Members of the Mississippi legislation spoke Nov. 19 at the Marion County Development Partnership Catchy Friday, which was held at the Marion County BusinessPlex Community Room.
Miss. Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, said it has been a privilege to represent Marion County the past 10 years, and she hopes she can continue doing so.
Redistricting, which is up for discussion once about every 10 years, will be covered in the upcoming session. Hill hopes to be able to keep all of Marion County in her district.
A big task they will have in the upcoming year is the distribution of millions of dollars in federal money. Hill said she has already received requests from Marion County regarding water and sewer upgrades. She said the state may have to create a portal for the cities and entities to make requests, like they did with the BP money.
“We have to keep track of who is spending what so nothing is duplicated,” Hill said.
She added she would like to know the requests as soon as possible, especially if anything is covid-related.
With all of the federal funds that have been received and a good Mississippi economy, the revenue for the state has increased. She said companies are moving into the state, and jobs are being added.
Hill touched upon the Medicaid expansion that has been proposed. Currently, the state offers coverage for the very young, old and sick who have low income. The expansion would include healthy, abled and childless people. She said she believes it is best to keep Medicaid as it is. That way, the ones who need the assistance are not competing with people who are able to work and can purchase their own insurance.
“What I saw in Louisiana, when they expanded Medicaid, was that 35,000 people a year dropped their private insurance. When you drop the private insurance and the risks are spread out more, that makes insurance rates increase,” she said.
Hill said the state needs specialists to be more spread out into rural areas. Most specialists are in the larger cities, which means people have to travel long distances to receive the care they need. To make that situation worse, most specialists are booked for months at a time so getting a timely appointment is often difficult, she said.
The medical marijuana initiative that was approved by voters in 2020 was struck down by the Supreme Court because the way the initiative came to be was unconstitutional. She said there are some leaders who are trying to push another bill through, but, Hill said she did not believe it was medicinal.
“I advocate for anything medicinal that would help someone, but I believe there is a much better, more responsible way to handle this,” Hill told the crowd.
She referenced the Oklahoma medical marijuana law, which she said has been an unmitigated disaster after three years. She said she didn’t understand why the state leaders, who are pushing for it, are wanting to bring that kind of trouble to Mississippi.
Hill said she would not advocate for medicinal marijuana to be in the form of brownies, candy or any kind of product that has high THC levels. What is being proposed does not require a prescription, nor would it be sold through a pharmacy. All a person would need is a card from the health department saying the drug might be beneficial for them. From there, they could go to a shop and get what they want.
“That’s not medicine. No dosage, no prescription. Just go in there and figure out what you think you need,” Hill warned.
She wants to look into ways that distribution can be done responsibly. She pointed to the program in Louisiana as a good example.
“It is going to be a battle not letting the bill get through,” Hill said.
Another issue being worked on in the legislature is raises for teachers. However, Hill is concerned about how just about anyone now can be a teacher because of the shortage of teachers. The state needs good teachers who care about the students and the students’ success, she said.
Miss. Rep. Bill Pigott, R-Tylertown, who represents part of the southwest portion of the county, praised Hill and Miss. Rep. Ken Morgan, R-Morgantown, on how well the three of them get along and work together for the good of the county.
“It is going to be a tough year with the redistricting. No one is really happy at the end of that,” Pigott said.
The western portion of the state lost a lot of its population over the last 10 years, which could play a role in redistricting, according to Pigott.
Pigott, who remains the Chairman of the Agriculture in the House, said it was still the main driver of the economics in the state. There was a major problem in the Delta when one of the grain elevators went bankrupt. There were a bunch of farmers who had beans and corn stored in that elevator who were never paid for the goods. Pigott said he has spent the last couple of months working with the Department of Agriculture to try to come up with a solution to help the farmers. He is also working on some legislation to prevent this from happening again.
Originally medical marijuana fell under the Department of Agriculture, but the issue has been pushed out of the department.
Pigott said, in Florida, it fell in the agriculture department where a commissioner of agriculture who was pro-medical marijuana was elected. The result was the department became all about the drug. It destroyed the relationship with mainstream farmers.
Morgan said legislators have a tough job because no matter what they do, not everyone will be happy when the day is done. There are 122 people in the House of Representatives, with everyone competing for money. Whoever is behind the podium speaking must be a good salesperson when presenting a bill. If a bill is approved, it moves to the senate where Hill will have to present it to herself and 51 other senators to approve it.
“With that being said, you don’t make everyone happy. That’s just the way it is,” Morgan said.
Morgan complimented Hill and Pigott on the three of them being a team. He said Columbia has a good working board of aldermen and mayor, and the county has some supervisors that need a good pat on their backs.
“Ride around Columbia and the county and see what all has been done within the last 10 years, and you see progress. When was the last time you saw Main Street flooded?” Morgan continued.
Morgan, who is the Chairman of the Forestry Committee, said agriculture is the No. 1 industry in the state, with forestry being second. More than 90% of timber is on private lands, he said. People have been asking about timber prices and when they are going to increase. Part of the determination of prices depends on the distance someone has to travel to the sawmill. Something that will help with that situation in Marion County is the new sawmill that is currently being built in Lumberton. There is also a pellet mill in Lucedale where the wood is combined with hardwood and softwood.
He also talked about how hard things are for small business owners. He said he spoke to someone the other day who had placed an order, and 99 items on the list were back ordered. There is no way a small business can compete with the federal government.
“We are living in scary times right now. We don’t know what the outcome is going to be one way or another. You need to buckle down and spend your money wisely,” Morgan warned.
The next Catchy Friday will be held on Dec. 17, at 8 a.m.
