YP Daily Roundup 1/25/18

Pascagoula Mayor Dane Maxwell gets shoutout at the top of President Trump’s speech to mayors in the White House

Rep. Trent Kelly and former State Senator Merle Flowers speak to Olive Branch Rotary about Israel

In Olive Branch for the weekly Rotary Club meeting, where Kelly and former state Sen. Merle Flowers spoke about their visits to Israel last summer and fall with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Kelly expressed frustration that senators could not come to an agreement on appropriations measures that House members had voted on last September.

“The House of Representatives sent all 12 appropriations bills in September to the Senate and they have taken no action,” Kelly said. “The House did our job in September like we were required to do and the Senate has not taken them up. They have the full funding measures from the House that have been in the Senate since September.”

Kelly, recently promoted to Brigadier General status in the Mississippi Army National Guard, added the shutdown directly affected him as a member of the Guard.

New fact sheet looks at population trends, migration and “Brain Drain” in MS

Mississippi Population Fact Sheet by yallpolitics on Scribd

Insurance commish Mike Chaney seeks more power over wind pool

House Bill 948 , sent Tuesday to the full House for more debate by the House Insurance Committee, requires the Republican Chaney’s approval before the pool can buy more backup coverage, known as reinsurance, above a certain level. Chaney said he’s been imploring the 11-member board that runs the pool to buy less reinsurance for years. The pool spent $38.4 million last year to buy enough coverage to cover $910 million in losses.

“Why are we buying so much reinsurance?” Chaney asked. He said his office will soon release an audit questioning how much the board buys and the rates it pays for reinsurance, saying Alabama’s pool bought roughly the same amount of insurance last year, but only paid $15 million.

New Documentary about #msflag

MSToday article pits School Choice advocates against public school forces over access to Capitol

Public school advocates say they are being denied the opportunity to hold a rally inside the Capitol similar to the one Tuesday that featured state leaders promoting school choice.

The large, boisterous rally in the Capitol rotunda featuring Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn far exceeded the rules restricting such events to a press conference of no more than 25 persons.

Jackson-based public school advocates who are planning an event in February were told the 25-person limit will be strictly enforced.

Both groups sought permits last fall for their events from the agency that controls the space, the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).

The crackdown on the limit has raised eyebrows because its enforcement comes after the school choice rally that gained wide media coverage and left the Capitol jammed with participants.