#MSSen: Lara Trump takes to Facebook to share POTUS’ endorsement of Hyde-Smith
#MSSen: Mississippi Victory Fund launches ad calling McDaniel ‘Bad for Mississippi’
WJTV – Former Massachusetts Gov. endorses Mike Espy
DAILY JOURNAL – Analysis: Public retirement plan pressure won’t end soon
Mississippi’s public pension system got a particularly unwelcoming reception last week when its leaders told legislators to budget for higher pension contributions.
But what lawmakers may not have heard at their budget hearing, unless they were listening carefully, is things are likely to get worse. That’s because many participants in the financial market believe investment returns will be lower in the future than they have been in the past.
If the board of the Public Employees Retirement System makes further adjustments to its projections based on that view, those projections will show more money is needed in the future to pay off benefits that employees and retirees have already earned. And that could lead back to more demands on taxpayers…
…“When we talk about employer contributions, I don’t think it needs to be forgotten that at the end of the day, the employer is the taxpayer,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, a Clinton Republican. “So when you’re asking for an increase, you’re asking for the taxpayers to step up and pay more.”
Lawmakers also said they felt like former Executive Director Pat Robertson had promised them as late as last year that all was well with the retirement plan, and that they had been promised that no additional contribution increases would be needed after the employer rate went to 15.75 percent in 2013.
Palazzo, Wicker, Hyde-Smith announce Columbia-Marion County Airport Authority grant
Today @SenatorWicker, @SenHydeSmith and I announced a $10.2M grant for the Columbia-Marion County Airport Authority that will extend the runway and allow for the accommodation or larger aircraft.
Read more here: https://t.co/go3YvdlnCF
— Cong. Steven Palazzo (@CongPalazzo) September 21, 2018
WJTV – MS Craft Center receives a new name in honor of late Governor
WTVA – Employer payrolls set new record in Mississippi in August
More Mississippians were on employer payrolls in August than ever before.
The number of people on payrolls — economists’ top labor market indicator — grew to a record 1.17 million in August, up 4,000 jobs from July. That’s nearly 19,000 jobs above August 2017. The previous payroll record was set in June.
The state’s jobless rate was flat at 4.8 percent from July to August, with additional people finding jobs at the same rate as the labor force grew. The jobless rate a year ago was 5 percent.
CLARION LEDGER – Rep. Mark Baker: If Jim Hood wants credit for BP money, maybe he ‘should run for the Legislature’
Democratic Party leader and former state representative Brandon Jones recently complained that his party’s top elected official wasn’t given enough “credit” for negotiating a multi-state settlement. (“Governor Phil Bryant needs to give AG Jim Hood credit for BP money,” Clarion-Ledger, Sept. 13, 2018)…
…Mr. Jones also fails to relate that Governor Bryant and the Legislature had to step in to stop Hood from his usual practice of hiring outside counsel on a contingent fee basis, which has resulted in the payment of lawyer fees of over $108.5 million dollars since 2009, and forced him to hire outside counsel in this instance based on a set hourly rate, thereby saving the state approximately $50 million dollars, which instead will now be used to help our people.
The recent Special Session was about was about making public policy decisions, which is not in the constitutional purview of the Office of the Attorney General.
WJTV – Governor puts on his leather for the Wounded Warriors
WLBT – The PRVWD re-elects president to the board
Jennifer Hall will now serve a second term as head of the 14 member board. The state agency oversees operations of the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
Hall was appointed to the board by Governor Phil Bryant in 2016.
She is the ninth president and the first woman to hold the position since the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District was formed in 1958.
WJTV – Dr. Ed Meek requests name be removed from School of Journalism
WTOK – Mississippi casino revenue rises as sports betting begins
Overall casino revenue rose sharply in Mississippi in August with the start of sports betting in the state.
State revenue department figures show gamblers lost $181 million statewide in August, up 8 percent from $168 million in August 2017.
Only $645,000 of the amount lost was on sports wagers, though, with $7.7 million in bets placed in the first month of sports wagering in Mississippi.
