New hires by state and by local governments would receive less benefits upon retirement under recommendations approved Wednesday by the 10-member board that governs the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System.

Lee County Chancery Clerk Bill Benson, a member of the board, said during the meeting he did not support all aspects of proposed changes in the plan for new hires, but said he would endorse the changes to ensure that current retirees and current public government employees receive the benefits they were promised.

The recommendation endorsed by the board on Wednesday would not change any of benefits for current employees and retirees. The new proposal is similar to recommendations the board made last year, but state lawmakers did not adopt.

The ultimate decision on whether to create a tier 5 that would entail a different and smaller benefits package for new employees rests with the Legislature. On Wednesday the PERS board simply endorsed creating a tier 5.

The hope is that a tier 5 for new employees would address the financial woes many people say exist for PERS, which currently is providing some type of retirement benefits for about 350,000 current public employees and retirees.

The recommendation made by the board would not include a guaranteed cost of living adjustment. The current plan includes an annual 3% cost of living increase that many members take at the end of the year as a so-called 13^th check. Some PERS Board members said they do not think it is financially viable to continue the current COLA for new employees.

“A guaranteed COLA is the big elephant in the room,” Benson told fellow board members Wednesday. “… I will support (a new play for new hires) based on that, we need to sustain what was promised to existing employees.”

Benson and others at the meeting said reducing benefits for new hires would help stabilize the system long-term, but noted the system will still need more funding in the meantime.

The key elements in the recommendations the board approved Wednesday with one dissenting vote and one not voting is creating a hybrid plan where a portion of the pension benefits for the new hires would be through a guaranteed defined benefit plan while the other portion would be through some type of investment package, such as a 401K, where the benefits would be determined by investment earnings.

Under the current plan, all of the benefits are guaranteed each month. Board member Randy McCoy who voted no said he could not support changing the program so that all of the month benefit was not guaranteed.

Under an example presented to the board Wednesday, a current employee with 30 years of service earning $60,000 per year at retirement would, based on projections, earn 87% of his or her current work salary upon retirement, including federal Social Security payments. Importantly, those benefits would increase 3% annually based on the guaranteed COLA.

By contrast, the same retiree under the PERS board recommendation would receive 84.1% if the earnings from the investment portion of the pension package increased by 7% annually. But there would be no guaranteed COLA, though, a cost of living increase could be awarded each year.

Some members conceded that a less attractive pension package could make it difficult to recruit people to work in the public sector where the salaries are often less than those provided in the private sector.

Kelly Riley, director of Mississippi Professional Educators, said her group is concerned about the proposal for new hires, “especially its impact on the teacher pipeline and recruitment and retention.”

“We believe it will only deepen and exacerbate our state’s teacher shortage,” Riley said. “New teachers under this tier 5 would contribute the same 9% as those in tier 4, but rould receive fewer guaranteed benefits.”

The financial issues facing PERS have been an ongoing headache for the Legislature with widespread and long-term ramifications. The system has about 350,000 members including current public employees and former employees and retirees. The system provides pension benefits for most Mississippi public employees on the state and local government levels, including schoolteachers. Members of PERS comprise more than 10% of the state’s population.

The system has assets of about $32 billion, but debt of about $25 billion.

During the 2024 session, legislation was passed to strip a key power of the PERS’ Board – to set the percentage of the employee paycheck governmental entities contribute to the pension program.

To deal with long-term financial issues, the PERS Board had planned a 5% increase over three years to 22.4% that the employers or governmental entities contributed to each paycheck. Governmental entities, particularly local governments and school districts, said to pay for the increase they would be forced to reduce services and lay off employees.

While stripping the power from the PERS Board to set the employer contribution rate, the Legislature also enacted a 2.5% increase over five years instead of the 5% increase over three years planned by the PERS Board.

In addition, the Legislature provided a one-time infusion of $110 million into the system.

The board on Wednesday debated holding off on endorsing the recommendation.

“I just got this around 8 last night and I don’t see the rush for us to recommend something,” said board member state Treasurer David McRae. “… I want to get this right. This is going to be a generational change for Mississippi.”

Board Chairman George Dales, former longtime state insurance commissioner, said the Legislature “could still do this on their own” without a PERS board recommendation. Others noted a recommendation from the board would be helpful and politically pragmatic for the Legislature.

State Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont, a board member, said that even if the state were to adopt more limited benefits, local governments in the system could still provide more, at their own cost.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Dec. 18, 1917

Actor, playwright and civil rights activist Ossie Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia. 

He saw racism from his youth with the KKK threatening his father because of the advanced job he held as a Black man. His father, Kince, eventually left the job, seeking greater independence. 

Davis became a voracious reader and dreamed of being a writer. After graduating high school, he hitchhiked to Washington, D.C. and attended Howard University. Davis dropped out of Howard University to pursue acting in New York City. 

Davis landed the lead role in the 1946 Broadway play “Jeb” about a disabled veteran battling racism in Louisiana. There he met his wife-to-be, Ruby Dee, whom he married two years later. The pair appeared in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin the Sun” and became active in the civil rights movement. 

They became friends with Martin Luther King Jr., helping organize and emcee the 1963 March on Washington. They also became friends and supporters of Malcolm X. Davis gave the eulogy at Malcolm X’s funeral — a eulogy he reprised with his rich baritone in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X.” 

“Here—at this final hour, in this quiet place—Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes—extinguished now, and gone from us forever,” he said. “He was our manhood, our living, Black manhood! This was his meaning to his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves. … Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all, secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more now a man—but a seed—which, after the winter of our discontent, will come forth again to meet us. And we will know him then for what he was and is—a prince—our own Black shining prince!—who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.” 

Davis and Dee appeared in other Lee movies, including “Do the Right Thing,” and often took on racial injustices and civil rights in their work. In 2004, they were honored at the Kennedy Center for taking “their art to colleges, community centers, cafeterias, hospitals, union halls and prisons. Wherever they stood was their stage.” 

Ten months later, Davis died, and Broadway turned down the lights on marquees to honor him.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

As Mississippi grapples with the opioid epidemic, individuals and local organizations are leading efforts to fight addiction using personal experiences and acts of compassion to guide others toward recovery.

Opioid-related overdose deaths in Mississippi in 2022 accounted for 78.4% of all overdose fatalities in the state, claiming 281 lives, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. 

Mississippi pharmacies dispensed over 410,000 opioid doses daily on average, totaling 149 million doses in a year — equivalent to about 50 doses per resident, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.

While state officials work to bolster prevention and treatment programs, local organizations and those in recovery play a critical role in addressing the epidemic.

For Jody Couch, founder of Inside Out Outreach, the battle against addiction begins with compassion and community support. Her Gulf Coast-based organization focuses on providing food, clothing, toiletries, spiritual support and other essential resources to individuals experiencing homelessness and battling addiction, addressing immediate needs while fostering a sense of community. 

Couch’s Christian faith fuels her work, she said.

“Many people I meet feel invisible,” Couch said. “We remind them they’re not. This is more than just providing food or clothes — it’s about showing them a way forward. I believe that with faith and encouragement, people can find the strength to overcome their struggles.”

That’s what she tried to show 47-year-old Jennifer Callais of Louisiana on a Wednesday morning in August in Gulfport. Callais stood before her, tears streaming down her face.

“I just want to get better and change my life,” Callais said as Couch handed her a bag of donated clothes and food for her and her boyfriend. For years, Callais had struggled with opioid addiction and is one of many individuals Couch regularly supports.

Through Inside Out Outreach, Couch spends her days delivering goods to homeless encampments, offering prayer, and helping people envision a path to recovery. Though she has no personal history of addiction, Couch’s work is rooted in empathy and faith. Encounters like Callais’ reaffirm her belief that small acts of compassion can spark hope and transform lives.

Finding recovery through faith

For 43-year-old Casey Wortman of Saltillo, addiction is personal, and she aims to use her lived experiences to help others. 

As a teenager, Wortman turned to opioids to escape feelings of loneliness and despair.

“Drugs became my escape from loneliness and those terrible voices in my head,” Wortman said.

Wortman’s challenges began early. Her parents divorced when she was three, creating an unstable home environment. After her father died when she was 11, she entered into a downward spiral of drug and alcohol use, compounded by trauma and family instability. 

Wortman’s road to recovery began with a transformative spiritual experience. In 2017, she turned to faith-based treatment, enrolling in Transformation Home for Women in Mississippi. This decision marked a pivotal moment in her life, as she found strength and purpose through her faith, she said.

“I just scream and shout and worship because Jesus set me free,” she said. Through her recovery, she reconnected with her children, rebuilt her family and embraced her role in helping others. 

“There were so many times I thought I’d never make it,” Wortman said. “But I did. And if I can, so can others.”

Today, Wortman is married, a mother, and works at Anchor Church in Tupelo, helping others discover the strength that faith and community can provide. Her life now stands in stark contrast to the struggles she faced during her addiction.

“I have both of my children back, and I’ve been married for five years to the most hardworking, loving, selfless, caring man I know,” Wortman said. “Recovery gave me more than sobriety — it gave me a life I never dreamed was possible.”

‘A turning point’

Patrick Davis of Tupelo said he found recovery through resilience, purpose and the support of his community. The 22-year-old’s addiction began as a way to escape fear and anxiety, but the toll it took on his relationships and self-worth eventually pushed him to make a change.

“I got tired of being embarrassed, detoxing constantly, just trying to survive,” Davis said. “I wanted to look myself in the mirror again and be OK.”

Davis struggled with how his addiction affected his family. While they wanted him around, he often kept his distance, ashamed of the burden he placed on them.

“My family loved having me around, but when I was there, I wasn’t really there,” Davis said. “It was hard for me to show up for anything. I was always late, or I just wouldn’t come. I was stressful to be around, and I gave it all away. Today, it’s different. They can trust me now, and it feels good to be wanted again.”

At 19, Davis entered recovery, tired of the cycle of addiction and seeking something more meaningful. The decision to pursue sobriety was rooted in wanting to reclaim his life.

“It wasn’t easy, but I had to relearn how to live,” Davis said.

Richard Morris, who has been Davis’ best friend since fifth grade, saw the toll addiction took on him.

 “The Patrick that was around back then was barely a person,” Morris said. “He couldn’t exist without the stuff. To imagine back then that he would have even been in my wedding — it’s impossible to imagine. When I first saw him after rehab, it was like the first time I’d seen him alive in five years.”

Now, Davis is studying social work and channels his experiences into his job as a community outreach representative at Heale Counseling in Tupelo, finding fulfillment in helping others. 

“I love my job. I love its culture,” Davis said. “We lead with honesty and integrity, and you don’t find many companies like that. I’m proud of all the work we’ve done and the staff’s reputation.”

Morris, who has been sober for nearly three years, said he’s proud of his friend’s transformation. 

“Patrick was rough, and it started really young,” Morris said. “But to see him get better, it’s incredible. He’s like a brother to me, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

-PHOTO GALLERY-

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.