YP – Much remains unclear as Legislature set to resume Monday
Mississippi House and Senate leaders are calling lawmakers back to the Capitol on Monday, August 10th.
While there has been no official announcement as of mid-Friday afternoon, more than a dozen lawmakers have confirmed they are set to reconvene at 1:00 pm Monday. Legislators are openly speculating that they will be considering the Mississippi Department of Education budget, which was vetoed, and likely the annual appropriation for the Department of Marine Resources, which was never passed.
There is also a possibility the Legislature could also consider the veto of $6 million of CARES Act money for Mississippi Access Group Network (MAGnet) and $2 million of CARES Act money for the shuttered North Oak Regional Medical Center. They could also address other coronavirus issues as a result of what members are told are concerns over new Treasury Department guidance and the Back to Business program passed by the Legislature.
YP – State Sen. Wiggins talks what to expect when lawmakers reconvene
WJTV – Analysis: Budget dispute goes to 1 judge in Hinds County
Mississippi Republican legislative leaders helped defeat a 2015 education initiative by arguing that if someone sued the state over school funding, one judge in Hinds County would make budget decisions for the whole state.
Now, some of those same leaders are asking one judge in Hinds County to side with them in a legal dispute over budgets.
House Speaker Philip Gunn and Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White are suing Gov. Tate Reeves, a fellow Republican, in Hinds County Chancery Court. They are challenging his partial vetoes of two bills to fund state government programs for the year that began July 1.
WJTV – Protesters call for legislators to override Gov. Reeves recent vetoes
MSDH: COVID-19 cases top 67k
Today MSDH is reporting 527 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 22 deaths, and 174 active outbreaks in long-term care facilities. The total of #covid19 cases for the year is now 67,173, with 1,896 deaths. Case details and prevention guidance at https://t.co/QP8mlJ41AN pic.twitter.com/gffVXWqkvu
— Mississippi State Department of Health (@msdh) August 9, 2020
CLARION LEDGER – SHAD WHITE: Auditor’s warning to Mississippi politicians, officials: We are watching for theft, corruption
With new cash comes risk — risk of theft, misappropriation and corruption. More money means more temptation for vendors to pay a kickback to a government official to get a fat contract. More money means it’s more likely an administrator of funds is sloppy and forgets the rules — some of which are complex — around how the money should be spent.
More money means more opportunity for a fraudster to steal something and hope no one notices. Think, for example, about the large purchases of protective equipment or new computers to enable distance learning, and how this new property, flying around government offices, may be tempting for someone to steal and resell. In short, more money, more problems.
My office is going to do its level best to try to catch anyone engaging in any of these fraudulent activities. It’s going to be hard. This stimulus represents one of the three biggest challenges to the auditor’s office in the last 30 years (Katrina and auditing the 2009 stimulus money are the other two). What makes this challenge uniquely difficult is that Congress demanded the money be spent so quickly. Every cost has to be incurred no later than Dec. 30. The rush to push out money will create a situation unlike any we have seen.
Barbara Boxer backs Espy using poll showing him down 8%
My Meeting the Moment Project, launched after the senseless killing of #GeorgeFloyd, supports 3 outstanding Black candidates for US Senate. Each of them is now within striking distance. Please help us give them the support they need to win in November: https://t.co/qGr9m6AucL pic.twitter.com/BdQNewkRro
— Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) August 7, 2020
WLOX – Hundreds of President Trump supporters hold boat parade in Biloxi
After a lot of organizing through phone calls, group chats and emails, the Facebook group “Mississippi Boaters for Trump,” led their largest boat parade to date.
Hundreds of boaters came out to show their support for President Donald Trump and voice their political views.
The procession started in Big Lake, with most of the participants gathering hours beforehand with flags, banners and clothing supporting the president’s re-election campaign.
CLARION LEDGER – Presidential nominee, bitten by possible rabid bat, cancels stop in Jackson
The nominee says she was bitten by a possible rabid bat.
Jorgensen announced the news on her Facebook page, and said on the advice of her doctor, she will be getting a rabies vaccine as a precaution after being bitten by the bat near the start of her campaign tour.
The campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the bat bite.
WLOX – Presidential candidate Jorgensen campaigns in Hattiesburg Saturday
Libertarian Presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen held a pop-rally in Hattiesburg.
The Jorgensen Tour Bus traveled from Jackson to Hattiesburg as a part of “Let Her Speak,” the first nationwide convoy protest.
“We’re on a 20 city, 16-day tour so we’re trying to hit all of the states because we want all Americans to have a real choice,” said Jorgensen. “If we just have Trump and Biden out there, they’re not going to get any choice at all. It’s just the same old thing, so we’re out there talking to as many Americans as possible.”
Dickie Scruggs jabs at US Atty Hurst over a “few undocumented workers” while called Sanderson Farms “a sweat shop for immigrants”
I just noticed my misspelling the name of Rui Ping Lin, the hapless Asian-American busted by US Atty Mike Hurst for hiring a few undocumented workers—while Hurst ignores the far larger undocumented hiring practices of “real American” white chicken processors.
— Dickie Scruggs (@DickScruggs) August 10, 2020
Sen. Wicker remembers Charles Evers
Here are my remarks that were played at today's memorial service for Charles Evers in Jackson. https://t.co/WTcKnyLNTG
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) August 8, 2020
