Stay up-to-date on what’s in the news with the Y’all Politics Daily Roundup.
YP – Gunn again declares Medicaid expansion in Mississippi a ‘nonstarter’
Speaker of the House Philip Gunn interviewed with The Gallo Show on SuperTalk Radio Thursday morning and discussed the possibility of Medicaid expansion.
Since a potential initiative was filed to expand Medicaid, lawmakers and legislators have again begun commenting on whether or not an expansion would be good for Mississippi.
However, from Speaker Gunn’s perspective, expansion is still a ‘no’ in the House.
“We have been very clear on our side that we are just not for that,” said Gunn. “We forget that the people who pay for that are the tax payers and everywhere I go I get that reminder.
YP – PSC Commissioner Maxwell talks wind, solar energy investments in Mississippi
Southern District Public Service Commissioner Dane Maxwell joined Y’all Politics on Thursday to talk about the latest investments in Mississippi related to renewable energy such as wind and solar.
Maxwell also provided an update on how the rollout of broadband is going across the Magnolia State given the funding from the state and federal government along with noting the Commission’s efforts to take on telemarketers through the No Call List.
YP – Amazon announces first ever solar projects in U.S. – Mississippi one of three locations
Of the 11 new projects Amazon announced on Wednesday, three of them are the first solar projects in the U.S., and one will be in Mississippi. The company’s other projects include the largest solar farm in Canada, a renewable energy project in Finland, and the company’s fifth project in Spain.
Amazon has become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the United States, the company said after announcing 14 new projects in North America and Europe. The projects will bring the company’s investments to 10 gigawatts of electricity, or enough power for 2.5 million U.S. homes.
YP – Governor Reeves Announces Staff Updates
Liz Welch will be temporarily assigned the administrative and management duties and responsibilities within the Office of the Governor that were previously assigned to Chief of Staff Brad White.
David Maron will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief legal Counsel.
YP – MDE: Mississippi maintains education ranking at 39th nationally, up from 48th in 2014
Mississippi held its education ranking of 39th in the country in 2021, a substantial gain from its 48th position in 2014, according to new data released in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT® 2021 Data Book.
The data book describes how children across the United States were faring before and during the coronavirus pandemic. Overall, Mississippi ranked 50th in the nation for child well-being, which tracks four domains: economic well-being, health, family and community, and education. Education was the only domain that ranked above 50th in 2021…
…Mississippi ranks No. 1 in the nation for gains in 4th grade reading and mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and No. 3 for gains in 8th grade mathematics. The state’s graduation rate reached an all-time high of 87.7% in 2021, exceeding the most recent national rate of 85%.
YP – Wicker Challenges Biden Administration Over Research Using Aborted Infants
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., along with U.S. Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., led Members of Congress in sending a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra criticizing HHS’s recent decisions to discontinue the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) nonpartisan Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board (EAB) and to restore taxpayer funding for federal researchers to obtain, use, and store the body parts of aborted children.
“Americans expect their tax money to be spent strategically, but at all times ethically,” the members of Congress wrote. “We are disturbed that your recent decisions violate this public trust and call into question your commitment to transparent government.”
MS Democrats issue statement on reported federal infrastructure package
Mississippi Democratic Party’s Response to Today’s Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework @POTUS and @TheDemocrats Deliver Infrastructure Framework That Will Create Good-Paying Union Jobs and Position the United States to Win the 21st Century pic.twitter.com/ASyOBnHFij
— MS Democratic Party (@msdemocrats) June 24, 2021
YP – Hyde-Smith Lambastes Inadequate Biden Defense Budget, Calls for Boldness
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today lambasted the Biden administration’s FY2022 national security budget, warning that striving for “adequate” defense spending could embolden U.S. adversaries.
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined colleagues at a news conference Thursday to highlight inadequacy of the 1.6 percent increase in defense spending recommended in the $6 trillion Biden budget.
“In the Biden administration, they use words like ‘adequate’ or ‘sufficient’ to describe its defense budget. Just when in the world did we start using words like ‘adequate’ when we are talking about the benchmark for our national defense?” Hyde-Smith said.
Magnolia Tribune
