Each Mississippian has a taxpayer burden of $10,000 to account for their part of the state’s $7.4 billion in debt. 

In its tenth annual Financial State of the States report, Truth in Accounting gave Mississippi a “D” for its financial condition. That placed Mississippi 31st, an uptick from their 33rd last year. A plurality of states – 36 percent – received the same grade.

“Mississippi’s elected officials have made repeated financial decisions that have left the state with a debt burden of $7.4 billion. That burden equates to $10,000 for every state taxpayer. Mississippi’s financial problems stem mostly from unfunded retirement obligations that have accumulated over the years. Of the $15.8 billion in retirement benefits promised, the state has not funded $5.8 billion in pension and $330.7 million in retiree health care benefits,” the report said. 

The $10,000 that each taxpayer owes is also slightly better than the $11,300 needed to cover the state’s bills last year. 

The report found:

• Mississippi has $6 billion available to pay $13.4 billion worth of bills. 
• The outcome is a $7.4 billion shortfall, which breaks down to a burden of 
• $10,000 per taxpayer. 
• This means that each taxpayer would pay $10,000 in future taxes without receiving any related services or benefits.

Ten years ago, the taxpayer burden in Mississippi was just $4,900. 

According to the report, ten states – including Tennessee – had a taxpayer surplus. New Jersey had the highest taxpayer burden at $65,100. 

Playing in the Southern League championship series wasn’t even enough to boost Biloxi’s continuing flagging attendance at its taxpayer-funded ballpark. 

Average attendance at MGM Park this season was almost half of what was expected by city leaders when the ballpark was in the planning stages.

Attendance at MGM Park has decreased every season since the inaugural one in 2015 and was down 8.3 percent from last year. The Biloxi Shuckers drew 146,845 fans in 63 home games, an average of 2,331 fans per game despite losing in the championship series to the Jackson (Tennessee) Generals. 

The Shuckers are the Class AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and they play in the 10-team Southern League, which includes teams in Pearl (Mississippi Braves); Birmingham; Chattanooga; Mobile; Pensacola; Seiverville, Tennessee; Jackson, Tennessee; Jacksonville and Montgomery, Alabama. 

That’s not what was expected. 

A $25,000 feasibility study commissioned in 2013 by the city of Biloxi predicted the stadium would draw 280,000 fans annually, or about 4,117 per game. That’s 43.4 percent less than what the Shuckers drew this year.

Those numbers would’ve put the Shuckers fifth in attendance in the Southern League this season. This season, the league average was 224,230 fans and 3,392 per game.

Instead the Shuckers finished in front of only the eventual league champions, the Jackson Generals, who drew 107,131 fans to their ballpark (1,756 per game) and a relocating team, the Mobile BayBears (95,087 total attendance for a 1,585 fans per game average).

Birmingham has led the league in attendance since moving to its downtown ballpark, Regions Field in 2013. This year, the team drew 379,707 fans with an average attendance of 5,424. 

Mississippi’s other minor league team, the Mississippi Braves, had an 8.2 percent surge in attendance at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, improving from 151,352 fans in 2018 to 163,841 this season.

The BayBears are relocating to Madison, a suburb of Huntsville, Alabama. The city agreed to pay for a $46 million stadium and a related mixed-use development to lure the team to town. The new team will be named the Rocket City Trash Pandas, a slang term for a raccoon.

Ironically, the Biloxi Shuckers were once the Huntsville Stars before leaving the Rocket City due to low attendance and an aging stadium that was the oldest in the league.

In 2018, the Shuckers had 160,364 fans through the turnstiles, an average of 2,259 per game. The team ranked seventh in the Southern League in average attendance. League averages that year were 226,183 fans and 3,388 per contest. 

The best year for attendance remains 2016, the second season for the Shuckers at MGM Park. The Shuckers drew 180,384 fans through the turnstiles or about 2,692 per game. 

That’s still 34.6 percent fewer fans that the feasibility study predicted.

The city of Biloxi borrowed $21 million to help build the $36 million stadium, which was also funded with BP settlement money and tourism rebate money from a state program. 

Biloxi Baseball LLC could also receive up to $6 million from the state from the Tourism Rebate program. The state also provided $15 million in money from the BP settlement to help build the park.

The Jackson city council will soon file their official votes on an ordinance targeted at shutting down protests outside the last abortion clinic in Mississippi.

The abortion provider lies in the heart of Fondren, one of Jackson’s few thriving neighborhoods, and one with further development incoming, including a new hotel across the street from the clinic.

Protesters and counselors seeking to offer alternatives to abortion regularly coordinate efforts outside of the building. In regard to this ordinance, council members ought to consider whether the current situation truly warrants the curtailing of free speech in this capacity.

The new ordinance would ban individuals from approaching within eight feet of any person, unless that person consents to receiving a leaflet. The proposed rule would also ban people from protesting, congregating, or picketing within fifteen feet of the abortion center and ban any amplified sound.

Proponents of the regulation have cited noise complaints and the potential for heightened conflict as the reasoning behind the legislation. However, opponents of the regulation have noted that the noise is often escalated by the abortion center who will turn up music while sidewalk participants attempt to speak with those around the abortion center and that the regulation curtails their free speech rights.

Local businesses and the new hotel seem to be concerned about the impact that these protests can have on business and seem to be in favor of the ordinance change. However, our right to free speech does not end where business interests begin, and we should be wary of choosing economic development over protections for our constitutional rights.

Perhaps, what the council members are missing is the fact that no matter what they do, protesters and sidewalk counselors who attempt to offer alternatives to abortion, will still find a way to carry out their work. Freedom of speech should rarely be curtailed, and leaders should always seek to err on the side of advancing speech rather than stifling it.

Furthermore, there are better options on the table to solve existing issues than to overregulate free speech en masse. Rather than ban all those seeking to protest or offer counsel, the city ought to better enforce existing noise ordinances, if noise truly is an ongoing issue. If we don’t execute the laws on the books, then new ordinances stand meaningless and will be ignored. If people are being assaulted, as some claim, again, we have laws on the books.   

More largely, in regard to ongoing neighborhood development, at the end of the day, the abortion center can paint itself bright pink colors, play music, and attempt to be a part of the more hip, growing Fondren community, but it can’t cover up what happens inside its walls, a continued dark stain on the neighborhood and the city.

Mississippi has a tainted history when it comes to the state using its power to stifle free speech and public protests. City leaders should tread cautiously when it comes to regulating speech they don’t like. 

In this episode of Unlicensed, we talk about civil asset forfeiture, what the database in Mississippi shows, and how we can keep our communities safe while still protecting property rights.

Two Mississippi Department of Transportation public affairs employees were indicted by a Hinds county grand jury this week on embezzlement charges over gift cards.

Jarrod Ravencraft, 49, was indicted on one count of embezzlement for using $10,000 worth of gift cards owned by MDOT and utilizing them for his own use from June 2017 until March 2018. 

He was hired as MDOT’s Public Affairs director in 2013 and left the agency in July 2018.

Selena Sandifer, 40, was indicted on one count of embezzlement on September 10 for converting $1,000 of gift cards in December 2015 to her own use. Sandifer was a deputy director in the public affairs division and was hired in 2013.

The two could face up to 20 years in prison apiece if convicted.

The gift cards were to be distributed to Mississippi public schools to reward teachers who completed an MDOT safety education program known as the Transportation Safety Education Program that gave grants to schools. 

Participating middle and high schools were required to use at least two transportation safety lesson plans, host several safety events at their schools and participate in training online. The school was also to have at least 60 percent of their students sign the Safe Driver Pledge on the MDOT website.

The safety program covers seat belt use, child safety seats, impaired and distracted driving, speeding, road dangers, safe pedestrian, and biking practices and school safety.

Schools could sign up for the program to receive MDOT funds and up to five teachers or administrators at each participating school could receive a safety leader award, with the Walmart gift cards as a reward. 

MDOT has a budget of $1.105 billion in fiscal 2020, with most of it ($559 million) coming from federal funds. The rest comes from the state’s 18.7 cent per gallon tax on gasoline.

Black-market vaping products that have foreign substances added to them can be very dangerous. That’s obvious. But the calls for bans on vaping devices and why people are becoming sick are two different things. Unfortunately, they are being lumped together.

We know there has been an outbreak of sorts related to vaping. According to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention report, 530 people have been hospitalized with what is now known as Vaping Associated Pulmonary Illness, or VAPI. Three cases have been reported in Mississippi. Nine deaths have been reported nationally.  

This has led to the initial reaction that we have seen among some officials who have called for a ban on vaping devices, or at least the flavored products that most users prefer. Unilaterally, governors in New York and Michigan have done just that. 

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood has also called for a ban on vaping devices. His Republican opponent, Tate Reeves, has taken a more nuanced approach.

But the illnesses and deaths do not appear to be from products sold legally at vape shops. 

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found 84 percent of those hospitalized in Illinois and Wisconsin reported using vaping or e-cigarette devices to consume substances purchased illegally on the black market.

Typical black-market substances include THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, cannabis wax and oil, and Vitamin E.

In a release earlier this month, the FDA noted a similar finding, stating, “Many of the samples tested by the states or by the FDA as part of this ongoing investigation have been identified as vaping products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC, a psychoactive component of the marijuana plant) and further, most of those samples with THC tested also contained significant amounts of Vitamin E acetate.”

They, rightfully, warned consumers to avoid black-market vaping products and to not add any substances to the products purchased in stores. 

As the early reports show, black-market products are already the problem. If we proceed to outlaw vaping or e-cigarettes, it will only create a larger black market. And likely more illnesses and deaths. 

The Hemp Cultivation Task Force held their second meeting this week as they heard from agriculture experts and law enforcement about potential ramifications of hemp legalization in Mississippi. 

Next year, the legislature will be able to act upon any recommendations or findings, or perhaps draw their own conclusions. But whatever they decide, we won’t be blazing any trails with hemp.

In fact, since the last task force meeting in July, the tiny number of states where hemp remains illegal became smaller. In July, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation legalizing the production of hemp in the Buckeye State. This follows the states of Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas legalizing industrial hemp earlier this year.

The states where hemp production remains illegal: Idaho, Mississippi, and South Dakota. And it remains illegal in South Dakota only because Gov. Kristi Noem vetoed a bill that would have made production legal. 

States where the cultivation of hemp is legal

We have seen a massive move toward hemp legalization at the state level after the 2018 Farm Bill expanded the cultivation of hemp. Previously, federal law did not differentiate hemp from other cannabis plants, even though you can’t get high from hemp. Because of this, it was essentially made illegal. But we did have pilot programs or limited purpose small-scale program for hemp, largely for research. 

Now, hemp cultivation is much broader, with the Farm Bill allowing the transfer of hemp across state lines, with no restrictions on the sale, transport, or possession of hemp-derived products. There are still limitations, but most states have taken the opportunity to find new markets for those who would like to cultivate hemp. Just not Mississippi. 

So as a task force brings in experts to debate the merits of hemp in Mississippi and listens to opponents in law enforcement make claims about how they would be unable to differentiate between hemp and marijuana, the rest of the state can look on as hemp is now legal for 99 percent of the country. And we can wonder why something so easy can be so difficult for Mississippi.

The Mississippi Hemp Cultivation Task Force met for the second time Wednesday, with subcommittees offering their reports on what the ramifications of hemp cultivation would be for Mississippi.

Agricultural experts said that markets for hemp — which is derived from strains of the cannabis sativa plant with low amounts of the psychoactive substance in marijuana known as THC — are new in the United States and that cultivation would present lots of unknowns for farmers. Legal hemp would have a THC content of 3 percent or less.

Law enforcement officials complain that they can’t tell the difference between hemp and marijuana and would need more funds. 

Mississippi is one of only three states where hemp cultivation is illegal. The other 47 states have legalized it for commercial, research, or pilot programs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will present regulations governing hemp cultivation nationally within the next couple of months after the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill authorized the growing and sale of hemp.

Hemp can be cultivated for its fiber, which can be used in insulation, rope, textiles, and other products. The seeds are also a good source of protein and can be eaten by humans or used for animal feed. The flowers of the plant can be used for cannabidiol, or CBD oil production that has benefits still being studied by scientists, including those at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Larry Walker is the director of the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi. He pointed to Kentucky, which was one of the early adopters of a pilot hemp cultivation program, as having advantages since hemp cultivation is very similar to a cash crop already grown in the Bluegrass State, tobacco. 

Kentucky has issued about 110 processor licenses in 2019 and the industry is expected to create about 900 full-time jobs. 

“Tobacco growers can do a lot of things as far as planting and processing that are very similar with hemp,” Walker said. “They’ve had great success, but some of the numbers there are quite inflated.”

Wes Burger is the associate director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University. He said hemp has the potential to be a competitive crop in the state’s agricultural mix, but that isn’t a silver bullet or a path to prosperity. 

He also said there will need to be markets set up for hemp and seed testing to find varieties that would grow best in Mississippi’s climate and soils. He also said there are no legal herbicides or pesticides for hemp cultivation, which could make it problematic. Also, the thick fibrous nature of the stems that makes for strong products also can damage agricultural equipment such as combines.

According to Burger, there are three types of cultivation. Many farmers grow hemp for the seeds and those type of farms will favor plants with some spacing between them. Fiber farmers will want their plants to grow closely together and be taller with fewer stems to maximize the amount of fiber harvested. Those wanting to grow plants for CBD production would grow them like vegetables such as cucumbers and the plants would be short and bushy.

John Dowdy, who is the director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, said that hemp cultivation would add problems for law enforcement since it requires a laboratory to determine whether the THC content crosses the 3 percent threshold. 

He said that those costs could add up to $500,000 per year for the Department of Public Safety and that the DPS is already overwhelmed trying to stop Mexican heroin and methamphetamines and Chinese fentanyl.

The final meeting of the Hemp Cultivation Task Force is November 20 and the group will finalize their recommendations to the legislature, which is due in December.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy continues to perform an analysis of the data from the civil asset forfeiture database and the results continue to raise more questions than they answer.

The law — which created the database — has been in effect for two years now and there have been 476 seizures as of September 20 (there were 315 by January), with a total value of $4,294,535. 

The average seizure has increased slightly from $7,490 per seizure in the initial analysis done in January in the database’s first 18 months online to $7,952. 

While that sounds like a substantial increase, there are several outliers that skew the numbers. Ten of the seizures were of $100,000 or more and the sum of those added up to $2,042,206 or 47 percent of all seizures. Those 10 seizures had an average value of $204,220, but only represented 2.1 percent of all seizures.

The highest dollar seizure remains the bust of several vape shops for selling spice (synthetic cannabinoids) by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. MBN seized $644,421 in cash in Rankin County on August 5, 2018. 

Removing the seizures of $100,000 or more lowers the average to $4,837. The average of the seizures with a total value of less than $50,000 was $4,274 and represented 96.6 percent of all seizures.

The vast majority of seizures, 399 according to the database, were less than $10,000, representing 83.8 percent of all seizures. Even smaller were 161 seizures for less than $1,000 or 33.8 percent of the total.

What was seized is also instructive. Most seizures (376 out of 476) involved currency and those averaged about $9,662. There were also 264 weapons seized, worth an average of $357 per firearm. 

There were 89 vehicles seized, with an average value of $5,727. 

Among the more unusual items included an Xbox One video game system (the department valued it at $129) that was forfeited to the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department on June 10. Agents found 14 grams of marijuana, 100 THC-infused vape cartridges and some edibles at the home of the Xbox’s owner, who also lost a 2014 Ford Mustang to forfeiture.

A collectible $5 bill from 1963 (valued at $100 according to the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department) was seized on May 6 along with $10,314 in cash in a drug bust that included methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy, alprazolam, carisoprodol and hydrocodone.  The forfeiture was contested in court.

There were also four televisions that were also forfeited. 

The picture the database paints is incomplete, since the law requires only law enforcement agencies to list the description and value of the item seized, a copy of the notice to intent to forfeit, any petitions by property owners to contest the forfeiture and any judge’s order that would include those that cover final disposition of the seized property.

There are no requirements that law enforcement agencies list the type of drug that was involved with the seizure, the circumstances of the seizure or whether charges were filed in connection with the seizure. 

Some law enforcement agencies, including the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, include the related incident report that provides maximum transparency with the drug type and quantity, circumstances of the arrest, charges (if any) and the location. 

Others provide this information, such as the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department, in the notice to forfeit.