YP – Governor Reeves comments on COVID vaccine distribution
Governor Tate Reeves made a statement in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine plan.
“Vaccines are rolling out across the US. That’s great news. The bad news: it’s not going nearly fast enough (at least here). I said that on Monday, and I said we were working on plans to eliminate roadblocks. Here are some of the problems and solutions discussed behind the scenes:
We had around 78K doses that were marked by the federal government for long term care facilities. State government was basically removed from that part of the process—direct delivery. Only around 2% had been given. That worried me.
MSDH daily COVID-19 report
Today MSDH is reporting 2,214 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 22 deaths, and 221 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. The total of #covid19 cases for the year is now 239,082, with 5,167 deaths. Case details and prevention guidance at https://t.co/YCv9xPyJDk pic.twitter.com/SvkdfHhwJd
— Mississippi State Department of Health (@msdh) January 10, 2021
YP – Hyde-Smith announces nearly $200 million for COVID-19 testing, vaccination activities in Mississippi
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced the award of almost $200 million to Mississippi from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to support COVID-19 testing and vaccination-related activities.
The allocation of $171.3 million for testing and $26.8 million for vaccination activities in Mississippi is drawn from the FY2021 appropriations bills and targeted pandemic relief package approved by Congress in late December.
“We all recognize ongoing stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic on our hospitals, health workers, and importantly the lives of all Mississippians. This initial $198 million from the most recent COVID-19 response package will help us with testing and the distribution of the vaccines that can help us control this virus,” Hyde-Smith said.
YP – Small Business Job Growth Continues in December Over half of small business employers reported hiring or trying to hire
Small business job growth continued in December, but the gains remain uneven as certain sectors of the economy are slowing due to state-mandated business closures and consumer resistance to spend, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report.
“Small businesses continued to prove that they are the engine of the economy as we closed a chapter on a challenging year,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners continue to manage various obstacles related to the COVID-19 pandemic but are doing their best to remain open and continue hiring employees.”
State-specific data is unavailable, but NFIB State Director Dawn Starns said, “One thing that would help encourage job growth in Mississippi in the coming year would be for lawmakers to approve a plan to eliminate the state income tax.”
YP – Wicker, Hyde-Smith plan to attend Inauguration of Biden
President Donald Trump said Friday that he would not be attending the inauguration of Democrat President-elect Joe Biden on January 20th. Biden responded later in the day saying it was a good thing Trump would not be attending but welcomed Vice President Mike Pence.
Most all of the former living Presidents have said that they were planning to attend the inauguration of the 46th Commander in Chief.
Y’all Politics asked Mississippi’s federal delegation is they would be attending the inauguration of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said that she did plan to attend as did Senator Roger Wicker who hoped that Trump would reconsider.
YP – Congressman Guest talks events at U.S. Capitol this week, does not believe House should impeach President
Congressman Michael Guest joined Y’all Politics on Friday afternoon to talk about the events in Washington D.C. this week. He recapped the breach of the U.S. Capitol and outlined why he objected to the Electoral College votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Guest also said he did not think it would be wise for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to move forward with new articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump with less than 2 weeks left in his term.
YP – MSGOP chairman Bordeaux recaps RNC meeting, says Republicans optimistic about 2022
Mississippi Republican Party chairman Frank Bordeaux and party Executive Director Tate Lewis were in Florida over the last few days for the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting.
Bordeaux spoke with Y’all Politics on Friday afternoon following the election of the national executive committee telling us that RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel ran unopposed for a third-term and won unanimously. Also, co-chair Tommy Hicks won re-election on the first slate.
“There’s no change in the executive committee,” Bordeaux said. “Everybody was very optimistic about our opportunities in 2022 and wanted to continue to build out the party from a grassroots apparatus that started two years ago, and that was obviously successful in a number of states.”
Twitter permanently suspend Trump account
Statement from @Twitter on permanently suspending President @realDonaldTrump’s account … https://t.co/qrOwILpqbo
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) January 8, 2021
Congressman Thompson comments on Twitter’s suspension of President
Congressman @BennieGThompson issues statement on @Twitter’s permanent suspension of President’s @realDonaldTrump account. pic.twitter.com/gpQsdV1d8e
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) January 9, 2021
WLOX – Teacher pay increase, COVID-19 relief on top of state legislature’s agenda
“There’s a lot of talk of both sides of the aisle in Washington [D.C.] of additional monies being made available for unemployment for education even possibly for infrastructure,” said Sen. Joey Fillingane.
Fillingane says more pandemic relief may be on the horizon for Mississippians and businesses may be included.
“There’s some discussions of PPP loans being made available again for businesses that have employees who maybe have had losses due to the pandemic, helping pay some of their payroll expenses,” said Fillingane.
But that’s not all.
Mississippi educators may see an increase in their pay.
MBJ – Bill Crawford: Money hungry PERS just another debt-busting socialistic program
Surprise! The state’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) needs more money,
Well, it’s not a surprise, but a continuing calamity. Based on 2020 underperformance, PERS’ financial consultants called for another increase in employer contributions to 19.6% of salaries. Just two years ago PERS upped employer contributions 17.4%, promising, as it has time after time, that the new money would fix PERS finances.
It didn’t.
You hear that huge sucking sound? That’s the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being sucked annually into PERS because it cannot keep its promises. Employer contributions in 2020 were $448 million more than they were in 2011, but even more is needed.
WLOX – Demetropoulos will not seek reelection as mayor of Pascagoula
Dr. Steve Demetropoulos, mayor of Pascagoula, recently announced his Facebook page that he would not be seeking reelection this year.
Demetropoulos cited the increasing demand a global pandemic has put on his medical practice as the reason he felt he could no longer serve in the office of mayor…
…He was elected as mayor last year in a special election after the seat was left vacant by former mayor Dane Maxwell, who took office in January as a state public service commissioner.
Magnolia Tribune
