JACKSON — The Mississippi Legislature began a new legislative session. This week saw a lot of policy discussions about the new year, mainly in relation to education and infrastructure funding. The week started with legislators givingl in Tuesday morning, and ended with the Mississippi Economic Council’s Capital Day on Thursday. Representatives from across the state came to Jackson to make important economic policy decisions for Mississippi businesses. Most of the conversation revolved around the relationship between MEC and state legislature. Business leaders wanted to make sure that Jackson’s leaders are doing all they can to improve Mississippi’s economy. William Yates, MEC Chair, stated that workforce development was the key to a strong economy. Yates is also the CEO/President at the large Mississippi construction company W.G. Yates & Sons. Yates was one of the featured speakers at this event, along with Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (Speaker of the House Philip Gunn) and Delbert Hosemann (Secretary of State), joined by a panel of regional business leaders representing groups like the Gulf Coast Business Council or the Golden Triangle Development Link. Hosemann spoke to business leaders and highlighted the importance of developing an educated workforce. He presented slides that showed results from a recent survey his office conducted with Mississippi business leaders. MEC members were reassured by Hosemann that the current leadership is creating a workforce through improved technical skills training and community support. Bryant highlighted recent improvements and brought the discussion of workforce development back into education, which is a policy area that often takes up a large portion of the state budget. Bryant stated that Mississippi has the lowest unemployment rate and highest graduation rate in Mississippi’s history. Bryant’s tenure as governor has seen a significant increase in high school graduation rates, from 73 percent in 2012, to 82 percent today, which is just one percentage point below the national average. Bryant is not the only person who believes everything has to do with education. Reeves, who is entering his fifteenth year as a public official, spoke this week about his strong support for improving public education. Reeves spoke in an exclusive interview to the University of Mississippi Capitol Press Corps reporting class. He stated that he supports new legislative initiatives like charter schools, school choice and appointed superintendents. Reeves stated that he has tried to shift the conversation from one input to one outcome. Reeves stated that it is how well these kids perform that will determine how successful they are in life and how strong our economy. Reeves currently advocates for reallocation of the current education funding system, also known as the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The state legislature had several ideas last year, but did not bring legislation to the floor until the end of the session. A large part of this week’s discussion was focused on infrastructure. Yates and other constituents have mentioned that it is one of the MEC’s biggest concerns. Yates stated that 95.4 percent of the members were open to spending more money on infrastructure improvements._x000D