All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Politics
The Final Stretch: Budget Cuts, Tax Breaks and Bills Becoming Law
Late into Monday night, Mississippi lawmakers managed to pass a strained budget, a $415 million tax cut and $250 million in bonds before midnight to meet Monday's deadline for budget …
Civil Rights
Running Out of Venues to Change the State Flag
From ballot initiatives to rallies, the Mississippi state flag has gained a lot of attention lately in-state and then nationally following the shootings in Charleston, S.C., a debate exacerbated by …
Domestic Violence
Sine Death for Divorce, Campaign-finance Reform After Lawmakers Go Home Early
An abused Mississippi spouse still can't use domestic violence as grounds for divorce, and lawmakers can continue to spend campaign donations on mortgages, automobiles, clothing, tuition payments or non-documented loans …
State
Firing Squads Out, But ‘Spice’ Regs, Execution Secrecy, Planned Parenthood Limits Headed to Governor
The state’s one Planned Parenthood clinic will lose Medicaid reimbursements if Gov. Phil Bryant signs a bill headed to his desk.
Politics
State Treasurer Laments 'Missing $31 Million' in Coffers, Lt. Governor Says She's 'Wrong'
State Treasurer Lynn Fitch sent a letter to legislative leadership last Wednesday expressing concerns over the state's debt service, after the Legislature passed a bond bill in the final days …
Business
State Green Lights Uber, Overrides Local Control, Regulations
Uber has the green light to operate statewide, after a bill implementing statewide regulations soared through the Legislature this session largely uncontested.
Politics
The Curious Case of What the #MSLeg Passed, What It Didn’t
With their right to spend their campaign donations on mortgages, automobiles, clothing, tuition payments or non-documented loans still firmly in place, state lawmakers closed up shop early and skipped town …
Health Care
Mississippi's Premature Birth Rate Leading to High Infant Mortality, State Offers Solutions
Working to reduce the state's high infant mortality rate without addressing premature birth rates is a bit like putting the cart before the horse.
LGBT
Hundreds Rally to Repeal HB 1523, State Faces Deadline Today Before Lawsuit
Hundreds of protesters, from around Mississippi and even out of the state, marched alongside several state lawmakers from the Capitol to the governor's mansion on Sunday afternoon, waving flags and …
Politics
The Problems with a Supermajority
The 2016 session marked a turning point in the political landscape of the state. After a contested election resulted in the removal of former Rep. Bo Eaton, a Democrat from …
State
State's Foster Care System Awarded Surplus Funding; May Court Date Pushed Back
With surplus funding to comply with a 12-year-old lawsuit, the state's foster care system is on track to avoid federal receivership, and the state will not have to go to …
LGBT
ACLU Files First Lawsuit Against HB 1523: 'Separate But Unequal'
The ACLU has filed the first federal lawsuit contesting House Bill 1523. The lawsuit names the Mississippi State Registrar of Vital Records as the defendant because that state office would …
Justice
Due to HB 1523, Plaintiffs, Kaplan Seek to Reopen Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit
The Campaign for Southern Equality and Roberta Kaplan, the New York-based attorney who won same-sex marriage and adoption cases in Mississippi, have filed a motion to reopen the Campaign for …
Politics
Infant Mortality Prevention, Social Service Jobs on Budget Chop Block
Efforts to reduce the state's infant mortality rate—the highest in the country—will go on the chopping block if Gov. Phil Bryant signs the Legislature's version of the state budget into …
Politics
Legislative Summer School: All About Performance
The Mississippi Department of Corrections is ending a paramilitary inmate program due to a state law and legislative efforts to enforce performance-based budgeting for all state agencies.
Personhood
Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting Medicaid Reimbursements for Planned Parenthood
Gov. Phil Bryant signed Senate Bill 2238 on Tuesday, a law that blocks the state's Medicaid division from paying for "costs of care and services" at providers who also offer …
Politics
'We Are In Crisis': Mental Health Staff, Services Reducing Due to Budget Cuts
Overnight chemical-dependency services for men in Mississippi state hospitals will end as a result of budget cuts in fiscal-year 2017, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health said in a statement …
State
Testing Solar in Mississippi
Last spring, Entergy announced it would invest $4.5 million into three solar plants in Mississippi. Entergy mainly serves the western half of the state.
State
UPDATED: Foster-Care System Avoids Receivership ... For Now
The state's foster-care system has avoided federal receivership—for now. On Friday, May 13, Gov. Phil Bryant signed a law to officially separate the state's foster-care system from the Mississippi Department …
LGBT
Ride Against Fear: From Memphis to Jackson in Protest of HB 1523
Benjamin Morris is biking the length of the state of Mississippi in protest of House Bill 1523.
