Senator Jeremy England

Today, I joined Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann for a tour of Vancleave High School - which is a very impressive school. The excellent staff and engaged PTO members we visited with are clearly the reason they are having great success. We also sat for a while with Superintendent David Baggett to discuss Career Technical Education (CTE) at Jackson County School District. The future is extremely bright here in Jackson County, at all of our schools.

I’m looking forward to joining Paul Gallo in SuperTalk Mississippi at 7:35am.

If you missed my segment on WLOX News This Week with my friend, Dave Elliott, you can watch by clicking this link.

State officials lobbying for election reform State Senator Jeremy England has been lobbying for reform in our state.

We are very fortunate to have amazing first responders and Emergency Management personnel in our community. I flew in from a legislative conference late this evening, and the smell of smoke was still very strong on my way home. The pictures I’ve seen of this massive fire are terrifying - and I can only imagine what my friends and neighbors were feeling. Please join me in saying a prayer for continued protection over the homes, and let’s also say a prayer of thanks that no homes were destroyed (per latest reports) and nobody was harmed. And as always, please join me in praying for our incredible First Responders.

I’m looking forward to learning about changes and developments in elections from across America this morning at the NCSL Summit in Louisville, KY.

Good post here to share.

My take: I am certain that the religious imagery and mockery during the opening ceremony of the Olympics was done on purpose. But even accepting the "excuse" as real - that this was some homage to a Greek festival, it was still disgusting behavior. And again, if the "best case" is assumed - and this was all just a misunderstanding, shouldn't a better response be expected? I ask, because anytime the right is misunderstood, an apology for creating the misunderstanding is demanded - and then the person creating the misunderstanding (and not meaning to offend) is still expected to attend training on diversity, understanding and tolerance. But not here. Here, the message is: "stupid narcissistic Christians, stop embarrassing yourselves and learn Greek mythology." That's a big no thanks from me. I never cared for the false gods or their meaning. If you want to know about the one true God, you have an open invitation to come to church with me.

I also will say that the vast majority of those sharing "the Greek excuse" and acting like people are too easily offended were the EXACT SAME PEOPLE that were ready to see Harrison Butker, PK for the Kansas City Chiefs, fired. Why? Because he had the audacity to speak about Biblical Marriage while addressing graduates at a Christian College. You don't get to act out about that and then pretend like I am being unreasonable for this OBVIOUS affront to Christianity by the Olympic Committee and leaders at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

That's all from me on this. I will not be watching any of the games this year because of this. Congrats, Paris 2024. You got outrage. Mission accomplished. Olympic Games ruined for at least one family.

Good news, everybody!
Your academic betters want you to know the Last Supper motif wasn’t the sole purpose of the Olympic vignette…just a happy by-product intended to be provocative and controversial.

It wasn’t only a pose to reflect religious art (art reflecting a sacred and significant moment in Christendom)—which it absolutely was and did—it was ALSO depicting a bacchanalia festival. Whew.

In other words, take a breath zealots and prudes. It’s not offensive at all.

Bacchanalia is a pagan festival marked by drunkenness, debauchery, and ecstasy. An o**y of excess, sexual extremes, and violent rite and initiation by both sexes AND for all ages.
Hence the child present.

And the blue guy? You may or not have seen? Dionysus—the god of drunkenness, pleasure, fertility…religious ecstasy and ritual madness. The song he sang was about nudity and why everyone should be naked.

Which is so funny because in some of the stills you can see a guy’s te**is (singular).
Also, where a child is still present.

Don’t we all feel better now? Everything is fine. Return to whatever event is already in progress now that we know this couldn’t possibly have been in poor taste (because it’s art and stuff🙄).

But here’s the thing—this was the goal. To offend, enrage, and alienate.
Gooooooooold!!!!!

Keep in mind, we in the states didn’t even see the worst of what was produced and broadcast to the world.
Do you understand that?

We didn’t see it because NBC KNEW it would be received exactly as it was. THE ART WE ARE SO IGNORANT ABOUT—WE NEVER SAW.
Really think about the implications of that.

And…it’s NOT just American white, conservative, evangelicals, who were offended.

It was the Catholic Church of France, the Archbishop of Canterbury, archbishops across Europe, representatives from the Vatican…they too issued rebukes along with Catholics and Christians AROUND THE GLOBE.

Do you really think EVERYONE misunderstood?
Or do you think EVERYONE understood perfectly—because it was what it was and that was the intention? 🏅🏅🏅🏅

Research who the art director is.
This is what he does—walk exactly on the line of blasphemy and debauchery, using religious iconography, sexuality, and hedonistic themes.

And when it’s recognized and not celebrated (womp womp)…plead innocent with a wink and a nod.

Watch the games. Don’t watch them.
No one knows and no one is going to care. No medal will be given or withheld for those who do or don’t. Heck, I likely will when I get over being good and ticked off.

But we should be able to objectively discern what is good or bad…alluding to a th*****me on Saturday morning Olympics broadcast? Baaaaad.
Y’all are doing so good! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

It was bad BEFORE we ever got to the last supper that was or wasn’t. **update—it was. It’s been acknowledged by the creators and apologized for…by the city.

Lots can be true at once—we can NOT judge others WHILE lacking judgment. We can be un-offended by one thing and totally miss the offense that SHOULD HAVE registered.

It is unfortunate for all.
It is unfortunate for what it says and reveals…and kid—it’s not nothing.

It’s unfortunate that actions have consequences. But they do.
The foolishness and boorishness of some DOES in fact impact others. And minimizing it for the offender isn’t entirely helpful and doesn’t change behavior.

Unfortunate indeed.
But the church didn’t do this.

The leadership of France did when they allowed it.
And whatever negative impact, if any, should be placed squarely there—wherever and with whomever those decisions laid.

What gaslighting behavior to purposefully offend a group and then blame the group for being ignorant or overly-sensitive when they “noticed” they were being mocked.

If it was a pagan o**y that was only reminiscent of religious art—is that really better? You can say it aloud—we all know the answer…”No.”

Unholy is unholy.
Sigh with relief for the one picture it “wasn’t.” Then grieve for the repudiation of the many commandments it VERY MUCH WAS.

You wanna see this rightly? Start here.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vaPFNYvy5v7LajDd/?mibextid=w8EBqM

Thank you, C-Spire. This shows true character in your company. I was also appalled at the shockingly anti-Christian display made during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics. I truly hate this action has cast a shadow on the games, which undoubtedly includes many faithful Christian athletes.

This past Monday, I joined Mississippi Today reporters Taylor Vance and Geoff Pender to discuss various issues dealing with elections in Mississippi - including redistricting and in-person early voting. I hope you’ll take some time to give the podcast a listen and share any thoughts you may have.

Podcast: Senate Elections chairman says the public wants early voting Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England says he plans to push for in-person early voting and for campaign finance reform.

Proud to be recognized as a Business Champion!

What happened today in Pennsylvania, the attempted assasination of President Trump, is the most unAmerican event I’ve seen happen in my lifetime. To me, the worst part is how so few of us are actually expressing a feeling of shock that this happened. We’ve felt this coming. The political climate in our country has been pushing towards this type of action for many years now. The rhetoric has been so bad that the outcome of this election almost seems like the difference of our country surviving or disappearing (in fact, that is exactly what many have been saying). What we saw today is a consequence of what politics has become.

My thoughts as the afternoon has progressed since the shooting have turned to my kids. My wife and I can digest this, and we can hope our country can get back to how it was before - where politics and campaigns focused on policy differences and ideology, and candidates shook hands before and after debates. But my kids don’t know anything else. They only know American politics as a vile bloodsport. They are growing up in a world where other parents will not even let their kids play with my kids because of political differences. That is THEIR NORMAL, but that is NOT NORMAL.

As this all unfolds, and as all of our TVs and phones turn to non-stop news coverage, please take some time to talk with your kids. If your kids have never heard you talk about how our American tradition is supposed to work, and how our Republic is supposed to function, now is time to talk to them about it. Pray with them. Pray for the innocent people that were injured and died today - and pray especially for the United States of America. Our kids need to know we are better than what happened today - and we can be better again. Prayer - and our actions on those prayers, and how we carry ourselves moving forward - is going to be something our kids can take from this. As parents, let’s do that for them. Please. This is not normal; let’s not make this appear normal. God bless America.

I’m very proud to be named an ALEC Policy Champion for my bill banning Ranked Choice Voting here in Mississippi.

“Senator England observed that, ‘By banning Rank Choice Voting, the Mississippi legislature has not only further strengthened the integrity of our elections, but we have also shown our dedication to making sure every vote counts in Mississippi. In addition, we have ensured that our process will allow full participation of the voters until a candidate for office is duly elected.’”

On Thursday morning, I had the privilege of speaking to the Mississippi School Nutrition Association at their 1st Annual Nutrition Industry Summit in Bay St. Louis. I enjoyed visiting with these fine folks from across our State that perform the extremely important job of making sure our kids are well fed while they attend school. I gave a brief legislative update, and I had a chance to hear ideas from this group about things we can do in Mississippi that are working in other states. And of course they made sure I was fed breakfast before speaking!

Thank you to my friend, Ashley Harris, outgoing MSNA President, for inviting me to speak and for introducing me to her colleagues.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to provide a legislative update to the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce-Main Street-Tourism Bureau today with my fellow legislators. It is always tough to try to sum up 4 months of work in one meeting over lunch, but we work well together - and we hit most of the highlights. It is a huge honor to represent this great community- and I was especially happy to have my daughter attend with me today.

Congrats to the Vancleave Bulldogs Baseball Team - our new 5A MHSAA Champions!!

Your Bulldogs are THE 2024 5A State Champs!!!!!

I will be on the air for MidDays with Gerard Gibert on SuperTalk MS this morning at 11:05. For my friends in the Coast, you can tune in at 103.1 FM.

Not surprisingly, there is a small but loud group of people trying to get Governor Tate Reeves to veto my dyslexia therapy bill, SB2681, which passed both chambers of the legislature UNANIMOUSLY. Why? Because they are protectionists and they fear change. They are using misinformation to try to convince the Governor that this bill lowers standards for dyslexia therapists in Mississippi - but it does NOT lower standards. It simply expands our therapy standards to include other nationally recognized standards that are used in other states - which also means that we can have people that move to Mississippi step into our schools and offices ready to help our students with dyslexia. This would be a game changer for Mississippi.

Fortunately for Mississippi, Governor Reeves is a very smart man, and he is a conservative, and he should see right through this effort to kill the bill for protectionist reasons. He will not be fooled by misinformation being spread on this bill by those that see it as a threat to their monopoly on dyslexia treatment. Governor Reeves has also always been a champion for dyslexia therapy. For these reasons, I look forward to him signing this bill. And I know even those few that are not in support of the bill now will eventually see this as a huge step in the right direction for Mississippi - because in their hearts, they know the most important thing is getting help to our children.

HB1590: PERS Board

I have had many, many emails, calls, texts, and messages concerning this bill over the last week and a half. I had hoped to make a post with my thoughts on this earlier, and I apologize for the delay. I certainly owe it to my constituents to give you all a good run down on this legislation and where it stands. I will do so in this lengthy post.

First of all, let me say that this bill is a very good example of how messaging on legislation is extremely important - and if the correct messaging is allowed to get off track, misinformation will take its place. I will explain the bill below, but I first want to explain what the bill DOES NOT do - because when this bill first passed the House on Wednesday, March 13, the initial messages I received had concerns over things that are not in the bill.

After HB1590 passed the House, the first messages I received asked me to vote NO on the bill, because people did not want their benefits to change. Let me me clear: This bill does not change or affect any current retirees’ benefits at all. The COLA funding, the retirement benefits, etc. all stay the same - as they should. Our retirees worked very hard in the system that was set up, and now many are living on fixed income with the expectation that their benefits will remain the same. We in the legislature understand that. I understand that - and that will not change. Again, this bill does not change benefits. The bill also does not increase the amount employees have to pay into the system.

That said, once retirees were given the impression that their retirement benefits are in jeopardy, the most important thing became killing HB1590. People were in their respective corners, and they were ready for the fight. So even when the bill language was reviewed and showed that there is NO CHANGE to benefits for retirees or for people currently employed by the public sector, people had become so concerned with the misinformation that we continued receiving messages to vote NO and to kill the bill. The reason for killing the bill, however, had changed - again based on more misinformation. Messages shifted early last week that we should vote NO on the bill because it takes away the voice of retirees on the board and replaces them with “political appointees.” The fear had shifted to the idea that retirees were having their voices removed from the PERS Board, and that politics was taking over (and we all distrust purely political decisions…which, oddly enough, I think is what got us in the bind we’re in with the solvency of PERS in the first place - but I digress). However, even this reason to kill the bill - that retirees are losing their elected voice - is wrong.

The bill DOES realign the Board and would result in a new PERS Board. But, the goal in doing so is to make sure the Board is made up primarily of individuals with “knowledge and understanding of the investment of financial assets and of the principles of a retirement plan.” This quoted language is straight out of HB1590. The Board will also include one member that is a retiree elected by retirees/beneficiaries, and one member that is not yet retired but has at least 10 years of credible service in the PERS system elected by others also in the system. This gives an elected voice to both retirees AND to those that are working towards retirement. Under HB1590, these elected individuals will serve alongside the financially-minded appointees on the new board to make recommendations to the legislature on how to bring PERS back towards a more financially sound and solvent position.

Why does HB1590 seek to beef up the PERS Board with appointees with “knowledge and understanding of the investment of financial assets and of the principles of a retirement plan?” Because currently, PERS is only 56.1% funded. When presented with the returns and losses in hearings, it always seems to me that our PERS system yields lower returns in good years than other states, and we sustain greater losses in bad years than other states. With poor investment returns, the request from the current PERS board turns to having employers greatly increase the amount of their contribution into the plan. The “employers” in these cases are our state, our cities, our counties, our schools, our police and fire departments, etc. If we require these public employers to increase their contribution, that means one of three things (or all) will happen: (1) Taxes will increase; (2) Employees will be laid off or hiring will be frozen - which will further hurt PERS; and/or (3) Monies dedicated to other public services will be redirected to pay the required increase to the retirement plan.

While I expect we will likely see a recommendation that we bump the employer contribution percentage at least some - the current Board’s recommendation of a bump of 5% is extremely costly. This will mean $Millions annually added to the budgets of our cities, schools, etc.

The total cost of this recommended increase to all entities is estimated to be $345 Million. To put that into perspective, the State was able to pass the largest teacher pay raise ever a couple years ago- and that was done at an additional cost of about $246 Million. So it is clear that the current PERS Board’s recommendations will put tough decisions on public entities on spending on items other than retirement, and it will be costly to taxpayers.

How much money are we talking about in total that PERS is short? The latest projections are that PERS is $25.1 Billion underfunded. This is about 4x the amount it takes to run the entire State of Mississippi each year. So even if the State were to dump a full $1 Billion into the PERS system this year - foregoing all other projects, improvements, etc., it would not make a dent.

Legislating is a very tough job. Almost every bill voted on one way or the other comes with promises of defeat during the next election. This threat certainly happens when discussions are had around PERS. Ironically, the situation we find ourselves in now is due to “politically minded” decisions in the past to continuously kick the proverbial can down the road to become the problem of the next guy. That is the easy decision. But where does that get us? And what does that mean to the current public employees that are just starting their careers or to our young men and women that are in college or in high school with goals of helping citizens in some sort of public employment? Should we just keep kicking the can and let them worry about that later? Also - how do we expect to attract new teachers, police officers, etc. to Mississippi if we have one of the most under-funded retirement plans in the country?

I had an email in my inbox yesterday from a very nice lady asking me to vote NO on HB1590. Her reason was, and I quote, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Our current situation seems broken to me.

As a legislator, my job is to always do my homework on legislation and to make calculated decisions that are best for my constituents and to my community and state. My job is not simply to “win reelection.” Hopefully, both go hand-in-hand, but one cannot always be outweighed by the other.

Now for the important part of this entire post: what does HB1590 do? The legislation simply revamps the PERS Board to include 7 appointees (4 by the Governor and 3 by the Lt. Governor), and 2 elected members (1 to be a retiree, and 1 to be a member that has been in the system at least 10 years). Again, the appointees must be individuals with “knowledge and understanding of the investment of financial assets and of the principles of a retirement plan.” This type of board created by HB1590 is in line with what most other states do - and these other states are out performing us in this area. Let me repeat: HB1590 will bring Mississippi in line with the National Standard. The Board’s recommendations would then have to be approved by the legislature to go into effect, as is the case currently.

Finally, I have said this several times in this post, but it bears repeating: HB1590 does not alter or change benefits currently being paid, it does not change the COLA check (“the 13th check”), and it does not increase the amount that current employees will have to put into their plan. Please read this part again. If you believe any of these things about HB1590, please know that you have been misinformed.

I am strongly considering supporting HB1590. This is because I care about all of my constituents that are current retirees and beneficiaries AND those that are currently working or plan to work in the public sector. I also care about taxpayers in both the public and private sector. As a legislator, I cannot afford to let a failure in how a message has been delivered (or worse, the weaponization of misinformation) keep me from making the right decision.

Thank you all again for reading such a lengthy post. It took me a good bit of time away from my family to sit aside and address this issue this morning - but I owed you all my thoughts on HB1590. Please let me know your thoughts and concerns, and please feel free to share this post if you found it helpful.

Speaking of sharing helpful information, please also take some time to read this very concise and informative breakdown of HB1590 by my friend, Rebekah Staples. Her article was part of what I reviewed to address this - and she is able to get the point across in fewer words. Here is a link to her article: https://magnoliatribune.com/2024/03/20/mississippi-house-moves-to-protect-retirees-and-taxpayers-by-diversifying-pers-board/

I have never been short of words. Like Abraham Lincoln once said in citing a parable: sometimes when I get started talking, I become too lazy to quit.

Thank you all again, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I will be on the Paul Gallo Radio Show this morning at 8:05. Tune in if you can. 103.1 on the Coast.

Medicaid Expansion has been a very big topic this session in our State Capitol. It is a very complicated issue - and it is one that I have been against philosophically from the beginning. That said, I have always been willing to listen to my colleagues and to my constituents to hear concerns and to hear about new ideas - and I always want my thoughts and beliefs to be challenged. In this post, I will provide my thoughts and the information I have gathered on this important issue here in Mississippi.

My primary reasons for being against the idea of Medicaid Expansion are based on two concerns:

(1) If all states sign up for an expensive system that relies on federal offsets in cost - what happens if the federal government pulls the rug out from under the states and suspends funding? This could be done in an effort to completely socialize medical care in America and move to a single-payer system. If this happens, I am worried we could see treatment options shrink and access to certain treatments become dependent on strict federal guidelines; and

(2) Welfare systems, like Medicaid Expansion, tend to shrink the middle class and stifle the American Dream - where Americans are able to advance themselves to better economic conditions through hard work and with incentives such as promotions and raises. Welfare programs limit advancement when citizens face a situation where they will actually LOSE more in the form of government benefits if they are offered an increase in pay to reward their good work. So instead of taking a raise, they will turn it down to maintain benefits (and who can blame them? It’s not their fault, it is just the nature of welfare). In this way, the welfare system discourages growth and advancement, and it increases reliance on government.

For the above reasons, I do not support full/traditional Medicaid Expansion.

All of that said, one of my biggest concerns as a legislator has always been the group we have come to know as “the working poor.” I have also heard this group referred to during my research and conversations as ALICE (Asset Limited/Income Constrained Employed). These are Mississippians that are working jobs that do not provide health insurance - and they do not make enough money to obtain their own healthcare coverage. These include many of our truck drivers, student workers, and service industry workers (often times, single parents). These individuals currently fall into what is known as the “coverage gap.” They make too much money at their jobs to apply for Medicaid, but they don’t make enough money to obtain healthcare coverage. I have always been concerned with what the legislature can do to help these working members of society, knowing that due to their existing wage limitations, these individuals will put off going to the doctor and getting treatment (or preventative care) until they develop serious issues that require more expensive treatment. So the coverage gap actually leads to worse medical conditions for employed individuals (the kind of issues that can result in an individual no longer being able to work), and it leads to unreimbursed/unpaid care by our medical providers. Unfortunately, these situations often end up costing taxpayers and covered individuals more money. This is a problem that requires serious consideration in my opinion - and I have remained open to ideas to address this coverage gap for working Mississippians.

Yesterday, I had a chance to talk to several colleagues in the Senate about a plan to address the coverage gap issue in Mississippi. The Senate plan, as I understand it, is to provide coverage to WORKING individuals that make more than 25% but less than 99% of the federal poverty level (which I am told is an annual income of between $15,000 to $30,000, depending on status as a single adult, parent, etc). Again, this is the group that makes up the so-called coverage gap, because this group makes too much to be Medicaid Eligible but not enough to obtain the federally subsidized coverage on the healthcare exchange. This plan would result in adding as many as 75,000 people to the Medicaid rolls in Mississippi. The Senate plan also requires CMS (the federal Center for Medicare Services) approval of the work requirement - meaning if CMS does not approve the work requirement, then expansion to the working poor does not occur. This is admittedly a big hoop to clear, but the reason is that we want able bodied Mississippians to be employed. The Senate plan also would contain a trigger that ends the expansion legislation if the work requirement is stricken by a court, or if the federal government ends the reimbursement percentage currently in place. My favorite part about the Senate plan, as it has been explained and presented to me, is that individuals that get promotions/raises at work to move them out of this Medicaid gap can then either jump onto the federal exchanges for coverage - or they can purchase healthcare coverage or obtain coverage through their employer. In other words, my concern that we are sticking people in a bad situation via welfare dependency is lessened tremendously. The cost figures of this plan are also much more stomachable than traditional Medicaid Expansion - and Mississippi may actually get more money from this program than is paid in (an amount that could possibly then be put towards higher reimbursement rates for our physicians).

Because I want to always be honest with my constituents, I will say that the Senate plan is still, in my opinion, a form of Medicaid Expansion - because it would add more individuals to the Medicaid rolls (possibly as many as 75,000 people). That said, I am strongly considering voting for and supporting this very limited plan. This is not full Medicaid expansion (providing coverage of all individuals, regardless of employment status), and I believe the Senate plan adequately addresses the concerns that I have had all along about expansion (as mentioned at the beginning of this post). This plan is also very limited, and it honestly has to clear many hoops still to even go into effect. If I have misunderstood anything that has been explained to me, I will be sure to update this post.

If you read this entire post - thank you! I always like to do extensive homework on these very important pieces of legislation, and I also value your feedback on this topic. Please let me know your thoughts. This is an issue that kept me up last night, and it is one that I have prayed about. Thanks!