Mississippi’s new speaker flexes Republicans’ muscle
Jason White was formally elected as Mississippi’s Speaker of the House on Monday as the legislative session got underway.
The representative from the Attala County in the Central Mississippi town of West takes the place of the retiring Philip Gunn of Clinton and told the house in accepting the position that Mississippi Republicans have the votes to take the state in any direction they want to take it.
He was speaker pro tempore under Gunn for the 122-member House.
It is expected that Rep. Manly Burton of Moss Point will become the new speaker pro tempore.
“Let’s not focus on safe things in order to score political points,” White said in his acceptance speech. “Let’s make this time count. The folks who sent us here are counting on us to adhere to our campaign promises and hold fast in the ideas of limited government and individual freedom.”
In doing that White suggested that goals of the next four years will center around school choice and giving parents more freedom for curriculum.
There has already been a push for some members in the legislature to move state and federal tax dollars to private schools, which would keep funds from public schools.
On education, White quoted former Democratic Gov. William Winter by saying, “It’s boat rocking time in Mississippi.”
He also suggested adding to Gov. Tate Reeves ideas of helping Mississippi with healthcare initiatives.
In September, the governor announced a series of Medicaid reimbursement reforms in Mississippi, which he estimated to generate approximately $700 million for some of the state’s financially struggling hospitals.
Reeves will be inaugurated Jan. 9, beginning his second term in that job after previously serving as state treasurer and lieutenant governor.
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and six other statewide officials will be inaugurated Thursday. Hosemann returns for his second term as the leader of the Senate.
But White, on Tuesday, talked about the opportunity that is in front of Republicans with this new session.
“We need a renewed focus on workforce development and have efforts for a more streamlined approach,” White said. “We want the most bang for our buck where this is concerned. We want to train our people for highly skilled, good paying jobs that are actually available here in our state.”
He said that investments in highways and bridges make it important for these types of jobs to have workers trained for them.
“Mississippians like seeing their money go back to spending on infrastructure,” White said. “This will help attract a better business environment.”
He said he also wants to protect Mississippi’s natural resources and that the legislature has already and will again “protect what we have and provide new avenues to both enhance what we have in habitat and state forests for our outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen.”
However, White kept coming back to the Republican majority in the House as starting point for pushing a more conservative agenda across the finish line.
He said that when
Gunn took the speaker job, “he made a right turn for Mississippi, and we want to keep that going.”
Medicaid expansion has continued to be a hotbutton issue. Mississippi has 73 rural hospitals. Six have closed since 2005, and 31 are at immediate risk of closing because of severe financial problems, according to a national policy group, the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Only Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have more hospitals in that risk category.
State economists have said Mississippi could receive about $1 billion a year from the federal government for Medicaid expansion. Reeves and other expansion opponents have said it would not be the best approach to alleviating financial pressures on rural hospitals.
White lauded Reeves efforts on this front, but said he also wants to look at new avenues of funded. He did not, however, say if accepting Medicaid Expansion was part of that process.
“I am simply asking for open minds from (the House), our friends in the Senate, the legislative brand, the Mississippi business community and, most importantly, our healthcare industry,” White said. “It will take everyone to explore solutions for our working folks who need health insurance.”
White also suggested the House could consider lowering taxes for Mississippians even more than has been done in recent years.