Mississippi Today
What lieutenant governor candidate Chris McDaniel wants to do for Mississippi
Four-term Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel said that if elected lieutenant governor, “tax relief” would be his top priority.
“That would include income tax elimination and grocery tax elimination,” McDaniel said, “which leads to more job creation and economic growth … The grocery tax is particularly regressive and punishes people for purchasing necessities and impacts lower-income people the most. I think it's wrong to tax necessities.”
McDaniel is running against incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in the Aug. 6 Republican primary. Mississippi Today recently asked McDaniel and Hosemann to share their ideas for Mississippi's future.
READ MORE: What Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann wants to do for Mississippi
Another top priority if elected, McDaniel said, would be reinstating voters' right to ballot initiative — bypassing the Legislature and putting issues or policies to a direct popular vote. A state Supreme Court decision in 2021 nullified Mississippi's ballot initiative process. Attempts to reinstate it failed the last two years in the Legislature, with many including McDaniel blaming Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and his Senate leadership for its failure.
“The ballot initiative is frankly right up there with tax relief, tied for number one of my priorities,” McDaniel said. “The ballot initiative in my mind is a constitutional right that allows people to circumvent politicians who aren't listening to their wishes.”
McDaniel said if elected, he plans to push for more parental rights in education, cutting red tape that hinders businesses, protecting property rights, promoting religious freedom, vaccination freedom and pro-life policies. He said he will support policies that are tough on violent crime and generally work to bring more conservative policies to the state Legislature and combat “woke ideology,” particularly in the classroom.
“What we are seeing now nationwide is the insertion of liberal philosophy into the classroom, particularly with sexual orientation and transgender … orientation in the classroom,” McDaniel said. “I believe that teachers should be focused on education, not new gender fads and political philosophies we're seeing across the country. I have watched Florida push back against this woke ideology, and I respect that very much.”
McDaniel said he believes in smaller government and will work to reduce spending and eliminate “fraud, waste and abuse.”
McDaniel said he believes he can get his major policy initiatives through the Republican-controlled Legislature, a process that has been likened to “herding cats.”
“We have a supermajority, and I expect Republicans to behave like Republicans,” McDaniel said. “… We shouldn't have to bet Republicans to behave like Republicans. I don't think I would have to herd too many cats. You would expect them to to adhere to our platform and behave the way they campaigned, and I would expect the people that elected them to hold them to that.”
Here is a list of McDaniel's legislative priorities if elected lieutenant governor:
Education reform
McDaniel said he will promote “parents' rights and voices in their children's education. He vows to end “the one-size-fits-all approach to learning, support student tailored education through school choice and protect children in the classroom by ending woke indoctrination.”
Fiscal conservatism
McDaniel said he would work to “put the hard-earned paychecks of Mississippians back in their pockets by eliminating the income tax” and grocery tax. He said he will “fight for the American dream by cutting red tape that is crushing small businesses,” and cut wasteful spending.
Constitutional rights
McDaniel said he will work to “preserve religious freedom and allow for constitutionally protected prayer.” He said he would protect freedom of speech by reinstating the ballot initiative process for voters and protect private property rights of Mississippians. McDaniel said he wants prayer back in school, and “I would like to see us pass legislation whereby we reimplement prayer, and if challenged, take it up to the Supreme Court like we did with Roe v. Wade.”
Pro-life, tough-on-crime policies
McDaniel vows to “protect Mississippi's most precious through preserving pro-life policies,” and “end soft-on-crime policies that jeopardize the safety of our communities.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Every university but Delta State to increase tuition this year
Every university in Mississippi is increasing tuition in the fall except for Delta State University.
The new rates were approved by the governing board of the eight universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Thursday.
The average cost of tuition in Mississippi is now $8,833 a year, a roughly 3% increase from last year. Students can expect to pay tuition ranging from $7,942 a year at Mississippi Valley State University to $10,052 a year at Mississippi State University.
In recent years, universities have cited inflation and rising insurance costs as reasons for the tuition increases. At Thursday's meeting, the board heard a presentation on how property insurance is becoming more expensive for the eight universities as Mississippi sees more tornadoes and storms with severe wind and hail.
READ MORE: Tuition increases yet again at most public universities
But it's an ongoing trend. Mississippi's public universities have steadily increased tuition since 2000, putting the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average Mississippi family. More than half of Mississippi college students graduated with an average of $29,714 in student debt in 2020, according to the Institution for College Access and Success.
At Delta State University, the president, Daniel Ennis, announced that he will attempt to avoid tuition increases as the regional college in the Mississippi Delta undergoes drastic budget cuts in an effort to become more financially sustainable.
“We will resist tuition increases so that our most economically vulnerable students can continue to have access to the opportunities that a college degree can provide,” he wrote in a memo to faculty and staff on Monday. “We will move beyond basic survival and into a place where we have the capacity to take better advantage of our undeniable strengths.”
Delta State didn't increase tuition last year, either. Officials have been concerned the university is becoming too pricey for the students it serves.
Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, by school:
- Alcorn State University: $8,105
- Delta State University: $8,435
- Jackson State University: $8,690
- Mississippi State University: $10,052
- Mississippi University for Women: $8,392
- Mississippi Valley State University: $7,492
- University of Mississippi: $9,612
- University of Southern Mississippi: $9,888
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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