Mississippi legislators are trying to reach an agreement over Medicaid expansion as the session nears an end. Then, Nearly four in ten people, in the U.S. live in counties that have unhealthy levels of air pollution. How do counties in Mississippi stack up?Plus, A former Mississippi politician is sharing stories of his experience in the state legislature through a short film.
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good morning it’s 8:30 on Wednesday
April 24th I’m deserie Frasier this is
Mississippi Edition on mpb think radio
on today’s show Mississippi legislators
trying to reach an agreement on Medicaid
expansion as the session nears an end
then nearly four and 10 people in the US
live in counties with unhealthy levels
of air pollution how do counties in
Mississippi Stack Up we’ll tell you
about that plus a former Mississippi
politician is sharing stories of his
experience in the state legislature
through a short film this is Mississippi
Edition on mpb think
radio lawmakers continue to disagree
about Medicaid expansion for thousands
of working mississippians who can’t
afford private insurance the house wants
to make the earnings cap up to
138% of the federal poverty level an
individual earning up to $20,000
annually would qualify Senate lawmakers
want to make the earnings CAP Lower at
exactly the federal poverty line that
individual would qualify who earns up to
$15,000 a year the house plan could
increase Medicaid roles by2 200,000
people the Senate closer to 8,000 here’s
Republican representative Missy McGee of
Hattisburg she chairs the house medic
committee I believe the biggest obstacle
for us to address is the um the federal
poverty level as to where that how how
far we can take that um the house is
committed to drawing down the maximum
federal dollars available we don’t
believe that um you know to have a to
have the federal government being
willing to pay 90% And the state pay 10%
or
10% um um we believe that that you know
we hear a lot in this Capital about
we’re going to run it like a business
you know we’re going to run we’re going
to run the state like a business and I
don’t know many businesses that wouldn’t
take a deal of a n of I’m Gonna Give You
90% all you have to give me is 10 back
and so um that position getting up to
138% of the federal poverty level is um
is critical to us is we we believe that
that is the most responsible way to run
this program and in terms of of you know
taxpayer dollars that that we would
maximize that and enroll the most people
doing the most good Senate Republicans
say they’re unwilling to budge at this
point on the work requirement it would
need a waiver from the federal
government McGee and other house of
Republicans say they don’t want a work
requirement they do want one rather but
they don’t want the measure to die if
it’s not granted we’re not we’re not
willing to not have a program just
because maybe 20% I mean I’m just
throwing that number out perhaps aren’t
working or can’t work um maybe there’s
somebody in some small rural town where
there’s you know 20 or 30 jobs and they
don’t have a car they can’t get to a job
um you know there there are a lot of
reasons why um that that low percentage
of the population may not be able to
work at that moment anyway and so but um
we do believe that this is a program for
working mississippians I mean we we in
our bill we have a work requirement in
the first section but we are not willing
to hold back 80% of the hardworking
mississippians because we fear that
maybe a small percentage somehow May
gain the system or or something like
that Governor Tate Reeves disapproves of
any measures for Medicaid expansion
Senator Bryce Wiggins of Pas Kula is is
one of the conferees he says the
Senate’s plan is their only option for
passing a veto proof Bill while we’re
talking brass tax we have to realize
what the votes are and I think y’all
have done that by come by moving a
little bit because the Senate votes on
what some of the media have called an
austere program is what it is and we
have a veto proof vote right now so I
think that those are things that we have
to acknowledge that we’re trying to to
get to and then we’re having to deal
with in this um the numbers are going to
tend to be where they where they are so
I think yes getting back to where
working this out is a good thing but
there are people in this state who want
to see it fiscally responsible but we’ve
heard from preachers we’ve heard from
doctors we’ve heard from Mississippi I’m
sorry the State Medical Association
Mississippi manufacturers Association
the uh MEC we’ve heard from groups all
across this state who support us trying
to find a solution it’s not easy but I
think we’re trying to get there I think
this is a first step and we need to try
to work on this to get there during the
conference committee meeting Senators
offered no new proposals for Medicaid
expansion house lawmakers did offer one
whether Ernie’s cap would be in line
with the Senate’s plan it also would
create a subsidy program for people who
earn between 100 and
135% of the federal poverty level Senate
lawmakers shot that down however Senate
Medicaid committee chairman Kevin
Blackwell a republican from South Haven
says it’s significant the two Chambers
are talking what why I realize our
efforts here today may have not resulted
in a a compromise I think U I think at
least we’ve uh despite our differing uh
opinions uh have begun a dialogue uh
that’s has not occurred in this
building uh since uh the Affordable Care
Act was passed in
2010 uh so and despite it taking it so
long to get here I believe we’re moving
in the right direction and I for one
hope we
continue I view our situation as a
journey I think I can recall a Chinese
proverb that mean that says that every
Journey begins with a single step and in
The house’s case I think you guys want
to jump in a sports car and zoom right
to to expansion you know D damn the
roadblocks and get let’s get there those
of us in the center want to take sort of
a more slower approach to that I don’t I
don’t feel like we have been in a
Ferrari very long I think we have we
have been waiting 10 years so we believe
that the hardworking mississippians
don’t we don’t need off anymore here’s
the bottom line I going back to the uh
Journey both Chambers are off the porch
we’ve both taken steps forward something
that has not occurred and I don’t think
a lot of people would ever thought would
have occurred here if your position is
going to be your way or the highway and
no pun intended you’re going to put us
right back on the porch so what I’m
asking you to do is I’m encouraging you
to go back to to your side to your
members you know you sat in our uh
deliberation consider joining us in the
journey U the Senate wants we want to
move forward not backwards and I’m just
saying take a step with us in the years
to come we can continue to work on this
and refine it uh so we can provide
health care for our our hardworking
mississippians if this dies it’s G to be
harder next year for us to get here and
damn sure uh it’s not getting brought up
in the next two years lawmakers are
still far from reaching a deal on
Medicaid expansion but have agree to
another meeting although a date and time
hasn’t been set yet coming up nearly 4
and 10 people in the US live in counties
with unhealthy levels of air pollution
how do counties in Mississippi stack up
you’ll hear about that this is
Mississippi Edition on mpb think
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[Music]
this is Mississippi Edition on mpb think
radio I’m desire Frasier a new report
from the American Lung Association
measures the quality of air and how
pollution affects Health according to
the state of the air report air quality
across the country is improving since
the Clean Air ac past decades ago but
here in the Gulf South there’s still
work to be done the report looked at the
amount of ground level ozone and
particle pollution in the air throughout
the us while the Jackson metro area is
among the nation’s cleanest for ozone
pollution high levels of brown particle
pollution resulted in a failing grade
Danny MacArthur of the Gul States
Newsroom talks with Ashley LLY with the
American Lung Association about those
findings and what it means means for
overall Public Health in nationally um
just want to highlight that we we’re
really are seeing improvements in our
air quality Across the Nation um and in
even in individual State levels and I
think a lot of that is due to the
implementation of the Clean Air Act uh
federally but certainly we know that in
um States and you know certain Metro
areas we’re not seeing that you know
same Trend as across all categories of
of air pollution so for Jackson’s uh
metro area for their air quality this
year um we did see um that Jackson did
rank in the cleanest um across among the
nation for ozone um which is wonderful
um but then unfortunately we saw um for
year round particle pollution the daaka
metro area ranked 29th worst um which
was the sort of second worst in the
Southeast um and this is the sort of
same category that we saw the Jackson
metro area sort of rank in last year’s
report as well so I guess maybe talk a
little bit about what factors would kind
of lead to that kind of ranking we get
our data from the EPA which is quality
assured data and this report looks at a
three-year period so it’s 2020 2021 and
2022 and so for year round particle
pollution obviously um we’re looking at
you know regular emissions from Vehicles
we’re looking at emissions from chemical
plants other industrial factors so it’s
year round particle pollution is sort of
that day in and day out um exposure that
individuals might have and so um you
know we obviously know that there is
industry based in the metropolitan area
people are using their vehicles and um
obviously which are causing vehicle
emissions uh diesel trucks and other
cars heavy duty cars that are
contributing to um the unhealthy air
quality for year round particle
pollution in the Jackson area I guess
you maybe talk a little bit about what
role do you think some of the epa’s like
new standards for Park pollution could
have on air quality going forward the
long a you know for the many years um
have been advocating for stronger
standards and for the implementation of
the Clean Air Act and I think the
evolution of of air quality from the
1960s to where we are today certainly
has improved because of the
implementation of the clear Act and the
sort of um implementation of stronger
regulations um as it relates to you know
yearound particle pollution and even
really ozone that I know Lung
Association is we’re certainly
advocating for and so as as you
reference the EPA uh just recently um
implemented and released stronger
standards for year round particle
pollution and so we know that um we use
that evaluation that new ranking in this
year’s report and we know that that you
know impacts where people might fall as
it relates to a passing versus a failing
grade um but what we hope is those
stronger standards will result in better
air quality um because we have
restrictions that’ll be put in place for
certain um Industries and things so that
they won’t be able to emit as much uh
air plutons into the air and ultimately
impacting air quality and then I guess
what does it kind of tell you needs to
be done on a policy level to address
like both types of pollution ultimately
we were very excited to see that that
the EPA did you know in February release
a new standard for year round particle
pollution we strongly believe that we
need to have the same sort of um
stronger standard for ozone as well um
so that we begin to have ways to sort of
clean up our air pollution
also talk about like y’all had seen some
improvements in air quality um in some
places in the US and so like one of
those places I saw was like in Alabama
the Montgomery Metro Area what does that
tell you for like cities where they are
getting good grades I think certainly
for um air quality there are a lot of
things that play into Factor um
Topography is one location of the state
um what type of Industries you have in
your metro area um and then also where
your air quality monitors are um so you
know for just as an example for the
Jackson area you know C Jackson
Mississippi area you know there’s only
one air quality monitor um in in the
metro area so you know the the data and
the understanding of the air quality is
only so good as the actual monitors that
we have there the data to be able to
assess it given some of the Gulf South
demographics can you talk about what
groups are usually the mo most at risk
for air pollution and what can be done
it’s a great question I think certainly
um you know anyone that have lungs which
is most most humans are uh susceptible
to um you know breathing in unhealthy
air um it’s obviously depends on where
you’re located um how your air quality
is but we certainly know that um
exposure to unhealthy air can make you
susceptible to premature death um you
know we know that individuals who have
chronic diseases which are many in the
Southeast unfortunately um you know
those with lung disease or um heart
disease are certainly going to be more
susceptible to um having issues so we
see that um unhealthy air can lead to
asthma attacks it can lead to heart
attacks or stroke um and we certainly
know that particle pollution also um
exposed long-term exposure excuse me to
particle pollution can lead to lung
cancer are there kind of like any gaps
in data that you think needs to be
addressed by policy makers so the Lung
Association certainly we would advocate
for increased uh air quality monitors I
think investing in those monitors so
that we can fully um understand where we
are as it relates to to air quality I
think also you know just making sure
that there policies at the state level
to allow for um individuals to make that
transition to um energy efficient
vehicles energy efficient appliances um
and those sorts of things that we know
um ultimately will impact our our air
quality Ashley LLY is senior director of
advocacy at the American long
Association coming up a former
Mississippi politician is sharing
stories of his is time in the state
legislature through a documentary this
is Mississippi Edition on mpb think
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today at noon on mpb think
[Music]
radio this is Mississippi Edition on mpb
think radio I’m desire Frasier a former
Mississippi politician is sharing
stories of his experience in the state
legislature and the loss he faced at the
end of his final term in office it’s all
in a documentary airing today at the two
Miss Mississippi museums in Jackson the
short film is called Steve Holland Jesus
was a Democrat it’ll be screened at noon
with follow-up discussions our Kobe
Vance speaks with the film’s director
and producer Rex Jones Jones spent time
with Holland during his last few days in
office which happened to coincide with
the onset of covid-19 back in
2019 I was working on a film about the
Sun and Sand Motel there in downtown
Jackson which was in danger of being
destroyed somebody told me that I needed
to get in touch with Steve Holland
because he used to stay there a lot I
wasn’t familiar with Steve but I did get
in touch with him and really was
impressed with his wit his political
history his desire to serve the state of
Mississippi and Steve who is a walking
Encyclopedia of Mississippi political
history was able
to narrate that tour and draw from his
wealth of stories that he has about
staying at the Sun and San which was
Mississippi’s de facto legislative frat
house for decades there well we were
able to time that tour with the occasion
of Steve moving out of the capital after
36 years in the Mississippi legislature
and my thinking was what an an
opportunity to record 36 years nine
terms of Mississippi political history
walking out the door so that’s what we
did and of course I built out a short
film about Steve Holland Jesus was a
Democrat that’s really based around that
moving out of the capital there but
given all that had happened with Co
Steve losing his mother in that time
Steve being a southern Undertaker this
theme of loss sort of uh emerged as I
was putting the movie together and so it
it it’s really not very political at all
but it’s really about sort of Steve the
southern Undertaker this person who
wants to do good as a Civic servant what
he has done over the years his exit from
Civil Service there his political career
and then his return back to the funeral
home there so it’s sort of this cycle uh
of The Life and Times of Steve Holland
very effective politician for many years
and a revered Southern Undertaker in the
Lee County community in the context of
this documentary what does its title
mean Jesus was a Democrat the titles of
my films generally come from something
that someone has said in an interview in
the movie there and so that is the case
in this film also someone asked Steve
Holland one time why he was a Democrat
and he said it didn’t take him 5 Seconds
to answer answer uh he said it was
because he thought Jesus was a Democrat
and so that’s where the title of of of
the film comes from which is very
polarizing obviously my mother hates the
title uh I think it’s a wonderful title
uh so anyway I hope that doesn’t scare
anybody
off what was it like being able to sit
down with Steve Holland and be able to
talk about his life in the legislature
were there any stories that you took
away that affected you personally
I had three formal sitdown interviews
with Steve one about his personal life
one about his political career and one
all about his Service as a southern
Undertaker there in Lee County each of
these interviews lasted multiple hours
and there was just a a wealth of
Storytelling that I absorbed from him
and I guess the takeaway main takeaway
that I have from that experience and I
hope that people will have uh when
they’re watching the movie is that Steve
just has an overriding desire and all
aspects of his life to just generally do
good and be a good citizen be a good
person and so that is something that
affected me that I try to walk through
this world and be a blessing and not a
curse and it just reinforced that for me
and I hope that will uh also resonate
with other people no matter what their
political affiliation
as a documentarian what are you hoping
that people can take away from this
film well so I think I would like for
people to take away that no matter what
side of the aisle someone sits on
whether or not they’re a Republican or a
Democrat it’s very important I think in
these divisive times to be able to reach
across that aisle to be able to
empathize with what people of different
political beliefs might have there and
try to find that common ground and
instead of being a part of such a
divisive and polarized political climate
here I would hope that we could all come
together uh bu some idea of some shared
common good and lift all boats in a
rising tide Rex Jones is creator of the
short documentary Steve Holland Jesus
was a Democrat he and Steve Holland will
be at this week’s history is lunch that
that’s today at the two Mississippi
museums in Jackson at noon Rex thank you
so much for your time thank you very
much Kobe I really appreciate it this
has been Mississippi Edition