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Mike Chaney is not the first state politico to call for his elected post to be eliminated

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-09-22 06:00:00

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is not Mississippi’s first statewide official to advocate for his job to be changed from an elected post to an appointed one.

Earlier this month, Chaney called on the to eliminate the elected insurance commissioner position and instead have the ‘s insurance industry regulated presumably by an appointee of the governor who is confirmed by the Senate. Chaney said he is willing to serve for a short period of time in an appointed position.

William Winter successfully proposed to the Legislature in the 1960s that his post as be eliminated and the duties incorporated into other positions. Winter’s actions did not end his political career. He went on to serve in multiple other statewide elected post, as governor from 1980 until 1984 and is viewed as one of Mississippi’s most significant political figures.

In the 1970s, John Ainsworth ran for and was elected to the post of land commissioner with the promise he would work to eliminate the position. One of his primary goals while eliminating the position was to ensure 16th Section land was properly managed to the benefit of public schools. He succeeded and for his troubles was defeated when he later tried to run for lieutenant governor, though he is viewed favorably by many for his work in various areas of state , including in developing the state’s casino industry. The duties that the land commissioner had are now handled primarily by the secretary of state.

At least four previous statewide elected posts in Mississippi are either now appointed or have been eliminated. Besides the posts of land commissioner and tax collector being eliminated, the post of Supreme Court clerk was changed in 1976 so that the nine members of the Supreme Court appoint the clerk instead of the clerk being elected by . And in the 1980s, the elected state superintendent of education was made appointed. The superintendent is now nominated by the Mississippi Board of Education and confirmed by the Senate.

While the state superintendent of education and Supreme Court clerk are in the constitution and required an amendment approved by the voters to be changed, the land commissioner and tax collector needed only action by the Legislature to be eliminated.

Currently, the statewide posts of governor, lieutenant governor, auditor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer are all in the constitution, so it would take a vote of the people to change how they are selected or to eliminate any of them. The positions of insurance commissioner and commissioner of agriculture and commerce would require only action of the Legislature and the governor’s signature to make a change.

When Chaney first ran for and was elected as insurance commissioner in 2007, he said the post should be appointed. Since then, Chaney has been reelected four times. He does not plan to run in 2027 and is saying now is the time to change how the insurance commissioner is selected.

Chaney said recently he believes an appointee โ€œcan do a better job regulating the industry and protecting the consumersโ€ than someone elected to the post.

โ€œI have grave concerns about someone running for this as a stepping stone to another position,โ€ said Chaney, age 80. โ€œIt is too important to do that.โ€

He said it โ€œis borderline unethicalโ€ to take campaign funds from the industry being regulated.

Chaney said in 39 states the person regulating the insurance industry is appointed instead of elected.

Mississippi has eight statewide posts โ€” more than most states, but there are states with more. For instance, neighboring Alabama has 10, but that includes three public service commissioners, all of whom are elected statewide. Mississippi also has three public service commissioners, but they are elected regionally.

Another neighbor โ€” Tennessee โ€” only elects its governor statewide. The lieutenant governor is elected by the members of the Senate.

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who is elected statewide, recently said on Mississippi’s โ€œThe Other Sideโ€ that the Senate would look at state government structure in the coming session, including whether Mississippi should elect so many positions.

While some posts have been changed from elected to appointed, Mississippi legislators often have been reluctant to take the vote away from the people.

In the early 2000s, the House led by then-Ways and Means Chair Billy McCoy passed legislation to make the Transportation Commission appointed instead of elected. The proposal did not survive the .

But in more recent times, legislators did vote to make all local school superintendents appointees of the local boards of education.

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

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1926

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mississippitoday.org – Debbie Skipper – 2024-11-05 07:00:00

Nov. 5, 1926

Victoria Gray Adams, Summer, 1964, Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs. Credit: of Southern Mississippi

Victoria Gray Adams, one of the founding members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, was born near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

โ€œ(There are) those who are in the Movement and those who have the Movement in them,โ€ she said. โ€œThe Movement is in me, and I know it always will be.โ€ 

In 1961, this door-to-door cosmetics saleswoman convinced her preacher to open their church to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which began pushing for voter registration. A year later, she became a field secretary for SNCC and led a boycott of businesses in Hattiesburg, later helping found the umbrella group, the Council of Federated Organization, for all the groups working in Mississippi. 

In 1964, she and other civil rights fought the Jim Crow laws and practices that kept Black from , marching to the courthouse in the chilly rain to protest. By the end of the day, nearly 150 had made their way to register to vote. 

Adams became the first known woman in Mississippi to for the U.S. Senate, unsuccessfully challenging longtime Sen. John . She also helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. It was time, she said, to pay attention to Black Mississippians, โ€œwho had not even had the leavings from the American political table.โ€ 

In August 1964, she joined party members in challenging Mississippi’s all-white delegation to the Democratic National Convention. 

โ€œWe really were the true Democratic Party,โ€ she recalled in a 2004 interview. โ€œWe accomplished the removal of the wall, the curtain of fear in Mississippi for African-Americans demanding their rights.โ€ 

Four years later, the party that once barred her now welcomed her. 

She continued her activism and later talked of that success: โ€œWe eliminated the isolation of the African-Americans from the political . I believe that Mississippi now has the highest number of African-American elected in the nation. We laid the groundwork for that.โ€ 

In 2006, she died of cancer. 

โ€œWhen I met โ€ฆ that community of youthful civil rights activists, I realized that this was exactly what I’d been looking for all of my conscious existence,โ€ she said. โ€œIt was like coming home.โ€

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

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Mississippi Today

Vote today: Mississippi voters head to the polls. Hereโ€™s what you need to know

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mississippitoday.org – Geoff Pender – 2024-11-05 03:00:00

Polls in Mississippi will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. as voters make their picks for presidential, congressional, judicial and some local races.

READ MORE: View Mississippi sample ballot

Voters are reminded to bring a identification. This can include a valid Mississippi driver’s license, an identification or employee identification card issued by any entity of the U.S. or state of Mississippi, a U.S. passport, a military photo ID card, a current student ID card issued by an accredited college or or a Mississippi voter ID card. For more information on voter ID rules, check here.

READ MORE: Vote Tuesday: Candidates battle for seats on state’s highest courts

Those who do not have a valid ID can vote affidavit, but must return and present a photo ID within five days for their ballot to count. Voters waiting in line as polls close at 7 p.m. will still be to vote. If you vote absentee or affidavit, you can track the status of your ballot here.

POLLING PLACE LOCATOR: Use the secretary of state’s online locator to find where you vote

Stay tuned to Mississippi Today for live results, starting after polls close.

LISTEN: Podcast: Mississippi’s top election official discusses Tuesday’s election

The Mississippi secretary of state’s office offers an online resource, My Election Day, where voters can locate or confirm their polling place, view sample ballots and view current office holders. Those with doubts or questions about their precinct locations are urged to contact their local election . Contact info for local election officials is also provided on the My Election Day site.

READ MORE: Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

The secretary of state’s office, U.S. attorney’s office and the state Democratic and Republican parties will have observers across the state monitoring elections and responding to complaints.

The secretary of state’s elections division can be contacted at 1-800-829-6786 or ElectionsAnswers@sos.ms.gov.

The U.S. attorney’s office investigates election fraud, intimidation or rights issues and can be contacted at 601-973-2826 or 601-973-2855, or complaints can be filed directly with the Department of Justice division at civilrights.justice.gov. Local enforcement holds primary jurisdiction and serves as a first responder for alleged crimes or emergencies at voting precincts.

The secretary of state’s office also provides some Election Day law reminders:

  • It is unlawful to campaign for any candidate within 150 feet from any entrance to a polling place, unless on private property.
  • The polling places should be clear of people for 30 feet from every entrance except for election officials, voters waiting to vote or authorized poll watchers.
  • Voters are prohibited from taking photos of their marked ballots.

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

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Mississippi Today

Senate panel weighs how much โ€” or whether โ€” to cut state taxes

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 15:42:00

A group of state senators on Monday grappled with how much to slash state taxes or if they should cut them at all, portending a major policy debate at the Capitol for next year’s legislative session. 

The Senate Fiscal Policy Study Group solicited testimony from the state ‘s leading experts on budget, economic and tax policies to prepare for an almost certain intense debate in January over how much they should trim state taxes while balancing the need to fund government services.ย 

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, told Mississippi Today that he wanted senators to have basic facts in front of them before they help decide next year if Mississippi should cut taxes.

โ€œWe’re getting a tax cut the next two years whether we do anything or not,โ€ Harkins said. โ€œI just want to make sure we have all the facts in front of people to understand we have a clear picture of how much revenue we’re bringing in.โ€  

Mississippi is already phasing in a major tax cut. After a raucous debate in 2022, lawmakers agreed to phase in an income tax cut. In two years it will Mississippi with a flat 4% tax on income over $10,000, one of the lowest rates in the nation.

However, the top two legislative leaders, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who oversees the Senate and House Speaker Jason White, have both recently said they want legislators to consider new tax cut policies.  

Hosemann, the Republican leader of the Senate, has publicly said he would like to see the state’s grocery tax, the highest of its kind in the nation, reduced, though he hasn’t specified how much of a reduction or how long it would take for the cut to be implemented. 

White, a Republican from West, said last week that he would like to see the state’s 4% income tax phased out and have the state’s 7% grocery tax cut in half over time. 

โ€œWe are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state, but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,โ€ White said last week. 

But it’s difficult to collect accurate data on the state’s grocery tax, and state lawmakers must grapple with a laundry list of spending needs and obligations based on testimony from state agency leaders on Monday. 

Mississippi currently has a 7% sales tax, which is applied to groceries. The state collects the tax but remits 18.5% back to . For many municipalities, the sales tax is a significant source of revenue. 

If state lawmakers want to reduce the grocery tax without impacting cities, they could pass a new law to change the diversion amounts or appropriate enough money to make the municipalities whole.  

State Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham said the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the agency in charge of collecting state taxes, does not have a mechanism in place for accurately capturing how much money cities collect in grocery taxes. This is because the tax on groceries is the same as non-grocery items. 

However, Graham estimates that the state collects roughly $540 million in taxes from grocery items.

The other problem lawmakers would have in implementing significant tax cuts is a growing list of spending needs in Mississippi, a state with abject poverty, and sewer and other woes and some of the worst metrics in the nation. 

Representatives from the Legislative Budget Office, the group that advises lawmakers on tax and spending policy, told senators that lawmakers will also be with rising costs in the public employee retirement system, the budget, public education, state employee health insurance, and state infrastructure projects. 

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

State agencies, the employee retirement system, also requested $751 million more for the coming budget year.

โ€œThat’s the billion dollar question, I guess,โ€ Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said. โ€œHow we’re able to fund basic government services?โ€ 

Harkins and Hopson said the committee would likely meet again before the convenes for its 2025 session on January 7.

A House committee on tax cuts has also been holding hearings, and White in September held a summit on tax policy.

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

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