Important Bill on Governor's Desk HB1033 a positive criminal justice reform measure  Mississippi's Legislature took a little-noticed but very important step this session in amending the law to make it easier for our residents to get jobs. With the vision of an independent group headed by Federal District Judge Keith Starrett, and the hard work of Representative Andy Gibson and Senator Sean Tindell, the Legislature addressed a number of provisions in the state criminal code that have, over the years, prevented people from gaining or keeping jobs and prevented employers from hiring the people they need. House Bill 1033 is a significant piece of legislation that helps individuals who have committed misdemeanors and other non-violent crimes, as well as certain people leaving prison, re-enter the workforce. The goal of HB 1033 is to remove barriers to employment that exist in the criminal code. Whenever possible, it's in the best interest of Mississippi for those who are incarcerated to become law-abiding, productive, taxpaying members of the workforce. The bill accomplishes these goals with several provisions. First, it encourages recently released offenders to pay off the fees and fines they owe to the state. It reduces our reliance on incarceration for those who are unable to pay fees and fines, while providing judges the ability to establish payment plans and punish those who willfully choose not to pay. The bill promotes work by ensuring that inmates have opportunities to work off their debts while incarcerated. Second, it moves more eligible individuals back into the workforce. The bill provides the state's Parole Board with additional discretion to grant parole to nonviolent offenders who are a low risk to public safety and good candidates for employment. The Parole Board, which is appointed by the Governor, would maintain discretion about which individuals are good candidates, and monitor and supervise them as they return to the community. HB 1033 provides them additional tools to supervise individuals, with the goal of improving the quality of supervision and public safety. These provisions will also protect taxpayers by saving the state millions in incarceration costs, in addition to boosting tax revenue generated by increased employment. Finally, the bill creates several avenues for research and reporting. All of the decisions about how to implement these reforms are guided by data and statistical evidence to support its effectiveness. This bill furthers those interests by gathering better information on sentencing and incarceration. This information will be vital to guide the state's criminal justice policies going forward. The legislature supported this bill overwhelmingly, and it passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. Representative Andy Gipson deserves enormous credit for his authorship of the bill and his leadership on this issue. HB 1033 is a step forward for public safety, accountability in state spending, and data-driven policy making for the state of Mississippi. We urge Governor Bryant to sign HB 1033 so that Mississippi can continue to lead the way in criminal justice reform and increase employment in our state. Call the Governor now at 601-359-3150 or send an email and tell him you support the criminal justice reforms in HB 1033.     Stay Connected Secure Contribution Invest in Liberty Make a secure contribution to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy here. Mississippi Center for Public Policy is an independent think tank promoting the ideals of limited government, free markets, and strong traditional families.

Can grammar be racist?   University rejects "unjust language structure" & "grammatical correctness"     The Director of the Writing Center at the University of Washington at Tacoma said staff and tutors will "emphasize the importance of rhetorical situations over grammatical 'correctness'" because grammar is "racist." Taxpayer-supported writing consultants want to "help students become more critical of these unjust language structures as they affect students' writing and the judgment of that writing" and "discuss racism and social issues openly in productive ways." But Barry Brownstein writes grammar is not an arcane structure but is fundamental to learning to reason and think. He says education comes in three stages: grammar and memorization; analysis and logic; rhetoric and evaluation. When educators skip the first two steps they end up asking six-year-olds how they feel about what they're learning before they get to learn it.   "This education shortcut...carries over into adulthood where adults 'are ready to give their opinions long before they've had a chance to understand the topic...Diagramming isn't an arcane assignment designed to torture the student. It forces students to clarify their thinking, fix their sentences, and put grammar to use in the service of writing - which is, after all, what grammar is for.' Grammar improves our writing and clarifies our thinking. Writing and reasoning are pillars of student success. Why is the University of Washington administration placing political correctness before student success?" asks Brownstein. Source: Intellectual Takeout: Can Grammar Be Racist? Mississippi charter schools ranked Two national education reform groups rank Mississippi charter school system 10 & 38    The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked Mississippi's charter school law as #10 in the country. Meanwhile, the Center for Education Reform ranked Mississippi #38. Why the difference? The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools favors tight safeguards on launching and governing new schools, while the Center for Education Reform supports fewer restrictions and less burdens to opening a new school. Mississippi's charter school law and authorizing board have taken a very conservative approach in vetting charter school applications. Currently only three are in operation and nine more have indicated their intent to apply for permission to open schools in 2018. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools notes, "Mississippi also made major improvements to its law, now allowing students in school districts rated C, D, or F to cross district lines to attend a charter school and permitting charter school employees to participate in the state retirement system and other benefits programs." The report continues, "Mississippi's law contains a cap with room for ample growth, includes a single statewide authorizing entity, provides a fair amount of autonomy and accountability, and includes strong operational and categorical funding. Potential areas of improvement in Mississippi's law include providing applicants in all districts with direct access to the state authorizer, providing equitable access to capital funding and facilities, and strengthening accountability for full-time virtual charter public schools.     Source: The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and The Center for Education Reform Federal Trade Commission calls for occupational licensing reform FTC: Reforms good for competition, workers, consumers & the American economy   "Nearly thirty percent of American jobs require a license today, up from less than five percent in the 1950s. The expansion of occupational licensing threatens economic liberty," notes the Federal Trade Commission in a call for occupational licensing reform. "Unnecessary licensing restrictions erect significant barriers and impose costs that cause real harm to American workers, employers, consumers, and our economy as a whole, with no measurable benefits to consumers or society. Based on recent studies, the burdens of excessive occupational licensing - especially for entry- and mid-level jobs - may fall disproportionately on our nation's most economically disadvantaged citizens. Even in professions in which licensing makes sense, harm often arises from the complexity and duplication of state-by-state licensing requirements and fees, combined with a lack of reciprocity among states." "Unnecessary licensing requirements hit military families particularly hard; these families move often, which means military spouses often must find jobs in new states that have new and different licensing requirements. The FTC's Economic Liberty Task Force looks forward to working with our state partners and other interested stakeholders as we bring greater attention to these important issues. Occupational licensing reform is good for competition, workers, consumers, and the American economy." Source: Federal Trade Commission The Permission Society Founders proclaimed Americans free; then why do we need licenses and permits for everything?     Societies have two different models for operating: the "nuisance system" and the "permit system." The nuisance system says you are free to live and use your property as you wish as long as you don't harm (that is, aren't a nuisance to) another person. The permit system says you are not free to do something unless the government gives you permission.   In his recent book on "The Permission Society," Timothy Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute says the Founders embraced the presumption that we are all basically free.    He told the Cato Institute, "That's reflected in the text of the Constitution, which speaks of securing the blessings of liberty, which says that our rights shall not be abridged. And of course the Ninth Amendment, which makes clear that the list of rights is not exclusive. Just because the Constitution doesn't say you have the right to run barefoot through sprinklers on a hot summer day doesn't mean that you don't have that right. It says government is not giving you freedom, it is simply listing a few of your freedoms in the Bill of Rights."   "So how have we come to the point where today you need to get the government's permission for a wide variety of the things that you spend your daily life doing? You need a permit to build a house, own a gun, get a job, to buy some things, run businesses, pay your employees - even freedom of speech now often comes with some sort of permit requirement...Unfortunately I believe we are sliding more and more into a society that presumes you unfree, unless you get the government's permission. And as we move toward the Permission Society, we're moving away from the principles of freedom upon which our Constitution is based." You can watch Sandefur discuss more here on C-SPAN. Source:Cato Institute Mississippi licensure reform could become national model    Legislation passed this session puts occupational licensing boards under supervision of elected officials      To address the overuse of licensure and the "permission society," the Mississippi legislature this year became the first state in the nation to make major licensing and regulatory reforms following the U.S. Supreme Court decision North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC. HB1425 puts new regulatory actions under supervision of elected officials. The new law will give the governor, secretary of state, and state attorney general joint responsibility for "actively supervising state executive branch occupational licensing boards to ensure compliance with state policy." A majority of the three executive branch officials - or their appointees - would have to approve all new regulations passed by the state's licensing boards before those rules could take effect. Reason.com, in an extensive article about the legislation, says, "No other state has yet considered reforms as far-reaching as Mississippi's" but "efforts are underway in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin to review existing state licensing laws, with special scrutiny for laws that serve no public health or safety function." The Reason article explains, "In place of one-size-fits-all licensing rules that can be corrupted and abused by incumbent professionals to block competition, Mississippi's legislation offers a variety of alternative measures that protect the public from fraudulent or untrained practitioners without imposing high costs on qualified individuals. Market competition, third-party or consumer-created ratings systems like those available through apps such as Yelp, and private certifications are offered as potential solutions. If none of those work for a certain profession, the state can move along to mandatory inspections, impose bonding and insurance requirements, and even authorize the state attorney general to target frauds. Only after all that has been tried, and failed, should a new licensing law be created." Jameson Taylor, Vice President for Policy at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank, says giving veto power to the new 3-member commission creates a clear line of accountability. He says it might not be a perfect mechanism, but it gives the public an opportunity to weigh in if something is out of line. "Right now, it's a process that's entirely controlled by insiders," he says. "This would fix that." Russell Latino, state director of Americans for Prosperity-Mississippi,  called it a "groundbreaking reform" and a "first-of-its-kind legislation that could become a national model for how occupational boards operate.'"    Source: Reason.com Stay Connected Secure Contribution Invest in Liberty Make a secure contribution to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy here. "Individuals are ultimately responsible for governing themselves and for the consequences of their decisions." - Governing by Principle: A Framework for Governing, Principle #6 (Read more: GoverningByPrinciple.org)

MCPP Praises Passage of Welfare Reforms

“will help more Mississippians move from dependency to dignity, from poverty to prosperity, and from welfare to work.”

(JACKSON) – Mississippi Center for Public Policy President Forest Thigpen praised legislators for passing HB 1090, which will curb fraud and abuse in Medicaid and other welfare programs.  

Thigpen said, “These reforms will help more Mississippians move from dependency to dignity, from poverty to prosperity, and from welfare to work by eliminating loopholes that are found in current welfare policy. Among other things, it will restore the work requirements that were a key to the success of welfare reforms enacted by President Bill Clinton twenty years ago, which have been gutted over the last few years.” 

Thigpen said the bill will help focus key welfare programs on those who are truly eligible by removing people who have moved to other states and people who have died.

“Other states have saved hundreds of millions of dollars by implementing just some of the actions that will now be required of Medicaid and the Department of Human Services,” Thigpen said.

Among the provisions in HB 1090:

•   Requires able-bodied adults without children to transition from welfare to work.
•  Restores income and asset tests to the food stamp program (now known as SNAP).
•  Tracks out-of-state spending to stop welfare fraud and abuse (for example, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card use at Disney World).
•   Protects Medicaid and welfare for our state’s most vulnerable citizens by giving state employees new tools to identify and eliminate fraud.
•  Saves Mississippi – and federal – taxpayers millions a year by removing fraudsters and identity thieves from our welfare rolls.

“The HOPE Act will help Mississippi lead the way in getting people back to work, saving tax dollars and eliminating welfare fraud,” said Dr. Jameson Taylor, vice president for policy at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is an independent, non-profit organization based in Jackson. It works to advance the ideals of free markets, limited government, and strong traditional families. Its work is supported by voluntary, tax-deductible contributions. It receives no funds from government agencies for its operations. To learn more about MCPP, visit www.mspolicy.org.

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Myths about welfare produce bad policy 5 myths and 5 facts about welfare and child poverty   The Heritage Foundation reports five myths about welfare and child poverty that often lead to misguided policies. Myth: The welfare state in the U.S. is small. Fact: The U.S. welfare system is enormous. The federal government operates over 90 means-tested welfare programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and targeted services to poor and lower-income Americans. In 2014, federal and state governments spent over $1 trillion on these programs; 90 percent of this spending, or $924 billion, went to cash, food, housing, and medical benefits. Myth: Welfare benefits are meager and insufficient. Fact: The combined benefits available for a single mother with two school-age children working full time at the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) would increase her earnings to the equivalent of an annual income of $47,385 per year or an effective hourly wage of $22.78 per hour. Myth: Due to a lack of government support, poverty and deprivation are widespread. Fact: The government's poverty measure says very little about the actual material living conditions of the poor. Examining other government data provides a very different picture of poverty in the United States. For example, the average poor household in the United States has air conditioning, a car or truck, cable or satellite TV, a computer, a cell phone, and (if the household has children) a video game system. They have enough to eat and are not undernourished. They live in comfortable housing that is in good repair and have more living space than the average non-poor person in Germany, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The average poor household in the United States also reports that they have access to medical care when they need it. Myth: Welfare policy substantially penalizes work, trapping families in poverty. Fact: Welfare benefits will continue at roughly the same level for a parent who takes a low-wage job. (While Temporary Assistance for Needy Families  and food stamp benefits do decrease as earnings rise, Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit benefits rise; the two effects largely offset each other.) It is inaccurate to claim that high welfare benefit rates (or marginal tax rates) cause low-wage parents not to work or to work little. The more likely problem is that generous benefits may reduce the financial necessity of work or of full-time work. Myth: Raising the minimum wage is an effective strategy for reducing child poverty. Fact: A parent who sought to support a family with a minimum-wage job alone would indeed be poor, but under the current welfare system, no parent is expected to support a family solely on minimum-wage earnings. The system generously allows parents to combine earnings and welfare. Raising the minimum wage would actually push many families deeper into poverty by destroying the jobs they need to climb above the poverty level. When the government arbitrarily raises the wages of low-skill workers, businesses will hire fewer of those workers. The job-loss effects from an increase in the minimum wage will focus on the most vulnerable within the low-skill group. Read the full report here or download it in PDF format. Source: The Heritage Foundation Governor approves asset forfeiture reform New law requires warrant to keep seized property; creates transparency    Under a new law signed by Governor Phil Bryant on Monday, law enforcement agencies will be required to report "descriptions and values of seized property, which police department seized it, and any court petitions challenging the seizures. The law will also require police to obtain a seizure warrant within 72 hours." If a warrant is not obtained in certain cases, the property will be given back to its owner. That from a report from Reason.com which published a critical expose on Mississippi's asset forfeiture abuses in January. Lee McGrath of the Institute for Justice(IJ) praised the passage of the bill. IJ had graded Mississippi an "F" on forfeiture transparency earlier this year but now says, "Mississippi is now the third state this year and the 19th state since 2014 to have passed civil forfeiture reform." Sources: Reason.com & Institute for Justice   Don't touch that horse without a license Tennessee licensing board threatens equine massage therapist with fine or jail if she tends to horses   In Tennessee, you don't need a license to castrate or artificially inseminate a horse. But the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners has threatened a woman with fines and jail if she massages a horse. The woman, Laurie Wheeler, has been twice certified for equine massage by an animal therapy school in Indiana. She has also been licensed by Tennessee for human massage therapy. But the licensing board informed her that she must be a licensed veterinarian to perform horse massages, which would require her to go to veterinary school, where equine massage is not even taught. Eric Boehm writes about this licensing gone wild incident at Reason.com's Hit & Run Blog. Equine Sports Massage Therapy is a growing occupation across the country with certified therapists operating in Mississippi. This Tennessee incident is reminiscent of the attempt by a dental licensing board in North Carolina to restrict teeth whitening services. The board was sued under anti-trust laws and the U.S. Supreme Court determined because the board was not operating under state supervision, it was vulnerable to the lawsuit. A current bill (HB1425) to correct similar weaknesses in Mississippi licensing boards is currently pending in the legislature. Source: Reason.com Mississippi needs 80,000 more construction workers MBJ article reports Southern states compete for trained construction professionals   "In the next two years, Mississippi alone is going to be short 80,000 craft professionals such as electricians, masons, carpenters and welders," said Mike Barkett, president of the Mississippi Construction Education Foundation (MCEF) in a recent Mississippi Business Journal article. Barkett said during the Great Recession, many construction workers retired or found new careers. Now there is a shortage with Southern states competing for trained workers. MCEF's goals to increase the number of Mississippi construction workers include "promoting career and technical opportunities among young people, recruiting top talent that contributes to the fundamental growth and development of prospective employers, and then providing comprehensive classroom and on-job training that creates success for workers at all levels." Source: Mississippi Business Journal Policy Reports on Internet Taxes, Welfare & Licensing Reforms In case you missed it, MCPP releases policy papers on three major issues facing your Mississippi legislature   Did you know Amazon is not paying taxes to Mississippi? That's right, YOU are paying taxes when you order online; but Amazon is collecting those taxes for the state. But we don't know if Amazon gets to keep a share. Did you know when other states did an audit on their welfare programs, they found dead people, millionaires and residents from other states collecting benefits intended for the poor? But some in Mississippi don't want us to audit our welfare rolls. Did you know Mississippi licenses 55 out of 102 mid-to-low-level professions? We license court clerks (only 3 other states do that); residential drywall installers (8 other states); and landscape workers (9 other states). Somehow, nearly every other state manages to get by without licensing these trades. You can get these and more details in three new policy papers released by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy: Mississippi's Internet Sales Tax: Answers to Common Questions Mississippi Welfare Fraud Policy Brief HB 1425: Necessary Regulatory Reform that Will Protect Consumers and Lower Prices Source: Mississippi Center for Public Policy Stay Connected Secure Contribution Invest in Liberty Make a secure contribution to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy here. "Government has nothing to give anyone except what it takes from someone else." - Governing by Principle: A Framework for Governing, Principle #5 (Read more: GoverningByPrinciple.org)

Mississippi Center for Public Policy, 520 George Street, Jackson, MS 39202

A new law creates transparency and requires warrants to keep seized property.

HB 1425: Necessary Regulatory Reform
that Will Protect Consumers and Lower Prices

Executive Summary

• The Supreme Court recently ruled that many occupational licensing boards may be sued for engaging in anti-competitive practices. Approximately two dozen of Mississippi’s boards are vulnerable to lawsuit.

• There are, essentially, three ways to protect our boards from legal action: 1) place them under active state supervision; 2) reduce the boards to having only an advisory role; or 3) reconstitute board membership so as to remove members currently practicing in their respective field.

• The Court, as well as the Federal Trade Commission and both the previous and current White House administrations, is skeptical that unrestrained occupational licensing serves the public interest.

• Occupational licensing drives up prices, limits opportunities for workers and, in some cases, originated in prejudicial attitudes aimed at keeping African Americans out of select professions.

• HB 1425 is narrowly tailored to address the concerns raised by the Supreme Court and will protect state occupational licensing boards from frivolous lawsuits while encouraging licensing boards to respect free market principles.

Full Analysis

“Government has nothing to give anyone except what it first takes from someone else,” reads Principle 5 of Governing by Principle. For this reason, the best way for government to foster prosperity is to remove barriers to opportunity rather than directly intervene in the economy. Some of these barriers include a lack of education and job training, high taxes, and heavy regulatory burdens. These barriers kill the dreams of entrepreneurs before they even take flight.

While lawmakers in Mississippi have done an admirable job in recent years of advancing educational opportunity and cutting taxes, the challenge of regulatory reform remains. The basis of government regulation is the responsibility to protect public safety, health and welfare. These are broad categories that easily lend themselves to abuse. So is there a limit to government regulation?

High Court Places Limits on Occupational Licensing Boards

The U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on this question, determining that regulatory practices that give industry participants an unfair market advantage are impermissible. Explained the Court in its recent N.C. Dental Board v. FTC case:

Federal antitrust law is a central safeguard for the Nation’s free market structures. In this regard it is “as important to the preservation of economic freedom and our free-enterprise system as the Bill of Rights is to the pro­tection of our fundamental personal freedoms.” The antitrust laws declare a considered and decisive pro­hibition by the Federal Government of cartels, price fixing, and other combinations or practices that undermine the free market.

On the basis of these principles, the Court held that occupational licensing boards that are controlled by “active market participants” (that is, people who currently practice in the profession or occupation regulated by the board) do not enjoy sovereign immunity (immunity from lawsuits) unless the boards are under the “active supervision” of the state. Cautioned the Court:

Limits on state-action immunity are most essential when the State seeks to delegate its regulatory power to active market participants, for established ethical stand­ards may blend with private anticompetitive motives in a way difficult even for market participants to discern. Dual allegiances are not always apparent to an actor. In conse­quence, active market participants cannot be allowed to regulate their own markets free from antitrust account­ability. … Parker immunity requires that the anticompetitive conduct of nonsovereign actors, especially those author­ized by the State to regulate their own profession, result from procedures that suffice to make it the State’s own.

In short, the Court has ended the practice of unaccountable boards being given free reign within their own sphere. If boards are going to be comprised of “active market participants” that directly benefit from the regulations they impose, especially if those regulations keep competitors out, these boards must be made accountable to state government. And while the Court allows for some leeway in how this supervision is carried out, “the State’s review mechanisms [must] provide ‘realistic assurance’ that a nonsovereign actor’s anticom­petitive conduct ‘promotes state policy, rather than merely the party’s individual interests.’” At a minimum, these mechanisms must meet the following standards:

• The state’s review must be substantive and not merely a procedural rubber stamp;
• The state “must have the power to veto or modify particular decisions”;
• The state may not itself be “an active market participant”;
• Regulatory actions must be based on a “clearly articulated state policy” that implies state endorsement of the action.

What’s Wrong with Occupational Licensing?

The Supreme Court has been relatively tolerant of a variety of regulatory schemes (e.g., Wickard, Chevron, Whitman), which makes the N.C. Dental Board decision all the more significant. While the case may have further implications for other regulatory actions, it most immediately applies only to occupational licensure.

The textbook definition of occupational licensure is that it “is a form of government regulation requiring a license to pursue a particular profession or vocation for compensation.  Government licensing generally entails the creation of a licensing board that sets standards for entry into the profession and demands fees to sustain its regulatory activities. Consumers are familiar with licensed professionals, like doctors and lawyers, but do not realize that many other trades require a license or that activities licensed in one state are often not licensed in another.

According to a 2015 White House report on occupational licensing:

• Estimates suggest that over 1,100 occupations are regulated in at least one State, but fewer than 60 are regulated in all 50 States, showing substantial differences in which occupations States choose to regulate. For example, funeral attendants are licensed in nine States and florists are licensed in only one State.

• The share of licensed workers varies widely State-by-State, ranging from a low of 12 percent in South Carolina to a high of 33 percent in Iowa. Most of these State differences are due to State policies, not differences in occupation mix across States.

• States also have very different requirements for obtaining a license. For example, Michigan requires three years of education and training to become a licensed security guard, while most other States require only 11 days or less. South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska require 16 months of education to become a licensed cosmetologist, while New York and Massachusetts require less than 8 months.

In a rare case of agreement between the Obama and Trump administrations, acting Federal Trade Commission Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen is creating an Economic Liberty Task Force to address burdensome occupational licensing requirements. Ohlhausen explains:

The public safety and health rationale for regulating many of those occupations ranges from dubious to ridiculous. … Market dynamics will naturally weed out those who provide a poor service, without danger to the public. For many other occupations, the costs of added regulation limit the number of providers and drive up prices. These costs often dwarf any public health or safety need and may actually harm consumers by limiting their access to beneficial services. Other evidence suggests that such regulations are unnecessary or overly broad.

Mississippi regulates a high number of professions. A review by the Institute for Justice found that Mississippi licenses 55 out of 102 mid-to-low-level professions. We license court clerks (only 3 other states do that); residential drywall installers (8 other states); and landscape workers (9 other states). Somehow, nearly every other state manages to get by without licensing these trades.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that, by and large, occupational licensing has no correlation with public safety, health or welfare. Observes the White House report:

Licensing laws also lead to higher prices for goods and services, with research showing effects on prices of between 3 and 16 percent. Moreover, in a number of other studies, licensing did not increase the quality of goods and services, suggesting that consumers are sometimes paying higher prices without getting improved goods or services. … Most research does not find that licensing improves quality or public health and safety.

In fact, the licensing of some professions has more ominous roots. According to research by the Cato Institute:

Before the Second World War, black Americans were increasingly successful in becoming plumbers, barbers and electricians. Trade unions convinced states legislatures to pass laws that made it difficult for them to gain licenses. … By 1941, all of the states of America except Virginia and New York had passed licensing laws obstructing black men who wanted to become plumbers, barbers, and/or electricians. The laws exploited the fact that black people tended to be less well educated and poorer to exclude them from these trades. Simply by being required to pass written exams and pay for courses, they were obstructed. … The purpose of such licensing laws may have been to discriminate against blacks or to reduce competition or both. Whichever it was, it was certainly against the public interest.

This is not say that all occupational licensing is racist, but the coincidence between licensing and prejudice suggests just how easily so-called attempts to protect the public welfare can go astray. This subjective nature of many licensing policies is what prompted the Supreme Court to force states to realign their licensing practices with objective standards that protect the public welfare while preserving the free market.

HB 1425: A Restrained Approach to Occupational Licensure Reform

Prompted by the N.C. Dental Board decision, the Mississippi legislature is considering a bill that would meet the standard of “active supervision” required by the Supreme Court. The bill would do the following:

• Create an Occupational Licensing Review Commission comprised of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general;

• Give this commission the authority to “review the substance” of occupational regulations and approve, disapprove or suggest amendments to these regulations, excluding disciplinary actions;

• Articulate a state policy regarding occupational licensing that defines the various types of occupational regulation, promotes competition, and uses the “least restrictive regulation to protect consumers.”

HB 1425 takes a restrained approach toward addressing the reforms required by the Supreme Court. The bill does not call for a total overhaul of the state’s occupational licensing practices. Such an overhaul, suggests the Federal Trade Commission, would entail limiting board activity to an advisory role or restricting board membership to those with no financial interest in the regulated profession.

HB 1425 also does not apply to all boards, but only those controlled by “active market participants.” The bill does not radically expand the governor’s authority over licensing boards, but disperses this review power to other statewide officers.

Again, it is worthwhile recalling that the Supreme Court requires “active state supervision” that is substantive and will be evaluated based on “all the circumstances of the case.” There is no other way to read this guidance than to presume that the state must provide for something like the active review process mandated by HB 1425. All in all, HB 1425 is aligned with a narrow reading of the N.C. Dental Board case that will protect state occupational licensing boards from frivolous lawsuits while also encouraging licensing boards to respect free market principles.

Mississippi's top employer is government Legislative briefing by State Economist provides overview of Mississippi jobs, economy   Nearly 250,000 Mississippians work in government - the largest employment sector in the state. The next largest sectors are manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and health care employing between 125,000 and 150,000 each. Those facts and more come from the latest legislative briefing by the Mississippi State Economist. Other details:  The State Economist expects no significant change in Mississippi's economy in the short-term. Mississippi's real gross domestic product in 2015 was below the 2008 level. Mississippi's annual average unemployment rate for 2016 was 5.7%. The "real" unemployment rate was 10.9%. The "real" unemployment rate adds discouraged and other marginally attached workers and those working part time for economic reasons. Mississippi has - at 56.0% - the second lowest workforce participation rate nationwide (only West Virginia is lower). The report cites Census data to note that 10% of the working age population in Mississippi is disabled and not in the work force. The national rate is 6%. Mississippi has the lowest median household income in the country at $39,665. (Median household income is the level of income at which 50% of the households are above and 50% of the households are below this level.) The median household income in the United States is $53,889. Adjusted for the cost of living, Mississippi's median household income is $45,750 - still the lowest. Only West Virginia and New Mexico are more dependent on the government than Mississippi. 40.6% of income in Mississippi comes from the government (26.3 percent from transfer payments; 14.4% from earnings). Source: Mississippi University Research Center  Five charts explain Mississippi's "budget crisis" Spending, debt, entitlements all increasing   You have heard a lot about Mississippi "budget cuts" but it might surprise you to know spending has increased every year for the past five years. A recent article by Steve Wilson provides five charts showing:  Mississippi general funding spending has increased every fiscal year for the last five years. Revenue projections have been much more optimistic than actual revenue collections. Medicaid outlays from Mississippi's general fund have increased 362 percent from 2012 to 2017. Education spending has increased every year since 2013. The legislature has added $1.3 billion in bond debt since 2006, an increase of 41.8 percent. Source: Mississippi Watchdog Religious liberty is good for the economy Cato Journal article cites four historic lessons showing economic prosperity follows religious liberty   Religious liberty is good for the economy, so says a new Cato Journal article by professors Anthony Gill and John M. Owen IV. The authors share four lessons from history that lead to greater economic prosperity across cultures which embrace religious tolerance. Religious Freedom Promotes Diversity, Security, and Prosperity Religious Freedom Attracts Entrepreneurs Who Foster Economic Growth Religious Freedom Fosters a Commercial Society Religious Freedom Tends to Spread to Neighbors The authors write, "The idea that individuals holding different beliefs should be tolerated in society, and the incentive of these individuals to promote institutions that allow them to organize and worship freely, contribute greatly to an environment that promotes a wide variety of civil liberties that concurrently facilitate a number of secular relationships, which in turn promote greater interaction (trade) among people. In short, religious liberty is a catalyst for the freedoms that constitute democratic civil society and promote prosperity over the long haul." Source: Cato Institute Regulation through litigation New report suggests state attorneys general make policy through litigation that benefit their political donors   "A little understood revolution in American law is taking place- regulation by litigation, which places national lawmaking into the hands of powerful coalitions of state attorneys general (AGs) who have no lawmaking power," reports the Competitive Enterprise Institute about a new paper "Pirates at the Parchment Gates - How State Attorneys General Violate Our Constitution and Shower Billions on Trial Lawyers." The paper notes the contingency fee partnership between private law firms and state AGs raises three constitutional concerns: 1. Contingency fee financing of lawsuits constitutes a constitutionally prohibited attempt to do an end-run around the appropriations process. 2. Both federal and state constitutions require all receipts of money or services be legislatively authorized and subject to legislative accountability. 3. No private party - including law firms - should ever be given any role in a government investigation or prosecution when they have a direct, personal financial stake in the outcome. Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute Stay Connected Secure Contribution Invest in Liberty Make a secure contribution to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy here. "Long-term and cumulative consequences should be considered more carefully than short-term benefits." - Governing by Principle: A Framework for Governing, Principle #4 (Read more: GoverningByPrinciple.org)

Honor System for Welfare Not Working

Trust, but verify. Seems like commonsense. Unfortunately, government programs are often lacking in common sense. According to the Miss. Department of Human Services, self-verification is the method used to determine eligibility for Food Stamps, also called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The director of Fraud Investigation with the department acknowledges: “The application process for SNAP is based on an ‘honor system,’ trusting that applicants truthfully submit their income and number of dependents.” It should come as no surprise that some people aren’t telling the truth about their identity or residency or income when applying for welfare, whether it be Food Stamps or Medicaid. What is surprising, unbelievable really, is that the state is not really verifying who people are, where they live, and whether they are actually in need. The result is millions of taxpayer dollars lost to fraud, waste and abuse. This is savings that could be going to help the nearly 8,000 Mississippians with disabilities and other serious needs on a waiting list for Medicaid’s Home and Community Based Services. It is savings that could be going to patch holes in our Medicaid budget, or state budget.

A bill (HB 1090) moving through the state legislature would require Miss. welfare programs to use a verification service to check for things like identity and residency. Using databases easily accessible in the private sector, this service would discover whether a Social Security number is being fraudulently used. When Illinois ran a similar audit they found 14,000 dead people on their Medicaid rolls. The eligibility review would also check things like whether someone on Mississippi Medicaid is paying property taxes in another state – a likely sign the recipient is not a Mississippi resident. It would check incarceration status and death records and immigration status – all the things any reasonable voter assumes are already being verified to protect the integrity of our welfare programs.

HB 1090 also includes commonsense reforms like expecting SNAP enrollees to cooperate with a fraud investigation. The bill would track where welfare benefits are being accessed and spent. When Maine ran such a check, they found $3.5 million worth of transactions in Florida, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in withdrawals from ATMs near Walt Disney World. When the state of Florida ran such a check, they found 3,500 of their Food Stamp recipients were also receiving Food Stamps in at least one other nearby state, including Mississippi.

Those who claim welfare fraud is not a problem in Mississippi are mistaken. It is so much of a problem that in 2015 the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) was awarded a $1.9 million federal grant to help eliminate fraud. It is so much of a problem that the state auditor has found millions in questionable TANF costs and warned that the “failure to maintain supporting documentation for eligibility as well as not monitoring and reducing benefits” as required could result in the state having to repay federal funds.

Similarly, we have seen recent arrests for welfare fraud in several counties. According to news reports, DHS has been “knocking, one door at a time, looking for people who’ve applied for food stamp benefits that aren’t entitled.” Instead of going door-to-door, we can harness the power of technology to catch a good bit of that fraud with the click of a button. 

It is no accident that the states most committed to a robust social safety net are also rooting out fraud most aggressively. The first state to proactively verify its Medicaid rolls was Pennsylvania, which launched its own program in 2011. They identified 160,000 ineligible welfare recipients in the first 10 months and saved the state nearly $300 million. Illinois, Minnesota, and Massachusetts soon followed. Altogether, those four states are seeing a combined savings of $1.3 billion annually. We estimate Mississippi would save $40 million annually, based on a fraud rate of 10 percent.

If we want to protect our Medicaid and other welfare programs for those who are the poorest of the poor, the disabled, the elderly, we need to eliminate fraud and waste. We owe it to all Mississippians – including those who are truly eligible to receive these benefits – to be good stewards of these programs.

Jameson Taylor, Ph.D.
Vice President for Policy, Miss. Center for Public Policy