(JACKSON, MS) – The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will hear arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The case considers whether Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban is constitutional.
In 2018, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP) played a key role in drafting the law and educating lawmakers about the important role the legislation would play in both protecting women’s health and protecting the lives of unborn children.
This commonsense law strikes the right balance for Mississippi by protecting the health of women considering abortion and in protecting the lives of the unborn. It protects women from serious and significant risks and protects the life of the unborn child with a beating heart who can move, hear, taste, see, and feel pain.
Dr. Jameson Taylor, Senior Vice President for Policy, comments: “Roe v. Wade is old case law based on old science. Here in Mississippi, we have sought to update our abortion laws so that they meet the commonsense standard that limits abortion after the first trimester. We are thankful the Supreme Court is listening to states who believe it’s time to take a second look at what the science is saying.”
Continues Dr. Taylor: “The scientific evidence confirms that the risk of a mother dying from an abortion skyrockets after the first trimester. That’s why a majority of Mississippi voters and lawmakers strongly agree our state laws should protect women and not put them at greater risk of death or injury from later-term abortions. Nearly every other country in the world follows the same standard and does not permit abortion after the first trimester because it is much more dangerous for women and an obvious violation of human rights.”
The risk of a mother dying from an abortion increases more than 2,100 percent between 8-weeks and 18-weeks of pregnancy, according to the scientific literature. Maternal mortality increases by 38 percent with every week after 8-weeks gestation.
“The whole point of state regulation of abortion is to protect maternal health and to uphold the state’s general interest in protecting life,” concludes Dr. Taylor. “Instead of basing abortion law on a so-called viability standard, it’s time for the court to put women’s health and safety front and center. Late-term second and third trimester abortions are dangerous for women. That’s why the viability standard completely misses the mark in terms of protecting women.”
This legislation brings Mississippi into standing with most of the rest of the world. 92 percent of other nations limit abortion after the first trimester. The U.S. is one of only four countries that permit abortion-on-demand throughout all 9 months of pregnancy. We find company on this issue with North Korea and China.
For more information or to request an interview with Dr. Taylor, please contact Communications Director, Hunter Estes, at [email protected].
The 2020 Census results have arrived, and the facts are in. Mississippi was one of only three states (alongside Illinois and West Virginia) to lose population in the last ten years.
While we may not have lost a seat in the House of Representatives, we did not grow. When one looks around the country at the states that are prospering and expanding, it becomes quite clear that there is a plethora of natural economic growth driving their success.
In these states, new businesses are not just brought in on the back of taxpayer funded grants and subsidies. They are instead attracted to the strength of the workforce that is present, the friendly tax and regulatory environments, and the hubs of opportunity.
Patrick Gleason, the Vice President of State Affairs at Americans for Tax Reform noted that, “[t]he average top personal income tax rate for states losing seats in Congress is 6.5%, which is 46% greater than the average top income tax rate for states gaining seats (4.45%).”
The states that gained the largest share of the population, and with this, more congressional seats, have some of the best tax structures in the country. Florida has no income tax. Texas has no income tax. Montana has no sales or local taxes and low property taxes. Colorado has a taxpayer bill of rights that makes it very difficult to impose additional tax burdens on state residents.
Much of our population loss is driven by millennials departing the state. It has been reported that Mississippi is losing this generation of residents faster than any state in the country. The departure of our younger population is especially terrible as it reflects not only lost citizens, but a lost investment, as much of this population attended public schools and then colleges in Mississippi, only to take themselves elsewhere.
We will not be able to grow as a state, until we overcome the hurdle that we have in incentivizing folks to stay. After all, if many young people are trying to leave, why would new people be inclined to move in? This collective “brain drain” has left Mississippi less competitive in the long run.
I personally chose to move back to Mississippi. Many of my friends have at some point chose to come here, to stay here, or to return here. Mississippi is a warm, hospitable place with a unique culture, but if there is not a job here for you, then one is forced to move elsewhere.
We should be radical when it comes to ambitiously crafting an environment that fosters economic growth. Mississippi should be the easiest place in the country to start, maintain, and grow a business.
As the 2020 Census shows, we have little to lose. Now is the time to take courageous efforts to outpace others by making it easier to work, live, and thrive in our wonderful state. Only if we commit ourselves to establishing a foundation ripe for economic growth will the 2030 Census bring brighter news.
Douglas Carswell, President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, joined Ben Shapiro on The Ben Shapiro Show for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of America and what can be done to improve our nation.
The Ben Shapiro Show is syndicated to networks around the country. Ben Shapiro has emerged as a leading conservative voice in today’s age. His site, The Daily Wire, is one of the most popular conservative news outlets in the nation and is regularly read by millions of people.
The full video conversation can be watched here.
Ben and Douglas discussed a plethora of issues including American culture, national spending, the global economy, and more.
Here are some of my personal favorite quotes from the conversation:
Ben Shapiro: “Welcome to our shores. I’ve got to say, it feels like you’re arriving at a rather inauspicious time in American history. While the economy seems to be finally recovering as COVID lets up, that is not stopping the current government from blowing out spending to an unprecedented extent and radically shifting the thinking of how government and the individual ought to interact.”
Douglas Carswell: “The United States has been the world’s number one power for 120 years and it’s been, by and large, an extraordinary 120 years, the best in human existence.”
Douglas: “If America becomes just another country, the lights would go out not just in America, the lights would go out on the world.”
Ben: “Europe had the privilege of having the United States basically hold up the world economy and much of their defense budget for half a century. Nobody’s going to be holding up the foundations here if the United States goes.”
Douglas: “The essence of modernity, the essence of civilization, is that we judge people not on the basis of immutable characteristics.”
Douglas: “If America was built on hatred and racism then why is it that people from every color, and every creed, and every culture want to come here?”
Resolutions have been filed in the Mississippi House and Senate opposing the controversial concept of “Critical Race Theory.”
House Concurrent Resolution 62 and House Concurrent Resolution 87 both make clear their opposition to critical race theory. These resolutions were introduced by Representatives Chris Brown, Dan Eubanks, and Dana Criswell. Senate Resolution 56 deals with the same issue and was introduced by Senator Angela Hill.
Critical Race Theory has its roots in academia. It has been festering in the halls of our colleges and universities for decades but has only recently taken on a new energy as its students have entered public life in institutions across the nation.
Its core teaching is that people are separated into classifications of “oppressed” and “oppressor.” It categorizes America as a fundamentally racist country whose every institution is designed to maintain white supremacy, and thus it concludes that those institutions must be overthrown.
The Theory erases the notions of personal responsibility and individual liberty. It crushes the agency and dignity that is unique to each person and ascribes the results of one’s life to the color of his or her skin.
The Heritage Foundation created a brief overview of the Theory and its implications here.
The House and Senate resolutions cite the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and the 14th Amendment before lambasting the foundational teachings of critical race theory.
The resolutions state that, “critical race theory and related ideologies propagate divisive and untrue concepts that teach one race or sex is inherently superior to another and that individuals of one race or sex should be deprived of basic rights simply because of their race or sex.”
They further note that, “it is contrary to the laws of God and nature that an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex and that individuals should thus be discriminated against in the classroom, the workplace or any public forum or place.”
The resolutions will now have the chance to be considered by the Mississippi House and Senate over the coming days.
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Contact: Hunter Estes, [email protected]
Governor Tate Reeves has just signed HB1263 which makes it easier for people to move to Mississippi to work. The statute removes a bureaucratic barrier that keeps skilled newcomers from being able to earn a living.
Authored by Representative Becky Currie, this new law allows people who already have a license in another state to more easily get one when they settle in the Magnolia state. We interviewed Rep. Currie about the importance of the legislation here.
The legislation was passed almost unanimously out of both the House and the Senate.
This new law is part of a wider move to make Mississippi more business friendly and open to entrepreneurs.
“We are incredibly thankful to Representative Becky Currie, Senator Angela Hill, Senator Kevin Blackwell, Senator John Polk, Governor Tate Reeves, Speaker Philip Gunn, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann for their work on this legislation,” noted Douglas Carswell, President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, which has been driving the calls for reform.
“We spend millions of dollars trying to recruit companies to come here, but this law is a simple, effective way to create more jobs right here in Mississippi. For too long, people have been moving out of state to work. This helps reverse that by making it easier for folks to come here and continue the pursuit of the American dream.”
MCPP's Dr. Jameson Taylor noted, “this has been a two-year effort. In 2020, we worked with the Department of Defense to enact the nation’s best law to make it easier for military spouses and dependents to move to Mississippi and start working right away. This year we expanded the law to extend these same benefits to skilled workers moving to Mississippi.”
Data recently released by the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index shows that Mississippi is the 41st most costly state in the Union in terms of acquiring an occupational license.
“It is especially important that this law was passed and signed, and that high barriers to work opportunities don’t hold back folks that want to come here to work,” Carswell explained.
Already, Arizona, Montana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Utah, Iowa and Idaho have passed this reform, which is also being introduced in multiple state legislatures this year.
MCPP President’s Douglas Carswell is available for media interviews. Please email [email protected] for requests.
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A coalition of groups from around the nation, that include the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, have joined together in common cause against new overreach by DC politicians. The group is signaling their opposition to new policy that could limit states’ ability to cut taxes.
The recent “American Rescue Plan Act” serves more as a slush fund for fiscally mismanaged states and localities than as a serious attempt to help those struggling with recovering from the economic consequences of COVID-19 and government-imposed shutdowns.
The Act includes $350 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. These funds come in addition to the hundreds of billions in federal assistance to state and local units of government through the CARES Act and other legislative actions taken by Congress in 2020.
Furthermore, Congress has decided to spend this massive amount of money although total state and local revenues actually increased in 2020, and many states have even seen their surpluses expand.
However, the Act goes a step further than just recklessly spending taxpayer dollars. The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal noted that the new law bars states from using the influx of new funding to reduce state taxes directly or indirectly through 2024. This language is vague and no clarifications about it have emerged from the Department of Treasury so far.
The ambiguous language has many rightly concerned that any efforts at the state level to reduce the tax burden of its citizens could be stymied by the federal government.
Recognizing this vast federal overreach, a coalition of concerned leaders has signed onto a new letter to signal their opposition to the unprecedented move. The campaign was organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The letter notes, in part:
“Using federal coercion to artificially elevate state tax burdens at a time when small businesses and hardworking American taxpayers need real tax relief is nonsensical. Our groups have spent decades working with state policymakers and watching them achieve more economically competitive business climates through pro-growth tax and economic reforms. Having the federal government use “the power of the purse” in an attempt to curtail the use of competitive federalism is incredibly damaging to our American system of government.”
It continues, “[w]e will work to protect the fundamental principle of federalism and allow states to continue their progress in pursuing economic gains as the 'laboratories of democracy.' Restricting states from providing pro-growth net tax relief tips the scales of federalism inexorably toward central planning and micromanagement by the federal government.”
You can read the letter in its entirety here. It was signed by MCPP President Douglas Carswell.
This entirely new level of dramatic fiscal recklessness and federal overreach demands opposition. The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is standing for federalism and the ability of states to conduct and control their own tax policy without new limitations.
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House Passes Major Occupational Licensing Reform Bill Championed by MCPP
Contact: Hunter Estes, [email protected]
The Mississippi House has just passed HB1263 which makes it easier for people to move to Mississippi to work. The bill removes a bureaucratic barrier that keeps skilled newcomers from being able to earn a living. HB1263 now moves onto Governor Reeves for consideration.
Authored by Representative Becky Currie, this bill would allow people who already have a license in another state to more easily get one when they settle in the Magnolia state. We interviewed Rep. Currie about the importance of the bill here.
The House voted to pass the bill by a vote of 115-1.
Today’s bill is part of a wider move to make Mississippi more business friendly and open to entrepreneurs.
“We are incredibly thankful to Representative Becky Currie, Senator Angela Hill, Senator Kevin Blackwell, Senator John Polk, Speaker Philip Gunn, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann for their work on this bill,” noted Douglas Carswell, President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, which has been driving the calls for reform.
“We spend millions of dollars trying to recruit companies to come here, but this bill is a simple, effective way to create more jobs right here in Mississippi. For too long, people have been moving out of state to work. This helps reverse that by making it easier for folks to come here and continue the pursuit of the American dream.”
Data recently released by the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index shows that Mississippi is the 41st most costly state in the Union in terms of acquiring an occupational license.
“It is especially important that this bill passed, and that high barriers to work opportunities don’t hold back folks that want to come here to work,” Carswell explained.
Already, Arizona, Montana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Utah, Iowa and Idaho have passed this reform, which is also being introduced in multiple state legislatures this year.
MCPP President’s Douglas Carswell is available for media interviews. Please email [email protected] for requests.
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Famed economist Arthur Laffer endorsed HB1439, the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act, legislation introduced by Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn that seeks to eliminate the income tax.
Laffer’s work played a foundational role in defining the economic policies that led to tremendous growth under the Reagan administration in the 1980s. His preeminent and lasting work is known as the Laffer Curve. This theory notes that, through taxation, government gains revenue until, at a certain point, the taxation discourages growth to the point that the government actually takes in less revenue.
In 2019, Laffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump for his accomplishments in and contributions to the study of economics.
In a press release sent out by Speaker Philip Gunn, Laffer stated:
“For decades, I’ve worked with state legislators to eliminate the tax that is the single greatest threat to state economic growth and prosperity—the income tax. My hat goes off to Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and his colleagues for their bold plan to make Mississippi more prosperous through income tax elimination and fiscal discipline. America is watching. Mississippi has a once in a generation opportunity to re-position itself for economic growth.”
“I am very pleased to have Dr. Laffer’s support for HB1439,” noted Speaker Gunn. “Dr. Laffer’s leadership was a key inspiration for President Reagan’s transformative tax cuts, which set off an unprecedented boom in the American economy. There is no bigger name in tax reform circles nationally than Dr. Laffer. His support demonstrates the strength of HB1439. It is a credit to the hard work of Chairman Trey Lamar, Speaker Pro Tem Jason White, and our House members. As Dr. Laffer said, this is a once in a generation opportunity. I urge Lt. Governor Hosemann and our Senate to work with the House to bring transformative tax reform to Mississippi this session.”
A recent study by Dr. Joshua R. Hendrickson and Dr. Ronald Mau, economists at the University of Mississippi, showcased that the proposal would likely increase gross domestic product in the state by at least $371 million. This growth is in addition to the personal savings that individual taxpayers would experience because of the plan.
Our Senior Vice President for Policy, Dr. Jameson Taylor, interviewed Hendrickson and Mau to discuss their findings. You can read the full interview here.
HB1439 now awaits consideration in the Senate.
This morning, Gov. Tate Reeves signed the Fairness Act (SB2536) into law. The law will require that public schools, universities, and community colleges designate sports teams as either male, female, or coed, as based on biological sex.
The law was sponsored by state Sen. Angela Hill (R-Picayune) and it had 21 cosponsors in the Senate.
Recent polling revealed that the legislation has wide support across political demographics. The poll sought approval for a state law that prohibits biological males from competing on female-only teams. In sum, 79 percent of registered Mississippi voters support such legislation. 87 percent of Republicans support the legislation, along with 83 percent of Independents and 65 percent of Democrats.
“Mississippians are breathing a sigh of relief now that Governor Reeves has signed this bill into law and established protections for the rights of girls and women who engage in competitive athletics,” stated MCPP Executive Vice President, Lesley Davis.
Davis gave a powerful defense of female sports in her piece here.
She continued, “Unlike what is happening in other states, our girls’ and women’s records will not be shattered by biological males competing against females. Women deserve to compete on a level playing field. Allowing males to compete in women’s sports destroys fair competition and women’s athletic opportunities.”
She continued, “Mississippi owes a debt of gratitude to those who stepped up and supported this legislation. We are especially grateful to Senator Angela Hill for authoring this law. We are also thankful to Governor Reeves for signing it, and for the work of Senator Rita Potts Parks, Senator John Polk, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. We also thank Speaker Philip Gunn, Rep. Becky Currie, Rep. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes, and Rep. C. Scott Bounds for their support in the House. Mississippi’s female athletes and future female athletes thank you.”
The issue is becoming increasingly topical around the nation as female athletes have had to compete in athletic events with biological males in certain states. Such competition puts scholarship opportunities, awards, and recognition for female athletes up in the air.
Three high school girls who run track in Connecticut filed a lawsuit last year challenging a policy of allowing male athletes to compete against girls. The three — Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell — have been beaten consistently in track meets by a pair of transgender athletes born as males.
The lawsuit says the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s rules allowing transgender athletes to compete with girls poses a threat to Title IX because of physiological differences between men and women after puberty. Boys and men have more muscle mass and larger lungs and hearts and thus have the capacity to run faster and jump farther than most girls and women.
MCPP’s Dr. Jameson Taylor interviewed Selina Soule and shared her perspective on joining the lawsuit and the need to defend female sports. Read the interview here.
Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds. The law, passed in 1972, has led to a massive growth in the number of athletic opportunities for women. The NCCA currently allows member schools to set their own policies in this area, with the condition that a biological male competing on a women’s team must undergo at least one year of testosterone suppression. Several studies suggest, however, that even after a year of such treatment biological males enjoy a physical advantage over their biologically female peers.