Mississippi Today
House revives state police expansion and bitter fight over Jackson ‘takeover’
House revives state police expansion and bitter fight over Jackson ‘takeover'
The House of Representatives in a mostly partisan and racially divided vote on Wednesday revived its measure to expand the area inside Jackson where state-run Capitol Police can patrol to include neighborhoods where most of the capital city's white citizens live.
After lengthy debate on Wednesday that served to highlight ongoing racial tension under the dome this session, the House passed Senate Bill 2343, which leaders overhauled with language that died earlier in the session that would expand the state police jurisdiction to only a specific district within Jackson, the Blackest large city in America.
The final vote was 67-45, with most white, Republican, non-Jacksonians voting for it, and all Black lawmakers, Democrats and all but one member of the Jackson delegation voting against. A few white Republicans also voted against the measure, most on grounds it would expand state government spending and state police powers.
Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent from Jackson and the only “yea” vote from Jackson's delegation on Wednesday, said her legislation is aimed at curbing crime in northeast Jackson and helping an understaffed Jackson Police Department.
“This is simply a response to Jackson residents who live in this proposed district who want more police. That's it,” Yates said.
The Senate passed a separate measure on Tuesday that would give Capitol Police jurisdiction inside the whole capital city, not just in a limited district like the House measure passed on Wednesday. The leaders of the two chambers would have to iron out that disagreement as the 2023 legislative session enters its final three weeks.
READ MORE: Senate passes House Bill 1020 over opposition from Jackson lawmakers
Meanwhile, bitter debate continues over several other measures that Jackson leaders, advocates and national media have labeled a hostile state takeover of governance of a majority Black city by a majority white state Legislature.
“This is the most depressing legislative session I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them,” Rep. Ed Blackmon, a Canton Democrat who has served in the Legislature for 40 years, said on Wednesday. “…The uncomfortable truth is, this has nothing to do with solving crime.”
Yates, who lives in a neighborhood already patrolled by Capitol Police after its jurisdiction was expanded last year, panned the overburdened and understaffed local Jackson Police Department during debate. She did not directly answer several questions from her fellow Jackson lawmakers about why the state has not appropriated funding for the city's struggling police department.
“Right now, if you call 9-1-1 in Jackson, you will not get anyone at all … you will more than likely not get an answer,” Yates said in response to a question about the need for the bill.
Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson, held a phone aloft during the House debate and told Yates, “We just called 9-1-1 and got an answer right away.”
“You're lucky,” Yates responded.
Opponents of the bills to take over policing, infrastructure and other functions in Jackson say the state should provide the city resources to deal with a decades long loss of tax base, not take away its local sovereignty and create a separate police force and cordon off more white areas of the city. They say lawmakers have not, and would not, force such measures on other cities, and that such moves are a knock on Black governance.
Several Jackson lawmakers continue to point out that their white colleagues pushing this legislation have not brought them to the table to discuss how to address the city's crime problems.
Rep. Robert Johnson, the House Democratic leader from Natchez, said Capitol Police, once a small force mainly charged with security in and around state office buildings downtown, doesn't have homicide detectives, holding facilities, a 9-1-1 system or other infrastructure to police one-third of Mississippi's largest city. He said the agency will be asking lawmakers for millions of taxpayer dollars to boost their existing presence and processes— funds he argued should go to the city or elsewhere in the state budget.
Proponents of the bills, though, say the state is trying to help with soaring crime rates, water and sewerage and other issues that have reached crisis levels.
During floor debate of her Capitol Police measure on Wednesday, Yates called it a “last-ditch effort.”
“I have constituents who will leave Jackson,” she said.
READ MORE: Constitutionality of House Bill 1020 comes into focus
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
EPA absolves MDEQ, Health Department of discrimination in funding Jackson water
About a year and half ago, on the heels of Jackson's infamous water system failure, advocates and politicians from Mississippi began publicly questioning the funding mechanisms that are supposed to support such systems.
In October 2022, U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney wrote Gov. Tate Reeves, grilling him over an apparent disparity in how federal infrastructure funds were allocated to Jackson versus other parts of the state.
Then days later, the Environmental Protection Agency's civil rights office opened an investigation into two state agencies — the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Health — in response to the NAACP's claims of discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits discrimination — based on race, color or national origin — in providing federal assistance.
On Monday, though, the EPA announced it had ended the probe after finding no evidence the agencies had short-changed Jackson's water system. In its investigation, the EPA looked at the funding amounts and racial demographics of cities that received water funding from MDEQ and the Health Department and determined there was no correlation between the two factors.
“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality did everything right,” MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells said in a press release following the EPA's announcement.
The two agencies are in charge of disbursing funds from the EPA called “state revolving loan,” or SRF, funds, which are meant to help cities make infrastructure improvements. MDEQ handles SRF funds related to wastewater infrastructure, while the Health Department handles SRF funds for drinking water.
But the claims against the agencies were only part of the 2022 complaint the NAACP filed with the EPA. The federal agency did not address another complaint: The group also focused on the state Legislature, which has denied attempts in recent years by Jackson to raise money for its water system, such as creating a new 1% tax.
Click here for the EPA's full responses to MDEQ and Health Department.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
MSGOP Chair Bordeaux stepping down. Mike Hurst endorsed as successor
Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Frank Bordeaux announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection to his post and endorsed former U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst to succeed him.
Bordeaux, an insurance executive, wrote on Facebook that he's had a great tenure as the party's chairman, but it was time to “pass the torch” to a “new leader with a fresh perspective.”
“We've seen a lot of success,” Bordeaux said. “We've elected more Republicans in the last few years to local, state, and federal offices than at any point in history. With every election, we've gained seats and put more conservatives in positions to improve the lives of Mississippians.”
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in September 2020 backed Bordeaux, a longtime Coast resident, to replace former GOP Chairman Lucien Smith, a move that likely proved crucial to the governor transforming the Coast into a political firewall of support during the 2023 statewide election.
It's typical for a sitting Republican governor, as head of the state party, to pick a new chairman. While the executive committee technically elects a GOP chairman, a governor's choice is typically installed by acclamation. There has been no major executive committee challenge to a Republican governor's chairman nomination in recent history.
Reeves did not immediately make a statement after Bordeaux' announcement on social media, but Hurst in a statement on Wednesday indicated he has Reeves' support.
“I want to thank Gov. Tate Reeves for his support, Chairman Frank Bordeaux for his incredible leadership, and the staff of the MSGOP, who have all raised our party to new heights and have achieved so much for our conservative principles over the last number of years,” Hurst said.
“Our future is bright in Mississippi and, if elected chairman, I hope I can play a small role in making our state and our party even better in the future,” Hurst added.
READ MORE: Lucien Smith out as MSGOP chair; Gov. Reeves backs Gulf Coast businessman to replace him
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in a statement Wednesday said: “Being chairman is a tough, uncompensated job which takes a significant amount of personal time. Frank's leadership through part of the pandemic and the recent statewide election has been pivotal to bringing organization, unity, and success to the Republican Party across the state. We appreciate his service and look forward to continuing his efforts under the guidance of Mike Hurst.”
Hurst has been involved in state and national Republican politics for years. He is currently a partner in the Phelps Dunbar law firm's Jackson office. Hurst served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi under President Donald Trump's administration from 2017 to 2021, and previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney.
Prior to his presidential appointment, Hurst was the founder and director of the Mississippi Justice Institute, a division of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. He also previously served as a legislative director and counsel to then-U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, and served as counsel to the Constitution Subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
Hurst's wife, Celeste Hurst, was elected last year to the state House District 77 seat, representing Madison, Rankin and Scott counties.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Crooked Letter Sports Podcast
Podcast: It’s crunch time in both college and high school baseball.
We are into the second week of May, which means the college and high school baseball seasons have reached the point where every pitch matters. At present, Mississippi State is a likely 2-seed, Southern Miss is a 3-seed and Ole Miss is on the outside looking in. The Rebels, however, can change that this weekend when No. 1 ranked Texas A&M comes to Oxford. Also, Tyler gives the lowdown on all the high school baseball playoff action.
Stream all episodes here.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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