If you move to Mississippi, the state doesn't automatically recognize your occupational license from another state- whether that's a teacher, a hairdresser, or one of dozens of other professions we license.

This is the story of Dana Presley. This is the story of Wendy Swart.

If you've learned the skill in another state and have practiced without any infractions, you should be able to work in Mississippi.

We need more people working. Not less.

This reform will be a top priority for MCPP in 2021.

Can we count on your support and engagement as we build the case for occupational licensing reform next year?

“I grew up in Vicksburg. I graduated from Mississippi State in 1995. After graduation, I moved to Pensacola, Florida and in 2002, I finished the cosmetology program at Pensacola Junior College. 

“I passed the state board exam in Florida in September 2002. I have never had any infractions or paid any fines. My license has been in good standing, and I’ve always paid my dues on time. In 2014, my husband took a job at Mississippi State and we moved to Starkville. Our sons were seven and four. By that time, I had been working behind the chair for 12 years.    

“Mississippi has no reciprocity with the state of Florida. I reached out to the State Board of Cosmetology office in Jackson during the first year that we lived here and was given inconsistent information. The basic information was this: the state wanted to see my transcripts, and then, I would probably have to go back to school to complete the difference in hours required by Mississippi. Florida requires 1,200 hours of instruction, and Mississippi requires 1,500 hours. I had to find a school that would allow me to complete 300 hours. 

“During the summer of 2014, I had my transcripts from both MSU and PJC transferred to the Board’s office. There was lots of concern over whether my 1,200 hours at PJC were in a classroom or on a salon floor. There was never an explanation as to why that mattered, but I was reminded that Mississippi does not have reciprocity with Florida and told that the state didn’t have to allow me to get a license at all. I eventually received a letter that read that the Board did not accept my license from Florida.

“I spent the next six months emailing and calling East Mississippi Community College and a beauty school in Aberdeen. After weeks of emails, EMCC finally told me that my part-time enrollment would take a spot from a full-time student. The other school just wouldn’t answer their phone. I left messages repeatedly, and when they were finally returned, there was never sound information, as if they had no idea what to do with me.  They did have class from 8-4 p.m. everyday.  So, it would have taken me around 9 weeks to complete. 

“In 2019, I considered living with my mother in Vicksburg over the summer and attending a cosmetology school in Clinton. The owner there told me that reciprocity-seeking students were not welcome there because if the student failed the state board exam, then their accreditations would be negatively affected.

“I think my biggest frustration was that the Board would tell me that my license was not valid here but that I could go back to school. Then, when I called the schools, they would give me reasons why I couldn’t or that they weren’t sure how to ‘instruct’ me. And there aren’t many cosmetology schools in the area.  

“The plan was for me to go back to work once we moved back here. I had only worked part-time at a salon chain after my second son was born in 2010. My husband worked for a professional baseball team before taking the job at MSU, and there was a bit of a pay cut. 

“But I was excited about building a clientele and hoped to have my own business. It all proved to be much more challenging than I thought. Not only would I have the 2-hour daily drive to Aberdeen, but also, the cost of school. And I would have to arrange care for my children after school, which would be another significant cost.  

“That is a huge burden to saddle someone with who has a license in another state with a spotless record and who has worked behind the chair for over 10 years.”  

Dana Presley
Starkville, Mississippi

Mississippi currently permits limited food freedom with a cottage food law that allows entrepreneurs to sell certain foods approved by the government. We want to expand that freedom.

We believe food producers should be able to sell what they harvest on there on their own property to an end user without government regulations. After all, you know where the food you are purchasing comes from. This is good for small businesses. It's good for consumers who want more options in their diet.

Give us your opinion on this issue.

Some in Jackson want to ban gun shows as they look for answers to the rise in violence.

Is that a good idea?

On Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves announced he will be signing an executive order mandating masks be worn in public statewide.

What do you think about this?

Even as the economy shrinks at a record level, some are calling for a new government shutdown of businesses to combat the increase in coronavirus cases.

Do you think that's a good idea?

Will you help Mississippi Center for Public Policy guide the future of our work? And when you do it, you'll have the chance to win an Amazon gift card!

As the times we live in seemingly get crazier every week, we are continuing to fight the important policy battles in Jackson. But we want to hear from you. What should we be working on, what issues are most important to you, and how can we better spread the message of liberty in Mississippi?

And when you take the short five-minute survey, you will be eligible to win a $25 Amazon gift card! The survey will only be open thru Friday, so please fill it out soon!

Coronavirus, tornadoes, flooding. It’s been one crisis after another for the state of Mississippi this year. During these challenging times, it’s easy to forget that some families live in crisis every day. Some children live in danger every day.

No doubt, families have been under stress during the coronavirus outbreak. In some families, more stress leads to more abuse. Anecdotal reports are pouring in that medical providers are seeing more children with evidence of abuse. As schools and churches are not meeting, potential abuse is not getting reported. Social service systems are likewise overwhelmed. 

But Mississippi’s foster care system has been overwhelmed for a long time, hasn’t it? It’s a system that has failed thousands of children over the years. Children like Armani Hill. Armani should have just celebrated Easter with her sister and family. She should be learning her colors and know that her favorite one is purple. Her only worry should be whether she’ll get to go to any swim parties this summer – after the coronavirus ends.

Most of all, she should have had a chance. A chance to find out that she loved dance and was actually really good at it. A chance to learn about math and space and the Grand Canyon. A chance to be upset that the boy in her high school English class didn’t like her back, but her Biology lab partner did. 

Armani didn’t get these chances. On June 10, 2019, Armani’s mother left her and her sister, Lailah, alone with her boyfriend at their home. By the time the Natchez police were able to report to the scene, it was too late for Armani. Both of the girls were severely abused. 

This was not the first time Armani and Lailah had been abused. Child Protective Services had previously opened and closed cases on the girls twice due to injuries they had sustained as recently as May of that same year. 

Armani’s chances were stolen from her by the state of Mississippi and a foster care system’s failure to put her safety first. Unfortunately, Armani is not the only Mississippi child who never got a chance.

Olivia Y. is one of these children. When she entered the foster care system at age 3, she weighed only 22 pounds. The Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services (MDCPS) deemed her healthy. She wasn’t even given a medical exam. 

Olivia lived in 6 different homes before she ended up being placed in a shelter. When she got there, she was malnourished, depressed, and showing signs of sexual abuse. MDCPS continued to ignore Olivia. 

Olivia’s death should have shocked the system into reform. It should have been a wakeup call for the people of Mississippi. Instead, a law firm from New York sued the state.

This lawsuit resulted in a settlement agreement creating 113 benchmarks for the Mississippi foster care system. A 2018 report found that 10 years later, Mississippi is only complying with 37 of those requirements.

On December 10, 2019, Mississippi Child Protection Services executive director Jess Dickinson resigned from his position after only two and a half years. A new director has yet to be appointed by Governor Tate Reeves.

Fortunately, the Mississippi legislature has been considering important reforms that would help our foster care kids. These include bills by Sens. Joey Fillingane and Angela Hill and Reps. Jansen Owen and Kevin Ford. Fillingane and Ford’s companion bills would have helped kids get safely placed with family members or get adopted, instead of languishing for years in foster care. 

Hill’s bill would have required CPS workers to record interactions with foster children and their parents in abuse investigations. Owen’s bill would have helped protect children like Armani and Lailah and Olivia who are subject to repeated abuse and/or exposure to drugs. Owen also introduced a measure to give the legislature more oversight over CPS finances.

None of these bills survived the legislative crossover deadline.

The legislature, however, is still considering an expansion of the Children’s Promise Act. Passed in 2018, this law creates several tax credits that are empowering foster care nonprofits to help more families in Mississippi. Rep. Trey Lamar, the House Ways and Means Chairman, and Sen. Josh Harkins, the Senate Finance Chairman, are working to expand the cap for this innovative program, leveraging private donations to help a system that needs more than just a budget increase.

Armani and Olivia were not given the chances they deserved. Their voices were stolen from them by a system that wasn’t looking out for them. Even as we face a health crisis that has claimed the lives of thousands of people nationwide, it’s worth considering the lives of the thousands of children in Mississippi foster care. They’re worth our time and attention too.  

This column appeared in the Northside Sun on April 30, 2020.

Senate Bill 2534, sponsored by Sen. Walter Michel, would allow for the direct shipment of wine to a house. 

Mississippi is one of seven states that currently prohibit the shipment of wine to a house, meaning consumers in most states enjoy this freedom. This would end that prohibition.

This, however, is just one small part of the state’s desire to regulate, and in many cases, prohibit, legal alcohol sales in the state. 

While the internet, technological developments, and more have made the purchase and production of alcohol freer and easier in other states, Mississippi has denied its citizens personal liberty on this issue. 

The state has discouraged craft beer production, overregulated alcohol distribution, and cracked down on the ability for citizens to privately produce alcohol. Permits are difficult to secure, and thus many businesses have been left in the dark, unable to expand or operate. 

Mississippi could make considerable strides by entrusting in its citizens a greater personal responsibility and freedom when it comes to alcohol sale and production. 

There is much the state could do, but this is a step in the right direction. 

MCPP has reviewed this legislation and finds that it is aligned with our principles and therefore should be supported. 

Read SB 2534.

Track the status of this and all bills in our legislative tracker.