,356 --> 00:14:13,003 PERS, which is, and correct me if I'm wrong, that's the Public Employees Retirement System. 137 00:14:13,964 --> 00:14:20,840 Okay, tell us just a little bit about that and then I think Jim's got a question when we get through that. 138 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,852 But tell us a little bit about what's going on with PERS. 139 00:14:24,294 --> 00:14:36,773 Yeah, so we're just, we're in a long standing situation now where we're wanting to make sure that Perth can stand on its own, that there's gonna be enough money to be able to 140 00:14:36,773 --> 00:14:44,488 afford those who retire and be able to afford retirement. 141 00:14:44,488 --> 00:14:51,053 We're having employees that are coming into the system and the problem is that there's just not enough funding. 142 00:14:51,053 --> 00:14:53,434 So we need to find a way 143 00:14:53,450 --> 00:15:00,873 of putting a lump sum or a dedicated revenue stream into the system so that the PERS system can stay afloat. 144 00:15:00,873 --> 00:15:11,858 This is something that the PERS itself has asked the legislature to do, is to give it a dedicated revenue stream to try to help the system out. 145 00:15:11,858 --> 00:15:20,190 And I was thinking that that request was falling on deaf ears until actually reading the bill and seeing that this was something that was 146 00:15:20,190 --> 00:15:30,473 put into the bill in order to satisfy their request and also satisfy those who have concerns in regard to the entire system being adequately funded. 147 00:15:30,473 --> 00:15:33,384 So, and there's many ways of doing that. 148 00:15:33,384 --> 00:15:34,894 I want to be very clear about that. 149 00:15:34,894 --> 00:15:42,676 We have many ways of how we can help PERS find a dedicated revenue stream from a legislative standpoint. 150 00:15:42,676 --> 00:15:46,017 This is just what's on the table currently. 151 00:15:46,017 --> 00:15:49,318 I do not believe that that's in the Senate's version of the bill. 152 00:15:49,466 --> 00:15:52,588 but it's something that is within the House versions of the bill. 153 00:15:52,588 --> 00:15:57,891 And this is, again, another tennis ball that we're juggling throughout the entire process. 154 00:15:57,891 --> 00:16:01,623 I can't get to a yes because of what Mr. 155 00:16:01,623 --> 00:16:06,836 Newman has stated, which is also a major concern of constituents in my district. 156 00:16:06,836 --> 00:16:10,799 What happens when we completely eliminate the state income tax? 157 00:16:10,799 --> 00:16:17,042 And what we can't do is say, well, it's going to be, it's going to... 158 00:16:17,488 --> 00:16:20,239 it's going to wean itself off in 10 years. 159 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,082 And we always have the opportunity to come back and revise it. 160 00:16:24,082 --> 00:16:26,303 Well, how often does that happen? 161 00:16:26,903 --> 00:16:28,498 How often does it happen? 162 00:16:28,498 --> 00:16:33,997 I mean, if you look at M.A.E.P., if we just take that formula, for example, well, how often did it happen? 163 00:16:33,997 --> 00:16:40,831 It happened twice when it was actually fully funded in a way in which the bill stated that it was supposed to be fully funded. 164 00:16:40,831 --> 00:16:45,394 So we can't put our trust in this idea that 165 00:16:45,394 --> 00:16:49,144 or we could just come back to the table, which is why this is so consequential. 166 00:16:51,021 --> 00:16:53,728 doesn't part of that bill allow counties to. 167 00:16:55,777 --> 00:16:57,624 raise property taxes. 168 00:16:59,909 --> 00:17:02,029 the House version or the Senate version? 169 00:17:02,497 --> 00:17:04,057 The house version. 170 00:17:06,022 --> 00:17:08,785 I'm not sure, honest with you, I'm not sure. 171 00:17:08,812 --> 00:17:10,283 So that is another concern. 172 00:17:10,283 --> 00:17:16,415 Representative Chuck Taylor actually brought that concern up on the House floor and did not get a clear answer. 173 00:17:16,415 --> 00:17:20,057 I think that it has the potential of raising property taxes. 174 00:17:20,057 --> 00:17:29,781 But when it comes to the obligation that is put on those counties, they're making it clear that this is an opt in or opt out in terms of the local sales tax. 175 00:17:29,781 --> 00:17:31,221 I don't view it as such. 176 00:17:31,221 --> 00:17:33,712 I think that everybody is going to opt in. 177 00:17:33,982 --> 00:17:41,602 It's designed to where if you want to revenue, if you want to have a benefit, you're going to have to opt in. 178 00:17:41,602 --> 00:17:45,782 So it doesn't seem to be an option, excuse me, for me. 179 00:17:45,942 --> 00:17:53,662 I think everyone is going to want to opt in in regards to that provision of the piece of legislation. 180 00:17:54,522 --> 00:18:02,102 And of course, I'm sorry I did not mention the 5 % flat tax on retail fuel sales. 181 00:18:02,110 --> 00:18:10,110 And that's the stream that will go directly to the Department of Transportation, the $400 million that will be generated from that flat tax. 182 00:18:10,110 --> 00:18:20,970 I've been told, and I've done some research on the fact that ours would still be lower than the region that we live in, in terms of what other neighboring states are charging. 183 00:18:21,070 --> 00:18:30,770 But again, one of my concerns is when we get into a situation where we have to dig ourselves out of a hole because of what we're doing over here in regard to the complete 184 00:18:30,770 --> 00:18:31,910 elimination, 185 00:18:31,932 --> 00:18:43,149 How can we be so sure that we're not going to have sticky fingers, for the lack of a better word, Jim, and pulling money out of pockets that it was originally intended to help 186 00:18:43,149 --> 00:18:45,950 people with their roads and their state highways? 187 00:18:46,707 --> 00:18:51,021 Yeah, gasoline tax, we've had the lowest at 18 cents. 188 00:18:51,021 --> 00:18:56,646 And like you said, it's going to go up if this passes by 5 cents. 189 00:18:56,887 --> 00:19:07,057 So we'd have a 23 cent gasoline tax per gallon, which still would keep us close to the bottom. 190 00:19:09,554 --> 00:19:10,135 Yes, sir. 191 00:19:10,135 --> 00:19:12,236 Yes, sir. 192 00:19:12,236 --> 00:19:25,308 But we have to do our role in thinking proactively, thinking about the future of what this could do with our entire budget. 193 00:19:25,308 --> 00:19:37,458 Now, in terms of the surplus that we have received, the $750 million in state surplus, well, do we have assurances that the surplus is going to fill in the gap? 194 00:19:37,458 --> 00:19:40,540 with what we're trying to eliminate when it comes to the state income tax. 195 00:19:40,540 --> 00:19:42,971 Well, this goes right back to what I was initially saying. 196 00:19:42,971 --> 00:19:46,503 We have no guarantees of that. 197 00:19:47,464 --> 00:20:02,432 And some of us are battling with this idea that while it's not being clearly stated, we are going to be underfunding our state's most crucial services by voting for something 198 00:20:02,432 --> 00:20:05,308 that seems appealing on the front end. 199 00:20:05,308 --> 00:20:07,981 but might not be as appealing on the back end. 200 00:20:09,549 --> 00:20:22,396 Well, the way President Trump and Elon Musk are going, it would seem that we're going to start getting less revenue from the federal government than we have. 201 00:20:23,337 --> 00:20:30,941 And as we cut taxes, get less money from the government, I could see us getting in some... 202 00:20:31,543 --> 00:20:38,308 really not so pleasant situations where we're not looking out for the welfare of our citizens. 203 00:20:38,308 --> 00:20:42,956 We're just trying to make ends meet and we're not able to. 204 00:20:44,296 --> 00:20:45,065 That's right. 205 00:20:45,065 --> 00:20:47,660 Gibbs, I'm sorry, go ahead. 206 00:20:49,177 --> 00:20:50,163 Go ahead, David. 207 00:20:50,163 --> 00:20:50,822 I agree. 208 00:20:50,822 --> 00:20:51,504 I agree. 209 00:20:51,504 --> 00:20:57,670 And I also agree in regards to what we're seeing happening right now on Capitol Hill in regard to the Medicaid cuts. 210 00:20:57,711 --> 00:21:03,497 You know, I agree when it came to the debate that happened last year. 211 00:21:04,058 --> 00:21:07,432 one second, I need to connect my, my laptop. 212 00:21:07,432 --> 00:21:10,034 I don't want to cut it for this to cut out. 213 00:21:10,034 --> 00:21:11,639 I apologize, Jim. 214 00:21:11,639 --> 00:21:14,666 okay. 215 00:21:14,666 --> 00:21:16,237 will take care of it, so we're good. 216 00:21:16,237 --> 00:21:18,027 have a chord these days. 217 00:21:21,018 --> 00:21:22,300 Okey dokey. 218 00:21:23,084 --> 00:21:24,366 All right, perfect. 219 00:21:24,366 --> 00:21:26,115 Okay, I'm sorry, I'm back. 220 00:21:26,115 --> 00:21:27,218 No worries, we're good. 221 00:21:27,218 --> 00:21:34,594 if he cut, you know, they cut eight billion, we haven't had Medicaid expansion. 222 00:21:34,594 --> 00:21:45,173 So we're probably not going to be hurt as bad as states like Alabama, New York, Texas that have had Medicaid expansion. 223 00:21:45,714 --> 00:21:53,941 But the dollars that come in, the matching dollars that come in for Medicaid are going to be cut. 224 00:21:57,439 --> 00:22:09,974 And I just feel sorry for the people that are on Medicaid, that apparently in Washington, there's no concern about their welfare. 225 00:22:10,995 --> 00:22:15,617 So it's going to fall back on the states to look out for its citizens. 226 00:22:17,493 --> 00:22:27,261 And I do worry about our cutting taxes to the point that ultimately we end up cutting services to those that need it the most. 227 00:22:29,086 --> 00:22:30,987 Absolutely. 228 00:22:31,488 --> 00:22:42,997 you know, what we're seeing right now on Capitol Hill is a complete assault on our Medicaid system countrywide. 229 00:22:42,997 --> 00:22:58,040 What we're also seeing is a commander in chief who is prioritizing his grand idea of sending stimulus checks back to the American people, in my opinion, as a way of bribing 230 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:58,642 them. 231 00:22:58,642 --> 00:23:03,966 to support his party in the 2026 congressional elections. 232 00:23:03,966 --> 00:23:15,254 He understands he has advisors who have showed him the effect of what happened in 2010 when Barack Obama was president and we were endured with the Tea Party movement. 233 00:23:15,254 --> 00:23:24,122 He knows what happened when he came into office in 2016 and the congressional election that happened in 2018. 234 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,922 This is a concerted effort to try to 235 00:23:27,922 --> 00:23:33,466 stimulus checks in the hands of Americans while usurping them from everything else. 236 00:23:34,267 --> 00:23:36,448 Almost as a magician trick. 237 00:23:36,528 --> 00:23:48,066 Because one of the main things that he talked about when he ran against Vice President Harris was, and one thing that people were manipulated by was, President Trump gave me a 238 00:23:48,066 --> 00:23:48,956 check. 239 00:23:49,077 --> 00:23:50,718 And that is what I think he is doing. 240 00:23:50,718 --> 00:23:53,480 I have family members who work for the federal government. 241 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,642 I have a family member who lives in Jackson who has to now move to Austin, Texas. 242 00:23:57,872 --> 00:24:08,188 I have a family member who half of her department in the VA got an email asking them to give them five things that they did in the office or they will be let go while the other 243 00:24:08,188 --> 00:24:10,049 half didn't get an email at all. 244 00:24:10,049 --> 00:24:14,592 And they're scared to death because they didn't get any email, but they're thinking that they're going to be let go. 245 00:24:14,592 --> 00:24:21,475 Our federal government is literally in a crisis and there are pro-Trump people who voted for them. 246 00:24:21,575 --> 00:24:26,519 And by God, I feel bad for them, but they put their trust in this man. 247 00:24:26,519 --> 00:24:32,027 and a lot of folks' lives have been turned upside down because of what he's doing with Doge. 248 00:24:32,261 --> 00:24:33,381 Yes. 249 00:24:33,601 --> 00:24:37,161 And then we're going to get a check for $5,000. 250 00:24:37,281 --> 00:24:43,361 it's going to, and one of the things that's so interesting is the checks that we got before. 251 00:24:44,421 --> 00:24:47,081 They were signed by Donald J. 252 00:24:47,081 --> 00:24:47,881 Trump. 253 00:24:48,453 --> 00:24:51,733 You know, and that's where the perception is. 254 00:24:51,733 --> 00:24:56,633 And these new, when we get the other stimulus checks, they're going to be signed by Donald J. 255 00:24:56,633 --> 00:25:00,753 Trump and everybody's going to be, everybody's going be happy. 256 00:25:00,913 --> 00:25:05,293 But we don't realize or we're not made aware. 257 00:25:05,293 --> 00:25:07,973 We're not informed enough to know what we're losing. 258 00:25:08,345 --> 00:25:11,827 You know, we are losing the Department of Education. 259 00:25:11,827 --> 00:25:16,350 You know, we are losing these federal employees. 260 00:25:16,350 --> 00:25:21,754 Mississippi has over almost 20,000 federal employees. 261 00:25:21,814 --> 00:25:29,189 And Florida, and this is going to be a big deal, they have about 60,000 federal employees. 262 00:25:29,189 --> 00:25:36,744 So there's going to be, there's going be some interesting talk between Governor DeStantis and President Trump. 263 00:25:38,627 --> 00:25:45,463 What question that I've got for you earlier, you mentioned the program Inspire. 264 00:25:45,463 --> 00:25:48,145 Will you tell us a little bit about that program? 265 00:25:48,872 --> 00:25:53,945 So the Inspire Act was a proposal, legislative proposal. 266 00:25:54,166 --> 00:25:58,669 And this was a big part of the speaker's agenda last year. 267 00:25:58,669 --> 00:26:02,782 This was to overhaul the way in which we fund our public school system. 268 00:26:02,782 --> 00:26:09,517 So we were doing away with M-A-E-P, and we were bringing Inspire into the mix. 269 00:26:09,597 --> 00:26:16,572 The bill, it changed the way in which the student base rate was calculated. 270 00:26:16,650 --> 00:26:26,335 and increase the amount that we would put into the student-based rate and the weights that were added on top of that, there were weights for different categories. 271 00:26:26,335 --> 00:26:29,257 For instance, English-speaking learners. 272 00:26:29,257 --> 00:26:39,203 For those school districts that had a certain percentage in regards to poverty level, there were weights that were added on top to where we were able to see a very broad list 273 00:26:39,203 --> 00:26:45,372 of what individual school districts were receiving had MAEP being fully funded. 274 00:26:45,372 --> 00:26:50,924 which it had not been, versus what Inspire would have done. 275 00:26:51,345 --> 00:27:04,440 Now, this is also a piece of legislation that we fought hard against because we believe that the language would have opened the door for this grand plan of school choice, which 276 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:12,013 is what we have killed this year, House Bill 1433, which is not a good piece of legislation. 277 00:27:12,993 --> 00:27:14,770 Well, after the Senate's 278 00:27:14,770 --> 00:27:20,933 proposal, as you know, both proposals were passed within each chamber. 279 00:27:21,194 --> 00:27:23,115 We had to go to conference. 280 00:27:24,056 --> 00:27:28,458 Within conference, there was an agreement made by both chambers. 281 00:27:28,458 --> 00:27:40,165 And the result of that is the Mississippi student funding formula that we have now that adds over $200-plus million into our education system here within the state of 282 00:27:40,165 --> 00:27:41,306 Mississippi. 283 00:27:41,930 --> 00:27:45,312 Sometimes we can get a little confused about the title. 284 00:27:45,312 --> 00:27:50,275 It's meant to try to attract people to the bill. 285 00:27:50,275 --> 00:27:54,377 It's meant to give buzzwords to the media and to the press. 286 00:27:55,038 --> 00:28:02,242 But we now have what is known as the Mississippi Student Funding Formula that has put more money into public schools. 287 00:28:02,242 --> 00:28:09,726 Jackson Public Schools that I represent has seen over 18 plus million dollar infusion in its annual 288 00:28:09,726 --> 00:28:15,708 of funding, which they have contributed towards teacher pay raises, as well as infrastructure upgrades. 289 00:28:15,748 --> 00:28:25,330 And Madison County public schools, in all fairness, did not see anywhere near the type of increase that JPS saw. 290 00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:38,448 But Madison County enjoys a much more fruitful tax base to where they're not going to be as damaged in a way in which school districts such as JPS could have been damaged. 291 00:28:38,448 --> 00:28:39,919 in regard to the formula. 292 00:28:39,919 --> 00:28:47,502 So we are still tracking the progression of this formula, how well it's doing. 293 00:28:47,502 --> 00:28:57,476 And this is also the reason as to why we don't need to move so quickly into trying to reshape the way in which our children go to school in this state. 294 00:28:57,476 --> 00:29:05,649 If we don't even have a track record of how this brand new formula is working, why are we moving so quickly in regard to the proposals about school choice? 295 00:29:05,649 --> 00:29:08,010 It just doesn't really make much sense. 296 00:29:08,757 --> 00:29:26,265 And also from what we're seeing, and we love your thoughts about this, you know, it appears that money from our public education system, the tax money for our public schools, 297 00:29:26,325 --> 00:29:30,987 they are being funneled to school choice. 298 00:29:31,208 --> 00:29:33,949 Tell us your thoughts about that. 299 00:29:34,458 --> 00:29:35,378 Absolutely. 300 00:29:35,378 --> 00:29:47,522 And the provisions that were located in 1433 gave me great, great pause and concern because the language stated that if a child was a part of a D or F rated school district, 301 00:29:47,522 --> 00:29:51,223 they would have the opportunity to move to a A or B school district. 302 00:29:51,223 --> 00:29:59,786 However, if that A and B school district was at capacity, that is how the door opens to allowing the money that would have gone to the public school district that they were 303 00:29:59,786 --> 00:30:00,850 initially in. 304 00:30:00,850 --> 00:30:05,033 to being transferred out of that public school district into a private school. 305 00:30:05,033 --> 00:30:08,035 But the language doesn't make much sense. 306 00:30:08,235 --> 00:30:10,857 I graduated from Jackson Public Schools. 307 00:30:10,857 --> 00:30:20,383 I attended A-rated schools such as Power APEC Performing Arts Complex, Murrah High School, which was a grade five a few years ago. 308 00:30:20,924 --> 00:30:25,707 We have the number one elementary school in the state, Obama Magnet. 309 00:30:25,707 --> 00:30:27,128 It's number one. 310 00:30:27,349 --> 00:30:29,840 But based on the language of the bill, 311 00:30:30,012 --> 00:30:42,397 with the five year time that you're allowing school districts to be rated D or F, you could move a child out of the best rated elementary school and you could send them to an 312 00:30:42,397 --> 00:30:43,888 AB rated district. 313 00:30:43,888 --> 00:30:48,910 But that doesn't mean that the school that they're moving into is any better than the school that they came from. 314 00:30:48,910 --> 00:30:54,112 So there are a lot of loopholes in the bill that does not make sense. 315 00:30:54,373 --> 00:30:57,936 And there were other problematic portions of the bill. 316 00:30:57,936 --> 00:31:02,507 allowing teachers who work at a charter school to automatically move their child. 317 00:31:02,507 --> 00:31:04,748 Doesn't have to be a DF rated district. 318 00:31:04,748 --> 00:31:07,409 Doesn't have to go to A or B rated district next. 319 00:31:07,409 --> 00:31:10,469 If you work in a charter school, you can move your child. 320 00:31:10,469 --> 00:31:20,272 Well, now we're prioritizing the convenience of the teacher over what could be a quality public education for that child. 321 00:31:20,492 --> 00:31:27,984 So I thought that it would lead to a domino effect of some really hazardous things happening within our education system. 322 00:31:28,134 --> 00:31:42,149 MAE, the Parents Campaign, and a whole host of others stood up and fought this bill vigorously, as well as those on the Education Committee, which I serve on. 323 00:31:42,230 --> 00:31:46,074 And I'm glad that we were able to defeat that this year. 324 00:31:46,905 --> 00:31:47,512 Good. 325 00:31:47,512 --> 00:31:48,954 Congratulations on that. 326 00:31:48,954 --> 00:31:50,114 public schools. 327 00:31:50,114 --> 00:31:52,094 I'm a K through 12 graduate. 328 00:31:52,654 --> 00:31:54,454 It's just the bread and butter. 329 00:31:55,099 --> 00:31:55,914 Cut. 330 00:31:56,314 --> 00:32:00,717 is, it's the future of our state. 331 00:32:02,373 --> 00:32:21,134 I don't care whether, I mean, honestly, I really don't care whether they're immigrants or, just, we've got to have an educated population, a well-educated population to attract 332 00:32:21,134 --> 00:32:22,275 industry. 333 00:32:22,396 --> 00:32:24,557 And the only way that can happen 334 00:32:24,639 --> 00:32:28,054 is to have an educated public. 335 00:32:29,057 --> 00:32:32,502 I think you're right on, Representative Gibbs. 336 00:32:32,684 --> 00:32:34,446 Hold tight. 337 00:32:34,567 --> 00:32:36,019 Don't lose it. 338 00:32:36,165 --> 00:32:37,585 That's it. 339 00:32:37,585 --> 00:32:44,125 We had the opportunity to interview Nancy Loom with the Parents Campaign. 340 00:32:44,245 --> 00:32:53,505 And also we interviewed Erica Jones, Director of the Mississippi Association of Educators. 341 00:32:53,505 --> 00:33:00,165 And they both share your passion for public education as well. 342 00:33:00,165 --> 00:33:05,665 And so it was good to talk to them and get their thoughts on that. 343 00:33:06,181 --> 00:33:12,821 Let's talk a little bit, we can kind of switch gears a little bit, but still going back to taxes. 344 00:33:13,121 --> 00:33:20,941 We know that Mississippi has the highest tax rate for groceries. 345 00:33:21,761 --> 00:33:25,921 Let's talk, tell us a little bit about that, Representative Gibbs. 346 00:33:27,752 --> 00:33:29,303 So we do. 347 00:33:29,604 --> 00:33:39,371 And both proposals from the House and the Senate plan on reducing the tax that we have on our groceries. 348 00:33:39,452 --> 00:33:55,124 But if we're allowing the local sales tax option that will rise from 1.3 to 1.5, if we're allowing that tax to also apply to groceries, I mean, how much of a reduction are we 349 00:33:55,124 --> 00:33:56,405 really seeing? 350 00:33:56,405 --> 00:33:57,256 Do you see what I'm? 351 00:33:57,256 --> 00:33:58,527 Do you see what I'm saying? 352 00:33:58,527 --> 00:34:10,233 So again, when you are campaigning and when you're pushing the narrative about we're reducing the tax on groceries, we kind of need to be a little bit more transparent about 353 00:34:10,233 --> 00:34:14,255 what are people going to see when they're actually checking out of the grocery store? 354 00:34:14,255 --> 00:34:19,118 When they get their receipt, do they see any effect? 355 00:34:19,218 --> 00:34:26,398 So that is what makes this bill so convoluted because there are cities, municipalities, 356 00:34:26,398 --> 00:34:34,558 who see the fact that this can generate additional funds for their city to spend and they say, well, this is an attractive piece to it. 357 00:34:34,558 --> 00:34:40,378 Well, if that's an attractive piece to it, then we need to be a little bit more honest about the piece regarding the grocery tax. 358 00:34:40,538 --> 00:34:45,078 It's almost like you're just shuffling apples into another basket. 359 00:34:45,221 --> 00:34:46,147 Gotcha. 360 00:34:48,186 --> 00:34:49,628 I like your analogy on that. 361 00:34:49,628 --> 00:34:58,603 We're taking it out of one, like you say, take it out of one basket, put it in the other, but at the same time, we, the taxpayers, are left holding the basket. 362 00:34:59,548 --> 00:35:00,419 Right. 363 00:35:00,801 --> 00:35:12,322 And there might be, I mean, there might be a reduction, but based on the way in which the bill is written, it's not going to be as clear cut as is being explained. 364 00:35:13,654 --> 00:35:22,364 Do you think that Governor Reeves will call a special session regarding the tax proposals? 365 00:35:23,196 --> 00:35:25,047 I think it's a possibility. 366 00:35:25,047 --> 00:35:41,694 I think the decision in regards to what happens as we move forward, everywhere from who would be selected to conference, everywhere from whether or not the Senate even takes up 367 00:35:41,694 --> 00:35:44,054 the bill for debate in committee. 368 00:35:46,175 --> 00:35:51,818 There is a possibility, and I've heard some rumblings in the Capitol that he might consider doing that. 369 00:35:53,502 --> 00:35:56,842 This is what's so interesting about the way in which it works. 370 00:35:56,862 --> 00:36:00,702 Downtown Jackson, the House plan put their bill out first. 371 00:36:00,902 --> 00:36:08,862 Our bill was the only bill for about two, two and a half weeks before the Senate rolled out their proposal. 372 00:36:08,942 --> 00:36:22,002 And so he might have felt good and felt momentous about that bill to where now he might be much more hell bent on 373 00:36:22,588 --> 00:36:25,469 all in a special session to get all that he wants, right? 374 00:36:25,469 --> 00:36:28,620 He may not have an appetite for compromise. 375 00:36:29,941 --> 00:36:33,222 But again, I do have an appetite for compromise. 376 00:36:33,222 --> 00:36:42,426 I'm in the minority and I want the least harmful piece of legislation possible for the citizens of Mississippi. 377 00:36:43,203 --> 00:36:49,443 You you just brought up, you mentioned a word that keeps coming across my mind. 378 00:36:49,443 --> 00:36:58,857 And when I look at the candidates running for office in Tupelo, you mentioned you're in the minority. 379 00:37:01,601 --> 00:37:09,040 All of the candidates that are running for municipal positions in Tupelo are minorities. 380 00:37:13,197 --> 00:37:22,471 How do we go about, as a Democratic party, attracting some white people to run? 381 00:37:23,894 --> 00:37:26,117 We've got white Democrats. 382 00:37:28,684 --> 00:37:37,385 We've some of them run, come close to getting elected but not quite making it. 383 00:37:37,385 --> 00:37:44,241 But at the local level, it just seems throughout the state that... 384 00:37:45,891 --> 00:37:53,247 where we have majority minority districts, everything is minorities. 385 00:37:53,248 --> 00:37:59,113 And then there are no whites or no whites running anywhere. 386 00:38:02,263 --> 00:38:07,727 You got any idea how we can address that or what we might do? 387 00:38:07,727 --> 00:38:08,828 I know it's. 388 00:38:10,785 --> 00:38:16,537 I don't know if there is an answer, but if you got any thoughts, I'd appreciate them. 389 00:38:17,950 --> 00:38:19,851 Well Jim, let me start here. 390 00:38:20,372 --> 00:38:27,016 My first thought is that I think part of this has been very deliberate. 391 00:38:28,117 --> 00:38:30,799 Take the House of Representatives for example. 392 00:38:30,939 --> 00:38:34,521 Today we have one white Democrat. 393 00:38:34,982 --> 00:38:36,523 That's Bob Evans. 394 00:38:37,344 --> 00:38:46,980 We just lost a Democrat who is right to the north of me, Tom Miles I believe is his name, who was serving due to redistricting. 395 00:38:47,846 --> 00:38:58,994 We have lost a handful of white Democrats that served in the House that made the party, the Democratic Party, much more diverse. 396 00:38:59,235 --> 00:39:13,596 As you guys know, you all have been very aware of when Democrats were switching to the Republican Party for advantageous reasons throughout the Barbara administration. 397 00:39:14,226 --> 00:39:28,837 The reason why I say that is deliberate is because unfortunately we found that one of the best weapons in order to win or to receive what we want in this state is to use the racial 398 00:39:29,598 --> 00:39:30,638 stick. 399 00:39:31,119 --> 00:39:40,536 Democratic Party now in the legislature is almost entirely black, while the Republican Party is almost entirely white. 400 00:39:41,628 --> 00:39:45,421 We, and I agree with you, we have to now start moving. 401 00:39:45,421 --> 00:39:55,048 We have to start changing that, that, that, that reality to get back to where we see representation from both races. 402 00:39:55,769 --> 00:40:08,480 because I think it can manipulate people in terms of what party they think they need to support, what party they think is going to see them more than how the other party sees 403 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:09,300 them. 404 00:40:09,541 --> 00:40:11,802 The Democratic party, as you all know, 405 00:40:12,422 --> 00:40:15,364 I call it the party for working class Mississippians. 406 00:40:15,445 --> 00:40:18,166 We care about our middle class. 407 00:40:18,327 --> 00:40:21,069 We care about our working class. 408 00:40:21,329 --> 00:40:31,477 And we understand the historic, the history of this state and how our history has to shape where we need to go. 409 00:40:32,178 --> 00:40:37,002 That is not the story of what the Republican party is pushing. 410 00:40:37,423 --> 00:40:41,936 But when people see who's representing them visually, 411 00:40:41,948 --> 00:40:48,243 they see people who look like them, and that can attribute to them wanting to go and vote for those persons. 412 00:40:48,243 --> 00:41:00,914 So as you know, one of the things that we're trying to do in the party is we're trying to develop a database of successful folks in communities that people can identify and people 413 00:41:00,914 --> 00:41:05,167 who they know, who they feel comfortable with, and persuading them to run for office. 414 00:41:05,167 --> 00:41:11,762 I was just speaking to Markelle Bolden, our executive director, on some of the things that we're going to try to push. 415 00:41:11,922 --> 00:41:16,565 delivering tool kits to some people that we've identified in some of these areas. 416 00:41:16,565 --> 00:41:21,407 There is a representative right now who is a Republican who is serving in a Democratic district. 417 00:41:21,407 --> 00:41:23,608 I don't think a lot of people know about that. 418 00:41:23,649 --> 00:41:26,280 I'm talking about a D plus 2.1 district. 419 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:33,574 So, had we have people to go out and vote, that individual will be a Democrat. 420 00:41:33,574 --> 00:41:40,392 And we're gonna see some more of this happening later on this year because I'm sure you guys know about the recent court decision. 421 00:41:40,392 --> 00:41:44,683 that is going to redraw the maps that we have in both the House and the Senate. 422 00:41:44,703 --> 00:41:48,524 So we got to make sure that we're getting our folks out to vote. 423 00:41:48,664 --> 00:41:50,105 But I agree with you. 424 00:41:50,105 --> 00:41:58,307 There is much more to be done in order to attract all Mississippians to understand that the Democratic Party is working on behalf of them. 425 00:41:58,307 --> 00:42:02,530 And we're not just a party that is only representing Black Mississippians. 426 00:42:02,530 --> 00:42:04,471 We represent the entire state. 427 00:42:04,471 --> 00:42:06,249 We represent people who 428 00:42:06,249 --> 00:42:11,692 are often go unrepresented by their own state representatives and senators. 429 00:42:12,478 --> 00:42:13,551 That's very true. 430 00:42:13,551 --> 00:42:29,413 Jim and hopefully you two will agree with me is that we feel that it has to start at the local level, meaning we've got to get Democrats to run for Alderman. 431 00:42:29,428 --> 00:42:33,559 to run for mayor, to run for county positions. 432 00:42:33,559 --> 00:42:47,723 And then hopefully we get them out, we get the name recognition, we get them elected, and then we can move them up to the House and to the Senate and do to that. 433 00:42:47,983 --> 00:42:56,506 that's something I know that in DeSoto County, we're working very hard at the local level with this year being the municipal elections. 434 00:42:58,447 --> 00:43:06,007 And if I may say this as well, I believe in working two strategies at once. 435 00:43:06,007 --> 00:43:15,107 While we work within the confines of this unfair system, we also need to be thinking about what really needs to happen, which is a complete overhaul of our districts, of our state 436 00:43:15,107 --> 00:43:16,307 house districts. 437 00:43:16,347 --> 00:43:27,587 We are a state that when Jim Hood ran for governor, I believe it was around a 40,000 vote difference. 438 00:43:27,789 --> 00:43:35,881 Well, when our most recent gubernatorial candidate ran, he shrunk that difference by, I believe, about 25,000. 439 00:43:35,881 --> 00:43:49,245 When you look at the percentage of folks who are going to the polls to vote for one vision versus the other, there's no reason why the composition of their House of Representatives 440 00:43:49,265 --> 00:43:51,445 is in the state that it is in today. 441 00:43:52,186 --> 00:43:57,199 That is a super majority, where the Democratic Party has 442 00:43:57,199 --> 00:44:07,559 about 38 to 39 silent seats in a state where they've almost won the gubernatorial election in under 25,000 votes. 443 00:44:08,339 --> 00:44:12,859 So there has to also be effort judicially. 444 00:44:13,739 --> 00:44:20,439 And I know that there are some groups, some national groups that's been working in this sphere for a while now. 445 00:44:20,439 --> 00:44:22,739 But as long as 446 00:44:22,829 --> 00:44:31,093 The House of Representatives and the Mississippi Senate has full and complete control over carving their own state district maps. 447 00:44:31,355 --> 00:44:34,389 I believe that we're going to continue to be in this fight. 448 00:44:35,048 --> 00:44:38,939 I think we are too and that's what prompted the question. 449 00:44:38,939 --> 00:44:40,679 I've always been amazed. 450 00:44:41,860 --> 00:44:49,142 You may or may not know this, but the state of California, which has I don't know how many times the population we have. 451 00:44:49,882 --> 00:44:53,343 They have less counties. 452 00:44:54,183 --> 00:45:00,685 I mean like think they got somewhere in the range of 30 or 40 counties and that's it. 453 00:45:01,605 --> 00:45:03,966 And we've got so many counties. 454 00:45:06,526 --> 00:45:13,381 We've got what, 82 counties and we've got counties that we don't even have Democrats that run. 455 00:45:17,554 --> 00:45:19,447 when they wouldn't be opposed. 456 00:45:21,694 --> 00:45:25,915 So I don't like the super majority. 457 00:45:26,055 --> 00:45:34,338 It works against the system of equal representation. 458 00:45:35,058 --> 00:45:39,220 And it certainly doesn't protect the minority. 459 00:45:39,220 --> 00:45:40,920 And I'm not talking about race. 460 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:46,382 I'm talking about minority period, the Democrats. 461 00:45:47,647 --> 00:46:02,856 Jim, when you talk about Democrats running unopposed, I'm assuming you're talking about Democrats running unopposed in a primary, not a general, but a primary. 462 00:46:04,404 --> 00:46:09,199 We have counties that there's just one Republican running. 463 00:46:09,864 --> 00:46:11,447 There's no Democrat. 464 00:46:12,788 --> 00:46:14,379 Gotcha. 465 00:46:14,379 --> 00:46:22,633 As we wind down, Representative Gibbs, I want to talk about your recent success. 466 00:46:22,633 --> 00:46:29,998 You've had many, but your recent success, and we thank you for it, where you sponsored a bill that 467 00:46:29,998 --> 00:46:40,807 that would force the Mississippi Department of Corrections to supply protective gear for inmates. 468 00:46:40,828 --> 00:46:45,872 Thank you for that legislation and I'm excited that you were able to get it passed. 469 00:46:45,872 --> 00:46:47,733 Will you tell us about that? 470 00:46:48,527 --> 00:46:48,907 Sure. 471 00:46:48,907 --> 00:47:03,137 So last year, I attended a press conference on the federal courthouse steps with formerly incarcerated people who are now, as I consider, fully fledged citizens of this state. 472 00:47:03,717 --> 00:47:15,155 At that press conference, there is now a federal lawsuit that is within litigation because there have been practices that has happened within the correctional system that has 473 00:47:15,155 --> 00:47:18,067 contributed towards very 474 00:47:19,011 --> 00:47:32,597 bad illnesses, some very painful, and some that are also terminal cancer due to the usage of utilizing raw chemicals during work jobs or work programs within the correctional 475 00:47:32,597 --> 00:47:35,778 system without any form of protective wear. 476 00:47:35,798 --> 00:47:38,599 I want to be clear about some things. 477 00:47:38,900 --> 00:47:46,883 Let's just say you use bleach to clean your bathtub once every two weeks, OK? 478 00:47:46,957 --> 00:47:48,567 You might wear gloves. 479 00:47:48,567 --> 00:47:53,049 You might watch out to not inhale a lot of fumes. 480 00:47:53,049 --> 00:48:02,891 But what if you were using that bleach or any other harmful raw chemicals every single day without any form of protective wear? 481 00:48:02,891 --> 00:48:14,134 What if you're now experiencing symptoms that are not being taken seriously when you try to address them with those who work within the system? 482 00:48:14,134 --> 00:48:16,545 So there are two prongs here. 483 00:48:16,591 --> 00:48:18,931 The first prong is the preventative measure. 484 00:48:18,931 --> 00:48:24,951 The preventative measure is forcing, as you stated, the Department of Corrections to provide protective wear. 485 00:48:24,951 --> 00:48:31,651 And if they don't want to provide the protective wear, they cannot use the chemicals that are listed in the bill. 486 00:48:31,651 --> 00:48:34,503 that have contributed towards these sort of illnesses. 487 00:48:34,503 --> 00:48:39,938 If they want to go and get organic chemicals that will do the same job, they're able to do that. 488 00:48:39,938 --> 00:48:48,906 But this job would force them to provide humane protective wear for those who are on work duty in the correctional facilities. 489 00:48:48,906 --> 00:48:55,491 The second prong is taking the health care of these incarcerated persons seriously. 490 00:48:56,023 --> 00:49:06,592 Representative Becky Curry, is the new chairwoman of Corrections, I have to applaud her because she is making the effort of going into the correctional facilities and bypassing 491 00:49:06,592 --> 00:49:12,116 the wardens, bypassing the employees and speaking directly to the people themselves. 492 00:49:12,457 --> 00:49:22,996 And that is how she has been able to come up with a comprehensive list of the problems that we need to be addressing as we move forward within not only this legislative session, 493 00:49:22,996 --> 00:49:24,847 but the next four years. 494 00:49:24,887 --> 00:49:36,403 So what my bill does is it's going to protect those inmates who are on work duty within the correctional system so that they don't have to go through the anxiety and fear that 495 00:49:36,403 --> 00:49:40,796 they are developing illness by simply doing their job. 496 00:49:40,796 --> 00:49:43,637 And a lot of these folks have gotten out due to good behavior. 497 00:49:43,637 --> 00:49:43,928 Ms. 498 00:49:43,928 --> 00:49:50,641 Susie Balfour, who couldn't make it to my press conference, we had her attorney fly from out of state. 499 00:49:50,661 --> 00:49:53,322 Well, she's undergoing very 500 00:49:53,907 --> 00:50:02,853 a harsh chemotherapy at this point because she does have terminal cancer as a result of using these chemicals. 501 00:50:02,853 --> 00:50:16,401 I met a gentleman who had two brain surgeries due to exposure because of him utilizing the same chemicals in the department. 502 00:50:16,401 --> 00:50:19,162 So we are 503 00:50:20,235 --> 00:50:30,610 speaking up for people who don't have the capacity to speak up for themselves in places like the Mississippi State Capitol to say this is just one of the many things that we need 504 00:50:30,610 --> 00:50:37,199 to do to protect these incarcerated people and to make sure that they're being treated like human beings. 505 00:50:37,684 --> 00:50:39,317 Now will this bill apply? 506 00:50:39,317 --> 00:50:46,390 Will this bill also apply to the correctional facilities that are privately owned? 507 00:50:48,404 --> 00:50:51,585 any facility that is under the Department of Corrections. 508 00:50:51,785 --> 00:51:02,054 So from my understanding, those privately owned facilities are still under the confines of the Department of Corrections. 509 00:51:02,054 --> 00:51:11,941 I don't think that they are a separate entity, but we do have correctional systems facilities in the state already that do provide some sort of protective lawyer. 510 00:51:11,941 --> 00:51:15,053 The problem is that it is not codified into law. 511 00:51:15,053 --> 00:51:19,106 we have those correctional facilities that are not doing this practice. 512 00:51:19,106 --> 00:51:28,274 So this would make sure that across the board, regardless of your transfer or regardless of where you are within the state, you will have protective wear. 513 00:51:28,274 --> 00:51:39,743 But Jim, that is also something I need to add to my list to make sure that that is not a loophole that any probably owned facility would also have to abide by this state law. 514 00:51:40,264 --> 00:51:48,857 This is a really good step towards the treatment of prisoners. 515 00:51:50,818 --> 00:52:06,277 A good friend of mine, Caleb Bedillion writes for the Marshall Project and has been doing a series on the jails in the counties and having public defenders. 516 00:52:07,121 --> 00:52:18,168 And it's my understanding that right now, not every county has a public defender and an attorney may be appointed by a judge. 517 00:52:18,829 --> 00:52:25,733 But once he has made his appearance, the attorney no longer has to take care of him. 518 00:52:26,394 --> 00:52:29,736 So I really applaud you for this. 519 00:52:31,218 --> 00:52:35,420 I think we're working in the right direction towards taking care of people. 520 00:52:36,929 --> 00:52:49,620 And just because you happen to be in prison or a prisoner, you're not any less important to God or to mankind. 521 00:52:50,161 --> 00:52:52,843 You're just in a different position right now. 522 00:52:53,244 --> 00:52:54,545 So thank you. 523 00:52:55,934 --> 00:53:00,794 I appreciate that it's been a collaborative effort. 524 00:53:00,854 --> 00:53:02,454 The Rich Foundation, Ms. 525 00:53:02,454 --> 00:53:11,554 Pauline Rogers, who's formerly incarcerated, who's doing incredible things in this state, who's developed a network of those who've been formerly incarcerated that are bringing out 526 00:53:11,554 --> 00:53:13,214 these issues to light. 527 00:53:13,214 --> 00:53:20,134 I do want to just say I know we're running out of time, but this is not a one size fits all solution. 528 00:53:20,134 --> 00:53:23,378 We also have formerly incarcerated people who have 529 00:53:23,378 --> 00:53:25,400 who have stepped on the floors. 530 00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:38,871 If you're cleaning the floor with raw chemicals, chemicals that are so harsh, some of them stepping their bare foot on the floor has resulted in sores being created underneath their 531 00:53:38,871 --> 00:53:43,564 feet, know, over and over and over again by that constant exposure. 532 00:53:43,564 --> 00:53:52,914 So there are other issues that we need to continue to look at to figure out next legislative session, how are we gonna continue to... 533 00:53:52,914 --> 00:54:02,608 to protect our inmates and really eradicate this public image and this perception that we have created about the state of Mississippi and our correctional facilities. 534 00:54:02,608 --> 00:54:14,363 When you have Jay-Z and Roc Nation filing federal lawsuits because of what they are seeing or what they are hearing, I mean, we really, if we're gonna be about changing the image of 535 00:54:14,363 --> 00:54:22,266 how our state is perceived, which is going to result in more corporations and companies coming here as opposed to a tax cut. 536 00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:25,191 then that's how we're gonna be moving down the right path. 537 00:54:25,191 --> 00:54:34,716 So I just wanna say that it's something that I've developed a passion for because I've sat down with these formerly incarcerated people and they're good people and they deserve to 538 00:54:34,716 --> 00:54:40,708 vote and they deserve to be a part of this process in Mississippi. 539 00:54:41,674 --> 00:54:48,082 We recently talked to Greta Kemp Martin with Disability Rights Mississippi. 540 00:54:48,344 --> 00:54:50,486 Had a great conversation with her. 541 00:54:53,677 --> 00:54:56,584 reports that they talked about within the 542 00:54:58,265 --> 00:55:14,132 Mississippi Department of Corrections was inadequate medical staffing, inadequate staffing of correctional officers, inadequate health care and policies and practices along with ADA 543 00:55:14,132 --> 00:55:18,825 non-compliant services, procedures, buildings and utilities. 544 00:55:18,825 --> 00:55:21,776 So this is a major issue. 545 00:55:21,776 --> 00:55:24,917 We do appreciate you bringing that up. 546 00:55:25,058 --> 00:55:28,660 Real quickly, let's, you mentioned voters. 547 00:55:28,660 --> 00:55:31,092 rights for the incarcerated. 548 00:55:31,092 --> 00:55:33,043 Tell us a little bit about that. 549 00:55:33,164 --> 00:55:34,625 You know, who could vote? 550 00:55:34,625 --> 00:55:39,130 Do they get an opportunity to vote if they're still incarcerated? 551 00:55:39,130 --> 00:55:42,812 How do we, you know, tell us a little bit about that. 552 00:55:42,846 --> 00:55:43,366 Sure. 553 00:55:43,366 --> 00:55:57,100 So currently, it's within our state law that if you have been convicted of a felony, and there's a list, there's a long list, including nonviolent felonies, if you've written a 554 00:55:57,100 --> 00:56:04,232 bad check, for example, your right to vote has been taken away from you. 555 00:56:04,272 --> 00:56:06,632 And it has been taken away from you. 556 00:56:06,873 --> 00:56:12,632 The only way in which it can be reinstated is through the process of the office of the governor. 557 00:56:12,632 --> 00:56:23,030 or what we do in the legislature, which is through Judiciary B, bringing up the specific name of the Mississippian, advocating on the restoration of their right to vote. 558 00:56:23,371 --> 00:56:35,261 Last legislative session, Representative Kabir Karim proposed an excellent bill that would have added thousands and thousands of voters back to the voter rolls who have been 559 00:56:35,261 --> 00:56:38,444 convicted of nonviolent offenses. 560 00:56:38,444 --> 00:56:40,785 That was passed in the House. 561 00:56:40,785 --> 00:56:41,826 It was not 562 00:56:41,826 --> 00:56:43,528 taken up in the Senate. 563 00:56:43,528 --> 00:56:50,733 There is a senator who made it clear that she would not bring the piece of legislation out of her committee. 564 00:56:51,234 --> 00:57:02,923 So we're talking about one person stopping the process of a bipartisan bill that was voted on the floor of the House of Representatives. 565 00:57:02,943 --> 00:57:11,470 It did not even come up on the floor on the Senate side because this senator felt as though it was not a good bill for Mississippi. 566 00:57:11,794 --> 00:57:16,197 This year, we did not get that bill out of committee. 567 00:57:16,218 --> 00:57:20,561 This is something that we are going to continue to push every single year. 568 00:57:20,561 --> 00:57:23,763 This is on our list of top priorities. 569 00:57:24,585 --> 00:57:28,088 But again, this is a part of the dance. 570 00:57:28,088 --> 00:57:35,753 And this goes back to the considerations that I've taken into effect in regard to the tax policy. 571 00:57:36,234 --> 00:57:41,238 We have to be smart about what we do at the Capitol, because there are other priorities. 572 00:57:41,288 --> 00:57:46,061 that are incredibly important that we don't want to fall on deaf ears. 573 00:57:46,061 --> 00:57:50,605 We still have to work towards a Medicaid expansion with or without a work requirement. 574 00:57:50,605 --> 00:57:58,810 We still have to work towards restoring the voter rights of these formerly Mississippians who have been convicted of nonviolent felonies. 575 00:57:58,810 --> 00:58:09,852 But you know what I want to say to end this in regard to this topic, one of the true reasons as to why there is so much opposition, it goes back to our conversation about 576 00:58:09,852 --> 00:58:14,225 Brandon Presley coming within 25,000 votes to the governor's mansion. 577 00:58:15,307 --> 00:58:19,331 So you allow people to get their right to vote back. 578 00:58:19,331 --> 00:58:25,886 You have states in, I believe, Michigan and Wisconsin, they're allowed to vote in the prisons. 579 00:58:25,886 --> 00:58:36,286 They have precincts set up because they value their citizens, their voices enough to where they understand they should be able to 580 00:58:36,286 --> 00:58:41,106 have a deciding vote in terms of who's going to represent them on a statewide level. 581 00:58:41,106 --> 00:58:45,226 There are underlying reasons as to why these bills die. 582 00:58:45,226 --> 00:58:47,366 And that's one of the reasons. 583 00:58:47,850 --> 00:58:48,871 keep up the fight. 584 00:58:48,871 --> 00:58:57,676 want to share a quote, one of your quotes that you made when you were first elected. 585 00:58:58,557 --> 00:59:01,328 This ties into exactly what you've been talking about. 586 00:59:01,328 --> 00:59:13,155 You said when you were elected, you said, my mother always told me to always stay true to your word, never commit too early and 587 00:59:13,155 --> 00:59:19,072 be always committed to your community and to the people who elected you. 588 00:59:19,072 --> 00:59:22,776 A lot of people come here and they listen to lobbyists. 589 00:59:23,141 --> 00:59:30,501 and other special interest groups, but it's the people of District 72 who gave me this opportunity. 590 00:59:30,501 --> 00:59:37,741 And those are always going to be the individuals that I listen to when I say votes on the House floor. 591 00:59:37,741 --> 00:59:48,421 So it's obvious you have stayed true to your mother's advice, and we admire you and respect you for that. 592 00:59:48,561 --> 00:59:51,466 Jim, you got anything else? 593 00:59:51,466 --> 00:59:52,426 yes. 594 00:59:52,546 --> 00:59:55,408 One other thing, Representative. 595 00:59:55,528 --> 01:00:13,217 Is there any effort going on to revise the state constitution so that we have four congressional districts instead of five and then the ability to restore the initiative 596 01:00:13,217 --> 01:00:16,599 petition free of any encumbrances? 597 01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:20,041 Because I know that they said that 598 01:00:21,909 --> 01:00:29,653 If they restore the initiative petition, they would not allow women's to be had. 599 01:00:29,653 --> 01:00:37,846 As far as I'm concerned, that's a freedom of speech issue and that should not be part of anything. 600 01:00:39,230 --> 01:00:40,370 Absolutely. 601 01:00:41,230 --> 01:00:44,010 In regard to it, it's a simple fix. 602 01:00:44,390 --> 01:00:45,870 It's a simple fix. 603 01:00:45,950 --> 01:00:55,190 It's something that could come up by a special session tomorrow if that was the governor's appetite to simply revise the language. 604 01:00:55,210 --> 01:01:02,430 We will have to have the, I believe, 3 5ths vote to change it, but that would happen. 605 01:01:02,430 --> 01:01:04,750 Everybody will fall into place. 606 01:01:05,310 --> 01:01:09,374 But once they saw the opportunity of 607 01:01:09,374 --> 01:01:17,999 pushing the narrative onto their people to strengthen the hold that they have on the majority of Mississippians by saying, the only way we're going to bring this initiative 608 01:01:17,999 --> 01:01:27,344 back is if everyone agrees that we cannot bring up anything regarding women's reproductive health rights on the ballot initiative. 609 01:01:27,344 --> 01:01:38,010 And not only that, Jim, but any issue that you bring up, that you fight to get signatures for, which also was going to be increased, by the way. 610 01:01:38,340 --> 01:01:46,737 Even if that issue made it to the ballot and it passed, that issue still has to come back to the legislature. 611 01:01:46,737 --> 01:01:51,882 And we have the prerogative of voting that issue up or down. 612 01:01:51,882 --> 01:01:54,663 That is not a ballot initiative. 613 01:01:54,664 --> 01:02:02,831 That is literally orchestrating in front of the constituents of pretending as though you're listening to their voice. 614 01:02:02,831 --> 01:02:07,184 The reason of that, the reason Jim, is because 615 01:02:07,518 --> 01:02:18,338 Not only was I shocked, but everybody in that capital was shocked when 70, over 70 % of Mississippians voted in favor of medical marijuana in this state. 616 01:02:18,758 --> 01:02:21,538 They were 100 % sure. 617 01:02:21,538 --> 01:02:27,838 There is no way that over 40 % of people in this state would ever agree to such a proposal, not in the state of Mississippi. 618 01:02:27,838 --> 01:02:32,458 But people went to the ballot and they voted over 70%. 619 01:02:32,458 --> 01:02:37,202 That again goes back to the underlying reasons as to why we're changing. 620 01:02:37,202 --> 01:02:39,264 what should be a simple fix. 621 01:02:39,264 --> 01:02:49,513 So this legislative session, I started with the public call at the very beginning of the session that we don't need to lose sight of the ballot initiative being a top priority the 622 01:02:49,513 --> 01:02:53,576 same way in which it was in the 2024 legislative session. 623 01:02:53,576 --> 01:02:58,421 But that bill did not see the light of day on each either side of the chamber. 624 01:02:58,421 --> 01:03:05,126 So as we progress, we have to make sure that we're working to restore the ballot initiative next year. 625 01:03:05,126 --> 01:03:07,488 with absolutely no restrictions. 626 01:03:07,488 --> 01:03:17,187 I think it's insulting to the people of Mississippi, both Republican and Democrat, to think that we have to baby their ideas and what they think should happen in their state by 627 01:03:17,187 --> 01:03:23,452 taking away their right and throwing away their ideas when they've worked so hard to get it on the ballot in the first place. 628 01:03:25,209 --> 01:03:26,351 We agree with you. 629 01:03:26,351 --> 01:03:31,294 any last words, comments or anything for us? 630 01:03:33,223 --> 01:03:38,443 I am just grateful to have come on today to Mississippi Happenings. 631 01:03:38,443 --> 01:03:40,423 This is an honor to be here. 632 01:03:40,423 --> 01:03:49,443 And the last thing I will say is that we should never lose sight that the country as a whole, they're watching what we're doing down here. 633 01:03:49,462 --> 01:03:59,123 Even when it's dealing with legislation that what we consider frivolous, whether it be closing three historically black colleges and universities, or whether it be authoring a 634 01:03:59,123 --> 01:04:02,203 bill about bounty hunting, people are talking about it. 635 01:04:02,203 --> 01:04:05,465 people on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC. 636 01:04:05,465 --> 01:04:21,756 When we talk about wanting to attract business to this state, understand that your legislators have the authority to author anything and put it on the agenda that can be 637 01:04:21,756 --> 01:04:24,018 potentially picked up by our media. 638 01:04:24,018 --> 01:04:26,459 We have to take our role seriously. 639 01:04:26,460 --> 01:04:31,547 I will not be authoring any legislation that I don't think could actually see the light of day. 640 01:04:31,547 --> 01:04:33,708 I take my job very seriously. 641 01:04:33,708 --> 01:04:40,431 And I don't believe in putting people through anxiety for fun. 642 01:04:40,692 --> 01:04:45,755 Because that's similar to what happened last year with the closure of the universities and colleges. 643 01:04:45,755 --> 01:04:47,756 We knew that the bill was going to die. 644 01:04:47,756 --> 01:04:48,976 But what did that lead to? 645 01:04:48,976 --> 01:04:53,419 That led to anxiety and fear amongst Mississippians. 646 01:04:53,419 --> 01:04:55,060 And we could have avoided that. 647 01:04:55,060 --> 01:04:59,602 So I thank you again for allowing me on. 648 01:04:59,642 --> 01:05:01,463 I could talk for another hour. 649 01:05:01,639 --> 01:05:03,555 Maybe I can come on next time. 650 01:05:03,555 --> 01:05:06,138 would love to, this would be great. 651 01:05:06,138 --> 01:05:17,447 You've done a great service to us and you've done a great service to Mississippi, Mississippians and a great service to our listeners and our viewers. 652 01:05:17,727 --> 01:05:28,914 To our viewers, if you have any questions, comments, anything that you, any topics that you want to talk about, please drop us an email at. 653 01:05:29,129 --> 01:05:34,203 ms happenings one at gmail dot com 654 01:05:39,311 --> 01:05:41,812 These broadcasts are not free. 655 01:05:41,813 --> 01:05:55,144 So if anybody feels like they would like to make a contribution towards contributing, David, there a, there's a side, Venmo or something at the bottom, is there not? 656 01:05:55,865 --> 01:05:57,506 Cash app, okay. 657 01:05:58,047 --> 01:05:59,027 All right. 658 01:06:00,109 --> 01:06:16,284 The $MSHappenings you also will see the state, our logo, is the the shape of the state, and it also says, what? 659 01:06:16,348 --> 01:06:21,986 it's got the cotton fields, it's got the state capital, it's got the Gulf of Mexico. 660 01:06:21,986 --> 01:06:23,338 Sorry, Trump. 661 01:06:23,338 --> 01:06:25,101 It's got the Gulf of Mexico. 662 01:06:25,101 --> 01:06:27,923 We just call it the Gulf in Mississippi. 663 01:06:28,808 --> 01:06:30,089 Exactly. 664 01:06:30,089 --> 01:06:33,340 Well, Representative Gibbs, it's been great having you on. 665 01:06:33,340 --> 01:06:34,713 We would love to have you back. 666 01:06:34,713 --> 01:06:37,015 We thank you for taking your time. 667 01:06:37,015 --> 01:06:44,321 You know that we know that you have been busy and you will continue to be busy and best of luck. 668 01:06:44,321 --> 01:06:54,028 We so much admire you as a person and we admire and respect you for your passion that you have for Mississippi. 669 01:06:54,089 --> 01:06:58,251 As always, may we never be indifferent. 670 01:06:58,734 --> 01:07:00,087 to the suffering of others.