THE
Daily
MISSISSIPPIAN theDMonline.com
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Volume 112, No. 23
Senate committee passes its Medicaid plan
DENTON JENKINS
thedmnews@gmail.com
The Mississippi Legislature’s Senate Medicaid Committee voted Wednesday to pass its version of a Medicaid expansion bill. The legislation will now head to a floor vote in the full Senate. The legislation is the Senate’s take on House Bill 1725, which passed in the House on Feb. 28 with broad bipartisan support. The Senate’s version
of the bill limits the House’s original Medicaid expansion coverage, while also increasing a much-contested work requirement for entry into the program. Under the rules of the Affordable Care Act, the Senate’s bill does not qualify as Medicaid expansion and will miss out on federal dollars as a result. The Senate allowed its original Medicaid expansion bill to expire on the floor on Thursday, March 14. The failed Senate bill, which consisted pri-
marily of regulatory procedures but not a concrete plan for expansion, was not brought to a vote. Instead, Senate leadership has proposed lengthy amendments to the bill’s counterpart from the House of Representatives. Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell, a Republican, told Mississippi Today that he was using a “strike-all clause” on the House’s bill that will allow him to enforce a work requirement clause already present within
the House bill’s original text. The work requirement would restrict Medicaid access to unemployed Mississippians. Republican Sen. Nicole Akins Boyd, who represents District 9, where Oxford is located, says she is pleased with the version of the bill that has made its way through the Senate. The content of the Senate’s new version of the bill had not been finalized at the time of interview.
SEE MEDICAID PAGE 3
PROBLEMS AT THE POLLS KHARLEY REDMON
thedmnews@gmail.com
SANJAY PATEL / THE DAILY MISSISSIPPIAN
Despite results from this year’s Associated Student Body elections being announced on Tuesday, March 26, with a runoff to take place today — Thursday, March 28 — the election was not without problems. Issues ranged from students struggling to cast votes, technical difficulties and one candidate being left off the ballot at the start of the morning. The ASB Department of Justice and Judicial Council have been conducting Elections Review Board hearings, ASB President Sara Austin Welch said. Title V Subtitle D Rule 7 Number 11 of the ASB Constitution and Code mandates that the results of such hearings be publicly disclosed after the completion of the election
Alex Kipping changes “for” to “is” after winning the attorney general election on March 26.
SEE POLLS PAGE 2
ASB senators elected, races for VP and president go to runoff NOAH WALTERS KHARLEY REDMON
thedmnews@gmail.com
The election for the top two Associated Student Body executive positions, president and vice president, will head into a runoff today. The results for other executive positions and most senate positions were announced Tuesday, March 26. The two candidates in the runoff for president are junior public policy leadership major Jackson Scruggs, who received 36.5% of the votes in Tuesday’s election, and Hannah Watts, also a junior public policy leadership major, who received 24.4% of the vote. “I am feeling very grateful going into the runoffs,” Watts said. “The community here at UM is unlike any other, so I am incredibly honored to be in this position.” Scruggs gave his perspective. “I’m just honored to even be in the runoff to begin with,” Scruggs said. “I feel confident that whoever wins tomorrow will be able to properly lead
this campus in the right direction.” The candidates for the vice president runoff are sophomore economics major Jack Jones, who received 37.1% of Tuesday’s votes, and junior international studies major Jacks Mitchell, who received 25.83% of the votes cast. “I saw that I was in the runoff, and I was obviously very relieved,” Mitchell said. “... I was like, okay, so there’s a lot more work to be done.” Mitchell is currently studying abroad in Malta, an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, and he thanked his team for running his campaign. “(Running) from a different continent has been very difficult, but I’m very grateful for my team,” Mitchell said. “They have been amazing at tabling every single day, giving me updates, printing out stickers when I need it.” Jones said he feels confident. “I think we have put a great team together and have put in a whole lot of work,” Jones said. “I think the results tomorrow will reflect that.” The other three races for executive positions — treasurer, secretary and
attorney general — were decisive. Junior accounting major Eva Reynolds will serve as next year’s treasurer. In the secretary race, Braxton Dagg, a sophomore integrated marketing communications major, won. Alex Kipping, a junior public policy leadership major, won the race for attorney general. “I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the student body as secretary. I cannot wait to serve every single student on this campus,” Dagg said. “I’m looking forward to getting the ball rolling with expanding our community service and connecting with students from all paths of life and making sure that change is happening within ASB for the better.” Reynolds echoed Dagg’s sentiment. “I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” Reynolds said. “I really worked hard for this, and I’m so excited for what’s to come. This has been amazing.” In addition to executive positions, all 50 senate seats were up for election. Caleb Ball, a junior political science major, retained his position as a College of Liberal Arts senator.
“I’m really excited,” Ball said. “In the past, there have been elections where I haven’t been contested. This year, you know, going into it, we knew that I was going to be running against people, and there’s going to be someone that didn’t win that category. I didn’t want to be confident; I wanted to make sure I was still campaigning and reaching out to people, and we did that, and I’m really excited about it.” Now that Ball has seen his hard work pay off, he has his sights set on how he can continue the work he has begun. “There is a rollback on (diversity, equity and inclusion) on campus, and I want to make sure that on our campus we are continuing to be an inclusive space and university for all communities and backgrounds,” Ball said. Senior class officers were also announced last night on ASB’s Instagram. Jack Walker, a senior public policy leadership major, was elected president, Phoebe Gremaud, a senior engineering major, was elected vice president and Kam Holt, a senior forensic chemistry major, was elected secretary and treasurer.