In this episode of Unlicensed, we talk with Dr. Robert Graboyes of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University about the future of healthcare in America. Graboyes is the author of Fortress and Frontier in American Healthcare, a paper that examines the needed mentality shift in healthcare.

This week, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board approved the ninth charter school in the state.

The Board approved Leflore Legacy Academy in Greenwood which will serve grades 6 through 8 when it reaches capacity. This is the second charter school in the Delta. Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School opened last year.

For the 2019-2020 school year, six charters are open in Mississippi. Two others, in addition to Leflore Legacy, have been approved and are set to open in future years.

Last year, 14 charter operators began the application process. Four made to the final cut, with just the one receiving the state's blessing.

Voters will have the opportunity to approve medical marijuana next fall. If approved, what exactly would that look like?

Mississippi has 20 plus years of history and 33 other states to look back upon. Here is how the process would work, according to Medical Marijuana 2020, the organization leading the ballot initiative.

Step 1

A person must have a debilitating medical condition. The term “debilitating medical condition” is defined in the proposal as one of 22 named diseases, plus there is a special allowance for a physician to certify medical marijuana for a similar diagnosis.

Some of those conditions include:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy and other seizure-related ailments
• Huntington’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• HIV
• AIDS
• Chronic pain
• ALS
• Glaucoma
• Chrohn’s disease
• Sickle cell anemia
• Autism with aggressive or self-harming behavior
• Spinal cord injuries

Step 2

A person with a debilitating medical condition is examined in-person and in Mississippi by a physician. The term “physician” is defined in the proposal as a Mississippi-licensed M.D. or D.O.

If the physician concludes that a person suffers from a debilitating medical condition and that the use of medical marijuana may mitigate the symptoms or effects of the condition, the physician may certify the person to use medical marijuana by issuing a form as prescribed by the Mississippi Board of Health.

The issuance of this form is defined in the proposal as a “physician certification” and is valid for 12 months, unless the physician specifies a shorter period of time.

Step 3

A person with a debilitating medical condition who has been issued a physician certification becomes a qualified patient under the proposal.

Step 4

A qualified patient then presents the physician certification to the Mississippi Department of Health and is issued a medical marijuana identification card.

The ID card allows the patient to obtain medical marijuana from a licensed and regulated treatment center and protects the patient from civil and/or criminal sanctions in the event the patient is confronted by law enforcement officers.

“Shopping” among multiple treatment centers is prevented through the use of a real-time database and online access system maintained by the Mississippi Department of Health.

Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers will be registered with, licensed, and regulated by the Mississippi Department of Health. Each medical marijuana business will have to apply to and be approved by MDH. But there will not be a limit on the number of businesses, allowing for a free market based on demand.

Users would not be able to smoke medical marijuana in a public place and home grow would be prohibited, though it is legal is some other states.

If approved, the program will be up and running no later than August 15, 2021 according to the initiative's wording.

In 2018, voters in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Utah approved ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana. Two years prior, voters in Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota did the same thing. 

The trend lines are obvious: What began as initiatives in largely blue states, or libertarian leaning western states, has now spread to traditionally Republican states. And we have even begun to see Republican legislatures in states like Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia approving medical marijuana. 

And next fall, Mississippi voters will have the opportunity to make the Magnolia State the 34th state to legalize medical marijuana. Medical Marijuana 2020, the team behind the ballot initiative, recently submitted over 100,000 certified signatures to the secretary of state. 

If history, and momentum, is any guide, the campaign has a good chance of success even as statewide officials and candidates struggle with the issue that is very popular according to internal polling.

A history of how medical marijuana became legal by state

During the 2019 session, the Georgia and Texas legislatures approved medical marijuana though the rollout has not been finalized. 

What would medical marijuana look like in Mississippi

If the ballot initiative is approved by voters in November, marijuana would be legal for those with a debilitating medical condition and would have to be authorized by a physician and receive it from a licensed treatment center.

Some of these conditions include:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy and other seizure-related ailments
• Huntington’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• HIV
• AIDS
• Chronic pain
• ALS
• Glaucoma
• Chrohn’s disease
• Sickle cell anemia
• Autism with aggressive or self-harming behavior
• Spinal cord injuries

If a physician concludes that a person suffers from a debilitating medical condition and that the use of medical marijuana may mitigate the symptoms or effects of the condition, the physician may certify the person to use medical marijuana by issuing a form as prescribed by the Mississippi Board of Health. The issuance of this form is defined in the proposal as a “physician certification” and is valid for 12 months, unless the physician specifies a shorter period of time.

That individual then becomes a qualified patient. After they do this, they present the physician certification to the Mississippi Department of Health and are issued a medical marijuana identification card. The ID card allows the patient to obtain medical marijuana from a licensed and regulated treatment center and protects the patient from civil and/or criminal sanctions in the event the patient is confronted by law enforcement officers. “Shopping” among multiple treatment centers is prevented through the use of a real-time database and online access system maintained by the Mississippi Department of Health.

The Mississippi Department of Health would regulate the cultivation of marijuana, processing, and being made available to patients. There would also be limits on how much marijuana a patient could obtain.

New regulations will allow vegan and vegetarian food companies to continue using meat or meat product terms on their labels. 

In July, the Institute for Justice and Mississippi Justice Institute partnered to bring a First Amendment lawsuit against the State of Mississippi concerning proposed regulations that would have banned plant-based foods from using meat product terms like “burger,” “bacon,” and “hot dog” on their packaging. The new regulations are the result of the lawsuit.

“These new proposed regulations are a victory for free speech in Mississippi,” said Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. “It shouldn’t be a crime for plant-based food companies to describe their products in a way that everyone understands.  We are happy that our state officials listened to the concerns brought forward by our clients in this lawsuit, and took the right approach. Because of these changes in the regulations, our clients will be able to continue selling vegan and vegetarian products in Mississippi.”

Under the new regulations, plant-based foods will not be considered to be labeled as a “meat” or “meat food product” if the label also includes “meat-free,” “meatless,” “plant-based,” “vegetarian,” “vegan,” or similar terms. 

The proposal will be open for public comment for 25 days. 

The proposed regulations can be found here. 

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of public charter school funding, preserving the schools that have served as a lifeline to hundreds of Mississippi children in just a few short years. 

“This ruling is a major victory for parents who simply want what every parent wants: the ability to choose the best possible education for their children,” said Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. “We are happy for our clients and for every parent and student in Mississippi who will continue to have increased educational choices because of this ruling.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit in 2016 which could have shut down charter schools. The Mississippi Justice Institute intervened and represented three parents whose children attend charter schools.

The Court ruled that Mississippi’s Charter School Act of 2013 is constitutional. The Southern Poverty Law Center had argued that part of the Act’s funding mechanism was unconstitutional. That provision requires public schools to share the tax revenues collected for education with charter schools in their district, based on the number of students who attend those charter schools. The Court held that this funding mechanism was constitutional, because charter schools are public schools and are associated with the school district in which they are located.  

“The parents are pleased that the Supreme Court has confirmed the authority of the legislature to provide different options to meet the educational needs of all Mississippi children,” said Mike Wallace, a Shareholder with Wise Carter who provided pro-bono counsel for charter school parents. “Mississippians should now continue to work with the legislature to develop new and creative programs so that parents can choose those that best serve their children.”

“I’m very excited about this decision,” Tiffany Minor, the mother of a student at Smilow Prep said.” It gives my daughter and other children the opportunity to choose what type of education they would like at what school they choose to go to. So I’m very excited. This was the best decision ever. I love it.”

In just a couple years, Tiffany has seen the change this new option provided for her daughter, Jalonda. 

“When my daughter did a test during her first year at Smilow Prep as she was entering fifth grade, she was on a third grade reading level,” Tiffany said. “By the time she ended that school year and was getting ready to go to sixth grade she was on the actual six grade reading level. So she transformed three reading levels in one year from Smilow Prep. It’s helping her and she’s having fun while she’s making honor roll so I love it. It’s amazing to me.”

“Smilow Prep has helped me a lot since I’ve been in it and it actually makes me a better learner,” Jalonda said. “They give me extra help when I need it.”

Charter schools are public schools that are given freedom from some of the regulations placed on traditional public schools. They currently operate in over 40 states and the District of Columbia. If the Southern Poverty Law Center’s suit was successful at the Mississippi Supreme Court, Mississippi would be one of a small handful of states to not offer these innovate schools for children.

Ella Mae James has two children at Reimagine Prep, Laporcha and Jonathon.

“My children have been attending Reimagine Prep from when the school first opened,” Ella said. “And they have grown so much in their reading and math levels. They did it with the tutoring and the extra help they receive. And we just appreciate having this opportunity to give them that choice.”

The full ruling can be found here.

The city of Jackson’s population has declined by some 40,000 residents over the past four decades. And one of the prime reasons is the district education in the capital city. School choice could change that.  

Routinely rated as poor or failing, most recently receiving an F-rating from the state, there are few options for a quality education from the Jackson Public School district.

JPS, which is losing students at a faster rate than the city, currently spends more than $11,000 per student, about $1,000 above the statewide average.

JPS has seen a decrease from 30,000 students in 2012 to under 24,000 last year, a drop of 20 percent. Yet the city’s population only dropped about 5 percent during that same time. That is partially because families now have free alternatives. 

In the past four years, a small charter market has emerged with about 1,500 students enrolled in charter schools in Jackson. Compared to the larger JPS system, the charter market is still tiny. There is not a high school and kindergarten and first grade have just recently become options. But in the grades that have had charters for a few years – mainly fifth and sixth grade – we see 15-20 percent of public school students migrating to charters. 

These are parents who never previously had an option now having an option. 

Jackson also has a large private school sector, with a number of high-quality schools competing for students from Jackson and the surrounding counties. But these schools price out many who would love the opportunity to attend. 

Along with a charter authorizing board that welcomes more schools to the city, allowing tax dollars to flow to parents for their child’s education would help eliminate one of the reasons families leave Jackson. That same family would no longer, in their mind, have to leave because of a failing school system. The “either-or” dilemma is no longer an issue.

A great example on how this could work is in Washington, D.C. By the late 1990s, the city’s population hit a 60-year low as families headed to Virginian and Maryland in large numbers. And new potential residents never considered the city. But over the past two decades, the city’s population has grown by more than 100,000.

Yes the city is now safer and more appealing, but today parents in D.C. have more options than ever, including a charter sector that serves over half of the city’s students, magnet schools, a federally funded voucher program, and districtwide open enrollment. Less than on-in-four students attend their assigned district school. 

The potential is there. Because even if you revitalize the city and make it a place where young professionals want to live, you’ll still see an exodus when their children turn five. 

This week, Mississippi Center for Public Policy will be looking into the underlying reasons as to why Jackson is struggling, exploring the legislative and regulatory climate which encourages migration and business stagnation both within our capital city, and across the state.

Over $1.5 billion have left the city of Jackson and Hinds county between 1992 and 2016, mostly for Madison and Rankin counties. 

That is according to IRS tax migration data. As the old saying goes, “money talks”, and this mass movement of money leaving Jackson is a serious testament to the need for changes in the state’s core urban center.

Between September 2015 and 2016 alone, Jackson lost more than $5 million (almost ten percent) of its tax revenue. City leaders have taken to hiking taxes in order to offset the tax revenue lost from the movement of its citizens to the suburbs, yet in so doing it has made life all the more expensive for those who have stayed, further incentivizing the suburban exodus of others and exacerbating the existing problem.

Madison and Rankin counties showed large growth over the same time period, altogether expanding their wealth indices by about a combined $1.5 billion.

Around the state, Desoto county also showed a positive rate of growth, gaining over $1.34 billion almost entirely from Shelby county, Tennessee. However, this growth in some counties was offset by losses throughout the state, resulting in a net negative for Mississippi. Every county within the Delta lost wealth. Altogether well over $1 billion left the area.

While some counties have continued to grow, overall the state has lost over $100 million. This has made Mississippi the only state in the Southeast besides Louisiana to see a net wealth lost.

A similar trend accompanies with population loss, as Mississippi and Louisiana were the only states in the Southeast between 2017 and 2018 to experience declines in population.

In total, for the time period, the state gained wealth from Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois, California, and Michigan, while it lost wealth to Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Two major questions arise from this data, first, what is motivating internal migration? It is clear that citizens are voting with their feet, and are showing their preference for the better fiscal management of Madison and Rankin county, among other reasons.

This movement of cash has created serious shortfalls in Jackson’s tax revenue, and rather than continue to place greater financial burdens on those who remain, the city needs to tighten the proverbial fiscal belt.

The second question is why Mississippi is seeing a net loss overall, and especially why neighboring states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, and Alabama have become more attractive options for those seeking to move into the Southeast. Mississippi ought to answer the first question before the second. There are clear reasons motivating large numbers of people to choose Desoto, Madison, and Rankin counties. These areas should be used as a model for statewide growth and policy change.

This week, Mississippi Center for Public Policy will be looking into the underlying reasons as to why Jackson is struggling, exploring the legislative and regulatory climate which encourages migration and business stagnation both within our capital city, and across the state.

Payrolls in Mississippi grew in July, continuing a positive trend for the state over the past year. 

The total number of employees on nonfarm payrolls in the state increased to 1,171,700 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s an increase of about 1,200 jobs over the past month. These numbers are particularly impressive after the rough start to 2019, with job losses in each of the first three months. 

But that has changed.

Over the past year, the state has added 19,000 jobs. That translates to a 1.7 percent growth during that time period, which is higher than the national average. 

During the previous 12 months, each sector of the economy, as classified by BLS, added jobs in Mississippi. 

Among neighboring states, Alabama has had the highest growth rate, at 2 percent. Tennessee was also ahead of Mississippi at 1.8 percent. Arkansas’s growth rate was 1 percent, while Louisiana’s decreased by 0.05 percent. The Pelican State was the only state in the country to post a loss over the past year. 

But compared to national numbers, Mississippi was ahead of the average, which came in at 1.4 percent. Overall, Mississippi’s growth rate placed the state 17th nationally. 

Job growth among the SEC footprint.