The Other Side: Mississippi Today's Political Podcast

House Public Health Chairman Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, tells Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance he's hopeful he and other negotiators can strike a deal on Medicaid expansion to address dire issues in the unhealthiest state.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison, Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance discuss the biggest issues – Medicaid expansion, school funding and PERS – that could spur contentious final days of the 2024 legislative session.

Mississippi Today's Adam Ganucheau sits down with Rev. Dr. Jason Coker, a Baptist pastor who is helping lead a coalition of faith leaders who are advocating for Medicaid expansion. Coker discusses why his own Mississippi upbringing and his faith have inspired him to be a leader in the push for expansion, and how the policy change could help many Mississippians.

Mississippi Today's Adam Ganucheau and Bobby Harrison break down the differences in the House Medicaid expansion plan and the Senate Medicaid expansion plan. They discuss where the legislative debate currently stands, where it's headed, and why some powerful leaders are still against expansion.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance speak with House Education Vice Chair Kent McCarty, R-Hattiesburg, about his proposal to change the way Mississippi's K-12 public schools are funded and whether his plan is good for education.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison, Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance discuss a busy week at the Capitol, where legislators work to garner two-thirds majorities to pass Medicaid expansion and to restore the initiative process. As it turns out, it is the Senate thus far having trouble reaching those two-thirds majorities.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance talk with Jackson attorney Rob McDuff about lawsuits involving legislative redistricting and school funding and how newspaper articles led an inquisitive 12-year-old in Hattiesburg to pursue a legal career focusing on civil rights and other social justice issues.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance talk with Spence Flatgard, chair of Ballot Access Mississippi about legislation pending in 2024 session that would restore the initiative process, giving citizens right to bypass Legislature and place issues on the ballot. He cites positives and negatives from the perspective of his group with initiative proposals alive in both chambers of the Legislature.

Mississippi Today's Adam Ganucheau, Sophia Paffenroth, Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance detail the first earnest debate about Medicaid expansion at the Mississippi State Capitol. They discuss what various proposals would do, who is supporting them, who is opposing them, and what might be on the horizon as the debate heats up.

Mississippi Department of Transportation Director Brad White says an influx of "one-time" state and federal money is allowing the agency to again build and widen roads. But he said the agency needs long-term, steady revenue streams to maintain them once they're built.