House Bails Out Troubled Hospital

This afternoon, the Mississippi House of Representatives almost unanimously passed a bill allowing Attala County to issue bonds so they can bail out Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital is Kosciusko. Rep. Jason White (R-West), the local representative, has long opposed efforts to offer additional Medicaid funds to keep the hospital up and running.

This could only be the beginning of hospitals begging the legislature to bail them out because the Republican legislature and Governor Bryant continue to deny the reality that our hospitals - and patients - are in serious trouble.

Some Republican House members who voted for higher insurance for their constituents

Want to know which Mississippi House Republicans put their allegiance to Speaker Philip Gunn (R - Clinton) and Gov. Phil Bryant (R) ahead of the interests of their constituents last Thursday by keeping them out of the state healthcare exchange?  Here's a partial list of Republicans who voted to keep part or all of their districts out of the exchange:

Rep. Tracy Arnold (R - Booneville)

Rep. Donnie Bell (R - Fulton)

Rep. Joey Hood (R - Ackerman)

Rep. Bobby Howell (R - Kilmichael)

Rep. Timmy Ladner (R - Poplarville)

Rep. Bill Pigott (R - Tylertown)

Rep. Randy Rushing (R - Decatur)

Rep. Jason White (R - West)

Going to be quite a sight watching these folks explain to their constituents that they voted for them to have higher insurance.  Take Randy Rushing, for example.  In 2015, Rep. Rushing is going to have to go around Scott and Leake Counties explaining to them why he voted for them to have higher insurance premiums than his constituents back home in Newton County.

House Bill 486 and Opting out of PERS

Among the whirlwind of new bills coming through this legislative session, one of the more troubling is H.B. 486, by Brad Mayo (R - Oxford), and his cosponsors Rep. Chris Brown (R - Aberdeen) and Rep. Jason White (R - Kosciusko), which permits public employees to opt out of the Public Employee Retirement System.  If it becomes law, H.B. 486 could render an efficient service for state employees unsustainable. 

The bill would make it possible for any new public employees to opt out of PERS, and would allow current contributors to bail upon passage, potentially collapsing the “pot” of PERS funds. 

This comes on the heels of the launch of KeepThemHonest.MS, a website made to combat new attacks on PERS and built to hold legislators accountable on this issue. If you haven’t checked it out, you can sign the petition, and get connected there.

Rep. Jason White (R - West) makes it official

Rep. Jason White (R - West), will make his long running affair with the Mississippi Republican Party official today.  A political protege of former Rep. Mary Ann Stevens (D - West), White has told any Republican that would listen that he really, at heart, was a member of their team.  Democrats in the House quickly learned they could not count on White's vote, and White spent most of his time socially aligned with Republicans and their corporate lobbyists.

So, while Republicans will crow today about the new "switch", in reality, it doesn't make any difference.