For the remainder of the state, our Mississippi is a a lot totally different story.

The Mississippi described on this week’s State of the State will not be the Mississippi lived in by the overwhelming majority of our state’s households. It’s a fantasy — a legendary Mississippi that all of us want we lived in. A booming economic system; well-funded and high-performing colleges; accessible, high-quality healthcare; financial alternative for all; functioning infrastructure – it sounds fairly magical. 

And it’d as effectively have began with “as soon as upon a time.” 

As a lot as we’d prefer to imagine on this fairy story, for the remainder of us, our Mississippi is a a lot totally different story. For a lot of Mississippians, the fact is that our state isn’t working for us, it’s working towards us. And much too typically it appears like this place that we love a lot doesn’t love us again. What’s most irritating, although, is that not solely do state leaders refuse to acknowledge your issues and do their half to enhance your lives — they’re ignoring our state’s points outright, whereas telling us again and again simply how nice every part is. 

In keeping with the newest census, Mississippi was certainly one of solely three states that misplaced inhabitants over the past ten years — a decade that noticed Gov. Reeves working the state Senate for 2 phrases as lieutenant governor, the place he selected spending and slashing and what could be prioritized or ignored. However as we watched our children and grandkids flee, our colleagues and mates go away for greener pastures, we listened to state leaders — together with Tate Reeves — inform us that Mississippi was on fireplace, the state’s coffers had been filling up, and that mind drain was only a figment of our collective creativeness. 

This week, once more, we heard those self same refrains and the identical downplaying of the realities of life right here in our state.  

Since final yr’s State of the State handle, the healthcare disaster has reached a essential level. However whereas we now have sounded the alarm, Republicans have uncared for to increase postpartum Medicaid protection for brand spanking new mothers; refused to prioritize sending cash to rural hospitals; and continued to disregard the pleas of voters, advocates, coverage consultants, hospital leaders, and enterprise leaders to broaden Medicaid. We’ve been warned by the Division of Well being there’s a rising space of the state wherein there is no such thing as a hospital to ship a child and we’re navigating a extreme nursing scarcity. 

Thirty-eight rural hospitals are in peril of imminent closure — that’s 54% of Mississippi’s rural hospitals. Greater than 200,000 working Mississippians are with out healthcare. One in six girls of childbearing age is uninsured and 46,000 Mississippi youngsters are uninsured. The one neonatal intensive care unit within the Delta closed this yr, the place there may be one pediatrician for each 4,000 youngsters. We’re primary within the nation for infants born with low birthweight. We have now the nation’s highest fetal mortality price. Our preterm delivery price rose to fifteen% from 14.2% the yr prior. And simply in case anybody thought this was a problem that solely affected one portion of the state, it is best to know that preterm delivery charges worsened in Harrison County, Rankin County, Jackson County, and Madison County. 

This isn’t a Black drawback. This isn’t a white drawback. This can be a Mississippi drawback.

Sadly, the grim realities of this example don’t appear to have a lot of an impact on our Republican colleagues. In the meantime, whereas they proceed to insist there’s “extra to being pro-life than anti-abortion” the governor and the occasion he leads have solely made excuses for his or her inaction and obscure guarantees that we now have no motive to imagine they may ever ship on. 

However as an alternative of addressing the healthcare disaster collectively and exhibiting Mississippians that we perceive the seriousness of the state of affairs, up to now this session had solely been in regards to the typical pink meat rhetoric we’re handled to throughout an election yr. Not an answer in sight.

In keeping with the state economist, Medicaid enlargement would greater than pay for itself and create greater than 10,000 jobs yearly over a number of years. And that’s to say nothing of the roles it could save. Hospitals closing doesn’t simply imply Mississippians must journey additional to see a physician or get emergency care. It implies that Mississippians are shedding their jobs, as effectively.

The Republican plan can’t be to maintain telling us what our plan gained’t do. It’s time they inform us what their plan will do.

Gov. Reeves additionally continues to say that he’ll maintain preventing to eradicate the earnings tax. The income from the state earnings tax accounts for a 3rd of our basic fund — the portion of the price range that takes care of essentially the most primary providers you count on the federal government to deal with. Issues like schooling funding and cash for roads and bridges come from this portion of the price range. 

The governor instructed us once more this week that “Mississippi continues to be in the very best monetary form in its historical past.” And but, 30% of Mississippi youngsters reside in poverty. The Division of Psychological Well being’s workforce has decreased by almost 4,000 since 2009. State workers – the women and men who maintain our state working – are, on common, paid 1000’s of {dollars} lower than their counterparts in all of our surrounding states. Our state’s colleges have been underfunded by over $3 billion since 2007. Our long-neglected roadways proceed to price Mississippians, on common, $800 in car injury yearly. 

If Mississippi has by no means been in higher monetary form, how do you clarify what number of Mississippians are struggling to make ends meet? How are our colleges nonetheless struggling to supply the fundamentals for our college students? How did our capital metropolis go with out water for weeks this yr? How is our healthcare system on the point of whole collapse? 

The very fact is, it’s not a scarcity of obtainable funds that stops management from retaining its promise to the residents they pledged to serve; it’s a lack of curiosity. Slashing the price range and limiting authorities spending does, actually, come at a value. A human price. Democrats are sometimes criticized for simply desirous to throw cash at an issue, however that’s not what we’re doing right here. There must be a shift in the best way we take into consideration funding authorities providers. It’s not nearly spending cash. It’s about investing in Mississippi, in Mississippians – and in the way forward for our state. 

Home and Senate Democrats have lengthy supplied up concrete concepts and common sense options to maneuver Mississippi ahead. 12 months after yr, we’ve authored laws to handle the more and more harmful healthcare disaster, elevate the minimal wage, repair our state’s crumbling infrastructure, totally fund public schooling, make voting simpler and extra handy, enhance transparency in authorities, guarantee fairness in financial growth so that every one corners of our state have the chance to flourish, and now we’re working to revive the poll initiative. We additionally led the cost on growing trainer pay and a elevate for state workers yr after yr — and never simply when it was politically useful to take action.  This week’s speech, like most of what comes out of the governor’s mouth, was not reflective of what it’s like outdoors the gates of the Governor’s Mansion; it was yet one more audition to be somebody’s working mate.  He’s continued to not take his cues from what he’s listening to from you; however from what he is aware of will remind the producers at Fox Information that he’s at all times accessible for a reserving.

We want that we might associate with the fairytale spun in regards to the state of our state, however the fact is much extra sophisticated than everybody dwelling fortunately ever after. We have now actual work to do. The excellent news is, we all know methods to get began on making issues higher for all of us. 

Mississippians share extra values and ideas than not. We care about what occurs to our neighbors as a result of that’s simply who we’re. We would like our households to prosper and for our children to have a greater future and extra alternatives than we did. However actions converse louder than phrases, and evidently Tate Reeves solely needs you to imagine that he shares these values. 

Our state is in determined want of a pacesetter who sees all of that and governs based mostly on it — somebody who brings folks collectively, somebody who will acknowledge the issues we face and attempt to perceive the causes of them. We want a governor who has respect for his fellow Mississippian, somebody who will lead with honesty and empathy and compassion, and who could make the very best selections for everybody, not only a choose few. We want somebody who cannot solely hear folks however hearken to them. We want somebody who will get up each single morning and get to work on enhancing this state. 

Most of all, we want somebody with the center to face up and say, “Sufficient is sufficient, it’s time to make Mississippi a greater place. For everybody.” 

We are able to do higher. And if we wish our children and grandkids to have a preventing likelihood, we’re going to must.