JACKSON - Mississippi Senate Bill 2001, which would grant a $1,000 pay increase to all Mississippi public school teachers and set starting pay at $37,000, passed unanimously out of the Education Committee on Jan. 13; and the bill sets minimum salaries for assistant teachers at $15,000. Mississippi teachers are the lowest-paid in the nation on average. The pay proposal is high priority of Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and is expected to move quickly through the Senate before consideration by the House. Outside the state Capitol with three new magnolia-themed flags behind them, the Black Legislative Caucus (BLC) took on other priorities for the Legislative session, including support for teacher pay and the need to address teacher shortages. Others are a long shot: Expanding Medicaid to about 170,000 low-income Mississippians who don’t have access to care; More money for a Medicaid waiver program that assists some elderly and disabled people, as well as those with traumatic brain injuries, to receive in-home care; Calling for women who qualify for Medicaid to receive a full year of postpartum benefits, and better access to long-acting contraceptives; and a ban on discriminatory lending practices. Mississippi is the only state in the nation that doesn’t have such a law, according to Angela Turner-Ford, a Democratic lawmaker from West Point. (Source: Daily Journal 01/13/21)
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