The federal grant spending freeze, announced in January then rescinded by President Donald Trump and blocked by federal judges, could have catastrophic impact on federally dependent Mississippi, should it be re-enacted.

Magnolia State agencies, according to a report by its legislative watchdog agency, spent $10.9 billion in federal grant assistance in fiscal year 2023, covering everything from agriculture to solving violent crime and helping veterans. Nearly every state agency, from the Governor’s Office — which received $11.6 million for the period — on down spends federal grant money.

For scale, the entire annual state general fund budget is about $7 billion.

State Rep. Daryl Porter, D-Summit, requested the report from the legislative committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review and received the rundown on the fiscal impact of a freeze in federal funds.

Some highlights of the report include:

• Mississippi received $270 million for health programs, not including the $5.7 billion it received for Medicaid services or the $40 million for mental health programs.
• Mississippi received billions in U.S. Department of Agriculture aid, including $376.7 million for feeding school children, $70 million for Women, Infants and Children nutrition programs, nearly $2 million for inspecting meat and poultry, $5.9 million for soil and water conservation and $3 million for forestry assistance.
• The U.S. Department of Defense helped Mississippi’s National Guard and military operations with nearly $119 million. It helped the state’s veterans affairs efforts with nearly $52 million, including nursing home care for veterans.
• Mississippi’s economic development agency spent $44.6 million in federal grant money.
• Public safety in Mississippi received nearly $29 million in federal grants including $15 million for transportation safety and millions for fighting drug trafficking and homeland security programs.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation provided the state grants of nearly $751 million.
• Mississippi’s Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks received nearly $19 million.

A memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from the executive office of the president to heads of federal agencies announcing the freeze last week directed them to “temporarily pause all activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

A follow-up memo said the previous one “is rescinded,” and, “If you have questions about implementing the president’s executive orders, please contact your agency general counsel.”

The freeze last week left those who rely on federal grants uncertain what to do, including those at Mississippi universities who perform research with federal grant dollars. A biology professor reportedly questioned whether researchers could purchase food for their live animals.

In a statement last week, Gov. Tate Reeves said, “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in communication with federal authorities to ensure that critical services for Mississippians continue without interruption. Our priority is to safeguard the well-being of our residents, especially those who rly on federally funded programs.”

On Wednesday, Mississippi U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, called for new Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem to provide assessment of how a federal freeze would impact homeland security programs, such as those “that, among many other things, support first responders, provide security funding to houses of worship, and provide grants for towns and cities to secure their networks.”

In a statement Thompson said: “Trump’s extreme funding freeze — straight out of Project 2025 — will not only take money from families and children to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, it will have disastrous consequences for our national security. Since the September 11 attacks, we have wisely invested — and continue to invest — in dozens of homeland security grant programs to keep all of our districts safe from terrorism and prepare for disasters.”

Mississippi is perennially among the top most-federally-dependent states, with more than 40% of its annual budget coming from federal dollars. The state receives a nearly 3-to-1 return for every dollar in federal taxes it pays, and annual federal per-capita payments to the state are nearly $7,000.

One recent study said Mississippi had nearly 18,400 people employed in federal jobs, nearly 5,000 more than in neighboring Arkansas, with a similar population.

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

Note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a new platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here. This week, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans changed its name to Manning Family Children’s hospital.

I really do love Mississippi — all of it. Although my family has lived for more than 50 years in New Orleans, we still have a house in Oxford, and we have so many close friends all over the state.

Where to begin? I grew up in Drew, went to college at Ole Miss in Oxford, and married a gal from Philadelphia. Over the years, seems like I have spent time in every nook and cranny of the Magnolia State. William Faulkner once said that to understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi. While I don’t necessarily always understand it — not all of it — I do know that I love the place. It’s home.

For me, growing up in Drew was much like Opie Taylor growing up in Mayberry. Drew was a little, bitty place, but it had everything we needed. Everybody knew everybody. As kids, we rode our bikes all over town. We played ball every day, went to football games on Friday night, went to Sunday school and church on Sunday. Our house was right across the street from the school, so I didn’t have to go far to find a game. For me, Drew was absolutely perfect.

And so was Ole Miss where I played football and baseball, met the love of my life and mother of my three boys, and where I made some of the best and most loyal friends anyone could ever imagine.

But my love of Mississippi doesn’t end with Drew or Oxford. Olivia, my wife, is from Philadelphia where her family has owned and operated Williams Brothers General Store since 1907. I would challenge anyone to find anything more Mississippi than Williams Brothers, where you can buy anything from cowboy boots and running shoes to freshly sliced hoop cheese to bacon. 

Just down state Highway 19 from Philadelphia is Meridian, one of Mississippi’s largest cities and a place I’ve always loved to visit. Olivia and I had our rehearsal dinner at Weidmann’s, then owned by Mississippi State football great Shorty McWilliams. Shorty Mac twice finished in the top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting, once at Army and once at State. Shorty Mac was one of Mississippi’s football greats. And while we’re at it, I can’t tell you how I swell with pride about Mississippi’s football heritage. You’ve got Shorty Mac from Meridian, Charlie Conerly from Clarksdale, Walter Payton from Columbia, Jake Gibbs from Grenada, Brett Favre from Kiln, Jerry Rice from just outside Starkville, Steve McNair from Mount Olive, Lance Alworth from Brookhaven, Willie Brown and Ben Williams from Yazoo City, and Lem Barney from Gulfport. I could go on and on, and, believe me, I do when I brag on Mississippi to football people around the country.

My first three New Orleans Saints training camps were held in Hattiesburg where I made so many friends that I have to this day. Training camps were a lot longer back then when we played six preseason games, but I always enjoyed Hattiesburg, even in that heat of July and August. A couple things I’ll always remember about those training camps: one, was the national guardsmen who would come up from Camp Shelby and watch our practices. It was always fun for me to visit with those guys. And, two, was that the Southern Miss players and coaches would always be around for the last week or 10 days of training camp and we’d share the practice fields, the weight room and the training table. I became friends with a lot of the guys I had played against in college.

So many of my Ole Miss buddies moved to Jackson and the Capital City area, so I have spent a great deal of time there. Plus, I’ll never forget our Ole Miss games in old Memorial Stadium. That’s where we played most of our biggest games and won most of our greatest victories. I have fond, fond memories of Jackson.

All my years in New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been right next door. I have enjoyed the Coast, from Bay St, Louis and Pass Christian, to Gulfport and Biloxi, and on over to Ocean Springs and Pascagoula. I had my annual golf tournament to raise money for cystic fibrosis research at the great golf courses all along the coast, and if there’s a booster club I haven’t spoken to, I’m not sure what it is. I love everything about the Coast – the restaurants, the golf courses, the Deep Sea fishing and that drive down Highway 90. My son, Cooper, has a home there in Bay St. Louis, along with so many New Orleans folks who have second homes in Hancock County. Coop can get from his home in New Orleans to his home in Bay St. Louis in less than a hour. That’s how close we are to Mississippi. 

But as I go from place to place in Mississippi both in my travels and in my mind’s eye, I realize what I love most about my home state. It’s the people. There’s no place like Mississippi and no people like the folks in Mississippi.

Archie Manning, a native of Drew in the Mississippi Delta, lives in New Orleans. Manning played in the NFL from 1971 until 1984 and was selected to two pro bowls. He played his college football at the Ole Miss, where he was the Southeastern Conference player of the year in 1969 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989. While Manning lives in New Orleans, he has remained active in Mississippi, including participating in numerous philanthropic activities. Manning and his wife Olivia have three sons.

Editor’s note: Olivia and Archie Manning are Mississippi Today donors. Donors do not in any way influence our newsroom’s editorial decisions. For more on that policy or to view a list of our donors, click here.

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

Feb. 6, 1961

The civil rights “jail-in” movement began when eight Black students and a civil rights organizer who became known as the “Friendship Nine” in Rock Hill, South Carolina, were arrested for requesting service at a “whites-only” lunch counter. 

They served jail time rather than pay fines, challenging the legitimacy of the laws. 

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to the nine and others who joined them in jail, including Charles Sherrod and Diane Nash: “You have inspired all of us by such demonstrative courage and faith. It is good to know that there still remains a creative minority who would rather lose in a cause that will ultimately win than to win in a cause that will ultimately lose.” 

The “Jail, No Bail” strategy became the model for the Freedom Riders months later. 

In 2015, Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III threw out the convictions of the Friendship Nine, who had been convicted of trespassing and protesting at the McCrory store in Rock Hill. Hayes, the nephew of the original judge who sentenced the Friendship Nine to jail, told them, “We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history.” 

The nine were represented by Ernest A. Finney Jr., who defended their case 54 years earlier and went on to become the first Black chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court since Reconstruction.

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