OurTupelo

A statewide program to help adults who have completed some university courses but never graduated was around for almost nine years before its funding ended in 2025. 

Now the program, Complete 2 Compete, is getting a second life. 

The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees voted in January to revamp the program under a new name and a decentralized structure. Some of the state’s eight public universities will develop and operate their own versions of what’s now known as the Adult Degree Completion program. 

Now, they will develop their own college completion program requirements and curriculum, and recruit eligible students. Adults who complete the program will earn a bachelor’s degree. 

The program’s revival comes at a moment when Mississippi lawmakers and some colleges across the state are discussing ways to increase the number of residents who get a degree or credential before entering the state’s workforce. About 12% of Mississippi residents have some college experience but no degree.

Complete 2 Compete helped 4,119 adult learners complete their degree, Melissa Temple, IHL director of nursing education, told trustees.  

Supporting degree completion

Complete 2 Compete launched in 2017 as a partnership between IHL and the state’s community college board. It focused on encouraging Mississippi adults to complete higher education. Participants had been out of college for at least two years without earning a degree or credential or had earned at least 90 credit hours. 

The program also linked adults with college or university career coaches for help identifying the best path and academic courses for an associate or bachelor’s degree.

Complete 2 Compete received an initial $3.5 million from the Mississippi Department of Human Services, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The funding covered $500 grants for eligible students at the beginning of each semester to help cover tuition, supplies and prior student loan debt. That grant amount increased to $1,000 a semester in 2018. 

A $1.3 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded the program until 2023, IHL spokesperson John Sewell said. Then in fall of 2024, community colleges withdrew from the program, leaving only the state’s public universities as participants, he said. 

Quality over quantity

The university studies program classes are primarily offered online to help adults fit school into their lives, said Lisa Rieger, associate director of pre-professional and exploratory programs at the University of Southern Mississippi, which runs a Complete 2 Compete program.  

“Students returning to school have many challenges to overcome — accessing new university technological systems, navigating academic policies and deadlines that differ from their prior enrollment, ensuring prior coursework is applied to a degree,” Rieger said. 

Earning a bachelor’s degree is also a point of pride for students, Rieger said. 

The degree “opens the door for promotion and new pathways for many individuals, while others are thrilled to have attained a personal goal.” 

College degree completion programs are good for society, said Josh Wyner, a vice president at the Aspen Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank and research organization, and founder of its higher education reform initiative, the College Excellence Program. But not every degree has equal value or can help students land a job and earn a living wage, he said. 

Fifty-two percent of recent bachelor’s degree holders are underemployed a year after graduation, meaning they’re working a job that doesn’t require the degree, according to a 2024 report from The Burning Glass Institute and Strada Institute for the Future of Work, which both conduct workforce research. And nearly half of graduates are still underemployed a decade after college, the report said. 

“When we’re bringing students back (to school), we need to ask ourselves not just how do we get them to a degree, but how do we get them to a degree of value,” Wyner said. “A degree that is actually needed in the labor markets and will help them get ahead in life, help them earn a decent living with benefits.” 

The most successful programs are those that help students identify their courses and align them with potential job options, Wyner said.

Editor’s note: The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a current funder of Mississippi Today. Donors to Mississippi Today have no influence or control over editorial decisions.

State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney is among the contenders to head the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Washington Post reported Sunday. 

The deadline to appoint a new director of the nation’s top public health agency is fast approaching, with the acting director’s position expiring Thursday unless the White House submits a formal nominee for the role. 

The Trump administration is seriously considering about half a dozen people as its nominee for the position, including former Kentucky Republican governor Dr. Ernie Fletcher and Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Joseph Marine, according to the Washington Post. Selection for the role requires Senate approval, a change that was implemented in 2025. 

Edney has served as Mississippi’s state health officer since August 2022. He replaced former State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. Edney previously served as the state agency’s deputy state health officer and chief medical officer and worked closely with Dobbs on the department’s COVID-19 response. 

He is also a former president of the Mississippi State Medical Association and former board member of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure. He was in private practice in Vicksburg for over 30 years, and is a board-certified general internist with a subspecialty board certification in addiction medicine.

Edney declined to comment on his nomination for the role. 

During his tenure at the Mississippi State Department of Health, the agency has seen some improvements in public health, rising to 48th in one national ranking of 99 health measures released annually by United Health Foundation. 

“The health of our population is not great, but it’s better than it was,” Edney said at a press conference Jan. 21 celebrating Mississippi’s improved state health ranking. 

Mississippi has one of the highest rates of preventable diseases in the country, including heart disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes. These conditions disproportionately affect Black Mississippians. 

Edney has long been a vocal advocate for evidence-based policy and vaccination, particularly as childhood vaccination rates in Mississippi have declined following a 2023 federal court ruling that allowed parents to opt out of vaccinating their children on religious grounds.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, replaced the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel with a cohort of handpicked appointees and overhauled the childhood immunization schedule.

On March 16, a federal judge halted the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the number of vaccines recommended for children. 

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has served as acting director of the agency since February, during the search for a new director. 

President Donald J. Trump dismissed former CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez, a microbiologist and immunologist, in August, about a month after she was confirmed. She testified the following month that she was ousted because she resisted Kennedy’s orders to fire top scientists at the agency or pre-approve vaccine recommendations.

The agency can only be led by an acting director for 210 days unless a nomination for the role is submitted to pause the clock. 

Edney’s time as state health officer has been marked by progress and controversy. 

During his tenure, Mississippi’s rates of syphilis and congenital syphilis — which began rising rapidly in 2018 — have fallen. 

He has also worked to launch an obstetric system of care, promoted as a solution to the state’s persistently high rates of infant and maternal mortality, among the highest in the nation. In August, the health department declared a public health emergency over the state’s rising infant mortality rate. 

At the same time, his leadership also drew scrutiny after he removed the directors of about a dozen preventive health programs from their posts last year with little public explanation. Those changes affected programs focused on chronic disease prevention, diabetes, cardiovascular health, cancer, school health, tobacco control, injury and violence prevention, heart disease and stroke prevention and oral health.

If Edney is confirmed as head of the CDC and steps down from his role as state health officer, his successor would be appointed by the 11-member Board of Health, whose members are selected by the governor. Two seats are currently vacant.

The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers describe as the “first of its kind in the nation” amid rising national concern about betting on collegiate sports.

The center was approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was conceived to study the “heightened risks” for college students and student athletes caused by the rapid growth of legalized sports betting and online gambling, its founders said. Researchers said the center will now begin hiring staff.

IHL’s approval of the center follows the release of survey results by University of Mississippi researchers showing that 39% of Mississippi college students gambled in a variety of formats in the past year. Of those who engaged in sports betting, 6% of Mississippi college students met criteria for problem gambling as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.

“We really think that this is an issue that affects Mississippi at large,” Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university’s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, said in a news release. “And so, we’re trying to work with our legislators as they debate policy change around gambling in the state.”

Commercial sports betting was effectively banned with a few exceptions until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 1992 prohibition. Mississippi allows sports betting now, but only inside casinos.

After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision, sports gambling companies launched a full-court press lobbying campaign to bring sports betting to tens of millions of mobile phones around the country, an effort reported to be the fastest expansion of legalized gambling in American history. The companies have poured money into lobbying state legislators, including those in Mississippi.

But Mississippi has remained one of the few holdout states, largely due to fears that legalization could harm the bottom line of the state’s casinos and increase the prevalence of gambling addiction. That hasn’t stopped a thriving black market from taking hold in the state.

In 2024, illegal online betting in Mississippi made up about 5% of the national illegal market, which is about $3 billion in illegal bets in Mississippi, proponents said that year. Supporters of legalization say people will place online sports wagers regardless of whether the practice is legal, so the state should regulate and tax it.

The state House has voted, for the third year in a row, to legalize mobile sports betting during the ongoing 2026 legislative session. But Senate leaders have said they plan to let the measure die again.

Nevertheless, college campuses have become hubs of activity for sports betting and, increasingly, gambling addiction. This has prompted calls for research into mobile sports betting’s growth and impact on young adults. The new center will aim to produce such research, which its founders say is lacking without a national research center in the U.S. dedicated solely to the study of collegiate gambling.

The academic research will focus on college student gambling behaviors ranging from card games to proposition betting and prediction markets. The center will also promote “evidence-based policies and programs to prevent harm,” including training counselors to help students struggling with gambling.

Eight University of Mississippi counselors have already received the certification to better equip them to identify gambling addiction in students, the researchers said.

The rise of collegiate gambling has also led to increased threats directed at athletes, whose performance is now closely tracked by gamblers.

“In a state like Mississippi where we don’t have a lot of professional sports teams, college sports are such a big part of our culture, and a large part of our state population follows and cares about college sports,” Allen-King said. “We’ve seen that it can impact the mental health of student-athletes who are getting threatened and harassed because people are losing money because of their performance during games.

Daniel Durkin, an associate professor of social work who is also one of the center’s founding members, said raising awareness of sports gambling’s prevalence on college campuses will be a central goal.

“Part of the issue right now is everybody’s just having a good time,” Durkin said. “Look at the ads; gambling’s fun. Everybody’s doing it. The seriousness of the issues has not really come to the forefront yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday sounded skeptical of state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a persistent target of President Donald Trump.

The court heard arguments in a case from Mississippi that also could affect voters in 13 other states and the District of Columbia, which have grace periods for ballots cast by mail. An additional 15 states that have more forgiving deadlines for ballots from military and overseas voters also could be impacted.

A ruling is expected by late June, early enough to govern the counting of ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

The court challenge is part of Trump’s broader attack on most mail balloting, which he has said breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states.

Several conservative justices gave voice to some of Trump’s complaints. Justice Samuel Alito wondered about the appearance of fraud in situations where “a big stash of ballots” that arrive late “radically flipped” an election.

Defending the state law, Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart pointed out that the Trump administration and its allies in the case have yet to submit a single case of fraud due to late-arriving mail ballots.

The court’s liberal justices indicated they would uphold state laws with post-Election Day deadlines.

“The people who should decide this issue are not the courts, but Congress, the states and Congress,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

Forcing states to change their practices just a few months before the election risks “confusion and disenfranchisement,” especially in places that have had relaxed deadlines for years, state and big-city election officials told the court in a written filing.

California, Texas, New York and Illinois are among the states with post-Election Day deadlines. Alaska, with its vast distances and often unpredictable weather, also counts late-arriving ballots.

Lawyers for the Republican and Libertarian parties, as well as Trump’s administration, are asking the justices to affirm an appellate ruling that struck down a Mississippi law allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day.

Justices worried over the slippery-slope problems that could arise no matter who wins the case.

Ballots could be received until the start of the next Congress, two months after the election, Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested.

On the other side, Justice Elena Kagan said the logic of the challenge to late-arriving ballots also would be used to rule out early voting and absentee ballots.

Limits on early-voting also seemed to bother Chief Justice John Roberts, who seemed the conservative member of the court most likely to side with Mississippi.

The court also grappled with whether state laws allowing for late-arriving ballots from military and overseas ballots could survive.

Last year, Trump signed an executive order on elections that aims to require votes to be “cast and received” by Election Day. The order has been blocked in pending court challenges.

At the same time, four Republican-dominated states — Ohio, Kansas, North Dakota and Utah — eliminated grace periods last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and Voting Rights Lab.

The issue at the Supreme Court is whether federal law sets a single Election Day that requires ballots to be both cast by voters and received by state officials.

In striking down Mississippi’s grace period, Judge Andrew Oldham of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the state law allowing the late-arriving ballots to be counted violated federal law.

Oldham and the other two judges who joined the unanimous ruling, James Ho and Stuart Kyle Duncan, all were appointed by Trump during his first term.

Update, 3/23/2026: This story has been updated with additional details.

Most sane people who have witnessed the way the Mississippi Legislature sets a final state budget – all willy-nilly in a flurry of last minute haggling late of a Saturday night – have come away thinking there has to be a better way.

House Speaker Jason White is one of those. A veteran House lawmaker, when he became speaker in 2024, he vowed to end the college-student-who-put-off-writing-a-paper method of setting most of a multi-billion dollar state budget late on a Saturday night. Last year, he put that into action, with House leaders going home for the week and declining to parlay on “conference weekend.”

But things had already gone off the rails before then, when the Senate accidentally agreed to a sea-change tax policy bill because of typos in their offer. Instead of allowing the Senate to fix its error – as is custom – the House adopted the typo tax bill and sent it to the governor, who signed it into law.

The House and Senate GOP leadership were so sideways with each other they ended the session without setting a budget. The governor used one of his few powers over the legislative branch, and called them back into special session. A governor cannot control what lawmakers pass in a special session, but he sets the agenda on what they can consider.

House and Senate leaders have been pretty sideways with each other this session on most major issues. That has most people at the Capitol, including many lawmakers, wondering, first, if there will be a true conference weekend this coming Saturday and Sunday and, second, whether the Legislature will again cede some of its budget-setting power to the governor this year.

This brings up a legislative conundrum: Scurrying at the last moment to set a budget can be a bad way to do things, and mistakes happen. On the other hand, legislatures require deadlines to ever get anything done, else the 174 elected A-type personalities would keep debating ad infinitum. Also, legislatures typically don’t like handing any of their power over to a governor.

Here’s a refresher on how budget setting went last year:

House gives Senate 5 p.m. deadline to come to table, or legislative session ends with no state budget

Legislative session crashes, budget dies over feuding between GOP House, Senate leaders

Mississippi lawmakers end 2025 session unable to agree (or even meet about) state budget

Tempers flare, ‘Demon chipmunk’ reads bills as Mississippi lawmakers try to pass a belated state budget

Gov. Reeves will call special session next week to pass state budget

House passes bill that threatens Mississippi’s Medicaid funding, then skedaddles, leaves Senate holding bag

Quote of the Week

“Is that even legal?” – Rep. Dan Eubanks

“It’s not illegal.” – Rep. Lee Yancey

This was an exchange on the House floor between the two lawmakers over a bill that would allow people outside of Mississippi to be certified by a Mississippi physician to use medical marijuana.

In Brief

State’s credit outlook improved from negative to stable

S&P Global Ratings has moved Mississippi’s outlook from negative to stable, a move that can help the state and taxpayers with better rates when borrowing money.

The agency had lowered Mississippi’s outlook to negative in 2024, citing concerns about weak state economic trends, continuing tax cuts the state’s government pension plan.

S&P’s new outlook cites the state’s “commitment to structural budget balance and maintenance of healthy reserves … despite modest revenue decline from recent tax reductions and generally slower economic growth compared with that of the U.S.” It also cites pension plan changes lawmakers made last year that it said should help stabilize the system. – Geoff Pender

Wiggins wants to revive civics ed proposal

Before the legislative session ends, Sen. Brice Wiggins wants to reup his proposal to require civics education in high school.

SB 2292 would have required high schoolers to complete a civics class before being able to graduate,  but it was never taken up by the House Education Committee.

Though no bill has been altered yet, Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, said that “options exist” to revive the proposal and he’s looking into doing so. – Devna Bose

Prison health measure in negotiation

The House has invited further negotiation on legislation introduced for a second year by Rep. Justis Gibbs, a Democrat from Jackson, that would ensure that if prisoners are forced to use strong cleaning chemicals, prison officials must provide them with protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, protective helmets and eye protection.

The measure is a response to the case of Susan Balfour, who died of breast cancer after she said prison health care providers failed to offer her necessary medical screenings and treatment.

Last year, the measure died in negotiations with the Senate. The Senate has been reluctant to advance proposals to improve prison health care in Mississippi. The House bill came out of the House Corrections Committee with the support of Republican Chairwoman Becky Currie, who has vowed to continue pushing to pass a slate of prison health care reforms before the legislative sessions concludes. – Michael Goldberg

Ice storm aid bills considered

House and Senate bills to defray the costs of repairs from the damage of the recent winter storm are headed to final negotiations.

Both HB 4069 and SB 3229 would allow the state to borrow money to loan to Entergy and other electric providers to help with the cost of repairs from the recent winter storm.

The bills are similar to one that was passed to assist after Hurricane Katrina. Legislators have said that this would prevent providers from passing along the costs to customers. They estimate costs to Entergy alone will be around $200 million. – Katherine Lin

Diaper tax break added to ag bill

The House last week passed an amendment to exempt diapers from sales taxes to a bill that would provide an exemption for some agricultural and logging equipment.

The Senate has invited more debate on the issue.

Rep. Dana McLean, a Republican from Columbus, successfully offered the amendment for the tax break on diapers. She said that when lawmakers passed a ban on abortions, they vowed to help mothers and babies, “and that includes what we can do in terms of tax exemptions to help take care of children.” – Katherine Lin

By the Numbers

$390 million

Amount of annual budget increase the Mississippi Division of Medicaid is asking lawmakers for, after federal COVID-19 dollars for the agency have dried up.

More Legislative Coverage

Senate revives PERS proposals. Plan would pump $1B into retirement system

Senate proposals that would put more than $1 billion into Mississippi’s government pension system are back in play after being killed by the House earlier this legislative session. Read the story.

Lawmakers in Mississippi consider bill to restrict abortion medication

House lawmakers are deliberating sending a bill to Gov. Tate Reeves that would make it illegal for doctors to prescribe medication that could be used to induce abortion to patients in Mississippi. Read the story.

Mississippi Medicaid asks legislators to boost budget after COVID-19 funds run out

Lawmakers have been stunned by the agency’s request for a significant increase from last year and baffled by budget requests made by the agency and governor’s office, which differ by tens of millions of dollars. Read the story.

We are in the midst of a seismic shift in wealth. This phenomenon, often referred to as the “Great Wealth Transfer,” describes the unprecedented movement of assets from the Baby Boomer generation to their heirs – an estimated $105 trillion by 2048. And women are poised to inherit most of this.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management’s 2025 Investor Study found that women are not only set to receive significant wealth – they’re actively working to build it on their own. Ninety-three percent of women surveyed who are expecting an inheritance aren’t relying on it to reach their goals.

Here are a few tips for women to consider in their wealth-building journey.

Create a financial roadmap

A detailed, well thought out plan is important. J.P. Morgan’s study found that 90% of those surveyed with a plan feel confident about reaching their financial goals, compared to 49% without one.

Your plan should reflect your unique goals, priorities and circumstances. Consider your investment horizon and risk tolerance, and remember to revisit your plan regularly as life evolves.

Are you saving up for goals like buying a house, sending your kids off to college or retiring early? Where do you want to be in the next five, ten or twenty years? Everyone’s financial situation is unique, so it’s important to think about these questions and build a plan that is unique to your life.

Women tend to live longer than men on average. Many take career breaks or care for family members, which can influence long-term planning. It’s important to adjust your strategy with these factors in mind.

Where to start with investing

Don’t let misconceptions hold you back. Starting to invest doesn’t require a large sum, and beginning early can be beneficial. The earlier you start, the more time your money has to potentially grow over the years. Understand your overall financial situation, set clear goals and develop a long-term plan.

It’s important to also make sure you’re covered for unexpected expenses that come up before you start to invest. Build up a cash emergency fund, typically enough to cover three to six months of expenses, and pay down any high-interest debt.

Taking charge of your finances

The good news is that women are taking charge of their finances. J.P. Morgan’s research found that 75% of women respondents make financial decisions with their partner or take the lead themselves. For those who have a spouse or partner, it’s important for each person in the relationship to play an active role in the process.

Building wealth can be empowering for many women. The same survey found that 73% of women respondents said money gives them “security,” while 64% of Gen Z and Millennial women associated it with “freedom.”

The power of having a team

Some people find it helpful to work with a financial advisor, so you don’t have to tackle things alone. An advisor can help you craft a plan tailored to your needs and keep you on track throughout your lifelong financial journey. If you expect to receive an inheritance, you should also consult with estate planning and tax professionals.

No matter where you are on your wealth-building path, education is key. It’s so important to be an informed investor, and there are plenty of resources out there to help. You can find a library of free educational resources at chase.com/theknow.

As the landscape of wealth continues to evolve, women have a unique opportunity to shape their financial futures and those of generations to come. By staying informed and planning ahead, women have the tools to help them confidently navigate the Great Wealth Transfer and set themselves up for financial freedom.

The views, opinions, estimates and strategies expressed herein constitutes the author’s judgment based on current market conditions and are subject to change without notice, and may differ from those expressed by other areas of J.P. Morgan. This information in no way constitutes J.P. Morgan Research and should not be treated as such. You should carefully consider your needs and objectives before making any decisions. For additional guidance on how this information should be applied to your situation, you should consult your advisor.  

JPMorgan Chase & Co., its affiliates, and employees do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any financial transaction.  

Investing involves market risk, including possible loss of principal, and there is no guarantee that investment objectives will be achieved. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. 

Diversification and asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against loss. 

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is a business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., which offers investment products and services through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS), a registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC.  

MINNEAPOLIS — Amaya Battle hit a tiebreaking jump shot with less than a second left, lifting Minnesota past Mississippi 65-63 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 21 years.

Battle, who finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, took the inbound pass near the paint and dribbled out along the baseline for more space before swishing the winner and landing on her back.

The No. 4 seed Gophers (24-8) swarmed their senior point guard in a frenzied celebration, before regrouping for the final possession. Tianna Thompson’s 3-point try for the No. 5 seed Rebels (24-12) from the top of the key on the other end hit the front of the rim and fell short.

Mara Braun scored 17 points for the Gophers, including the tying 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining before helping force a shot-clock violation by the Rebels on the ensuing possession. Sophie Hart, who added 10 points, gave the Gophers their first lead since early in the third quarter with a determined drop-step to the basket for a short bank shot with 18 seconds left.

Latasha Lattimore answered Hart with the tying layup with 3 seconds remaining, before Battle sent the Gophers to Sacramento, California, to face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 8 seed Oklahoma State.

Cotie McMahon fouled out for Mississippi with 4:22 left with 15 points, putting the senior transfer and leading scorer on the bench for the crucial final stretch, as the Rebels went the next 3:41 without scoring.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The U.S. Supreme Court could soon end Mississippi’s practice of counting mail-in absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day, a decision that could have a ripple effect nationwide and sow confusion for November’s midterm elections. 

The high court will listen to oral arguments on Monday to determine whether a Mississippi law that allows election workers to process mail-in absentee ballots for up to five days after the election, as long as the ballots are postmarked by Election Day, conflicts with federal law. 

Mississippi is among 18 states and the District of Columbia that accept mailed ballots received after Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The state Legislature enacted a law in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to give voters a grace period for mailing their ballots. 

In 2024, the Mississippi Republican Party, the Republican National Committee, a Mississippi voter and a county election official filed the federal lawsuit challenging the five-day window.  The state Libertarian Party filed a similar lawsuit a few weeks later, which was combined with the first suit. 

The parties argued that the state law conflicted with the federal law setting the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the “election day.”

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr., a George W. Bush-appointed judge, initially ruled last year in Gulfport that there was no conflict between the state and federal laws.

“Congress set a national election day to avoid the ‘evils’ of burdening citizens with multiple election days and of risking undue influence upon voters in one state from the announced tallies in states voting earlier,” Guirola wrote. “Neither of those concerns is raised by allowing a reasonable interval for ballots cast and postmarked by election day to arrive by mail.”  

But a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed him, and the full court declined to rehear the case. 

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office is defending Secretary of State Michael Watson in court and has argued that the five-day window after Election Day does not provide additional days for voters to cast a ballot. Rather, it’s simply an extra cushion for election workers to count the ballots. 

“Under federal law, election day is the day for voters to conclusively choose federal officers. Voters make that conclusive choice by casting — marking and submitting — their ballots by election day,” Fitch’s office wrote in court papers. 

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the spring. If it rules in favor of the political parties, it would essentially invalidate the states that have a mail-in grace period law on the books.

The Mississippi Legislature passed a so-called “trigger” bill this year that would abolish the five-day grace period if the court rules against the state. The governor has until Monday to sign the bill into law or veto it. 

As Republicans surged to take control of  state government in the 1990s and 2000s, no two Democratic Mississippi politicians were more despised by members of the upstart party than Ronnie Musgrove and Billy McCoy.

McCoy served from 2004 until 2012 as the last Democratic speaker of the Mississippi House while Musgrove served from 1996 until 2000 as the state’s last Democratic lieutenant governor and from 2000 until 2004 as Mississippi’s last Democratic governor.

They also served together in the Mississippi Legislature – for a time with Musgrove as chair of the Senate Education Committee and McCoy as head of House Education.

In more recent times, observers of the Mississippi Legislature have been perplexed with the ongoing feud that seems to be occurring between the Republican leadership of the House and Senate. That tension appears particularly intense between Senate Education Chair Dennis DeBar of Leakesville and his House counterpart, Rob Roberson of Starkville.

After the Senate Education Committee killed a House bill that, among other things, would send public funds to private schools, some school choice supporters, including House Speaker Jason White, either faked outrage or were unfamiliar with what is often part of the legislative process – bills routinely being killed.

But at any rate, after the Senate Education Committee by a vote of the members, not solely on the action of DeBar, killed the school choice proposal, Roberson killed all the Senate Education bills.

The actions were just the latest of the ongoing tensions between House and Senate Republicans. How could fellow Republicans be at such odds with each other?

“All things old are new again.”

In the 1995 session, as Education Committee chair, McCoy killed a Senate bill that was especially important to Musgrove.

The massive bill proposed a number of things, including beginning the process of the state moving to a new funding formula – the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. When eventually enacted in 1997, the formula was credited by education experts as helping Mississippi avoid losing a costly school equity funding lawsuit such as those other states had faced. In addition, among other important items, the bill in 1995 would have provided an annual $6,000 salary supplement for teachers earning master certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

McCoy ultimately supported most of the items in the bill. And like Musgrove, McCoy played a key role in their ultimate passage into law.

But for whatever reason, perhaps because of the number of issues rolled up in the one bill, McCoy, a strong-willed Prentiss County farmer, killed the legislation in the 1995 session.

Musgrove, also from north Mississippi – a Panola County attorney and also strong-willed – was not happy. He killed the House education bills.

“I thought it was important he understood the Senate also should have a voice in the process,” Musgrove, now an Oxford resident, recalled recently.

And what eventually happened? Like with all legislative sessions, accommodations and compromises were made to ensure the bills needing to be passed to keep the public schools open were passed. Legislative rules were suspended and key bills were revived.

The Mississippi Adequate Education Program was not passed that year. But it became law two years later and McCoy, like Musgrove and others, played a key role in its passage.

Despite that 1995 disagreement and many others, McCoy and Musgrove worked together to enact major changes besides MAEP, including historic teacher pay raises, the humane air-conditioning of public school classrooms, the enactment of a 1-cent sales tax dedicated to education, the inclusion of teachers on the state employee insurance program and many others.

The former governor recalls a negotiation with McCoy where he proposed taking a portion of the 1-cent sales tax and providing teachers an annual allocation to buy classroom supplies.

“He said, ‘Musgrove, that is the best idea you have had,’” Musgrove remembered.

McCoy died in 2019.

Musgrove said while he and McCoy butted heads, they both cared deeply about public education and never lost respect for each other, though they often cursed each other and killed each other’s bills.

Sometimes, that is just part of the legislative process.