The Other Side: Mississippi Today's Political Podcast

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann details his issues with House Speaker Philip Gunn's proposal to eliminate the state's personal income tax. Hosemann said he wants to cut taxes, but "I'm not going to risk the future of Mississippi." Hosemann also says Mississippi is already behind other states in allocating billions in federal pandemic stimulus funds and warns delays could have dire consequences, including the state losing the money if Congress takes back unspent funds – as has been proposed in Washington recently.

State Sen. Angela Hill, a Republican from Picayune, joins Mississippi Today's Adam Ganucheau and Geoff Pender to discuss her bill, a proposal seeking to create "Buddy's Law," to provide mental health resources to minors who abuse animals. She also discussed tension between GOP leaders during the 2022 legislative session.

Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison discuss a "crazy" deadline week for the Mississippi Legislature that included a six-hour debate on critical race theory, a stare-down between House and Senate leaders on teacher pay and the constant undercurrent caused by Speaker Philip Gunn's obsession with eliminating the personal income tax.

Mississippi Today's political team discussing the growing tension over dueling House and Senate income tax proposals. Many fear all legislation is in jeopardy because leaders can't agree on tax cut details.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann joined Mississippi Today editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau to discuss his priorities for spending hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars. They also discussed the dueling House and Senate income tax cut proposals.

Mississippi Today's political team breaks down the House proposal to reinstate a ballot initiative. Mississippi has been without an initiative since May 2021, when the state Supreme Court struck down the process by which voters can place policy changes on a statewide ballot for approval.

Longtime Mississippi Sierra Club Director Louie Miller talks about Mississippi's state parks system, which has suffered from decades of neglected maintenance. The Sierra Club opposes a current push to privatize state parks, and says Mississippi should instead use some of the billions in federal stimulus money flowing to the state to upgrade the state's parks, and keep them affordable and accessible to Mississippians.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender get the lowdown on redistricting from Rep. Jim Beckett, who is handling the task in the Mississippi House. Beckett is putting together a consequential puzzle: redrawing the 122 House districts to match population shifts found in the 2020 Census.

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender talk with Bell, D-Jackson, about the myriad of issues facing the 2022 legislative session, ranging from taxes, to teacher pay to medical marijuana and others. Bell also stressed the need to address issues facing the city of Jackson to help the state as a whole progress.